How Computer-Aided Design (CAD) Services are Used by Engineering Firms

How are (CAD) services utilized by engineering firms for product development, architectural design, and other applications? Keep reading to learn more about the subject.

How engineering firms use computer-aided design (CAD) services

Since CAD (computer-aided design) was introduced, computers have been used instead of traditional paper and pen. CAD enables different industries, from architecture to fashion, to produce tangible products, visualize concepts, explore ideas, and simulate and create designs. CAD software has become an alternative to traditional drawing boards that helps make design processes more intelligent and faster than ever before. This post discusses how computer-aided design engineering firms use design or CAD.

History of engineering and CAD

Computer-aided design, or CAD, has a rich and extensive history that can be traced back more than 50 years. During the 1970s, when the software started to gain traction, it was mainly used as a proprietary tool for different heavy industries. However, when the 80s came, commercial CAD systems began appearing in engineering, including the automotive, shipbuilding, and aerospace sectors. The introduction of parametric modelers, a CAD software design tool, resulted in a completely new method of designing and engineering.

With the help of these programs, manufacturing engineers were allowed to set apparent features, relationships, and parameters. In particular, parametric modelers were dominant in the advancement of engineering. For example, Boeing used CATIA, a parametric modeler, for drafting and designing its new 777 aircraft in 1988. CAD was a breakthrough in the engineering industry and started merging the roles of engineers, designers, and drafters. You might notice an overlap if you ask someone to describe the differences between these three roles.

Uses of CAD in engineering

Take a look at the different ways of using CAD in the field of engineering:

CAE (Computer-Aided Engineering)

CAD programs have evolved to suit the needs of various industries over the years. Today, CAD applications come with rendering capabilities and tools that are either standalone products or integrated models. CAE tools are used for the analysis of the performance of assemblies and components. CAE services include validation, optimization, and simulation of manufacturing tools and products. The specific tools include the following:

Computational fluid dynamics: fluid flow and thermal analysis.
Finite element analysis: the stress analysis on assemblies and components.
Multibody dynamics: the dynamic behavior of related bodies.

Modern engineers possess capabilities made possible by CAE and CAD, which led to the completion of design verification using computer simulations instead of physical prototype testing. Recently, CAE has seen remarkable growth, with manufacturing industries using it mainly to predict product performance, validation, and optimization.

Design

CAD drafting and design companies also utilize (CAD) services in engineering to produce models, specifications, and designs for mechanical systems or components. Engineers can use the software from the early conceptual phases to the analysis of product strength to the methods of manufacturing the parts. The computer-aided design (CAD) also provides the precision, accuracy, and quality required for manufacturing and engineering.

CAD also helps speed up the entire production process, eliminating the need for engineers to redraw their designs or blueprints whenever modifications or tweaks are required. Instead, engineers can use the elements from the earlier designs again and redesign, analyze, and isolate the individual components.

Simulations

Aside from helping engineers create their designs, CAD also allows them to conduct a complete analysis of their designs using simulations (finite element analysis services). It permits engineers to calculate the tolerances of their designs, simulate the fluid flow, and measure stress levels. They can also figure out the weaknesses and strengths of their designs without necessarily having to manufacture them.

CAD software helps troubleshoot problems and identify flaws engineers would have otherwise discovered after production. In addition, it also simulates how the prototype will function in specific environments, including extreme environments that are difficult to reproduce in the real world. The CAD packages also use CAE applications to assist with engineering analysis tasks.

Benefits of computer-aided design (CAD) in the engineering industry

With various uses of CAD in engineering, it is easy to see why the whole industry has embraced the software. CAD software gave engineering design firms access to numerous excellent capabilities. Here are some benefits of using CAD software for both designers and engineers across the entire engineering industry:

1. Improved collaboration and documentation

CAD allows accessible and faster documentation of each step of the design process, ensuring designs won’t be lost or damaged over time. Engineers can save their designs and then send them to clients for feedback or share them with their fellow engineers for seamless collaboration.

2. Cost efficiency

A physical prototype for every step of the design process is no longer needed. Engineers can tweak their CAD prototypes and take projects directly to manufacturing after reviewing them. As a result, engineers can look forward to shorter completion times of the designs and lower costs.

3. Faster execution of designs

Before CAD, mechanical engineers repeatedly drafted designs whenever they discovered an error or flow. As expected, this repetitive cycle lengthened and delayed the design process. CAD software allows engineers to make changes quickly and easily.

4. Better quality of designs

CAD software allows engineers to input data and designs to review the operation and efficiency of a planned device or object and animate the design to visualize a component’s function. Therefore, designers can make rapid modifications and corrections to the proposed designs in a low-cost and risk-free environment. It results in high-quality and functional products without costly design flaws or errors.

5. Laying the manufacturing foundation

If you are designing a component or device for mass production, the initial documentation and design work form the foundation of all the fabrication efforts later. In the past, it required the identification of the final design. All the specifications for production were also included, such as the recommended or required materials, physical parameters, and dimensions in the finished document.

CAD designs are updated while you refine them, and the unnecessary or obsolete details and data are removed as the design process progresses. After finishing the designs in CAD software, this can serve as a readymade prototype design engineering services foundation for mass production without any additional preparation.

6. More control and precisions

Engineers can now measure and analyze the different components of their projects, and CAD can make the design process more efficient and intuitive.

7. Save time

Engineering projects often involve tight timelines for getting equipment and systems in place or the products to market. Conventional design techniques typically require long periods of assessment and testing to determine the flaws or inefficiencies, correct them, and test them repeatedly. It leads to the need for bigger budgets for the project while increasing the risks of budget overruns for setbacks, whether in the implementation or design phases.

CAD can reduce or eliminate this step because it allows designers to make changes to their design, test functionality, and analyze improvements before manufacturing a component or product. After finalizing the design, you can deliver the precise specifications to the fabricator to streamline production, installation, and delivery schedules.

What is a CAD engineer?

CAD engineers have different levels, from senior to junior. Most of the time, senior roles have more complexity and responsibility and come with higher compensation. Alternatively, junior CAD engineers begin with basic design tasks as they work on 2D drawings, commonly called CAD drafting. They also work under the supervision of more senior CAD engineers. As CAD engineers gain more knowledge and experience, they take on more complex tasks, including running simulations and 3D modeling, that requires a deeper understanding of the CAD package and a more extensive knowledge of the engineering discipline that the CAD engineer is working on.

Other tasks may also include:

Drawing the old technical drawings again.
Converting PDF files to DWG/DFX files.
Altering the design of a part or component to suit new manufacturing or design specifications.

Summary

This article covered a brief history of CAD and its common uses and benefits in engineering while providing insight into what CAD engineers do. CAD services (computer-aided design services) have become indispensable tools for engineering firms.

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