Mechanical software tutorials - CATIA, ANSYS, SolidWorks

Summary

A good mechanical engineer is able to solve and visualise problems. Now, in everyday life, they may be tasked with solving several real-world problems. Some of these design problems will require engineers to visualise, redesign and evaluate their designs. Therefore, one of the most important skills that a mechanical engineer can have is being able to design components. While in the past, most engineers used to manually draft their designs, this has changed. Most new engineers rely on mechanical software to design their components. If you are a fresh mechanical engineer looking to improve knowledge of mechanical software, you are in the right place. Here’s a look at some of the best mechanical software online tutorials for CATIA, ANSYS and SolidWorks.

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What is the best software for mechanical design?

CATIA

• One of the world’s most popular mechanical software design tools
• Created by Dassault Systèmes and used by the world’s top mechanical design engineers
• Helps engineers with part design, assembly, drawing generation and even kinematic simulation
• The software can also help engineers create photo-realistic images
• CATIA is also useful when it comes to surface handling and casting or forging preparation
• Heavily used by automobile, aerospace and aeronautical engineers
• Also used by mechanical engineers for surface design, component design, sheet metal operation design and mechanism simulation

SolidWorks

• SOLIDWORKS is another CAD software made by Dassault Systèmes
• Helps mainly with product design, kinematic simulation and mechanism generation
• Furthermore, it also helps with electrical design and Product Data Management
• Also, the software is very good when it comes to 2D section drawing and assembly creation
• The software also has several features which support sheet metal operations, die design, moulding and welding

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Autodesk Inventor

1. This mechanical design software was created by Autodesk.
2. It is used heavily by engineers to create product designs which have few data inputs.
3. However, it is also very good when it comes to Finite Element Analysis and Product Data Management
4. It also has several high-level features such as sheet metal design, Plastic parts moulding and Pipe and tool design

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Tasks of a Mechanical Design Engineer

• Understand your client’s requirement
• Analyse market trends
• Work on the Concept Design
• Help with material selection
• Create a detailed part design
• Work on the 3D CAD Model of the same
• Create the structural simulation
• Test the simulation and run thermal tests
• Work on the aerodynamics aspect of a design
• Help with designing for mass production or manufacture
• Enable vendor development

Advantages of CAD software

• Helps engineers draw to any scale that they require
• Creates very accurate designs and drawings, both in 2D and 3D
• Enables the drafter to conveniently create a layout for your drawing or model
• Highly flexible and customisable
• Helps in establishing good drafting standards
• Ensure conformity to industry-specific standards
• Creates more efficient drawings
• Enables the drafter to change the size and resolution of their drawing
• Increases productivity significantly
• Easily dimension the elements and add text whenever necessary
• Easy to alter and modify designs
• Eliminates the need for tedious manual editing which takes quite a lot of time

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Mechanical software online tutorials

Following are some of the best online tutorials for mechanical engineers 

1. Sheet Metal and Surface Design Project

Sheet metal and surface modelling are very integral to the design and conceptualisation of automobiles. Therefore, this introductory course will be very valuable to anyone interested in automobile engineering. In this course, students will learn how to use SOLIDWORKS to perform sheet metal and surface design operations. Students will learn how to choose the right dies and punches to create the desired product. Furthermore, they will learn about features such as gusset, ribs and heat sinks and will work on various surface operations and wireframe models. Also, another great thing is that this course is available on CATIA, SOLIDWORKS and Autodesk Inventor. So, go ahead and choose the software you want to get better on, right away!

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2. CFD using Ansys Fluent Course

This CFD course for mechanical engineers will help generate numerical simulations for fluid flow problems. It also helps in understanding the basic working of the software. It also assists students in understanding how to make decisions during product improvement. It is a great introductory course for mechanical engineers using Ansys Fluent for the first time. By the end, students will be able to work with preprocessing tools such as SpaceClaim and Mesher. It also introduces users to concepts such as boundary conditions and meshing strategies.

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3. CFD Champion using Ansys Fluent

This advanced CFD course for mechanical engineers will help students understand more advanced concepts related to fluid dynamics. This online course will take students through various features and modules of Ansys fluent, which is one of the most popular tools used in CFD analysis. This project will help users to solve projects related to combustion chambers, surface chemistry and heat transfer. Furthermore, mechanical students will also understand the inner workings of Battery modelling.

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4. Gear Train Design

Gears are used in most mechanical devices to transmit power from one shaft to another. Their use is so widespread that almost every mechanical engineer ends up designing or adjusting one in their career. In this online tutorial, you will learn how to develop a gear design using CAD software in a hands-on manner. This course is also a great way for you to start using CAD.

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5. Part Design

Every mechanical engineer must have good 3D CAD Modeling skills and this online tutorial will help you fine-tune yours with ease. CATIA is one of the most popular software tools used by engineers and this project is great for students interested in automobile engineering.

This course introduces you to all the major concepts of Part Design and will introduce you to the elements of Parametric Design. It will also teach you how to design and build keys and shafts. The course also contains information regarding the application of constraints and how fast analysis works. Finally, students will learn how to run simulations for the parts they have built. This service is also available on different software tools, such as Autodesk Inventor and Solidworks. Therefore, students will have the option of choosing their preferred platform and then learn how to use it effectively.

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Mechanical software tutorials - CATIA, ANSYS, SolidWorks