MODULE 2

WORKSHOP PART DESIGN

ELEMENTARY

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 Table of contents

2.1 Objective 3
2.2 Exercise 1 7
2.3 Modeling piston by offset method 8
2.4 To understand sketcher workbench 8
2.5 Modeling piston by revolution 20
2.6 Modeling piston by Boolean operation 23

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2.1 OBJECTIVE
The objective of this module is to get acquainted with the fundamentals of Computer Aided Design
(CAD) with reference to 3-D modeling.

Open CATIA V6 on your computer desktop. Create a new Part Design workshop as below:
a. Select ‘PLM Access’ > ‘3D Part…’

Description of Part Design Workshop

1.

The Specification Tree represents the operations performed while modeling a part.

b. Type ‘Your_Name_Piston’ in the field ‘3D Part Title’,

c. Type ‘Your_Name_Piston’ in the field ‘Physical Representation Title’,

Click ‘Finish’

To access ‘Part Design’ click ‘Start’ in the bar > ‘Mechanical’ > ‘Part Design.

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The Part design workbench is opened as shown below.

Standard icons of tools

3 D orientation

Compass

Specification Icons of the workshop

Tree

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There are three basic methods that can be used to model a part, which are discussed below with the
help of an example:

Example: Assembly of 2 cylinders

1. By Offset (Pad) method

Sketch a circle and

offset along the
arrow

Sketch the Second

circle on the top of the
cylinder

Now offset along the

arrow by using Pad
function to the required
length

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2. By Revolution of a profile about an axis

3. By Boolean operation – Addition of two different parts

+ =

This technique is what is referred to as Constructive Solid Geometry (CSG)

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 EXERCISE
To model part no.’s 350, 270, 300 & 330 of an industrial product - sander using the methods
explained above:

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2.2 Exercise 1: Piston 350
Model this Part in three different methods.

A-A

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2.3 MODELLING PISTON BY OFFSET method (PAD OR EXTRUSION)

Click on a plane in the Specification Tree (xy plane in cyan) or on the 3D planes at the
center of the screen (in orange) to draw the sketch

Click (Sketcher) icon in the workbench tool bar

The Sketcher Workshop opens. All the relevant toolbars also appear.

2.4 TO UNDERSTAND THE SKETCHER WORKBENCH

New tool bar of

the sketcher
The screen is parallel to the workbench
plane selected

Selected Plane

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 There is a facility in CATIA to orient the drawing plane with respect to the screen so that
features appearing in other planes can be viewed. This enables 3-D effects while performing 2-
D operations.
Click Exit Workbench in the sketcher toolbar.

Configuring the Sketcher Workshop

Before using the sketcher, the workshop should be configured to suit any specific requirements that
the user needs.

Click on ‘Tools’ and then on ‘Options’ in the Menu Bar a dialog box appears as below.

Click on the Sketcher (orange) and Tick the boxes as suggested below.
In Grid deselect ‘Snap to point’. Note that ‘Display’ should be ticked for grid to appear on
screen.

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 CATIA offers the facility of using colours to identify different types of elements to enable quick
diagnosis by an user. CATIA has a default colour scheme and because of the complexity of
changing colours, it is recommended to use the default scheme itself.

Diagnostic colours of CATIA to master the sketch.

Click on ‘Colours’ of visualization diagnostic in the dialog box.

A Sketch will change to green completely if there are no errors while drafting it.

Other Colours can also be used.

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 Open Sketcher

UNDERSTANDING SKETCH TOOLS

1. Creates the constraints corresponding to
the keyed parameter of the element while
sketching

2. Creates the detected constraints

internally while you sketch

3. Snaps the points created 4. Construction element - converts sketcher

to the nearest intersection elements into construction elements which
point of the grid cannot be used for modelling

Keep 1 & 2 sketch tool configurations active (orange) to proceed further.

Click on Circle icon on the Sketcher

workbench tool bar.

Move the cursor of the mouse near the origin of axis,

and notice that CATIA automatically finds the origin,
Click and drag the mouse to open the circle and
Click again to fix the diameter of the circle

In the Specification Tree, the centre of the circle is not shown because the centre coincides with
the origin. A circle drawn with the centre anywhere else will be displayed with the centre point in the
specification tree.

The blue colour of the circle indicates that the sketch is free, and the diameter can be modified by
clicking and dragging the mouse on the circle.
To dimension the circle, click Constraint icon in the sketcher workbench toolbar and then
click the circle, the diameter dimension appears.

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 Double click on the dimension change the
value to 32 mm as shown.
The white colour indicates that the sketch is iso-
constraint.
Click on the icon Exit Workbench in the
workbench

Click the icon (pad) in the workbench tool bar

A dialog box appears as shown below. Edit 18.5 mm as

the length.

Click the box Mirror extent. This will pad the element
on both sides. Hence the total length of the pad will be 37
mm.

The preview of the Part can be viewed by

clicking on Preview, if the preview is
satisfactory click OK.

Result

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MODIFYING PART WITH THE AID OF SPECIFICATION TREE
There are various options to change the design features of the Part through Specification Tree.
1. To change the length of the Part the following method can be used.

Click the right button of the mouse on

Pad.1 (orange) and Pad.1 object and then
click on Definition.
The Pad Definition dialog box appears as
below and the specifications can be
changed.

2. The Sketch can also be modified through Specification Tree

Click the right button of the mouse

on Sketch.1 (orange) then click
Sketch.1 object and Edit.

The sketch appears like below and can

be modified.

The previous operation can be

cancelled by Clicking Undo icon
.

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 Some Icons may appear in the Specification Tree. These indicate that there is some error in
the operations performed.
Indicates that the part is not updated. To update the Part click the icon Update all in the
standard tool bar.
Indicates that there is something wrong in the construction of the Part, which has to be
sorted out before proceeding further.
It indicates that CATIA does not understand the operation that is performed.

Click the plane surface of the cylinder, the edge

changes to orange and click on the icon Sketcher
in the workbench toolbar

At the origin draw a circle with a diameter of 25 mm.

Get back to the Part

Design workshop by
clicking the icon Exit
workbench in the
workbench tool bar.

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 CREATING A POCKET IN THE PART

Click on the Pocket Icon in the Part Design workbench tool bar and edit 6 mm for the Depth
then check for a Preview and click on OK.

Result

Before proceeding ensure that the Pocket is Defined in work

object (once it is defined observe the underline in the object defined).
This is necessary to enable further operations to be performed.

Mirroring the Pocket

Click on the Mirror icon in the workbench tool bar.

Click on the xy Plane and OK.

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 Result

Creating a hole in the Piston

To drill a hole of 3 mm diameter click on the Hole icon in the workbench tool bar select the
internal plane surface and edit the dialog box that appears subsequently.

Different types of holes can be created in the ‘Extension‘

option. Click on the ν to see the different possibilities.

For the current example the hole option should be ‘up to last’

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 The Positioning Sketch can be used to position the centre of the hole on the selected
surface.

Setting other hole parameters

Fig 1 Fig 2

Set the following parameters:

 Type : Simple
 Thread Definition : No Thread Definition (Deselect Threaded)
 Preview before finalising the hole definition.
Result

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CUTTING A PART ALONG PLANES - Using Split
Define two planes at an offset distance of 12 mm on both the sides of yz plane. This operation can be
performed by selecting a Plane from Reference Elements.
If Reference Elements icon is not visible on the workbench toolbar then, pick it
from the main menu bar from View, Toolbars as explained in the module 1.
Click on the icon (plane) in the workbench toolbar.

You have several possibilities to make a plane keep an offset of 12 mm from the plan yz and click
OK.
Result

To cut the part, click on the icon (split) and then, click on the plane
previously created.

The orange arrow indicates the section

of the part from the reference plane
which will be retained after split. For the
shown arrow direction this will be:

Since we need the

other portion click on the arrow to
reverse its direction and then ‘OK’.

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 Result

Create a second plane separated by 24 mm from the

previously created plane, and perform the split operation
to achieve the following Result.

CREATING A HOLE ON THE SPLIT SURFACE using Pocket option

1. Click on sketcher icon in the workbench toolbar, select the cut plane and draw a circle of
21 mm diameter. Perform the pocket operation
We need a through hole and hence the pocket limits are both the split faces. See the options selected
in the dialog box below to achieve this:

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 2. By a hole
simple
and up to
last

Final result

CLOSE
WINDOW AND DO
NOT SAVE THE
PART.

2.5 MODELLING PISTON BY REVOLUTION method

Create a new Part Design workshop as below:
a. Select ‘PLM Access’ > ‘3D Part…’
b. In properties, rename ‘Your_Name_Piston_b’

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Select a Plane to draw the Sketch (xy plane in orange).

Click on the sketcher icon in the workbench toolbar

Double click on the icon line and draw the following sketch.
Double click is used to draw a set of lines which could be connected or not connected with
each other.

Use of mouse to sketch: For each line click the start

point, free the left button, drag the mouse towards the end
point and click to finish the line. The vertical, horizontal, &
coincidence points are found automatically. Repeat same
procedure for other lines.

A line can be deleted by selecting it with the mouse and

pressing Delete on the key board.

If the sketch is white, it means that there no iso constraints

have been applied. Without the constraints the size and
orientation of the sketch can be modified as per the
requirement.

To apply iso constraint to the sketch, give the dimensions by using the icon in the workbench
toolbar as suggested in the beginning of this section. The dimensions if not applied correctly would
result in inadequately defining the part, which could cause problems when further operations are
performed on or with the part.

While applying dimensioning to eliminate conflicts start with the smallest dimension and proceed
in ascending order of dimension.
If the sketch appears in green after applying constraints, then it is in order.
The other half of the part can be obtained by using part symmetry about H axis. Open a window
by dragging the mouse to select the entire sketch (the sketch will change to blue).

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 Click on the icon (symmetry), in the sketcher workbench toolbar and then select the yellow
horizontal axis as suggested in the area of dialogue at the bottom of the screen.
Result

Geometrical and
automatic
constraints V means
vertical and two
vertical lines are
parallel

Symmetry
symbols

Open the ‘Constraints’ under Sketch 1 in the specification tree to view the constraints of the part.
Observe the constraints by selecting on the specification tree.

Constraints are generated automatically if the two icons in the sketch tools are active (orange). Other
constraints must be put manually like the dimensions by using . A dialog box appears as shown
below where the required parameters can be given or checked. While checking some of the boxes, if
the sketch or dimension appears in violet, then it means that the part is over constrained or
dimensions are redundant.

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All constraints are in
green

32.65

43.89

45°
=
=

 H
V

Exit the sketcher workshop by .

To revolve the part Click on the icons shaft in the Workbench tool bar.

By default CATIA proposes a 360 deg shaft, but can be changed as per the requirement. Select the
rotation axis in V direction as below.

Check for a preview.

Result

The others sections of the part have to be modelled by

using the same functions as that used in the earlier
section (Modelling piston by offset method).
After achieving the result
CLOSE WINDOW AND DO NOT PROPAGATE THE
PART.

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2.6 MODELLING PISTON BY BOOLEAN OPERATIONS
Create a cylinder of 32 mm diameter in the xy plane. Using pad with mirror extended give a
depth of 18.5 mm length (the final length will be 37 mm).

Result

Insert a Body inside ‘Part Body’

(should be orange) in the Specification
Tree by clicking ‘Insert’ in the Main
Menu bar.

A new body is included in the tree. Define this in the Work object (‘Define In Work Object’) by opening
the menu through a right click of the mouse.

Apply a new colour to each body created so that it is easy to understand the construction of a
part.

To apply colour open the contextual menu by right click on the right button of the mouse and click
on properties.

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Then click on the tab Graphic. Select colour on the panel for example red and click OK to confirm
your choice. Observe the colour of the body 2 changing to red.

Select the front plane of the cylinder and create a new cylinder of ø 25 mm. In the dialog box of the
pad definition click on More for others possibilities.

Explanation: The 6 mm length is inside the first cylinder (This is the required dimension of the
object), The 2 mm length is outside the first cylinder, and is given to provide for a better view of the
new part body. It has no functional relevance.

Preview and confirm OK.

Result

Using the icon of mirror about the xy plane, create a

symmetry of the red body (body 2 in the Specification Tree).

The body 2 must be defined in work object to execute this

operation

Result

Insert a new body (body 3) with a new colour (for example yellow), choose the plane xy to
draw the sketch, and make a new cylindrical pad with diameter 3 mm, mirror extension & length
25 mm
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 Insert a new part body with a new colour (in green for example) use the icon create a
plane 12 mm distant from the zx plane.

In this plane, sketch a rectangle by clicking the icon (rectangle) in the sketcher workshop.

The rectangle is white (not constrained), the

dimensions of rectangle should be such that it
has a surface bigger than the other bodies.

Then, in the part design make a pad length

25 mm
Result

Using the icon mirror create another part of the body 4 about the zx plane.

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 Result
The body 4 is made up by 2 parallelepipeds

To continue with the modelling of the part hide body 4. To hide click with the right button of the
mouse on body 4 in the Specification Tree and then select (hide/show) icon in the contextual/pull-
down menu.

The body 4 will disappear to the no show screen.

Insert a new body (body 5) and change its color (for example in blue).

Use zx plane for a new sketch, draw a circle of ø 21 mm and pad with a mirror extent with a
length of 50 mm as below.

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 Click the right button of the mouse on the body 4 in the Specification Tree and then in the
context/pull-down menu click the icon (hide/show) the body 4 will appear again.

Result

Performing Boolean operations

All the bodies created are to be subtracted from the part body. There are 2 methods:

1. Add all the bodies and then subtract the result from the part body.
2. Subtract the bodies one by one from the part body.

First method:

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 In the tool bar menu click ‘insert’, ‘Boolean
operations’ and ‘add’.

Click on
the body 4 (green), then on the body 5 (blue).

By default, CATIA always suggests to add a body to the part body.

A Boolean operation can be performed with only 2 elements at a time.

Add the result (add 1) to the body 3 and make the same operation to add the body 2.
Finally remove the result of ADD
to the pad 1 of the part body.
During these operations the pad 1
should be defined in the work object.
The same result can be achieved by the
second method on the same lines as
above.
Result

After achieving the result

CLOSE WINDOW AND DO NOT PROPAGATE THE PART.

Conclusion

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As you can see there are several ways of modelling a part. Selecting a method is based on the nature
of the part i.e. is it prismatic or round. Also a combination of methods might be required depending on
the complexity of the part. A good modelling is said to be done when the least number of functions
are used. In the above case the best method is the modelling by revolution.

END OF MODULE 2

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