CATIA Training

Structure Design
Detailed Steps

COPYRIGHT DASSAULT SYSTEMES 2002 Version 5 Release 8

February 2002
EDU-CAT-E-STD-FS-V5R8
Structure Design Detailed Steps

Table of Contents
Boring Fixture..............................................................................................................................................3
Step (1): Create a Grid.............................................................................................................................4
Step (2): Place Members..........................................................................................................................5
Step (3): Create Planar Elements...........................................................................................................16
Step (4): Create Joints...........................................................................................................................22
Step (5): Modify Your Design.................................................................................................................22

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Structure Design Detailed Steps

Boring Fixture
The intent of the first part of this “step-by-step” exercises book is to let you practice the various ways of
using the Structure Design workbench for designing jig, foundation or other tooling. The other part of the
exercises book will enable you to enrich your tooling with using catalog parts and extract documents like
BOMs or drawings.

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Structure Design Detailed Steps

Step (1): Create a Grid

We will first open the Boring_Fixture CATProduct.

1. Select the File + Open menu.

2. Look in Step1 directory.

3. Select Boring_Fixture CATProduct in Step1.

4. Click on Open.

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Structure Design Detailed Steps

We will now place the grid.

5. Select the Grid icon .

6. Define the grid as shown in the picture below.
7. Click on OK.

Step (2): Place Members

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Structure Design Detailed Steps

Next we will place members (beams) using the grid as support. If you don’t succeed in creating the grid in
step1, open Boring_Fixture CATProduct stored in …\Data_Student\Step2 directory.

1. Double-click on Member on Support Icon .

We need first to select a section in the EN catalog of profiles.

2. Select Other Section… in Section: field as shown in the picture below.

3. Browse to open the EN catalog .

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Structure Design Detailed Steps

4. Select the Square tubes family in the EN catalog .

5. Select TUBEC250x12.0 in the sections list.

6. Click on OK.

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Structure Design Detailed Steps

7. Define the member to place as shown in the picture below

8. Place Beam_1 as shown below.

9. Place Beam_2 as shown below.

10. Place Beam_3 as shown below.

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Structure Design Detailed Steps

We will now carry on member placement with Infill menu.

11. Double-click on Infill icon .

12. Select a new section TUBEC180x10.0 in the EN catalog .

13. Define infilling members as shown below.

14. Select Beam_3 as reference 1 and Beam_2 as reference 2

15. Click on OK.

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Structure Design Detailed Steps

16. Modify the definition of the other infill to be created as shown below.

Next we will use Member menu to carry out member placement.

17. Select Member icon .

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Structure Design Detailed Steps

18. Define member as shown below.

19. Place Beam_6 as shown below using intersection points of the grid.

20. Place Beam_7 as shown below using intersection points of the grid.

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Structure Design Detailed Steps

21. Place Beam_8 as shown below using intersection points of the grid.

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Structure Design Detailed Steps

22. Define a new direction and a length value for the next two beams.

23. Place Beam_9 as shown below using intersection point of the grid as start point.

24. Place Beam_10 as shown below using intersection point of the grid as start point.

Both last ones!

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Structure Design Detailed Steps

25. Define member and direction.

26. Select the free extremity of the left vertical beam as shown below.

27. Select Point Definition icon .

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Structure Design Detailed Steps

28. Select Point on Member.

29. Select the vertical beam: TUBEC250x12.0.

30. Key-in 1500 in the Offset field or slide the Offset handler.
31. Repeat on the right side with a Top Left anchor point.
32. Hide the grid.

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Structure Design Detailed Steps

Step (3): Create Planar Elements

We will now place all the plates, end plates and gussets using the Plate and End Plate menus.
If you don’t succeed in placing members in step2, open Boring_Fixture CATProduct stored in
…\Data_Student\Step3 directory.

1. Select the Plate icon .

2. Select the support for the plates as shown in the picture below.

3. Key-in 20 for Thickness.

4. Select the Sketch icon .

5. Select the Rectangle icon .

6. Sketch the first plate as shown below.

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Structure Design Detailed Steps

7. Select the Exit icon .

8. Click on Reverse Direction.
9. Click on OK.
10. Repeat steps 42 to 50 on the right.

We are now going to create gussets.

11. Select again the Plate icon .

12. Select Gusset as type.
13. Select the support for the plates as shown in the picture below.

14. Select the Sketch icon .

15. Select the Right View icon .

16. Select the Profile icon .

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Structure Design Detailed Steps

17. Sketch the gusset profile as shown in pictures.

18. Select the Exit icon .

19. Click on Reverse Direction.
20. Click on OK.
21. Repeat steps 48 to 56 on the right.

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Structure Design Detailed Steps

We would like now instantiate both right and left gussets 4 times. To do that, as Structural plates are
CATPart, we will use the Assembly Design workbench.

22. Activate Boring_Fixture.

23. Select the Assembly Design workbench icon.

24. Select the Define Multi Instantiation icon .

25. Select the gusset in the Product tree.
26. Key-in 4 as New Instance(s).
27. Key-in 300 as Spacing.

28. Click on the Y Direction icon in the Reference Direction frame.

29. Click on Reverse in the Reference Direction frame.
30. Click on OK.
31. Repeat steps 60 to 66 on the right.

Return to Structure Design workbench.

32. Select the Structure Design workbench icon.

33. Select the Plate icon .

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Structure Design Detailed Steps

34. Select the support for the plates as shown in the picture below.
35. Key-in 20 for Thickness.

36. Select the Sketch icon .

37. Select the Rectangle icon .

38. Sketch the plate as shown in the picture.

39. Select the Exit icon .

40. Click on Reverse Direction (if needed).
41. Click on OK.
42. Repeat steps 70 to 77 for the two last plates.

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Structure Design Detailed Steps

And to finish with plates, we will place now the two end plates on top of the vertical beams.

43. Double-click on the End Plate icon .

44. Key-in 250 for Length and Width.
45. Key-in 5 for Thickness.
46. Select the free extremities of the vertical beams using Ctrl-Click.
47. Click on OK.

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Structure Design Detailed Steps

Step (4): Create Joints

We will now cut all the beams using the Join menu. If you don’t succeed in creating planar elements in
step3, open Boring_Fixture CATProduct stored in …\Data_Student\Step4 directory.

1. Double-click on Join icon .

2. Select Miter cut as Type.
3. Select member to trim.
4. Select trimming member.
5. Click on OK.
6. Repeat steps 87 to 90 for each miter cut as indicated
in the Exercises book.
7. Select Weld cut as Type and do the same operation
as for miter cut.
8. Save and Close Boring_Fixture.

Step (5): Modify Your Design

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Structure Design Detailed Steps

This last exercise will enable us to modify interactively the boring fixture by stretching the grid-support.

We will first insert the Boring_Fixture CATProduct in the Boring_Jig main product.

1. Select the File + Open menu.

2. Look in Step5.

3. Select Boring_Jig CATProduct.

4. Click on Open.
5. Select Boring_Jig with MB3.

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Structure Design Detailed Steps

6. Select Existing Component in the contextual menu.

7. Look in Step5 directory.

8. Select Boring_Fixture CATProduct.

9. Click on Open.
You can also insert the Boring_Fixture CATProduct you saved in the previous step.

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Structure Design Detailed Steps

All right, let us associate the two products now!

10. Select the Assembly Design workbench icon.

11. Select the Manipulation icon .

12. Select the Z Direction icon .

13. Drag upward as shown in the picture above.

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Structure Design Detailed Steps

14. Select the Smart Move icon .

15. Check the Automatic constraint creation option.

16. Select one edge of the base plate of Boring_Fixture product as shown below.

17. Move Boring_Fixture to reach the edge of the base plate of Base product as shown below.

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Structure Design Detailed Steps

A coincidence constraint is created.

18. Click on OK.

19. Repeat steps 105 to 109 on the front adjacent edges.

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Structure Design Detailed Steps

And finally, to finish, let us stretch the grid!

We shall maybe need to make it visible.

20. Double-Click twice on the highlighted plane as shown below.

21. Click on the Offset field with MB3.

22. Select Measure… in the contextual menu.

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Structure Design Detailed Steps

23. Select first element as shown below.

24. Select second element as shown below.

25. Select the Minimum distance value and press <Ctrl+c>.

26. Click on Close.

27. Click on No.

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Structure Design Detailed Steps

28. Key-in + next to 1280mm value in the Offset field.

29. Press <Ctrl+v>.

30. Click on OK.

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