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Product Cycle and CAD/CAM

Conceive
•Imagine, specify, plan, innovate-
•The first stage is the definition of the product requirements based on customer, company, market and regulatory bodies’ viewpoints. From this specification, the product's major
technical parameters can be defined. In parallel, the initial concept design work is performed defining the aesthetics of the product together with its main functional aspects. Many
different media are used for these processes, from pencil and paper to clay models to 3D CAID computer-aided industrial design software.
Design
•Describe, define, develop, test, analyze and validate-
• This is where the detailed design and development of the product’s form starts, progressing to prototype testing, through pilot release to full product launch. It can also
involve redesign and ramp for improvement to existing products as well as planned obsolescence. The main tool used for design and development is CAD. This can be
simple 2D drawing / drafting or 3D parametric feature based solid/surface modeling. Such software includes technology such as Hybrid Modeling, Reverse Engineering,
KBE (knowledge-based engineering), NDT (Nondestructive testing), and Assembly construction.
• This step covers many engineering disciplines including: mechanical, electrical, electronic, software and domain-specific, such as architectural, aerospace, automotive.
Along with the actual creation of geometry there is the analysis of the components and product assemblies. Simulation, validation and optimization tasks are carried out
using CAE software either integrated in the CAD package or stand-alone.
Realize
•Manufacture, make, build, procure, produce, sell and deliver
• Once the design of the product’s components is complete the method of manufacturing is defined. This includes CAD tasks such as tool design; creation of CNC
Machining instructions for the product’s parts as well as tools to manufacture those parts, using integrated or separate CAM computer-aided manufacturing software.
• This will also involve analysis tools for process simulation for operations such as casting, molding, and die press forming. Once the manufacturing method has been
identified CPM comes into play. This involves CAPE (computer-aided production engineering) or CAP/CAPP – (production planning) tools for carrying out factory, plant
and facility layout and production simulation. For example: press-line simulation; and industrial ergonomics; as well as tool selection management. Once components
are manufactured their geometrical form and size can be checked against the original CAD data with the use of computer-aided inspection equipment and software.
Service
•Use, operate, maintain, support, sustain, phase-out, retire, recycle and disposal-
• The final phase of the lifecycle involves managing of in service information. Providing customers and service engineers with support information for repair and
maintenance, as well as waste management/recycling information. This involves using tools such as Maintenance, Repair and Operations Management (MRO)
software.
• There is an end-of-life to every product. Whether it be disposal or destruction of material objects or information, this needs to be considered since it may not be free
from ramifications
Product Cycle and CAD/CAM
For any product to be developed , the major areas to be looked into would be designing, manufacturing and
marketing. The synchronization between these processes plays a great role in defining product success.
Here CAD/CAM revolutionize the process of the traditional design and cut costs of any mechanical part. CAD/CAM
drastically reduces the design time for a new product. This gives it so much edge on the traditional design process
that nowadays, traditional design with pen and paper is almost extinct. Automobile industry is the best example of this
improved design time and product cycle.
Product life cycle (PLC) Like human beings, products also have a life-cycle. From birth to death, human beings
pass through various stages e.g. birth, growth, maturity, decline and death. A similar life-cycle is seen in the case of
products. The product life cycle goes through multiple phases, involves many professional disciplines, and requires
many skills, tools and processes. Product life cycle (PLC) has to do with the life of a product in the market with
respect to business/commercial costs and sales measures. To say that a product has a life cycle is to assert three
things:
•Products have a limited life,
•Product sales pass through distinct stages, each posing different challenges, opportunities, and problems to the
seller,
•Products require different marketing, financing, manufacturing, purchasing, and human resource strategies in each
life cycle stage.
The Traditional Design Process:
Traditionally, the design process contains the following steps:
1.Recognition of Need
2.Definition of Problem
3.Synthesis
4.Analysis and Optimization
5.Evaluation
6.Presentation
Here is the iteration between step 3 and 4 we analyze, find the fault, then again synthesize, again analyze and
iterate and iterate again until we would be able to get satisfactory result. After we analyze and optimize the design
again if we are not satisfied after evaluation, we again iterate i.e. we again goes to the synthesis.
After all these steps, we finally make a prototype of the part which we are designing. If that fails or does not fulfill
our needs, the whole process will start again.
This is what traditional design process does. Here CAD/CAM comes into the picture. If we use computer for the
problem of synthesis like we are designing the things with the help of a computer, all the analysis and synthesis will
be done on computer and the process consumes much lesser time than a traditional design process.
CAD tools are the most common class of
computerized tools used in the engineering and
design process today. Introduced in the 1960s and
much improved since then, these tools
have replaced many of the drafting tables and
machines used to generate engineering
drawings. Early CAD tools were designed to
produce a 2D representation of an item to be
manufactured; many current CAD tools capture a
3D representation. CAD tools capture a
geometric model of the product to be built. The
latest generation of 3D CAD tools is
particularly well suited for the development of
three-dimensional geometric models with
all of the detail needed for manufacturing. From
this model, the CAD packages can then
produce the documentation needed for
procurement and manufacturing. These CAD tools
also include some capacity for the capture of
material data, and the calculation of mass
properties, although these capabilities may be
limited.
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A
Geometric modeling is only a meansnot the goalin engineering.
Eiiliddttth • Engineering analysisneeds product geometry; the
degree of detaildepends on the analysis procedure that utilizes
the geometry. gy •There is nomodel that is sufficientto study all
behavioral aspects of an engineering component or a system
system. •Attributes facilitate analysis and grow with application

BasicGeometricModelingTechniques Basic Geometric Modeling

Techniques •2-D Projection (Drawings) •Wireframe Modeling
•Surface Modeling AltilSfƒAnalytical Surface ƒFree-form, Curved,
& Sculptured Surface •SolidModeling Solid
Modeling ƒConstructive Solid Geometry (CSG) ƒBoundary
Representation (B-Rep) ƒ…ƒFeature Based
Modeling ƒParametricModeling
Engineering Analysis B
What is SOLIDWORKS Simulation?
SOLIDWORKS Simulation is a commercial implementation of FEA capable of solving problems commonly found
in design engineering, such as the analysis of displacements, stresses, natural frequencies, vibration, buckling,
heat flow, etc. It belongs to the family of engineering analysis software products originally developed by the
Structural Research & Analysis Corporation (SRAC). SRAC was established in 1982 and since its inception has
contributed to innovations that have had a significant impact on the evolution of FEA. In 1995 SRAC partnered
with the SOLIDWORKS Corporation and created COSMOSWorks, one of the first SOLIDWORKS Gold Products,
which became the top-selling analysis solution for the SOLIDWORKS Corporation. The commercial success of
COSMOSWorks integrated with SOLIDWORKS CAD software resulted in the acquisition of SRAC in 2001 by
Dassault Systèmes, parent of SOLIDWORKS Corporation. In 2003, SRAC operations merged with the
SOLIDWORKS Corporation. In 2009, COSMOSWorks was re-named SOLIDWORKS Simulation.
SOLIDWORKS Simulation is integrated with SOLIDWORKS CAD software and uses SOLIDWORKS for creating and
editing model geometry. SOLIDWORKS is a solid, parametric, feature-driven CAD system developed specifically
for the Windows Operating System. Many other CAD and FEA programs were originally developed in a UNIX
environment and only later ported to Windows, and therefore are less integrated with Windows than
SOLIDWORKS and SOLIDWORKS Simulation.
Virtual prototyping
is a method in the process of product development. It
involves using computer-aided design (CAD), computer-
automated design (CAutoD) and computer-aided
C
engineering (CAE) software to validate a design before
committing to making a physical prototype. This is done
by creating (usually 3D) computer generated geometrical
shapes (parts) and either combining them into an
"assembly" and testing different mechanical motions, fit
and function. The assembly or individual parts could be
opened in CAE software to simulate the behavior of the
product in the real world.
The term ’‘virtual prototyping‘‘ has also been established
in the field of venture development. This process has
been developed by the digital consultancy “Candylabs“
and describes a method to test digital ventures or
products through various channels on a website
promoting a product that has not been built, yet. This
method helps understanding market acceptance as well
as anticipated marketing costs for the final product before
an MVP is built.
D. DRAFTING
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Hardware configuration references the details and system resource settings allotted for a specific
device. Many computer specialists improve hardware performance by adjusting configurations, which may also
include settings for the motherboard and the BIOS, as well as the bus speeds. With newer technology, most
computers have plug-and-play (PnP) allowing the OS to detect and configure external and internal peripherals,
as well as most adaptors.
Hardware Configuration Definition (HCD) Hardware Configuration Definition (HCD) allows you to define I/O
configurations to both the software and hardware from a single, interactive interface. To define configurations
to the hardware and software, you use HCD to create an input/output definition file (IODF).
2.1 Components of Graphics Hardware
Basically hardware includes the computer, a graphics display
terminal (monitor), input devices like digitizers, keyboard,
mouse and output equipment such as printers and plotters. Fig.
2.1 illustrates the basic elements of CAD hardware

In addition to input and output devices, the CAD hardware

includes: primary storage (RAM) and secondary storage devices
(like floppies, CD). Depending on the type of computer used,
there are 3 types of hardware configurations: (a) Using main-
frame computer and multiple graphics devices (b) Using
engineering workstations connected in a networked
environment (c) using personal computers in network.
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 Random scan
Raster-scan 1)random displays have high resolutions since the picture
1)raster displays have less resolutio. 2)the lines definition is stored as a set of line drawing commands and
producced are ziz-zag as the plotted values are discrete. not as a set of intensity values. 2)smooth lines are
3)high degree realism is achived in picture with the aid of produced as the electron beam directly follows the line
advanced shading and hidden surface technique. path.
4)decreasing memory costs have made raster systems 3)realism is difficult to achieve.
popular. 4)random-scan system's are generally costlier.
The file size is normally smaller than raster.