ACAD 2004 Project Help...

Hi Folks,

I need to create a complete set of engineering drawings for a general aviation aircraft. I will have hundreds of individual part drawings and many assembly drawings based on these parts. I am planning to model the aircraft in 3D and then create the working drawings based on this model. I would like your oppinion on how such a project would typically be structured. IOW, would you have a single file for each part consisting of a model and the drawings associated with just that part? Then, say, another file for each assembly of parts and the associated drawings of the assembly? Perhaps you'd do something completely different? Any help in this regard is appreciated.

Next, I'm fairly familiar with ACAD, but I am not very familiar with its 3D features. Would I be better served to use a product like RHINO

3D or maybe even Inventor to do the 3D design work? What problems, if any, will this create down the road other than having to modify the models using a seperate application?

TIA!

Reply to
wildcat
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FWIW. My opinions, there are others. I think a complete model of an aircraft, whilst not impossible, would be stretching acad's abilities to the limit. Inventor, Solidworks, Solidege would all probably do the job more easily. (I'm trying to model an entire truck tractor unit at the moment and A2004 is struggling a bit). For organisation, I have a base model of the main chassis rails. Each component is modelled in a separate file and xreffed into assemblies which will be xreffed a final model file. Each model file is also the manufacturing drawing for that part.

John B

johnbogie btinternet.com Put the "at" in the gap.

Reply to
john

That's pretty much how I set up my files too. However I tend to create not individual part files but logical assemblies. Say if it is a truck then the main chassis would have all of the associated equipment with it such as wheels, fuel tank e.t.c. The cabin assembly would have seats, steering wheel and so on. To control visibility of the parts they should be placed on separate layers. Is it what you do, John?

Regards,

Igor.

snipped-for-privacy@fel.u-net.com.> >

Reply to
Igor Mironenko
5CC6C8B89B294C0C0D7939BD

Hi Igor. Not exactly. My current client is not a truck manufacurer but is converting trucks to dual fuel (diesel + CNG or LNG). We remove some original equipment parts and replace them with ours - not always the same parts and not always in the same places. So, we need more flexiblilty hence each part in its own file. Otherwise I'd do much as you say. Actually, I cheat a bit by making additional copies of logical assemblies and binding and exploding xrefs and unioning as many parts as seems sensible. I'll just need to remember to update them when required.

CNG/LNG = Compressed/Liquified Natural Gas.

John B

johnbogie btinternet.com Put the "at" in the gap.

Reply to
john

Hi John,

Yes, that's just one of the way of setting up a project. As for the union of as many parts as seems sensible. Once I had a task to minimize the size of the 3D model of the diesel engine. The model was done with every detail and the size of the file was around 7Mb. All parts were union together because they thought it would make the file size smaller. I had to slice the model carefully and simplify it as much as possible since the only crucial elements needed were mounting points and connecting flanges. At the end the file became 2Mb. If the model wasn't union originally it would make the task much simpler. That's all.

Regards,

Igor.

snipped-for-privacy@fel.u-net.com.> Hi Igor.

Reply to
Igor Mironenko

Thank you John and Igor for your input! It helps to know I'm heading in the right direction.

WC

Reply to
wildcat
13E00C7D0BE83885352746E4

Yes, unioning doesn't always save a lot of complexity. Filling voids helps though - I fill boltholes and all interiors where possible.

Ciao

John B

johnbogie btinternet.com Put the "at" in the gap.

Reply to
john

I use "Imprint" tool for holes in plates. For example on base plates for columns. It saves a significant amount of memory. One should be careful when modifying those base plates (the holes disappear) but it is only a minor set-back.

Regards,

Igor.

snipped-for-privacy@fel.u-net.com.> >

Reply to
Igor Mironenko

You are most welcome.

Igor.

wildcat wrote:

Reply to
Igor Mironenko

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