AutoCAD Mechanical 2008_Users Guide
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Transcript of AutoCAD Mechanical 2008_Users Guide
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AutoCAD Mechanical 2008
Users Guide
January 30, 2007Part No. 20612-050000-5000A
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2007 Autodesk, Inc. All Rights ReservedDisclaimerThis publication, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form, by any method, for any purpose.AUTODESK, INC., MAKES NO WARRANTY, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OFMERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE REGARDING THESE MATERIALS, AND MAKES SUCH MATERIALS AVAILABLESOLELY ON AN "AS-IS" BASIS. IN NO EVENT SHALL AUTODESK, INC., BE LIABLE TO ANYONE FOR SPECIAL, COLLATERAL, INCIDENTAL, ORCONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES IN CONNECTION WITH OR ARISING OUT OF ACQUISITION OR USE OF THESE MATERIALS. THE SOLE ANDEXCLUSIVE LIABILITY TO AUTODESK, INC., REGARDLESS OF THE FORM OF ACTION, SHALL NOT EXCEED THE PURCHASE PRICE, IF ANY, OFTHE MATERIALS DESCRIBED HEREIN.Autodesk, Inc., reserves the right to revise and improve its products as it sees fit. This publication describes the state of this product at the timeof its publication, and may not reflect the product at all times in the future.
TrademarksThe following are registered trademarks or trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., in the USA and other countries: 3DEC (design/logo), 3December,3December.com, 3ds Max, ActiveShapes, Actrix, ADI, Alias, Alias (swirl design/logo), AliasStudio, Alias|Wavefront (design/logo), ATC, AUGI,AutoCAD, AutoCAD Learning Assistance, AutoCAD LT, AutoCAD Simulator, AutoCAD SQL Extension, AutoCAD SQL Interface, Autodesk, AutodeskEnvision, Autodesk Insight, Autodesk Intent, Autodesk Inventor, Autodesk Map, Autodesk MapGuide, Autodesk Streamline, AutoLISP, AutoSnap,AutoSketch, AutoTrack, Backdraft, Built with ObjectARX (logo), Burn, Buzzsaw, CAiCE, Can You Imagine, Character Studio, Cinestream, Civil3D, Cleaner, Cleaner Central, ClearScale, Colour Warper, Combustion, Communication Specification, Constructware, Content Explorer,Create>whats>Next> (design/logo), Dancing Baby (image), DesignCenter, Design Doctor, Designer's Toolkit, DesignKids, DesignProf, DesignServer,DesignStudio, Design|Studio (design/logo), Design Your World, Design Your World (design/logo), DWF, DWG, DWG (logo), DWG TrueConvert,DWG TrueView, DXF, EditDV, Education by Design, Extending the Design Team, FBX, Filmbox, FMDesktop, GDX Driver, Gmax, Heads-upDesign, Heidi, HOOPS, HumanIK, i-drop, iMOUT, Incinerator, IntroDV, Kaydara, Kaydara (design/logo), LocationLogic, Lustre, Maya, MechanicalDesktop, MotionBuilder, ObjectARX, ObjectDBX, Open Reality, PolarSnap, PortfolioWall, Powered with Autodesk Technology, Productstream,ProjectPoint, Reactor, RealDWG, Real-time Roto, Render Queue, Revit, Showcase, SketchBook, StudioTools, Topobase, Toxik, Visual, VisualBridge, Visual Construction, Visual Drainage, Visual Hydro, Visual Landscape, Visual Roads, Visual Survey, Visual Syllabus, Visual Toolbox, VisualTugboat, Visual LISP, Voice Reality, Volo, and Wiretap.The following are registered trademarks or trademarks of Autodesk Canada Co. in the USA and/or Canada and other countries: Backburner,Discreet, Fire, Flame, Flint, Frost, Inferno, Multi-Master Editing, River, Smoke, Sparks, Stone, Wire.All other brand names, product names or trademarks belong to their respective holders.
Third-Party Software Credits and AttributionsACIS Copyright 1989-2001 Spatial Corp.Copyright 1999-2000 The Apache Software Foundation. All rights reserved. This product includes software developed by the Apache SoftwareFoundation (http://www.apache.org) subject to its license terms and conditions (http://xml. apache.org/dist/LICENSE.txt).Typefaces from the Bitstream typeface library Copyright 1992.HLM Copyright D-Cubed Ltd. 1996-2006. HLM is a trademark of D-Cubed Ltd.AutoCAD 2008 and AutoCAD LT 2008 are produced under a license of data derived from DIC Color Guide from Dainippon Ink andChemicals, Inc. Copyright Dainippon Ink and Chemicals, Inc. All rights reserved. DIC and DIC Color Guide are registered trademarks ofDainippon Ink and Chemicals, Inc..Portions of this software are based on the work of the Independent JPEG Group.Active Delivery 2.0 1999-2004 Inner Media, Inc. All rights reserved.ISYS and the ISYS logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of ISYS Search Software Inc.Copyright 1988-1997 Sam Leffler. Copyright 1991-1997 Silicon Graphics, Inc.Copyright Lingea s.r.o. 2006.The New Features Workshop contains Macromedia Flash Player software by Macromedi, Inc. Copyright 1995-2005 Macromedia, Inc. Allrights reserved. Macromedia and Flash are registered trademarks or trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States or othercountries.Copyright 1996-2006 Macrovision Corporation. All rights reserved.Copyright 1996-2002 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.Copyright 2002 Joseph M. OLeary.PANTONE Colors displayed in the software application or in the user documentation may not match PANTONE-identified standards. Consultcurrent PANTONE Color Publications for accurate color.PANTONE and other Pantone, Inc. trademarks are the property of Pantone, Inc. Pantone, Inc., 2004. Pantone Inc. is the coyright of colordata and/or software which are licensed to Autodesk, Inc., to distribute for use only in combination with certain Autodesk software products.PANTONE Color Data and/or Software shall not be copied onto another disk or into memory unless as part of the execution of this Autodesksoftware product.Typefaces from Payne Loving Trust 1992, 1996. All rights reserved.RAL DESIGN RAL, Sankt Augustin, 2004RAL CLASSIC RAL, Sankt Augustin, 2004Representation of the RAL Colors is done with the approval of RAL Deutsches Institut fr Gtesicherung und Kennzeichnung e.V. (RAL GermanInstitute for Quality Assurance and Certification, re. Assoc.), D-53757 Sankt Augustin.This product includes code licensed from RSA Security, Inc. Some portions licensed from IBM are available at http://oss.software.ibm.com/icu4j/.The Sentry Spelling-Checker Engine Copyright 1994-2003 Wintertree Software, Inc.
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Portions of this software include one or more Boost libraries. Use of the Boost libraries is subject to its license agreementhttp://www.boost.org/LICENSE_1_0.txt.Genius, Genius CAD Software GmbH and CoKG, licensed to Autodesk Inc. for limited use in connection with Genius14, Genius LT, Genius
Desktop, Genius Mold, Genius Motion, Genius Pool, GeniusProfile, Genius SAP, Genius TNT, and Genius Vario.Cypress Enable, Cypress Software, Inc.dBase is a registered trademark of Ksoft, Inc.SPEC, Associated Spring/Barnes Group, Inc.Stingray Objective Toolkit & Objective Grid Rogue Wave Software, Inc..PKWARE Data Compression Library , PKWARE, IncPrinted manual produced with Idiom WorldServer.
GOVERNMENT USEUse, duplication, or disclosure by the U.S. Government is subject to restrictions as set forth in FAR 12.212 (Commercial ComputerSoftware-Restricted Rights) and DFAR 227.7202 (Rights in Technical Data and Computer Software), as applicable.Published By: Autodesk, Inc. 111 Mclnnis Parkway San Rafael, CA 94903, USA
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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
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Contents
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Chapter 1 About AutoCAD Mechanical . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3AutoCAD Mechanical Software Package . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Leveraging Legacy Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Starting AutoCAD Mechanical . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Accessing AutoCAD Mechanical Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5AutoCAD Mechanical Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5Product Support and Training Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6Design Features in AutoCAD Mechanical . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Mechanical Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7Associative Design and Detailing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7External References for Mechanical Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . 8Associative 2D Hide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8Autodesk Inventor Companion Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92D Design Productivity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9Engineering Calculations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10Machinery Systems Generators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10Intelligent Production Drawing and Detailing . . . . . . . . . . . 11Detailing Productivity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11Annotations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12Standard Mechanical Content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12Standard Parts Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
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Collaboration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Chapter 2 Commands in AutoCAD Mechanical . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15Command Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Chapter 3 New and Revised Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43Revised Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
AMBALLOON . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44AMBOM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44AMOPTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45AMPARTLIST . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45AMPARTREF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46AMPARTREFEDIT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46AMPOWERDIM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46AMSCATLOG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47AMSCREATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47AMSEXTERNALIZE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48AMSINSERT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48AMSLOCALIZE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48AMSNEW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49AMSTLSHAP2D . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49AMSURFSYM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49AMWELDSYMBOL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
New Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50AMBROWSEROPEN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50AMBROWSERCLOSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51AMSCATALOGOPEN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51AMSCATALOGCLOSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51AMSNAVMODE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Design and Annotation Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Chapter 4 Working with Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55Key Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56Working with Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Setting Up Starting Layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57Setting Mechanical Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58Specifying Drawing Limits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60Saving Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60Using Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62Setting Default Standards Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Chapter 5 Using Mechanical Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
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Key Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66Working with Mechanical Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Enabling Mechanical structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68Folders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Creating Folders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68Modifying Folders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69Nesting Folders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71Instance vs. Occurrence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Selection Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74Components and Component Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76Creating Part Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76Creating Assembly Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78Modifying Assembly Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81Using Folders with Component Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Mechanical Browser Display Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86Mechanical Browser and BOMs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88Browser Restructure and Ghost Components . . . . . . . . . . . 90
External Reference Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96Inserting External Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97Editing External Components In-place . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101Localizing and Externalizing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Annotation Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104Associative Hide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Basics of AMSHIDE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107Using AMSHIDE in Assemblies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
Chapter 6 Working with Layers and Layer Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113Key Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114Working with Layers and Layer Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
Getting Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115Changing Layers By Selecting Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116Creating Layer Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117Using Layer Groups to Copy Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
Chapter 7 Designing Levers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127Key Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128Extending Designs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
Using Libraries to Insert Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129Configuring Snap Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131Creating Construction Lines (C-Lines) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132Creating additional C-Lines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135Creating Contours and Applying Fillets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138Trimming Projecting Edges on Contours . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140Applying Hatch Patterns to Contours . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143Dimensioning Contours . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
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Creating and Dimensioning Detail Views . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
Chapter 8 Working with Model Space and Layouts . . . . . . . . . . . . 151Key Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152Working with Model Space and Layouts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
Getting Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153Creating Scale Areas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153Creating Detail Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156Generating New Viewports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158Inserting Holes Within Viewports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160Creating Subassemblies in New Layouts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
Chapter 9 Dimensioning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169Key Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170Adding Dimensions to Drawings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
Adding Automatic Dimensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171Editing Dimensions with Power Commands . . . . . . . . . . . 175Breaking Dimension Lines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179Inserting Drawing Borders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180Inserting Fits Lists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
Chapter 10 Working with 2D Hide and 2D Steel Shapes . . . . . . . . . . 185Key Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186Working with 2D Hide and 2D Steel Shapes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
Opening the initial drawing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186Defining 2D Hide Situations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187Inserting 2D Steel Shapes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190Modifying Steel Shapes Using Power Commands . . . . . . . . . 193Editing 2D Hide Situations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194Copying and Moving 2D Hide Situations . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
Chapter 11 Working with Standard Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201Key Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202Working with Standard Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
Inserting Screw Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205Copying Screw Connections with Power Copy . . . . . . . . . . 211Creating Screw Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213Editing Screw Connections with Power Edit . . . . . . . . . . . 222Working with Power View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226Deleting with Power Erase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229Inserting Holes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231Inserting Pins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234Turning Off Centerlines in Configurations . . . . . . . . . . . . 237Hiding Construction Lines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238
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Simplifying Representations of Standard Parts . . . . . . . . . . 239
Chapter 12 Working with BOMs and Parts Lists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243Key Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244Working with Parts Lists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244
Inserting Part References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245Editing Part References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248Placing Balloons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249Creating Parts Lists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255Merging and Splitting Items In Parts Lists . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261Collecting Balloons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265Sorting and Renumbering Items In Parts Lists . . . . . . . . . . 267Using Filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270
Chapter 13 Creating Shafts with Standard Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277Key Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278Creating Shafts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279
Configuring Snap Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280Configuring Shaft Generators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281Creating Cylindrical Shaft Sections and Gears . . . . . . . . . . 282Inserting Spline Profiles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286Inserting Chamfers and Fillets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287Inserting Shaft Breaks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288Creating Side Views of Shafts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289Inserting Threads on Shafts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290Editing Shafts and Inserting Sections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291Replacing Shaft Sections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292Inserting Bearings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294
Chapter 14 Calculating Shafts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299Key Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300Calculating Shafts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301
Creating Shaft Contours . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302Specifying Material . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303Placing Shaft Supports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305Specifying Loads on Shafts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305Calculating and Inserting Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308Calculating Strengths of Shafts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311
Engineering Calculations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315
Chapter 15 Calculating Moments of Inertia and Deflection Lines . . . . . . 317Key Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 318
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Calculating Moments of Inertia and Deflection Lines . . . . . . . . . 318Calculating Moments of Inertia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 319Calculating Deflection Lines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321
Chapter 16 Calculating Chains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 327Key Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 328Chain Calculations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 328
Performing Length Calculations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 329Optimizing Chain Lengths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 332Inserting Sprockets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333Inserting Chains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 338
Chapter 17 Calculating Springs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 341Key Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 342Calculating Springs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 342
Starting Spring Calculations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 344Specifying Spring Restrictions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 345Calculating and Selecting Springs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 348Inserting Springs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 351Creating Views of Springs with Power View . . . . . . . . . . . . 352
Chapter 18 Calculating Screw Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 355Key Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 356Methods for Calculating Screws . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 356Using Stand Alone Screw Calculations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 357
Selecting and Specifying Screws . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 358Selecting and Specifying Nuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 360Selecting and Specifying Washers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 361Specifying Plate Geometry and Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . 361Specifying Contact Areas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 364Specifying Loads and Moments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 365Specifying Settlement Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 367Specifying Tightening Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 368Creating and Inserting Result Blocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 369
Chapter 19 Calculating Stress Using FEA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 371Key Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3722D FEA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 372
Calculating Stress In Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 374Defining Loads and Supports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 375Calculating Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 377Evaluating and Refining Mesh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 379Refining Designs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 381Recalculating Stress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 382
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Chapter 20 Designing and Calculating Cams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 387Key Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 388Designing and Calculating Cams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 388
Starting Cam Designs and Calculations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 389Defining Motion Sections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 393Calculating Strength for Springs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 399Exporting Cam Data and Viewing Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . 403
Autodesk Inventor Link . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 405
Chapter 21 Using Autodesk Inventor Link Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . 407Key Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 408Linking Autodesk Inventor Part Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 408
Shading and Rotating Geometry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 409Inserting Drawing Borders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 410Creating Drawing Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 414Working with Dimensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 421
Exporting Drawing Views to AutoCAD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 425Linking Autodesk Inventor Assembly Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 427
Accessing Parts from the Browser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 428Accessing iProperties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 428Inserting Drawing Borders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 431Creating Parts Lists & Balloons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 432Creating Breakout Section Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 436Modifying Breakout Section Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 443Removing Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 445
Updating Autodesk Inventor Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 446
Appendix A Layer Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 447Layer Specification Listing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 448
Appendix B Title Block Attributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 453Attributes for Title Blocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 454
Attribute Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 454Curly Brackets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 455Message Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 456
Appendix C Accelerator and Shortcut Keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 457Accelerator Keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 458
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 463
Contents | xi
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xii
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Overview
In this partPart I provides information for getting started with your
AutoCAD Mechanical software. About AutoCADMechanical
Commands in AutoCADMechanical
It includes an overview of the product capabilities, a summary
of commands with their toolbuttons and descriptions, and a New and RevisedCommands
summary of new and revised commands in this release of
AutoCAD Mechanical.
In addition, Part I includes information about methods to
access commands, AutoCAD Mechanical Help, and product
support and training resources.
1
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2
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About AutoCADMechanical
In this chapterThis chapter provides information about the AutoCAD
Mechanical software application. It describes the software AutoCAD MechanicalSoftware Package
package, the basic design features in the software, and the
methods for accessing commands.
Leveraging Legacy Data
Starting AutoCADMechanical
Accessing AutoCADMechanical Commands
A brief overview of the Help, along with information about
where to find resources for product learning, training, and
support are included.
AutoCAD Mechanical Help
Product Support andTraining Resources
Design Features inAutoCAD Mechanical
1
3
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AutoCAD Mechanical Software Package
AutoCAD Mechanical is a 2D mechanical design and drafting solution forengineers, designers, and detailers. Its intelligent production drawing anddetailing features decrease the time required to create and change 2Dproduction designs. AutoCAD Mechanical introduces many 3D concepts ina familiar 2D environment. It is powered by AutoCAD, with its easy-to-usepalette interface and time-saving xref functionality.
The AutoCAD Mechanical design software package includes both AutoCADMechanical and AutoCAD. You can use one Options dialog box to customizesettings for both AutoCAD Mechanical and AutoCAD.
Leveraging Legacy Data
The tools for migrating legacy data are installed automatically when you installthe AutoCAD Mechanical software. A separate utility tool is available foradding structure to legacy files after they are migrated.
The integrated Autodesk IGES Translator for transferring and sharing of CADdata between CAD/CAM/CAE systems is installed along with the AutoCADMechanical product.
Newly generated files in AutoCAD Mechanical can be saved to a previousversion so that you can run multiple versions of AutoCAD Mechanical withinthe same environment.
Starting AutoCAD Mechanical
You can start AutoCAD Mechanical by using one of the following procedures:
Click Start on the task bar, and then choose Programs. Select Autodesk AutoCAD Mechanical 2008.
On the desktop, double-click the AutoCAD Mechanical icon:
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Accessing AutoCAD Mechanical Commands
AutoCAD Mechanical provides several methods to access commands andmanage your design process.
The following are samples of the access methods available to you:
In the graphics area, right-click and choose Power Edit.Context Menu
Toolbutton
Modify Power Commands Power EditMenuAMPOWEREDITCommand
The step-by-step procedures in the tutorials in Part II of this manual indicatethe command name in the opening procedural text. The appropriate toolbuttonis displayed in the margin next to the preferred access method. In the tutorials,the context menu method is used when the menus are sensitive to what youare doing. The browser method is used when you can save time and steps.You can use any of the alternate methods as well.
Here is an example of how methods are used in the tutorials:
1 Use AMPOWEREDIT to edit a feature.
In the graphics area, right-click and choose Power Edit.Context Menu
NOTE To find the location of a particular toolbutton, refer to Appendix A.
AutoCAD Mechanical Help
The Help in AutoCAD Mechanical provides information about AutoCADMechanical with the power pack.
The Help is formatted for easy navigation, and includes:
Content organized by the major functional areas of AutoCAD Mechanical,with Concept, Reference, and Procedure pages for each functional area.Procedure pages provide step by step instructions on how to execute agiven task. The linked Concept page provides background informationabout the procedure. The linked Reference pages contain information
Accessing AutoCAD Mechanical Commands | 5
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about all the commands and dialog boxes visited while performing theprocedure.
Specific information about each of the features in the program.
Concepts and procedures for the new features in this release.
A keyword index and search function.
Printable Command Reference.
Guides to system variables and accelerator keys.
Access to Support Assistance with integrated links to solutions.
For access to Help, you can choose from the following methods:
From the Help menu, select Mechanical Help Topics.
Select the Help button in the standard toolbar.
Press F1.
Click the Help button within a dialog box.
Product Support and Training Resources
Be more productive with Autodesk software. Get trained at an AutodeskAuthorized Training Center (ATC) with hands-on, instructor-led classes tohelp you get the most from your Autodesk products. Enhance your productivitywith proven training from over 1,400 ATC sites in more than 75 countries.For more information about Autodesk Authorized Training Centers, [email protected] or visit the online ATC locator atwww.autodesk.com/atc.
Sources for product support are listed on the AutoCAD Mechanical ProductInformation Web page. From the AutoCAD Mechanical Web site athttp://www.autodesk.com/autocadmech, navigate to the Support Knowledge Base.You can also navigate to the Community page, which contains links to variouscommunities, including the AutoCAD Mechanical Discussion Group.
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Design Features in AutoCAD Mechanical
This section provides an overview of the functionality in the AutoCADMechanical software, including numerous innovative 2D design features.
Mechanical Structure
Mechanical structure comprises a suite of 2D structure tools for organizingdrawings and for reusing associative data. The capabilities of reuse in blocksand accessibility in layer groups are combined in mechanical structure. Whenyou start the AutoCAD Mechanical application, the Mechanical structureenvironment is enabled by default. You can also work with it disabled.
The mechanical structure tools include:
A browser interface for structured 2D mechanical design, where parts,assemblies, views, and folders containing associated data are organized,structured, and managed. Standard parts are automatically organized andmanaged in the browser. All components are accessible through the browserfor many functions, and filters can be set to control the type and level ofdetail of information displayed.
Folders in the browser are used for capturing elements of design for reuse.These elements provide all of the associative instancing benefits ofcomponents, but do not register as items in the live BOM database. Theycan contain geometry.
All geometry remains selectable and editable at all times using familiarcommands in open workflows. Workflows for structure can be bottom-up(recommended), middle-out (the most flexible and common workflow),and top-down (not the primary workflow).
Associative Design and Detailing
The browser is used to manage and reuse data in both the design and detailingdrafting stages. Many functions can be performed in the browser, includingthe following:
You can instance components and assemblies multiple times. The liveBOM database in AutoCAD Mechanical keeps track of the quantity of eachpart or assembly used.
Design Features in AutoCAD Mechanical | 7
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Changes made to an associative instance of a part or assembly, associativecomponent, assembly detailing view, or a standard part or feature areautomatically reflected in the other instances.
Folders, components, and individual views of components can be reusedas needed. They maintain full associativity with each other.
Annotation views can be created for components and assemblies to fullydocument the design. Changes made to geometry result in associativedimensions being updated to reflect the change.
External References for Mechanical Structure
External References for mechanical structure provides for the components ofa drawing to be inserted as an external reference to multiple drawings.Conversely, multiple drawings can be attached as external references to asingle drawing.
The following are the key benefits of external references for mechanicalstructure:
Increased efficiency by allowing insertion of structure components frommany drawings as external reference associatively for concurrent design.
Reuse of parts from existing assembly drawings very quickly.
Those involved in multiple design projects that reference the same drawingare able to obtain the most updated design from the externally referencecomponent.
Ability to set up design specific reference directories as libraries for differentapplications.
Associative 2D Hide
The 2D hide situation tool in AutoCAD Mechanical automates the process toaccurately represent parts and features which are partially or completely hiddenin drawing views. The following are some of the 2D hide benefits:
Associative hide situations are managed in the browser.
The underlying geometry is not altered when you create an associativehide situation.
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When geometry is hidden, AutoCAD Mechanical knows it is a componentin the mechanical structure, and provides a tooltip with the name andview of the component.
Autodesk Inventor Companion Support
Autodesk Inventor companion support redefines the meaning of 3D to 2Dinteroperability. Use the companion functionality to:
Access and associatively document native 3D part models without thepresence of Autodesk Inventor.
Visualize part models, examine and use part properties such as material,name, and number.
Associatively document part models using precision hidden-line removedprojections, dimensions, and annotations.
Link to the native Autodesk Inventor part models automatically notifiesyou of changes and enables updating of views and annotations to keepyour drawing up-to-date.
2D Design Productivity
These features increase productivity and reduce the number of steps neededto complete mechanical designs:
AutoCAD Mechanical provides an intelligent, customizable layermanagement system that puts objects on the appropriate layersautomatically.
Entities that are not on the current layer group, or entities that are on alocked layer group can be displayed in a different color to reduce screenclutter.
2D hidden-line calculations are based on defined foreground andbackground objects. You can choose hidden line representation types.
Auto detailing creates detailed drawings of individual components froman assembly drawing.
One set of power commands is used to create, update, and edit objects.
Autodesk Inventor Companion Support | 9
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Mechanical line objects are available for creating centerlines and centercrosses, construction lines, symmetrical lines, section lines, break lines,and others.
Linear/symmetric stretch is used to modify dimensioned geometry bychanging the dimension value.
Predefined hatch patterns are applicable in two picks from toolbars andmenus.
Engineering Calculations
The automatic engineering calculations available in AutoCAD Mechanicalensure proper function in mechanical designs.
The 2D FEA feature determines the resistance capability of an object putunder a static load and analyzes design integrity under various loads.
A number of moment of inertia and beam deflection calculations areavailable.
Engineering calculations are available for shafts, bearings, and screws.
Machinery Systems Generators
Machinery systems in AutoCAD Mechanical generate the design andcalculation of shafts, springs, belts and chains, and cams. These tools ensurethat you get the design right the first time:
With the shaft generator, you can create drawing views of solid and hollowshafts. Common shaft features supported include center holes, chamfers,cones, fillets, grooves, profiles, threads, undercuts, and wrench fittings.Common standard parts supported include bearings, gears, retaining rings,and seals.
With the spring generator, you select, calculate, and insert compression,extension, and torsion springs, and Belleville spring washers in a design.You control the representation type of the spring, and create a spec formto incorporate in the drawing.
The belt and chain generator function provides features to create chainand sprocket systems, belt and pulley systems, calculate optimal lengths
10 | Chapter 1 About AutoCAD Mechanical
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for chains and belts, and insert these assemblies in your design. Chainsand belts can be selected from standard libraries.
The cam generator creates cam plates and cylindrical cams given inputborder conditions. You can calculate and display velocity, acceleration,and the cam curve path. You can couple driven elements to the cam andcreate NC data through the curve on the path.
Intelligent Production Drawing and Detailing
A number of commands are available in AutoCAD Mechanical that automatethe process to create balloons and bills of material.
You can create formatted balloons and bills of material, as well as detailedviews of portions of designs.
Multiple parts lists per drawing are supported. Grouping of a parts listprovides lists of like items. Selected items can be combined to calculatetotal length required for stock ordering. The parts lists recognize standardparts. You can format item numbers on parts lists.
Standard-sized drawing borders and customizable title blocks are available.
Intelligent and associative hole tables show a total count of each type ofhole along with a description of them. A second chart lists the coordinatesfor each of the holes selected. Any update to the holes is reflected in thecharts.
A language converter translates text on a drawing into one of seventeendifferent languages.
Revision control tables in drawings track revisions and display comments.
Fits lists chart all fits used in a drawing.
Detailing Productivity
Smart dimensions automatically maintain the proper arrangement witheach other.
Power dimension commands provide a single command to create and editall dimensions, apply specified formats, and add fits or tolerances.
Intelligent Production Drawing and Detailing | 11
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Dimensions are automatic for 2D geometry with either ordinate or baselinedimensions.
One command quickly cleans up and arranges dimensions in 2D drawings.One system setting controls the scale for drawing symbols in all views.
Commands are available for align, break, insert, and join to easilydimension a drawing.
Annotations
Hole notes can be inserted for standard holes.
Commands are available to create standards-based surface texture symbols,geometric dimensioning and tolerances, targets, and weld symbols.
Fits description command creates fits descriptions for standard holes.
Leader command creates intelligent balloons and other leaders commonin mechanical drawings.
Standard Mechanical Content
Standard content includes parametrically generated, intelligent geometry thatyou can use to generate an object from scratch. The following are available:
About 600,000 standard parts, including screws, nuts, washers, pins, rivets,bushings, rings, seals, bearings, keys, and others, can be quicklyincorporated into any design.
About 8,000 standard features, including center holes, undercuts, keyways,and thread ends can be quickly incorporated into any design.
More than 20,000 standard holes, including through, blind, counterbored,countersunk, oblong, and others, can be quickly incorporated into anydesign.
Thousands of structural steel shapes, including U-shape, I-shape, T-shape,L-shape, Z-shape, rectangular tube, round tube, rectangular full beam,rectangular round beam, and others, can be quickly incorporated into anydesign.
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Standard Parts Tools
Standard part tools provide for the elements that go with standard parts, suchas a hole to accompany a screw. These tools include:
Screw connection feature for selecting entire fastener assemblies at onetime.
Changeable representation of a standard part between a normal, simplified,or symbolic representation.
Power view to automatically generate a different view of a standard part,such as a top view from a front view.
Collaboration
Enjoy the benefits of design collaboration for your 2D output through AutodeskStreamline support. Autodesk Streamline is a hosted Web service for sharingpersonalized design data across the entire extended manufacturing enterprise.
Autodesk Streamline functionality includes the following:
Members can view and interact with the 3D data set published on AutodeskStreamline, without waiting for the data to download.
Using Streamline, many people can share design information andcollaborate online. Functionality includes instant messages, e-mailnotifications, polling/voting, discussion threads, database creation, andmore.
AutoCAD Mechanical data can be written to the AutoCAD DWF file format,which is one of the file types that Autodesk Streamline leverages.
You can export 3D CAD data in ZGL format (a compressed form of astandard Open GL file format called XGL). ZGL readily captures 3D datathat can be rendered by the Open GL library. ZGL files can then beuploaded to Autodesk Streamline.
Standard Parts Tools | 13
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14
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Commands in AutoCADMechanical
In this chapterThis chapter provides a list of the commands available in
AutoCAD Mechanical, along with a brief description of the
function of each command and the associated toolbutton.
Command Summary
2
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Command Summary
The following is a list of the AutoCAD Mechanical commands, a briefdescription of each, and the associated toolbutton.
Some commands do not have an associated toolbutton. This list does notcontain AutoCAD commands.
In some cases where some of the task-specific toolbars are available in a morecomprehensive format from the Main toolbar at View Toolbars, it is notedin the table.
DescriptionCommand NameToolbut-ton
Provides layer group support within theAutoCAD Design Center.
ADCENTER
Hides invisible edges in unstructured situ-ations.
AM2DHIDE
Edits existing unstructured hide situations.AM2DHIDEDIT
Creates an adjusting ring on a shaft.AMADJRINGS2D
Creates a file in which the current layer struc-ture of the drawing is written.
AMANALYSEDWG
Creates, deletes, adds, and moves annotationsassociated with drawing views.
AMANNOTE
Suits an existing hatch to a changed contour.AMASSOHATCH
Displays or attaches non attached symbols.AMATTACHSYM
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DescriptionCommand NameToolbut-ton
Automatically creates construction lines onselected drawing elements.
AMAUTOCLINES
Creates an external detail drawing (xref) ofselected elements from an assembly drawing.
AMAUTODETAIL
Creates chain, baseline, ordinate in both axes,shaft, or symmetric dimensions.
AMAUTODIM
Creates and places a balloon.AMBALLOON
Performs calculation on bearings.AMBEARCALC
Selects, calculates, and inserts Belleville springwashers, and inserts spring specification tablesin drawings.
AMBELL2D
Creates a standard related blind hole.AMBHOLE2D
Creates a formatted BOM database containinga list of attributes, parts lists with item num-bers, and lists of like items in a BOM.
AMBOM
Breaks a line, polyline, or a spline on a spe-cified point.
AMBREAKATPT
Draws a special spline to show the breakoutborders.
AMBROUTLINE
Command Summary | 17
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DescriptionCommand NameToolbut-ton
Switches the mechanical browser on and off.AMBROWSER
Switches the mechanical browser on.AMBROWSEROPEN
Switches the mechanical browser off.AMBROWSERCLOSE
Creates a blind slot.AMBSLOT2D
Creates and calculates cam designs.AMCAM
Draws a centerline cross with an angle.AMCENCRANGLE
Draws a centerline cross in a corner.AMCENCRCORNER
Draws a centerline cross on a circle.AMCENCRFULLCIRCLE
Draws a centerline cross with a hole.AMCENCRHOLE
Draws a centerline cross in a hole.AMCENCRINHOLE
Draws a centerline cross.AMCENCROSS
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DescriptionCommand NameToolbut-ton
Draws centerline cross on a plate.AMCENCRPLATE
Draws a centerline in between two lines.AMCENINBET
Creates a centerhole.AMCENTERHOLE2D
Creates a centerline and center marks throughselected circles and arcs while in Drawingmode.
AMCENLINE
Draws a centerline.AMCENTLINE
Draws chain or belt links.AMCHAINDRAW
Determines the tangent definition betweensprockets or pulleys.
AMCHAINLENGTHCAL
Bevels the edges of objects.AMCHAM2D
Checks for, highlights, and edits dimensionswith overridden text.
AMCHECKDIM
Creates a clevis pin.AMCLEVISPIN2D
Command Summary | 19
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DescriptionCommand NameToolbut-ton
Locks or unlocks the construction line layer.AMCLINEL
Switches construction lines on or off.AMCLINEO
Designs, calculates, and inserts compressionsprings, and places spring specification tablesin drawings.
AMCOMP2D
Draws construction lines.Design ToolbarDesign Toolbar - Draw, Construction for moreconstruction line commands.
AMCONSTLINES
Switches construction lines between lines andrays.
AMCONSTSWI
Displays the inner contour of an object.AMCONTIN
Displays the outer contour of an object.AMCONTOUT
Traces all points of a contour.AMCONTRACE
Converts the current drawing.AMCONVDWG
Copies a user specified layer group or selectedgeometry into a new layer group.
AMCOPYLG
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DescriptionCommand NameToolbut-ton
Copies views to the same layout or to a differ-ent layout.
AMCOPYVIEW
Creates a cotter pin.AMCOTTERPIN2D
Creates a standard related counterbore.AMCOUNTB2D
Creates a standard related countersink.AMCOUNTS2D
Creates a countersunk rivet.AMCRIVET2D
Creates a cylindrical pin.AMCYLPIN2D
Creates datum identifier symbols.AMDATUMID
Creates datum target symbols.AMDATUMTGT
Calculates the deflection line or moment lineof an object that has various force elementsacting on it.
AMDEFLINE
Deletes views and its dependent views.AMDELVIEW
Creates associative and scaled detail frames ofselected parts of a drawing.
AMDETAIL
Command Summary | 21
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DescriptionCommand NameToolbut-ton
Aligns linear, rotated, aligned, ordinate, orangular dimensions that have a base dimen-sion of the same type.
AMDIMALIGN
Rearranges individual dimensions that lie alongone axis, in respect to a reference point.
AMDIMARRANGE
Creates breaks in an existing dimension.AMDIMBREAK
Modifies dimensions in drawing mode.AMDIMFORMAT
Edits linear, aligned, rotated, and angular di-mensions by inserting new dimensions of thesame type simultaneously.
AMDIMINSERT
Edits linear, aligned, and angular (3-point or2-line) dimensions by joining similar dimen-sions into a single dimension.
AMDIMJOIN
Edits multiple dimensions at the same time.AMDIMMEDIT
Resizes objects by stretching/shrinking linearand symmetric dimensions.
AMDIMSTRETCH
Creates a single drill bushing.AMDRBUSH2D
Creates a drill bushing and the correspondinghole.
AMDRBUSHHOLE2D
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DescriptionCommand NameToolbut-ton
Creates views of Autodesk Inventor linkedmodels while in Drawing mode.
AMDWGVIEW
Creates edge symbols.AMEDGESYM
Edits balloons, parts lists, and symbols.AMEDIT
Displays or selects the paper space cutline forbreakout section views.
AMEDITPSCUTLINE
Edits views created in Drawing mode.AMEDITVIEW
Generates and organizes equations.AMEQUATEDIT
Erases all construction lines.AMERASEALLCL
Erases selected construction lines.AMERASECL
Breaks a compound object in the mechanicalstructure environment into its componentobjects.
AMEXPLODE
Designs, calculates, and inserts extensionsprings, and inserts spring specification tablesin drawings.
AMEXT2D
Creates an external thread.AMEXTHREAD2D
Command Summary | 23
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DescriptionCommand NameToolbut-ton
Creates feature control frame symbols.AMFCFRAME
Calculates stress and deformation in a planefor plates with a given thickness or in a cross
AMFEA2D
section with individual forces and stretchingloads.
Creates feature identifier symbols.AMFEATID
Rounds and fillets the edges of objects.AMFILLET2D
Puts existing fits and their respective dimen-sion values into a list and inserts this fits listinto your drawing.
AMFITSLIST
Inserts a retaining ring/circlip with the appro-priate groove in a shaft.
AMGROOVE2D
Creates a grooved drive stud.AMGROOVESTUD2D
Creates a 135-degree and 11 mm/0.4 inchhatch.
AMHATCH_135_11
Creates a 135-degree and 2.7 mm/0.11 inchhatch.
AMHATCH_135_2
Creates a 135-degree and 4.7 mm/0.19 inchhatch.
AMHATCH_135_4
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DescriptionCommand NameToolbut-ton
Creates a 45-degree and 13 mm/0.5 inchhatch.
AMHATCH_45_13
Creates a 45-degree and 2.5 mm/0.1 inchhatch.
AMHATCH_45_2
Creates a 45-degree and 5 mm/0.22 inchhatch.
AMHATCH_45_5
Creates a double hatch of 45- and 135-degreeand 2.3 mm/0.09 inch.
AMHATCH_DBL
Displays the online Help.AMHELP
Documents the holes in a design, includingcoordinate dimensions.
AMHOLECHART
Calculates the following tasks: center of grav-ity, directions of the main axes moment, mo-
AMINERTIA
ments of inertia, effective moment of inertia,deflection angle.
Calculates the moment of inertia for crosssections of cylinders, hollow cylinders, rectan-gular prisms, or hollow rectangular prisms.
AMINERTIAPROF
Recreates the associative link between a .dwgfile and an Autodesk Inventor assembly (.iam)or part (.ipt) document.
AMIVLINK
Selects an Autodesk Inventor Project (.ipj) fileto use as the active project file for openingAutodesk Inventor assembly (.iam) files.
AMIVPROJECT
Command Summary | 25
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DescriptionCommand NameToolbut-ton
Rereads associated Autodesk Inventor part orassembly file and updates the linked .dwg file.
AMIVUPDATE
Joins different entities.AMJOIN
Translates text strings in your drawing intoanother language.
AMLANGCONV
Displays and uses text from the LanguageConverter.
AMLANGTEXT
Manages the layer system.AMLAYER
Switches invisible lines on or off.AMLAYINVO
Moves lines to another layer.AMLAYMOVE
Moves lines to parts layers.AMLAYMOVEPL
Moves lines to working layers.AMLAYMOVEWL
Switches standard parts on or off.AMLAYPARTO
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DescriptionCommand NameToolbut-ton
Switches part reference on or off.AMLAYPARTREFO
Resets all layers.AMLAYRESET
Switches the border and title block on or off.AMLAYTIBLO
Specifies the layer group setting during aworking session.
AMLAYVISENH
Switches viewports on or off.AMLAYVPO
Moves elements in a selection set to a specificlayer group.
AMLGMOVE
Displays the Library dialog box.AMLIBRARY
Lists information about a selected view whilein Drawing mode.
AMLISTVIEW
Creates a lubricator.AMLUBRI2D
Dynamically moves and rotates selected geo-metry along/around the X, Y, Z axes.
AMMANIPULATE
Makes a contour visible.AMMCONTV
Command Summary | 27
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DescriptionCommand NameToolbut-ton
Displays the browser in the mechanical struc-ture environment.
AM_MECHANICAL_BROWSER
Converts infopoints, position numbers, andparts lists (on a drawing) from Genius
AMMIGRATEBB
13/Genius 14 to AutoCAD Mechanical 6format.
Converts all symbols from Genius 13/14 toAutoCAD Mechanical 6 format.
AMMIGRATESYM
Switches between model and drawing modes.AMMODE
Moves dimensions on drawings while main-taining their association to the drawing viewgeometry.
AMMOVEDIM
Moves a drawing view to another location inthe drawing or to another layout while inDrawing mode.
AMMOVEVIEW
Describes holes, fits, and standard parts, andcreates associative notes to the drawing witha leader.
AMNOTE
Creates a nut.AMNUT2D
Creates new objects at specified distances froman existing object or through a specified point.
AMOFFSET
Sets configurations. Merged with AutoCADcommand OPTIONS.
AMOPTIONS
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DescriptionCommand NameToolbut-ton
Creates and places a parts list in a drawing.AMPARTLIST
Creates part references.AMPARTREF
Edits part reference data.AMPARTREFEDIT
Creates cylindrical pins, cotter pins, taper pins,and grooved drive studs.
AMPIN2D
Inserts a plain bearing on a shaft or in ahousing.
AMPLBEAR2D
Inserts the current date in the lower rightcorner of the title block.
AMPLOTDATE
Creates a plain rivet.AMPLRIVET2D
Creates a plug.AMPLUG2D
Copies an object with its internal informationto another position in the drawing.
AMPOWERCOPY
Creates power dimensions, or assigns toler-ances or fits to power dimensions.
AMPOWERDIM
Command Summary | 29
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DescriptionCommand NameToolbut-ton
Creates angular dimensions, or assigns toler-ances or fits to dimension.
AMPOWERDIM_ANG
Starts the command with which the selectedobject was created to edit the object.
AMPOWEREDIT
Deletes selected objects.AMPOWERERASE
Starts the command with which the selectedobject was created, to create a new object.
AMPOWERRECALL
Sets object snap modes, polar snap, and filtersfor object snaps.
AMPOWERSNAP
Creates top or side views of standard parts.AMPOWERVIEW
Creates a projection crosshairs used for creat-ing orthographic views.
AMPROJO
Controls the scale of all drawing symbols.AMPSCALE
Sets user-defined snap settings on tab 1.AMPSNAP1
Sets user-defined snap settings on tab 2.AMPSNAP2
Sets user-defined snap settings on tab 3.AMPSNAP3
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DescriptionCommand NameToolbut-ton
Sets user-defined snap settings on tab 4.AMPSNAP4
Snaps the rectangle center.AMPSNAPCEN
Switches the entity filter on or off.AMPSNAPFILTERO
Snaps to the middle of two points.AMPSNAPMID
Snaps to a reference point.AMPSNAPREF
Snaps to a relative point.AMPSNAPREL
Snaps to a virtual intersection point of twolines.
AMPSNAPVINT
Switches snapping of the Z coordinate on oroff.
AMPSNAPZO
Creates a rectangle by defining its starting andendpoint. See Appendix A, Design Toolbar -
AMRECTANG
Draw - Rectangle for more rectangle com-mands.
Saves REFEDIT working set changes.AMREFCLOSE
Command Summary | 31
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DescriptionCommand NameToolbut-ton
Copies objects from other blocks to theREFEDIT working set.
AMREFCOPY
Creates reference dimensions between thepart edges created in Model mode and lines,arcs, circles, ellipses created in Drawing mode.
AMREFDIM
Rescales dimensions and symbols in modeland layout.
AMRESCALE
Switches revision lists on or off.AMREV
Inserts a revision list into a drawing or addsan additional revision line to an existing revi-sion list.
AMREVLINE
Updates revision lists.AMREVUPDATE
Creates plain and countersunk rivets.AMRIVET2D
Inserts a radial or axial roller bearing on a shaftor in a housing.
AMROLBEAR2D
Selects folder(s) or view folder(s) in mechanicalstructure and sets them as the active edit tar-get.
AMSACTIVATE
Specifies new base points for folders or viewsthat can be activated.
AMSBASE
Allows scaling for entities in X and Y direction.AMSCALEXY
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DescriptionCommand NameToolbut-ton
Creates a scale area (an area that has a scalethat is different to model space scale) inmodel space.
AMSCAREA
Opens the structure catalog dialog box, whichgives you the ability to insert structure com-
AMSCATALOG
ponents to the current drawing as externalreferences and manage them.
Opens the structure catalog dialog boxAMSCATALOGOPEN
Closes the structure catalog dialog box.AMSCATALOGCLOSE
Views and edits the scale of scale areas orviewports.
AMSCMONITOR
Copies the definitions of instanced folders,components or views in the mechanicalstructure environment.
AMSCOPYDEF
Creates components, component views,folders, and annotation views in drawings inthe mechanical structure environment.
AMSCREATE
Creates a screw or bolt.AMSCREW2D
Calculates factors of safety for parts of a screwconnection.
AMSCREWCALC
Opens the Screw Connection dialog box.AMSCREWCON2D
Command Summary | 33
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DescriptionCommand NameToolbut-ton
Opens the Screw Assembly Templates dialogbox.
AMSCREWMACRO2D
Generates scripts.AMSCRIPT
Creates a sealing ring for use under a plug.AMSEALRING2D
Inserts a seal or O-ring with the appropriategroove in a shaft.
AMSEALS2D
Creates cutting plane lines.AMSECTIONLINE
Directly manipulates the contents of an activefolder or view in the mechanical structure en-vironment.
AMSEDIT
Sets up a drawing.AMSETUPDWG
Moves a structure component from the cur-rent drawing to a new drawing file and con-verts it to an external reference component.
AMSEXTERNALIZE
Creates rotationally symmetric shaft parts andinner and outer shaft contours.
AMSHAFT2D
Calculates deflection line, bending moment,torsion moment, supporting force, torque ro-
AMSHAFTCALC
tation angle, equivalent tension, and the safetyfactor of shafts.
Creates a zigzag line, a free-hand line, or loopto represent a shaft end.
AMSHAFTEND
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DescriptionCommand NameToolbut-ton
Inserts a parallel or woodruff key with the ap-propriate keyseat in a shaft.
AMSHAFTKEY2D
Creates a shaft lock nut including the lockwasher and inserts both in a shaft.
AMSHAFTLNUT2D
Creates and edits hide situations in themechanical structure environment.
AMSHIDE
Edits hide situations created with AMSHIDE.AMSHIDEEDIT
Creates a shim ring on a shaft.AMSHIMRING2D
Creates seam and fillet simple welds.AMSIMPLEWELD
Inserts a new instance of a component view,folder or annotation view in model space, inthe mechanical structure environment.
AMSINSERT
Converts an external reference component toa local component on the current drawing.
AMSLOCALIZE
Moves objects and their associated occur-rences in one or more folders or views to an-
AMSMOVE
other folder or view in the mechanical struc-ture environment.
Toggles the Design Navigation mode on andoff.
AMSNAVMODE
Command Summary | 35
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DescriptionCommand NameToolbut-ton
Creates and manages new folders, compon-ents, and annotation views in the mechanicalstructure environment.
AMSNEW
Draws sprockets or pulleys.AMSPROCKET
Removes unused structure objects, includingfolders, components, views, and annotation
AMSPURGE
views in the mechanical structure environ-ment.
Replaces the definition of a folder or view withanother definition of objects in the mechanicalstructure environment.
AMSREPLACEDEF
Opens the Standard Parts Database dialog boxfor selection.
AMSTDPLIB
Opens the Standard Parts Database dialog boxfor editing.
AMSTDPLIBEDIT
Changes the representation of a standard part.AMSTDPREP
Creates a steel shape.AMSTLSHAP2D
Changes the text style to italic.AMSTYLEITAL
Changes the text style to simplex.AMSTYLESIMP
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DescriptionCommand NameToolbut-ton
Changes the text style to standard.AMSTYLESTAND
Changes the text style to TXT.AMSTYLETXT
Creates surface texture symbols.AMSURFSYM
Appends or removes a leader.AMSYMLEADER
Draws symmetrical lines.AMSYMLINE
Creates a standard related tapped blind hole.AMTAPBHOLE2D
Creates a taper hole with an external thread.AMTAPETHREAD2D
Creates a taper hole with an internal thread.AMTAPITHREAD2D
Creates a taper pin.AMTAPERPIN2D
Creates a standard related tapped throughhole.
AMTAPTHOLE2D
Creates a taper or slope symbol.AMTAPERSYM
Command Summary | 37
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DescriptionCommand NameToolbut-ton
Inserts mtext with 3.5 mm height.AMTEXT3
Inserts mtext with 5 mm height. See AppendixA, Assistance Toolbar - Text for more textcommands.
AMTEXT5
Inserts mtext with 7 mm height.AMTEXT7
Centers text horizontally and vertically.AMTEXTCENT
Centers text centered horizontally around theselected point.
AMTEXTHORIZ
Aligns mtext to the right.AMTEXTRIGHT
Sets text to its default size in model space andlayout, and defines a height for an insertedtext.
AMTEXTSIZE
Creates text with the text style to TXT.AMTEXTTXT
Creates a standard related through hole.AMTHOLE2D
Creates a thread end.AMTHREADEND2D
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DescriptionCommand NameToolbut-ton
Inserts a title block and a drawing border.AMTITLE
Designs, calculates, and inserts torsion springs,and inserts spring specification tables indrawings.
AMTOR2D
Traces contours on construction lines.AMTRCONT
Creates a standard related through slot.AMTSLOT2D
Creates a user-defined blind hole.AMUBHOLE2D
Creates a user-defined blind slot.AMUBSLOT2D
Creates a user-defined counterbore.AMUCOUNTB2D
Creates a user-defined countersink.AMUCOUNTS2D
Creates an undercut on a shaft.AMUNDERCUT2D
Inserts a user-defined hatch.AMUSERHATCH
Command Summary | 39
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DescriptionCommand NameToolbut-ton
Creates a user-defined slot.AMUTSLOT2D
Connects to a database.AMVARIODB
Zooms the view according to the limits.AMVIEWALL
Zooms the center of the viewports.AMVIEWCEN
Zooms the predefined lower-left quarter ofthe drawing.
AMVIEWLL
Zooms the predefined lower-right quarter ofthe drawing.
AMVIEWLR
Zooms the predefined upper-left quarter ofthe drawing.
AMVIEWUL
Zooms the predefined upper-right quarter ofthe drawing.
AMVIEWUR
Creates a viewport in layout.AMVPORT
Creates viewports automatically.AMVPORTAUTO
Resets the viewports to the default scale factor.AMVPZOOMALL
Creates a washer.AMWASHER2D
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DescriptionCommand NameToolbut-ton
Creates a welding symbol.AMWELDSYM
Controls the representation of xrefs.AMXREFSET
Draws zigzag lines.AMZIGZAGLINE
Displays a selected area in another viewport.AMZOOMVP
Saves a file into a different file format for usein more than one version of AutoCAD Mech-anical.
SAVEAS
Command Summary | 41
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42
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New and RevisedCommands
In this chapterThis chapter contains information about new and revised
commands in AutoCAD Mechanical. Revised Commands
New Commands
3
43
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Revised Commands
This following are revised commands in this version of AutoCAD Mechanical.
AMBALLOON
Creates and places a balloon.
Toolbutton
Annotate Parts List Tools BalloonsMenuAMBOMCommand
Contains a powerful expression builder enabling you to create complexformulas for Balloons.
All dialog boxes displayed that are displayed in response to this commandhave been enhanced with the intention of making them easier tounderstand and easier to use.
AMBOM
Creates a formatted BOM database containing a list of attributes, parts lists with item numbers, and listsof like items in a BOM.
Toolbutton
Annotate Parts List Tools BOM DatabaseMenuAMBOMCommand
Contains a powerful expression builder enabling you to create complexformulas for component properties, much easier than was possible inprevious releases.
44 | Chapter 3 New and Revised Commands
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All dialog boxes displayed that are displayed in response to this commandhave been enhanced with the intention of making them easier tounderstand and easier to use.
AMOPTIONS
Sets configurations.
NoneToolbutton
Assist OptionsMenuAMOPTIONSCommand
The AM:Structure tab has been updated to provide additional options forpre-configure how component views are created when they are copied,arrayed or mirrored. The remaining options have been rearranged to makethem easier to understand.
The AM:Standards tab has been updated to let you independently configuretext settings for each symbol separately. The entire BOM, Balloon and PartList configuration process has been revamped. All related dialog boxeshave been redesigned with the intention of making them easier tounderstand and easier to use.
AMPARTLIST
Creates and places a parts list in a drawing.
Toolbutton
Annotate Parts List Tools Parts listMenuAMPARTLISTCommand
Provides options to wrap columns (also known as column splitting) directlyfrom the Parts List dialog box.
AMOPTIONS | 45
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All dialog boxes displayed that are displayed in response to this commandhave been enhanced with the intention of making them easier tounderstand and easier to use.
AMPARTREF
Creates part references.
Toolbutton
Annotate Parts List Tools Part ReferenceMenuAMPARTREFCommand
All dialog boxes displayed that are displayed in response to this commandhave been enhanced with the intention of making them easier tounderstand and easier to use.
AMPARTREFEDIT
Creates part references.
Toolbutton
Annotate Parts List Tools Part Reference EditMenuAMPARTREFEDITCommand
All dialog boxes displayed that are displayed in response to this commandhave been enhanced with the intention of making them easier tounderstand and easier to use.
AMPOWERDIM
Creates power dimensions, or assigns tolerances or fits to power dimensions.
46 | Chapter 3 New and Revised Commands
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Toolbutton
Annotate Power DimensioningMenuAMPOWERDIMCommand
Command has been enhanced to automatically create arc extension lineswhen points outside an arc is dimensioned.
Supports the creation of inspection dimensions.
AMSCATLOG
Opens the structure catalog dialog box, which gives you the ability to insert structure components tothe current drawing as external references and manage them.
Toolbutton
Insert Structure CatalogMenuAMSCATALOGCommand
The structure catalog is now seamlessly integrated with Autodesk Vaultand displays the status of vaulted referenced files.
The dialog box has been enhanced and the right-click menus have beenreorganized with the intention of making the options easier to understandand easier to use.
AMSCREATE
Creates components, component views, folders, and annotation views in drawings in the mechanicalstructure environment.
NoneToolbutton
AMSCREATECommand
The command can now create annotation views in paper space. Creationof annotation views is fully supported with calculation of the most
AMSCATLOG | 47
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appropriate scale for a given paper size and standard compliant labels foreach view.
AMSEXTERNALIZE
Creates components, component views, folders, and annotation views in drawings in the mechanicalstructure environment.
Toolbutton
AMSEXTERNALIZECommand
The command can now externalize local annotation views of xrefcomponents, back to the source file.
AMSINSERT
Inserts a new instance of a component view, folder or annotation view in model space, in the mechanicalstructure environment.
Toolbutton
AMSINSERTCommand
The command can now create multiple instances of annotation views inmodel space as well as in paper space.
AMSLOCALIZE
Converts an external reference component to a local component on the current drawing.
NoneToolbutton
48 | Chapter 3 New and Revised Commands
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AMSLOCALIZECommand
The command can now localize xref annotation views.
AMSNEW
Creates and manages new folders, components, and annotation views in the mechanical structure envir-onment.
Toolbutton
AMSLOCALIZECommand
The command can now create annotation views in paper space. Creationof annotation views is fully supported with calculation of the mostappropriate scale for a given paper size and standard compliant labels foreach view.
AMSTLSHAP2D
Creates a steel shape.
Toolbutton
Content Steel ShapesMenuAMSTLSHAP2DCommand
The command has been updated to contain over 500 new steel shapes, incompliance with the year 2005 revision of the JIS and GB standards.
AMSURFSYM
Creates surface texture symbols.
AMSNEW | 49
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Toolbutton
Annotate Symbols Surface TextureMenuAMSURFSYMCommand
You can now specify the surface texture parameter designation, numericallimit value and transmission band as a single surface texture requirement.
The Surface Symbol dialog box has been updated to contain customizabledrop-down lists.
AMWELDSYMBOL
Creates welding symbols.
Toolbutton
Annotate Symbols WeldingMenuAMWELDSYMBOLCommand
The Welding Symbol dialog box contains a revised process list. Additionalyou can automatically prefix the process number with the ISO standardthat governs the symbol.
New Commands
This following are new commands in this version of AutoCAD Mechanical.
AMBROWSEROPEN
Turns on the mechanical browser.
NoneToolbutton
NoneMenu
50 | Chapter 3 New and Revised Commands
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AMBROWSEROPENCommand
Typically invoked when the Structure workspace is turned on.
AMBROWSERCLOSE
Turns off the mechanical browser.
NoneToolbutton
NoneMenu
AMBROWSERCLOSECommand
Typically invoked when workspaces other than the structure workspace isturned on.
AMSCATALOGOPEN
Turns on the mechanical browser.
NoneToolbutton
NoneMenu
AMSCATALOGOPENCommand
Typically invoked when the Structure workspace is turned on.
AMSCATALOGCLOSE
Turns off the mechanical browser.
NoneToolbutton
NoneMenu
AMSCATALOGCLOSECommand
Typically invoked when workspaces other than the structure workspace isturned on.
AMBROWSERCLOSE | 51
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AMSNAVMODE
Toggles the design navigation mode on or off.
NoneToolbutton
NoneMenu
AMSNAVMODECommand
CTRL - DShortcut Key
While the Design Navigation Mode is on, when you move the cursorthrough model space, each component the cursor moves over highlights(in model space as well as in the mechanical browser) and a tootip displaysthe hierarchical structure of the component.
52 | Chapter 3 New and Revised Commands
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Design and AnnotationTools
In this partThe tutorials in this section teach you how to use AutoCAD
Mechanicals design, annotation and productivity tools. The Working with Templates
Using Mechanical Structurelessons include step-by-step instructions and helpful
Working with Layers andLayer Groupsillustrations. You learn how to work with templates and layers,
Designing Leversmechanical structure, model space and layouts, dimensions,
Working with Model Spaceand Layoutssteel shapes, bills of material (BOMs) and parts lists.
DimensioningInstructions on how to prepare your designs for final
documentation are also included. Working with 2D Hide and
2D Steel Shapes
Working with StandardParts
Working with BOMs andParts Lists
Creating Shafts withStandard Parts
Calculating Shafts
53
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54
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Working with Templates
In this chapterIn this tutorial, you learn about the predefined templates and
how to create your own user-defined templates in AutoCAD
Mechanical.
Key Terms
Working with Templates
4
55
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Key Terms
DefinitionTerm
A layer made up of working layers and standard parts layers. Base layers are re-peated in every layer group.
base layer
A group of associated or related items in a drawing. A major advantage ofworking with layer groups is that you can deactivate a specific layer group and
layer group
a complete component. The drawing and its overview are enhanced with a re-duction in regeneration time.
A layer where the standard parts are put. All standard parts layers have the suffixAM_*N.
part layers
A file with predefined settings to use for new drawings. However, any drawingcan be used as a template.
template
The layer where you are currently working.working layer
Working with Templates
In AutoCAD Mechanical, you can use templates (*.dwt files) to create drawings.
Predefined templates, which contain settings for various drawings, such asam_iso.dwt or am_ansi.dwt, are supplied with AutoCAD Mechanical. You cancreate your own templates, or use any drawing as a template. When you usea drawing as a template, the settings in that drawing are used in the newdrawing.
Although you can save any drawing as a template, prepare templates to includesettings and drawing elements that are consistent with your company orproject standards, such as the following items:
unit type and precision
drawing limits
snap, grid, and ortho settings
layer organization
56 | Chapter 4 Working with Templates
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title blocks, borders, and logos
dimension and text styles
linetypes and lineweights
If you start a drawing from scratch, AutoCAD Mechanical reads the systemdefaults from the registry. The system defaults have a predefined standard.
If you create a new drawing based on an existing template and make changesto the drawing, those changes do not affect the template.
To begin working with templates immediately, you can use the predefinedtemplate files stored in the acadm\template folder.
However, for this tutorial you create your own template.
If you are using Windows Vista and if UAC (User access Control) is enabled,in order to complete the exercices in this chapter, you must log on as a fulladministrator. Logging on as a user with administrator privileges is notsufficient, you must log on using the built in administrator account.
Setting Up Starting Layers
Each time you start AutoCAD Mechanical, layer 0 is active. Since layer 0 doesnot belong to the Mechanical layers, it is not displayed in the Layer Controldialog box of AutoCAD Mechanical if you select Mechanical Layer in the Showfield.
It is required that you specify the mechanical layer AM_0 as the default startinglayer.
To specify a starting layer
1 Start the Layer Control command.Toolbutton
Assist Layer/Layergroup Layer/Layer GroupControl
Menu
AMLAYERCommand
2 In the Layer Control dialog box, Layer Control tab, select the layer AM_0and then choose Current.
Setting Up Starting Layers | 57
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Choose OK.
The layer AM_0 is active, as you can see in the toolbar:
Setting Mechanical Options
In the Options dialog box, you can specify general settings for AutoCADMechanical, Autodesk Mechanical Desktop, and AutoCAD. Tabs that affectsettings for either Mechanical Desktop or AutoCAD Mechanical, or both, havean AM prefix. Use the arrows at the right end of the tab bar to move left andright through all of the available tabs.
When you start the AutoCAD Mechanical application, mechanical structureis enabled by default. Although this setting is not stored in templates, disablemechanical structure for this exercise.
To set mechanical options
1 Start the Mechanical Options command.
58 | Chapter 4 Working with Templates
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Menu Assist OptionsOPTIONS or AMOPTIONSCommand
2 In the Options dialog box, AM:Structure tab, clear the Enable Structurecheck box, and then choose Apply.
3 On the AM:Standards tab, specify:
Standard: ISO
Measurement: Metric
Model Scale: 1:1
Choose OK.
NOTE All settings in this dialog that are stored in the drawing (template) are
marked with this icon: The current standard and all related settingsare listed in the right section.
Setting Mechanical Options | 59
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Specifying Drawing Limits
Specify the drawing limits according to size A0 (840 x 1188 mm). This limitsyour drawing space to the specified size.
To specify the drawing limits
1 Start the Drawing Limits command.Menu Assist Format Drawing Limits
LIMITSCommand
2 Respond to the prompts as follows:
Specify lower left corner or [ON/OFF] : Press ENTER
Specify upper right corner : Enter 841, 1189, pressENTER
The limits are expanded to A0 format.
Saving Templates
Save the previously changed drawing as a template.
To save a template
1 Start the Save As command.Menu File Save As
SAVEASCommand
2 In the Save Drawing As dialog box, specify:
Files of type: AutoCAD Mechanical Drawing Template (*.dwt)
File name: my_own_template
60 | Chapter 4 Working with Templates
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Choose Save.
3 In the Template Description dialog box, specify:
Description: Tutorial Template
Measurement: Metric
Choose OK.
4 Close the drawing.Menu File Close
CLOSECommand
Saving Templates | 61
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Using Templates
Use the previously created template to start a new drawing.
To open a template
1 Start the New command.Toolbutton
File NewMenuNEWCommand
2 In the Select template dialog box, select my_own_template.dwt, and thenchoose Open.
Start the new drawing using the settings of the previously saved template.
Setting Default Standards Templates
Specify your template as the default template.
62 | Chapter 4 Working with Templates
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To set a default template
1 Start the Mechanical Options command.Menu Assist Options
AMOPTIONSCommand
2 In the Options dialog box, AM:Standards tab, choose Browse.
3 In the Open dialog box, select my_own_template.dwt, and then chooseOpen.
4 In the Options dialog box, choose OK.
The template my_own_template is used as the default standards templateuntil you specify a different default template.
NOTE The default standards template is used if a drawing does not containany AutoCAD Mechanical configuration. If a drawing already containsAutoCAD Mechanical configuration data, or a new drawing has been createdusing an AutoCAD Mechanical template, the default template does not affectthe drawing.
This is the end of this tutorial chapter.
Setting Default Standards Templates | 63
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64
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Using MechanicalStructure
In this chapterIn this tutorial, you learn how to use mechanical structure in
AutoCAD Mechanical. You learn how to work with folders, Key Terms
Working with MechanicalStructurecomponents and component views. You also review the bill
Foldersof materials, restructure components and resolve ghost
Selection Modescomponents. You learn how to insert components from
Mechanical BrowserDisplay Optionsexternal files, edit in-place, localize external components and
externalize local components. External Reference
Components
Annotation Vi