Advertisement
If you have a new account but are having problems posting or verifying your account, please email us on hello@boards.ie for help. Thanks :)
Hello all! Please ensure that you are posting a new thread or question in the appropriate forum. The Feedback forum is overwhelmed with questions that are having to be moved elsewhere. If you need help to verify your account contact hello@boards.ie
Hi all,
Vanilla are planning an update to the site on April 24th (next Wednesday). It is a major PHP8 update which is expected to boost performance across the site. The site will be down from 7pm and it is expected to take about an hour to complete. We appreciate your patience during the update.
Thanks all.

best CAD package these days

Options
  • 23-03-2014 3:00pm
    #1
    aidanki
    Registered Users Posts: 1,262 ✭✭✭


    used to do CAD in college and liked it, then got employed in biomed field which isn't really CAD friendly in this country, its all about validations and all the rest

    anyway looking to brush up my skills again as have a few ideas in my head I want to work on

    whats the best package to use these days

    Im thinking Pro Engineer or maybe ANSYS workbench? Workbench might have the edge as it allows you to move on to simulation

    come to think of it, are there any certs that can be got for CAD ?

    in industry you can get a green belt or black belt if you are into statistics, or if you are into IT you can do these MS networking exams

    are there any good libraries of parts online anywhere


Comments

  • Options
    #2
    CatFromHue
    Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators Posts: 18,137 Mod ✭✭✭✭CatFromHue


    Depends if you mean Computer Aided Design or Drawing?

    Ansys would be more Design whereas ProE/Solidworks/Inventor would be more Drawing (though they do have FEA and CFD add ons).

    At least to the best of my knowledge you can't draw up large Assemblies in Workbench.


  • Options
    #3
    aidanki
    Registered Users Posts: 1,262 ✭✭✭aidanki


    CatFromHue wrote: »
    Depends if you mean Computer Aided Design or Drawing?

    Ansys would be more Design whereas ProE/Solidworks/Inventor would be more Drawing (though they do have FEA and CFD add ons).

    At least to the best of my knowledge you can't draw up large Assemblies in Workbench.


    Which is bigger in this country drawing or design ?

    Is it possible to get an industry standard cert in this country

    What I gather some of the big engineering companies do, the caterpillars john deeres etc is they seem to do the drawings in Pro/E and then further analysis in ANSYS ?
    Would that be a fair comment ?


  • Options
    #4
    CatFromHue
    Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators Posts: 18,137 Mod ✭✭✭✭CatFromHue


    Yeah you can model a part in a drawing program and then import it into ANSYS.

    Soildworks, which is the package I've mainly used but not for FEA, has an add on called Simulation which you can do FEA on the part you've drawn up. As far as I know ProE, Inventor, and Solidedge also have this capability to some degree. I don't think you can do as much material models on these programs as you can on ANSYS or a dedicated FEA program, the same goes for Non Linear and contact I believe.

    Drawing would be far bigger but it's application is far bigger. Every part that gets made needs a drawing of it but not every part that gets made needs an FEA done on it. I would have 5 years post grad experience using Solidworks but have never used the FEA part, it just wasn't needed for our applications.

    I'm more Solidworks centered as it's the program I've used but you can get certified in it, you do need your own copy of the program though or you need to attend classes on it.

    Examples of the tests you can be certified on:
    https://www.solidworks.com/sw/support/mcad-certification-programs.htm

    Examples of the courses you can do:
    http://www.solidsolutions.ie/training.htm

    I'd imagine there are other courses out there I just don't know them.

    PTC have a free to download program
    http://www.ptc.com/products/creo-elements-direct/modeling-express/

    and there are tutorials on youtube
    http://www.youtube.com/user/UsingCreo/videos?sort=dd&view=0&shelf_id=1

    If you want to just get the basics again but I don't know how relevant Creo is to the full ProE package. Someone else might be able to answer that for you.


  • Options
    #5
    aidanki
    Registered Users Posts: 1,262 ✭✭✭aidanki


    thanks for the info, 5 years thats a lot of clicking the mouse

    using the mouse left handed these days as my right wrist is beginning to get sore

    what type of mouse do you use, Im guessing those that are at CAD/CFD have a special mouse to avoid nagging wrists and fingers


  • Options
    #6
    CatFromHue
    Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators Posts: 18,137 Mod ✭✭✭✭CatFromHue


    I woudn't have been using Solidworks the whole time, as in I wasn't a dedicated CAD Tech, but it was part of my job.

    I used a five button mouse which was handy enough.

    I know there are some pretty mad looking mice out there but i wouldn't have needed them to be honest.


  • Advertisement
  • Options
    #7
    Shy Ted
    Registered Users Posts: 159 ✭✭Shy Ted


    aidanki wrote: »
    thanks for the info, 5 years thats a lot of clicking the mouse

    using the mouse left handed these days as my right wrist is beginning to get sore

    what type of mouse do you use, Im guessing those that are at CAD/CFD have a special mouse to avoid nagging wrists and fingers

    If you're getting a sore wrist it could be carpal tunnel syndrome. Can be common for cad users. Some people use a mouse pad with a wrist support built in which seems to help.

    As for a cad mouse I would recommend a space mouse from 3d connexion. Weird to use at first, but they're amazing for controlling the orientation of a model. Btw, you still use a regular mouse for doing the clicking. the space mouse is purely for orientation.


  • Options
    #8
    Mr. Tezza
    Registered Users Posts: 593 ✭✭✭Mr. Tezza


    If your more into AutoCAD 2004/2007 Dassault Systems (developers or Solidworks) have a free CAD package called Draftsight too

    Alternatively there's freeCAD


Advertisement