Table of Contents

Introduction and Scope

This page contains notes from the Introduction to Parametric Feature-Based CAD course available at onshpae. This page essentially pulls together all of the course’s key takeaways.

01 Course Introduction

History of CAD

  • Early CAD systems debuted in the 1960s, and were used primarily for 2D drafting.
  • The 1990s introduced 3D parametric modeling, enhancing design flexibility and precision.
  • Onshape transformed the landscape of computer-aided design with cloud-native 3D CAD.

2D vs 3D CAD

  • Designers leverage Computer-Aided Design to both create and communicate the form and function of their parts and assemblies.
  • With parametric three-dimensional CAD, each part becomes a three-dimensional model.
  • Drawing views on two-dimensional drawings are linked to the three-dimensional model.

Utilizing CAD Data

  • Utilize drawings and other formats to aid in manufacturing.
  • Simulation allows you to analyze the design for safety and integrity.
  • Rendering creates high-quality images for marketing and sales teams.

02 Parametric Feature-Based CAD

Introduction to 3D CAD

  • 3-dimensional models are created by first developing 2-dimensional profiles and adding depth with features.
  • Visualizing and planning a model streamlines the process and results in a better, more intelligent model.

Design Intent

  • Design intent is a combination of planning, organization, and anticipation built into your CAD design.
  • Design intent influences the features you select, the parent/child relationships between them, and the parameters used to define them.
  • Integrating your design intent into the model allows you to make changes more efficiently without compromising the overall design.

View Projections

  • 2D drawings require view projections to analyze, design, and precisely communicate complex shapes.
  • Orthographic projection is a method to represent a 3D object by projecting its features onto perpendicular planes.
  • First-angle and third-angle projections provide two different methods for projecting different views in relation to one another.

03 Knowledge Check

  1. Which view projection is oriented such that all axes are at the same angle and scale, creating a balanced view of the object?
    • Isometric
  2. Onshape is a fully featured CAD software system that can be accessed completely from your web browser.
    • True
  3. The faces of a part are unfolded in the image below. Which of the 3D objects corresponds to the unfolded part?
    • B
  4. Which projection style is used in this drawing?
    • Third Angle
  5. Only one user may work in an Onshape document at a time.
    • False

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