STUDY OF CAD AND CREO 2D SKETCHING

INTRODUCTION

Computer-aided design (CAD) is a computer technology that designs a product and documents the
design's process. CAD may facilitate the manufacturing process by transferring detailed diagrams of a
product’s materials, processes, tolerances and dimensions with specific conventions for the product in
question. It can be used to produce either two-dimensional or three-dimensional diagrams, which can then
when rotated to be viewed from any angle, even from the inside looking out.

The concept of designing geometric shapes for objects is very similar to CAD. It is called
computer-aided geometric design (CAGD). CAD is also known as computer-aided design and drafting
(CADD).

1. REASONS FOR IMPLEMENTING A CAD SYSTEM

1. Increases the productivity of the designer:
CAD improves the productivity of the designer to visualize the product and its
component, parts and reduces the time required in synthesizing, analyzing and documenting the
design
2. Improves the quality of the design:
CAD system improves the quality of the design.
A CAD system permits a more detailed engineering analysis and a larger number of design
alternatives can be investigated. The design errors are also reduced because of the greater accuracy
provided by the system
Improves communication:
It improves the communication in design. The use of a CAD system provides better
engineering drawings, more standardization in the drawing, better documentation of the design, few
drawing errors and legibility.
3. Create data base for manufacturing:
In the process of creating the documentation for these products, much of the required data
base to manufacture the products is also created.
4. Improves the efficiency of the design:
It improves the efficiency of the design process and the wastage at the design stage can be
reduced.

Creo
Creo package is suitable for accurate and perfect drawings of engineering designs. The drawing of machine
parts, isometric views and assembly drawings are possible in Creo. The package is suitable for 2D and 3D
drawings.

Creo – 2D Sketching BASICS

In Creo, a sketch can be drawn in the Sketch mode or in the sketcher environment. A designer can draw a
2D sketch of the product and assign the required dimensions and constraints to it. By assigning the
dimensions, the designer can make sure that the 2D sketch of the product or model is satisfying the
necessary conditions. He can then continue to create the 3D model of the product in the Part mode.

DRAWING A SKETCH USING THE SKETCHER TOOLS TOOLBAR

When you are in the sketcher environment, the Sketcher Tools toolbar that is available on the
Right Toolchest, which contains the tools to draw a sketch, dimension it, and modify the dimensions. In
this section, you will learn how to draw sketched entities using the tools available in the Sketcher Tools
toolbar.
Placing a Point
Choose the Create points button from the Sketcher Tools toolbar; the system prompts
you to select a location for the point.
Drawing a Line
To draw lines, there are three tool buttons available in the Sketcher Tools toolbar. To view these
buttons, choose the black arrow on the right of the Create 2 point lines button; the fly out appears with
three tool buttons. The first button is Create 2 point lines. This button is
used to create a line by selecting two points in the graphics window. The second button on the fly out is
Create lines tangent to 2 entities. This button is used to create a tangent between two entities. The third
button is Create 2 point centerlines. This button is used to create a centerline by selecting two points in the
graphics window. The centerline is used for creating revolved features, mirroring, and so on.
The procedure to create lines using these tools are discussed next.

Drawing a Rectangle
The following steps explain the procedure to sketch a rectangle using the Create rectangle tool:
1. Choose the Create rectangle button from the Sketcher Tools toolbar; you are prompted to select
two points to indicate the diagonal of box. Click to specify the first point; a yellow rubber-band box
appears with the cursor attached to the opposite corner of the box.
2. Move the cursor to the desired location in the graphics window to size the diagonal of the
rectangle. Click to specify the second point for the diagonal of the rectangle.

Drawing a Circle
In the Sketcher Tools toolbar, there are four tools to draw a circle and one tool to draw an ellipse.
To view the tools available to draw circles and ellipses, choose the black arrow on the right of the Create
circle by picking the center and a point on the circle button.

Drawing an Arc
To draw an arc there are five tools in the Sketcher Tools toolbar. To view them, choose the black
arrow on the right of the Create an arc by 3 points or tangent to an entity at its endpoint button.
The Create an arc by 3 points or tangent to an entity at its endpoint tool is used to draw arcs tangent
from the endpoint of an existing entity or by defining three points in the graphics
window. When you choose this button to draw an arc from an endpoint, the Target symbol is displayed as
soon as you select the endpoint. This Target symbol is in the form of a circle that is divided into four
quadrants.

DIMENSIONING THE SKETCH

 After you draw a sketch, the next step involves the dimensioning of the sketch. The basic purpose
of dimensioning in Pro/ENGINEER is to control the size of the sketch and to locate it with some reference.
In Creo, a sketch cannot be regenerated unless it is fully dimensioned and constrained. The phrase “the
sketch cannot be regenerated” means that the sketch cannot be accepted by Creo.
By default, the sketched entities are dimensioned and constrained automatically while sketching or
as soon as you are done with the sketch. However, sometimes you need to add additional dimensions to the
sketch. The Create defining dimension button in the Sketcher Tools toolbar is used to manually dimension
the entities. You can also choose Sketch > Dimension from the menu bar to display a cascading menu.
The Create defining dimension button or the Normal option are used for normal dimensioning of the
sketch.
DIMENSIONING THE BASIC SKETCHED ENTITIES
Choose the Create defining dimension button and follow the procedures given below to
dimension the sketched entities.
1. Linear Dimensioning a Line
2. Angular Dimensioning of an Arc
3. Radial Dimensioning
4. Dimensioning Revolved Sections

TRIMMING THE SKETCHER ENTITIES

When creating a design, there are a number of places where you need to remove the unwanted and
extended entities. You can do this by using the tools available for trimming that are available in the
Sketcher Tools toolbar as Delete segment.

MIRRORING THE SKETCHER ENTITIES

The Mirror selected entities button is used to mirror sketched geometries about a centerline. This
tool helps to reduce the time used for creation of symmetrical geometries and dimensioning them.
The following steps explain the procedure to mirror a sketched geometry:
1. Sketch a geometry and then sketch a centerline about which you need to mirror the geometry.
2. Select the entities that you need to mirror. The selected entities turn red in color.
3. Choose the Mirror selected entities button from the Sketcher Tools toolbar. You are prompted to
select the centerline about which you need to mirror, hence do so. The selected entities are mirrored about
the centerline.

Result
Thus the study of Computer Aided Design (CAD), Creo Design Package and its Basic 2D
Sketching tools were studied.