ACAD 2004 Project Help...

Hi Folks,

I need to create a complete set of engineering drawings for a general
aviation aircraft. I will have hundreds of individual part drawings
and many assembly drawings based on these parts. I am planning to
model the aircraft in 3D and then create the working drawings based on
this model. I would like your oppinion on how such a project would
typically be structured. IOW, would you have a single file for each
part consisting of a model and the drawings associated with just that
part? Then, say, another file for each assembly of parts and the
associated drawings of the assembly? Perhaps you'd do something
completely different? Any help in this regard is appreciated.

Next, I'm fairly familiar with ACAD, but I am not very familiar with
its 3D features. Would I be better served to use a product like RHINO
3D or maybe even Inventor to do the 3D design work? What problems, if
any, will this create down the road other than having to modify the
models using a seperate application?

TIA!

 

FWIW. My opinions, there are others.
I think a complete model of an aircraft, whilst not impossible, would
be stretching acad's abilities to the limit. Inventor, Solidworks,
Solidege would all probably do the job more easily. (I'm trying to
model an entire truck tractor unit at the moment and A2004 is
struggling a bit).
For organisation, I have a base model of the main chassis rails. Each
component is modelled in a separate file and xreffed into assemblies
which will be xreffed a final model file. Each model file is also the
manufacturing drawing for that part.

John B

johnbogie btinternet.com
Put the "at" in the gap.

 

That's pretty much how I set up my files too. However I tend to create not
individual part files but logical assemblies. Say if it is a truck then the
main chassis would have all of the associated equipment with it such as
wheels, fuel tank e.t.c. The cabin assembly would have seats, steering
wheel and so on. To control visibility of the parts they should be placed
on separate layers. Is it what you do, John?

Regards,

Igor.

 

Hi Igor.
Not exactly. My current client is not a truck manufacurer but is
converting trucks to dual fuel (diesel + CNG or LNG). We remove some
original equipment parts and replace them with ours - not always the
same parts and not always in the same places. So, we need more
flexiblilty hence each part in its own file. Otherwise I'd do much as
you say. Actually, I cheat a bit by making additional copies of
logical assemblies and binding and exploding xrefs and unioning as
many parts as seems sensible. I'll just need to remember to update
them when required.

CNG/LNG = Compressed/Liquified Natural Gas.

John B

johnbogie btinternet.com
Put the "at" in the gap.

 

Hi John,

Yes, that's just one of the way of setting up a project. As for the union of as
many parts as seems sensible. Once I had a task to minimize the size of the 3D
model of the diesel engine. The model was done with every detail and the size of
the file was around 7Mb. All parts were union together because they thought it
would make the file size smaller.
I had to slice the model carefully and simplify it as much as possible since
the only crucial elements needed were mounting points and connecting flanges. At
the end the file became 2Mb. If the model wasn't union originally it would make
the task much simpler. That's all.

Regards,

Igor.

 

Thank you John and Igor for your input! It helps to know I'm heading
in the right direction.

WC

 

Yes, unioning doesn't always save a lot of complexity. Filling voids
helps though - I fill boltholes and all interiors where possible.

Ciao

John B

johnbogie btinternet.com
Put the "at" in the gap.

 

I use "Imprint" tool for holes in plates. For example on base plates for columns. It
saves a significant amount of memory. One should be careful when modifying those base
plates (the holes disappear) but it is only a minor set-back.

Regards,

Igor.

 

You are most welcome.

Igor.