Autodesk AutoCAD AutoCAD Mechanical - 2008 Instruction Manual

AutoCAD Mechanical 2008

User’s Guide

January 30, 2007Part No. 20612-050000-5000A

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1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Contents

Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Chapter 1 About AutoCAD Mechanical . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

AutoCAD Mechanical Software Package . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Leveraging Legacy Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Starting AutoCAD Mechanical . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Accessing AutoCAD Mechanical Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

AutoCAD Mechanical Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Product Support and Training Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Design Features in AutoCAD Mechanical . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Mechanical Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Associative Design and Detailing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

External References for Mechanical Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Associative 2D Hide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Autodesk Inventor Companion Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

2D Design Productivity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Engineering Calculations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Machinery Systems Generators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Intelligent Production Drawing and Detailing . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Detailing Productivity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Annotations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Standard Mechanical Content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Standard Parts Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

v

Collaboration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Chapter 2 Commands in AutoCAD Mechanical . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Command Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Chapter 3 New and Revised Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Revised Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

AMBALLOON . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

AMBOM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

AMOPTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

AMPARTLIST . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

AMPARTREF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

AMPARTREFEDIT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

AMPOWERDIM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

AMSCATLOG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

AMSCREATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

AMSEXTERNALIZE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

AMSINSERT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

AMSLOCALIZE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

AMSNEW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

AMSTLSHAP2D . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

AMSURFSYM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

AMWELDSYMBOL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

New Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

AMBROWSEROPEN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

AMBROWSERCLOSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

AMSCATALOGOPEN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

AMSCATALOGCLOSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

AMSNAVMODE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

Design and Annotation Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Chapter 4 Working with Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Key Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

Working with Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

Setting Up Starting Layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

Setting Mechanical Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

Specifying Drawing Limits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

Saving Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

Using Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

Setting Default Standards Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

Chapter 5 Using Mechanical Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

vi | Contents

Key Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

Working with Mechanical Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

Enabling Mechanical structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

Folders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

Creating Folders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

Modifying Folders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

Nesting Folders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

Instance vs. Occurrence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

Selection Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

Components and Component Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

Creating Part Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

Creating Assembly Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

Modifying Assembly Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

Using Folders with Component Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

Mechanical Browser Display Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

Mechanical Browser and Bombs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

Browser Restructure and Ghost Components . . . . . . . . . . . 90

External Reference Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96

Inserting External Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

Editing External Components In-place . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101

Localizing and Externalizing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

Annotation Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

Associative Hide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106

Basics of AMSHIDE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

Using AMSHIDE in Assemblies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110

Chapter 6 Working with Layers and Layer Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

Key Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114

Working with Layers and Layer Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114

Getting Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

Changing Layers By Selecting Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116

Creating Layer Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117

Using Layer Groups to Copy Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122

Chapter 7 Designing Levers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127

Key Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128

Extending Designs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129

Using Libraries to Insert Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129

Configuring Snap Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131

Creating Construction Lines (C-Lines) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132

Creating additional C-Lines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135

Creating Contours and Applying Fillets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138

Trimming Projecting Edges on Contours . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140

Applying Hatch Patterns to Contours . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143

Dimensioning Contours . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144

Contents | vii

Creating and Dimensioning Detail Views . . . . . . . . . . . . 146

Chapter 8 Working with Model Space and Layouts . . . . . . . . . . . . 151

Key Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152

Working with Model Space and Layouts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153

Getting Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153

Creating Scale Areas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153

Creating Detail Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156

Generating New Viewports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158

Inserting Holes Within Viewports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160

Creating Subassemblies in New Layouts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165

Chapter 9 Dimensioning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169

Key Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170

Adding Dimensions to Drawings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171

Adding Automatic Dimensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171

Editing Dimensions with Power Commands . . . . . . . . . . . 175

Breaking Dimension Lines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179

Inserting Drawing Borders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180

Inserting Fits Lists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182

Chapter 10 Working with 2D Hide and 2D Steel Shapes . . . . . . . . . . 185

Key Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186

Working with 2D Hide and 2D Steel Shapes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186

Opening the initial drawing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186

Defining 2D Hide Situations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187

Inserting 2D Steel Shapes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190

Modifying Steel Shapes Using Power Commands . . . . . . . . . 193

Editing 2D Hide Situations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194

Copying and Moving 2D Hide Situations . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196

Chapter 11 Working with Standard Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201

Key Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202

Working with Standard Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203

Inserting Screw Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205

Copying Screw Connections with Power Copy . . . . . . . . . . 211

Creating Screw Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213

Editing Screw Connections with Power Edit . . . . . . . . . . . 222

Working with Power View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226

Deleting with Power Erase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229

Inserting Holes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231

Inserting Pins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234

Turning Off Centerlines in Configurations . . . . . . . . . . . . 237

Hiding Construction Lines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238

viii | Contents

Simplifying Representations of Standard Parts . . . . . . . . . . 239

Chapter 12 Working with BOMs and Parts Lists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243

Key Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244

Working with Parts Lists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244

Inserting Part References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245

Editing Part References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248

Placing Balloons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249

Creating Parts Lists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255

Merging and Splitting Items In Parts Lists . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261

Collecting Balloons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265

Sorting and Renumbering Items In Parts Lists . . . . . . . . . . 267

Using Filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270

Chapter 13 Creating Shafts with Standard Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277

Key Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278

Creating Shafts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279

Configuring Snap Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280

Configuring Shaft Generators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281

Creating Cylindrical Shaft Sections and Gears . . . . . . . . . . 282

Inserting Spline Profiles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286

Inserting Chamfers and Fillets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287

Inserting Shaft Breaks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288

Creating Side Views of Shafts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289

Inserting Threads on Shafts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290

Editing Shafts and Inserting Sections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291

Replacing Shaft Sections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292

Inserting Bearings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294

Chapter 14 Calculating Shafts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299

Key Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300

Calculating Shafts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301

Creating Shaft Contours . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302

Specifying Material . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303

Placing Shaft Supports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305

Specifying Loads on Shafts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305

Calculating and Inserting Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308

Calculating Strengths of Shafts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311

Engineering Calculations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315

Chapter 15 Calculating Moments of Inertia and Deflection Lines . . . . . . 317

Key Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 318

Contents | ix

Calculating Moments of Inertia and Deflection Lines . . . . . . . . . 318

Calculating Moments of Inertia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 319

Calculating Deflection Lines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321

Chapter 16 Calculating Chains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 327

Key Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 328

Chain Calculations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 328

Performing Length Calculations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 329

Optimizing Chain Lengths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 332

Inserting Sprockets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333

Inserting Chains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 338

Chapter 17 Calculating Springs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 341

Key Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 342

Calculating Springs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 342

Starting Spring Calculations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 344

Specifying Spring Restrictions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 345

Calculating and Selecting Springs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 348

Inserting Springs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 351

Creating Views of Springs with Power View . . . . . . . . . . . . 352

Chapter 18 Calculating Screw Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 355

Key Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 356

Methods for Calculating Screws . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 356

Using Stand Alone Screw Calculations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 357

Selecting and Specifying Screws . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 358

Selecting and Specifying Nuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 360

Selecting and Specifying Washers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 361

Specifying Plate Geometry and Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . 361

Specifying Contact Areas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 364

Specifying Loads and Moments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 365

Specifying Settlement Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 367

Specifying Tightening Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 368

Creating and Inserting Result Blocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 369

Chapter 19 Calculating Stress Using FEA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 371

Key Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 372

2D FEA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 372

Calculating Stress In Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 374

Defining Loads and Supports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 375

Calculating Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 377

Evaluating and Refining Mesh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 379

Refining Designs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 381

Recalculating Stress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 382

x | Contents

Chapter 20 Designing and Calculating Cams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 387

Key Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 388

Designing and Calculating Cams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 388

Starting Cam Designs and Calculations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 389

Defining Motion Sections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 393

Calculating Strength for Springs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 399

Exporting Cam Data and Viewing Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . 403

Autodesk Inventor Link . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 405

Chapter 21 Using Autodesk Inventor Link Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . 407

Key Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 408

Linking Autodesk Inventor Part Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 408

Shading and Rotating Geometry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 409

Inserting Drawing Borders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 410

Creating Drawing Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 414

Working with Dimensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 421

Exporting Drawing Views to AutoCAD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 425

Linking Autodesk Inventor Assembly Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 427

Accessing Parts from the Browser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 428

Accessing iProperties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 428

Inserting Drawing Borders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 431

Creating Parts Lists & Balloons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 432

Creating Breakout Section Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 436

Modifying Breakout Section Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 443

Removing Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 445

Updating Autodesk Inventor Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 446

Appendix A Layer Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 447

Layer Specification Listing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 448

Appendix B Title Block Attributes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 453

Attributes for Title Blocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 454

Attribute Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 454

Curly Brackets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 455

Message Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 456

Appendix C Accelerator and Shortcut Keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 457

Accelerator Keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 458

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 463

Contents | xi

xii

Overview

Part I provides information for getting started with your

AutoCAD® Mechanical software.

It includes an overview of the product capabilities, a summary

of commands with their toolbuttons and descriptions, and a

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.

In this part

■ About AutoCAD

Mechanical

■ Commands in AutoCAD

Mechanical

■ New and Revised

Commands

1

2

About AutoCAD Mechanical

This chapter provides information about the AutoCAD

Mechanical software application. It describes the software

package, the basic design features in the software, and the

methods for accessing commands.

A brief overview of the Help, along with information about

where to find resources for product learning, training, and

support are included.

®

1

In this chapter

■ AutoCAD Mechanical

Software Package

■ Leveraging Legacy Data

■ Starting AutoCAD

Mechanical

■ Accessing AutoCAD

Mechanical Commands

■ AutoCAD Mechanical Help

■ Product Support and

Training Resources

■ Design Features in

AutoCAD Mechanical

3

AutoCAD Mechanical Software Package

AutoCAD Mechanical is a 2D mechanical design and drafting solution for
engineers, designers, and detailers. Its intelligent production drawing and
detailing features decrease the time required to create and change 2D
production designs. AutoCAD Mechanical introduces many 3D concepts in
a familiar 2D environment. It is powered by AutoCAD®, with its easy-to-use
palette interface and time-saving xref functionality.

The AutoCAD Mechanical design software package includes both AutoCAD
Mechanical and AutoCAD. You can use one Options dialog box to customize
settings for both AutoCAD Mechanical and AutoCAD.

Leveraging Legacy Data

The tools for migrating legacy data are installed automatically when you install
the AutoCAD Mechanical software. A separate utility tool is available for
adding structure to legacy files after they are migrated.

The integrated Autodesk® IGES Translator for transferring and sharing of CAD
data between CAD/CAM/CAE systems is installed along with the AutoCAD
Mechanical product.

Newly generated files in AutoCAD Mechanical can be saved to a previous
version so that you can run multiple versions of AutoCAD Mechanical within
the 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:

4 | Chapter 1 About AutoCAD Mechanical

Accessing AutoCAD Mechanical Commands

AutoCAD Mechanical provides several methods to access commands and
manage 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

Menu

The step-by-step procedures in the tutorials in Part II of this manual indicate
the command name in the opening procedural text. The appropriate toolbutton
is 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 you
are 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.

NOTE To find the location of a particular toolbutton, refer to Appendix A.

Modify ➤ Power Commands ➤ Power Edit

AMPOWEREDITCommand

In the graphics area, right-click and choose Power Edit.Context Menu

AutoCAD Mechanical Help

The Help in AutoCAD Mechanical provides information about AutoCAD
Mechanical 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 a
given task. The linked Concept page provides background information
about the procedure. The linked Reference pages contain information

Accessing AutoCAD Mechanical Commands | 5

about all the commands and dialog boxes visited while performing the
procedure.

■ 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 Autodesk
Authorized Training Center (ATC®) with hands-on, instructor-led classes to
help you get the most from your Autodesk products. Enhance your productivity

with proven training from over 1,400 ATC sites in more than 75 countries.
For more information about Autodesk Authorized Training Centers, contact

[e-mail] or visit the online ATC locator at
www.autodesk.com/atc.

Sources for product support are listed on the AutoCAD Mechanical Product
Information Web page. From the AutoCAD Mechanical Web site at
http://www.autodesk.com/autocadmech, navigate to the Support Knowledge Base.
You can also navigate to the Community page, which contains links to various
communities, including the AutoCAD Mechanical Discussion Group.

6 | Chapter 1 About AutoCAD Mechanical

Design Features in AutoCAD Mechanical

This section provides an overview of the functionality in the AutoCAD
Mechanical software, including numerous innovative 2D design features.

Mechanical Structure

Mechanical structure comprises a suite of 2D structure tools for organizing
drawings and for reusing associative data. The capabilities of reuse in blocks
and accessibility in layer groups are combined in mechanical structure. When
you start the AutoCAD Mechanical application, the Mechanical structure
environment 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 and
managed in the browser. All components are accessible through the browser
for many functions, and filters can be set to control the type and level of
detail 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 of
components, but do not register as items in the live BOM database. They
can contain geometry.

■ All geometry remains selectable and editable at all times using familiar

commands 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 detailing
drafting stages. Many functions can be performed in the browser, including
the following:

■ You can instance components and assemblies multiple times. The live

BOM database in AutoCAD Mechanical keeps track of the quantity of each
part or assembly used.

Design Features in AutoCAD Mechanical | 7

■ Changes made to an associative instance of a part or assembly, associative

component, assembly detailing view, or a standard part or feature are
automatically reflected in the other instances.

■ Folders, components, and individual views of components can be reused

as needed. They maintain full associativity with each other.

■ Annotation views can be created for components and assemblies to fully

document the design. Changes made to geometry result in associative
dimensions being updated to reflect the change.

External References for Mechanical Structure

External References for mechanical structure provides for the components of
a drawing to be inserted as an external reference to multiple drawings.
Conversely, multiple drawings can be attached as external references to a
single drawing.

The following are the key benefits of external references for mechanical
structure:

■ Increased efficiency by allowing insertion of structure components from

many 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 drawing

are able to obtain the most updated design from the externally reference
component.

■ Ability to set up design specific reference directories as libraries for different

applications.

Associative 2D Hide

The 2D hide situation tool in AutoCAD Mechanical automates the process to
accurately represent parts and features which are partially or completely hidden
in 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 associative

hide situation.

8 | Chapter 1 About AutoCAD Mechanical

■ When geometry is hidden, AutoCAD Mechanical knows it is a component

in the mechanical structure, and provides a tooltip with the name and
view of the component.

Autodesk Inventor Companion Support

Autodesk® Inventor™ companion support redefines the meaning of 3D to 2D
interoperability. Use the companion functionality to:

■ Access and associatively document native 3D part models without the

presence 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 removed

projections, dimensions, and annotations.

■ Link to the native Autodesk Inventor part models automatically notifies

you of changes and enables updating of views and annotations to keep
your drawing up-to-date.

2D Design Productivity

These features increase productivity and reduce the number of steps needed
to complete mechanical designs:

■ AutoCAD Mechanical provides an intelligent, customizable layer

management system that puts objects on the appropriate layers
automatically.

■ Entities that are not on the current layer group, or entities that are on a

locked layer group can be displayed in a different color to reduce screen
clutter.

■ 2D hidden-line calculations are based on defined foreground and

background objects. You can choose hidden line representation types.

■ Auto detailing creates detailed drawings of individual components from

an assembly drawing.

■ One set of power commands is used to create, update, and edit objects.

Autodesk Inventor Companion Support | 9

■ Mechanical line objects are available for creating centerlines and center

crosses, construction lines, symmetrical lines, section lines, break lines,
and others.

■ Linear/symmetric stretch is used to modify dimensioned geometry by

changing the dimension value.

■ Predefined hatch patterns are applicable in two picks from toolbars and

menus.

Engineering Calculations

The automatic engineering calculations available in AutoCAD Mechanical
ensure proper function in mechanical designs.

■ The 2D FEA feature determines the resistance capability of an object put

under a static load and analyzes design integrity under various loads.

■ A number of moment of inertia and beam deflection calculations are

available.

■ Engineering calculations are available for shafts, bearings, and screws.

Machinery Systems Generators

Machinery systems in AutoCAD Mechanical generate the design and
calculation of shafts, springs, belts and chains, and cams. These tools ensure
that you get the design right the first time:

■ With the shaft generator, you can create drawing views of solid and hollow

shafts. 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 form
to incorporate in the drawing.

■ The belt and chain generator function provides features to create chain

and sprocket systems, belt and pulley systems, calculate optimal lengths

10 | Chapter 1 About AutoCAD Mechanical

for chains and belts, and insert these assemblies in your design. Chains
and belts can be selected from standard libraries.

■ The cam generator creates cam plates and cylindrical cams given input

border conditions. You can calculate and display velocity, acceleration,
and the cam curve path. You can couple driven elements to the cam and
create NC data through the curve on the path.

Intelligent Production Drawing and Detailing

A number of commands are available in AutoCAD Mechanical that automate
the process to create balloons and bills of material.

■ You can create formatted balloons and bills of material, as well as detailed

views of portions of designs.

■ Multiple parts lists per drawing are supported. Grouping of a parts list

provides lists of like items. Selected items can be combined to calculate
total length required for stock ordering. The parts lists recognize standard
parts. 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 of

hole along with a description of them. A second chart lists the coordinates
for each of the holes selected. Any update to the holes is reflected in the
charts.

■ A language converter translates text on a drawing into one of seventeen

different 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 with

each other.

■ Power dimension commands provide a single command to create and edit

all dimensions, apply specified formats, and add fits or tolerances.

Intelligent Production Drawing and Detailing | 11

■ Dimensions are automatic for 2D geometry with either ordinate or baseline

dimensions.

■ 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 easily

dimension 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 common

in mechanical drawings.

Standard Mechanical Content

Standard content includes parametrically generated, intelligent geometry that
you 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 quickly
incorporated 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 any
design.

■ 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 any
design.

12 | Chapter 1 About AutoCAD Mechanical

Standard Parts Tools

Standard part tools provide for the elements that go with standard parts, such
as a hole to accompany a screw. These tools include:

■ Screw connection feature for selecting entire fastener assemblies at one

time.

■ 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 Autodesk
Streamline® support. Autodesk Streamline is a hosted Web service for sharing
personalized 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 Autodesk

Streamline, without waiting for the data to download.

■ Using Streamline, many people can share design information and

collaborate online. Functionality includes instant messages, e-mail
notifications, polling/voting, discussion threads, database creation, and
more.

■ 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 a

standard Open GL file format called XGL). ZGL readily captures 3D data
that can be rendered by the Open GL library. ZGL files can then be
uploaded to Autodesk Streamline.

Standard Parts Tools | 13

14

Commands in AutoCAD Mechanical

This 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.

2

In this chapter

■ Command Summary

15

Command Summary

The following is a list of the AutoCAD Mechanical commands, a brief
description of each, and the associated toolbutton.

Some commands do not have an associated toolbutton. This list does not
contain AutoCAD® commands.

In some cases where some of the task-specific toolbars are available in a more
comprehensive format from the Main toolbar at View ➤ Toolbars, it is noted
in the table.

ton

ADCENTER

AM2DHIDE

AMANALYSEDWG

AMANNOTE

DescriptionCommand NameToolbut-

Provides layer group support within the
AutoCAD Design Center.

Hides invisible edges in unstructured situ­ations.

Edits existing unstructured hide situations.AM2DHIDEDIT

Creates an adjusting ring on a shaft.AMADJRINGS2D

Creates a file in which the current layer struc­ture of the drawing is written.

Creates, deletes, adds, and moves annotations
associated with drawing views.

Suits an existing hatch to a changed contour.AMASSOHATCH

Displays or attaches non attached symbols.AMATTACHSYM

16 | Chapter 2 Commands in AutoCAD Mechanical

ton

DescriptionCommand NameToolbut-

AMAUTOCLINES

AMAUTODETAIL

AMAUTODIM

AMBELL2D

Automatically creates construction lines on
selected drawing elements.

Creates an external detail drawing (xref) of
selected elements from an assembly drawing.

Creates chain, baseline, ordinate in both axes,
shaft, or symmetric dimensions.

Creates and places a balloon.AMBALLOON

Performs calculation on bearings.AMBEARCALC

Selects, calculates, and inserts Belleville spring
washers, and inserts spring specification tables
in drawings.

Creates a standard related blind hole.AMBHOLE2D

AMBOM

AMBREAKATPT

AMBROUTLINE

Creates a formatted BOM database containing
a list of attributes, parts lists with item num­bers, and lists of like items in a BOM.

Breaks a line, polyline, or a spline on a spe­cified point.

Draws a special spline to show the breakout
borders.

Command Summary | 17

ton

DescriptionCommand NameToolbut-

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

18 | Chapter 2 Commands in AutoCAD Mechanical

ton

DescriptionCommand NameToolbut-

Draws centerline cross on a plate.AMCENCRPLATE

Draws a centerline in between two lines.AMCENINBET

Creates a centerhole.AMCENTERHOLE2D

AMCENLINE

AMCHAINLENGTHCAL

AMCHECKDIM

Creates a centerline and center marks through
selected circles and arcs while in Drawing
mode.

Draws a centerline.AMCENTLINE

Draws chain or belt links.AMCHAINDRAW

Determines the tangent definition between
sprockets or pulleys.

Bevels the edges of objects.AMCHAM2D

Checks for, highlights, and edits dimensions
with overridden text.

Creates a clevis pin.AMCLEVISPIN2D

Command Summary | 19

ton

DescriptionCommand NameToolbut-

Locks or unlocks the construction line layer.AMCLINEL

Switches construction lines on or off.AMCLINEO

AMCOMP2D

AMCONSTLINES

AMCONSTSWI

Designs, calculates, and inserts compression
springs, and places spring specification tables
in drawings.

Draws construction lines.Design Toolbar
Design Toolbar - Draw, Construction for more
construction line commands.

Switches construction lines between lines and
rays.

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

AMCOPYLG

Copies a user specified layer group or selected
geometry into a new layer group.

20 | Chapter 2 Commands in AutoCAD Mechanical

ton

DescriptionCommand NameToolbut-

AMCOPYVIEW

Copies views to the same layout or to a differ­ent layout.

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

AMDEFLINE

AMDETAIL

Creates datum target symbols.AMDATUMTGT

Calculates the deflection line or moment line
of an object that has various force elements
acting on it.

Deletes views and its dependent views.AMDELVIEW

Creates associative and scaled detail frames of
selected parts of a drawing.

Command Summary | 21

ton

DescriptionCommand NameToolbut-

AMDIMALIGN

AMDIMARRANGE

AMDIMINSERT

AMDIMJOIN

Aligns linear, rotated, aligned, ordinate, or
angular dimensions that have a base dimen­sion of the same type.

Rearranges individual dimensions that lie along
one axis, in respect to a reference point.

Creates breaks in an existing dimension.AMDIMBREAK

Modifies dimensions in drawing mode.AMDIMFORMAT

Edits linear, aligned, rotated, and angular di­mensions by inserting new dimensions of the
same type simultaneously.

Edits linear, aligned, and angular (3-point or
2-line) dimensions by joining similar dimen­sions into a single dimension.

Edits multiple dimensions at the same time.AMDIMMEDIT

AMDIMSTRETCH

AMDRBUSHHOLE2D

Resizes objects by stretching/shrinking linear
and symmetric dimensions.

Creates a single drill bushing.AMDRBUSH2D

Creates a drill bushing and the corresponding
hole.

22 | Chapter 2 Commands in AutoCAD Mechanical

ton

DescriptionCommand NameToolbut-

AMDWGVIEW

AMEDITPSCUTLINE

Creates views of Autodesk Inventor® linked

models while in Drawing mode.

Creates edge symbols.AMEDGESYM

Edits balloons, parts lists, and symbols.AMEDIT

Displays or selects the paper space cutline for
breakout section views.

Edits views created in Drawing mode.AMEDITVIEW

Generates and organizes equations.AMEQUATEDIT

Erases all construction lines.AMERASEALLCL

Erases selected construction lines.AMERASECL

AMEXPLODE

AMEXT2D

Breaks a compound object in the mechanical
structure environment into its component
objects.

Designs, calculates, and inserts extension
springs, and inserts spring specification tables
in drawings.

Creates an external thread.AMEXTHREAD2D

Command Summary | 23

ton

DescriptionCommand NameToolbut-

Creates feature control frame symbols.AMFCFRAME

AMFEA2D

AMFITSLIST

AMGROOVE2D

AMHATCH_135_11

Calculates stress and deformation in a plane
for plates with a given thickness or in a cross
section with individual forces and stretching
loads.

Creates feature identifier symbols.AMFEATID

Rounds and fillets the edges of objects.AMFILLET2D

Puts existing fits and their respective dimen­sion values into a list and inserts this fits list
into your drawing.

Inserts a retaining ring/circlip with the appro­priate groove in a shaft.

Creates a grooved drive stud.AMGROOVESTUD2D

Creates a 135-degree and 11 mm/0.4 inch
hatch.

AMHATCH_135_2

AMHATCH_135_4

Creates a 135-degree and 2.7 mm/0.11 inch
hatch.

Creates a 135-degree and 4.7 mm/0.19 inch
hatch.

24 | Chapter 2 Commands in AutoCAD Mechanical

ton

DescriptionCommand NameToolbut-

AMHATCH_45_13

AMHATCH_45_2

AMHATCH_45_5

AMHATCH_DBL

AMHOLECHART

AMINERTIA

Creates a 45-degree and 13 mm/0.5 inch
hatch.

Creates a 45-degree and 2.5 mm/0.1 inch
hatch.

Creates a 45-degree and 5 mm/0.22 inch
hatch.

Creates a double hatch of 45- and 135-degree
and 2.3 mm/0.09 inch.

Displays the online Help.AMHELP

Documents the holes in a design, including
coordinate dimensions.

Calculates the following tasks: center of grav­ity, directions of the main axes moment, mo­ments of inertia, effective moment of inertia,
deflection angle.

AMINERTIAPROF

AMIVLINK

AMIVPROJECT

Calculates the moment of inertia for cross
sections of cylinders, hollow cylinders, rectan­gular prisms, or hollow rectangular prisms.

Recreates the associative link between a .dwg
file and an Autodesk Inventor assembly (.iam)
or part (.ipt) document.

Selects an Autodesk Inventor Project (.ipj) file
to use as the active project file for opening
Autodesk Inventor assembly (.iam) files.

Command Summary | 25

ton

DescriptionCommand NameToolbut-

AMIVUPDATE

AMLANGCONV

AMLANGTEXT

Rereads associated Autodesk Inventor part or
assembly file and updates the linked .dwg file.

Joins different entities.AMJOIN

Translates text strings in your drawing into
another language.

Displays and uses text from the Language
Converter.

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

26 | Chapter 2 Commands in AutoCAD Mechanical

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DescriptionCommand NameToolbut-

Switches part reference on or off.AMLAYPARTREFO

Resets all layers.AMLAYRESET

Switches the border and title block on or off.AMLAYTIBLO

AMLAYVISENH

AMLGMOVE

AMLISTVIEW

AMMANIPULATE

Specifies the layer group setting during a
working session.

Switches viewports on or off.AMLAYVPO

Moves elements in a selection set to a specific
layer group.

Displays the Library dialog box.AMLIBRARY

Lists information about a selected view while
in Drawing mode.

Creates a lubricator.AMLUBRI2D

Dynamically moves and rotates selected geo­metry along/around the X, Y, Z axes.

Makes a contour visible.AMMCONTV

Command Summary | 27

ton

DescriptionCommand NameToolbut-

AM_MECHANICAL_
BROWSER

AMMIGRATEBB

AMMIGRATESYM

AMMOVEDIM

AMMOVEVIEW

AMNOTE

Displays the browser in the mechanical struc­ture environment.

Converts infopoints, position numbers, and
parts lists (on a drawing) from Genius
13/Genius 14 to AutoCAD Mechanical 6
format.

Converts all symbols from Genius 13/14 to
AutoCAD Mechanical 6 format.

Switches between model and drawing modes.AMMODE

Moves dimensions on drawings while main­taining their association to the drawing view
geometry.

Moves a drawing view to another location in
the drawing or to another layout while in
Drawing mode.

Describes holes, fits, and standard parts, and
creates associative notes to the drawing with
a leader.

Creates a nut.AMNUT2D

AMOFFSET

AMOPTIONS

Creates new objects at specified distances from
an existing object or through a specified point.

Sets configurations. Merged with AutoCAD
command OPTIONS.

28 | Chapter 2 Commands in AutoCAD Mechanical

ton

DescriptionCommand NameToolbut-

Creates and places a parts list in a drawing.AMPARTLIST

Creates part references.AMPARTREF

Edits part reference data.AMPARTREFEDIT

AMPIN2D

AMPLBEAR2D

AMPLOTDATE

AMPOWERCOPY

AMPOWERDIM

Creates cylindrical pins, cotter pins, taper pins,
and grooved drive studs.

Inserts a plain bearing on a shaft or in a
housing.

Inserts the current date in the lower right
corner of the title block.

Creates a plain rivet.AMPLRIVET2D

Creates a plug.AMPLUG2D

Copies an object with its internal information
to another position in the drawing.

Creates power dimensions, or assigns toler­ances or fits to power dimensions.

Command Summary | 29

ton

DescriptionCommand NameToolbut-

AMPOWERDIM_ANG

AMPOWEREDIT

AMPOWERRECALL

AMPOWERSNAP

AMPROJO

Creates angular dimensions, or assigns toler­ances or fits to dimension.

Starts the command with which the selected
object was created to edit the object.

Deletes selected objects.AMPOWERERASE

Starts the command with which the selected
object was created, to create a new object.

Sets object snap modes, polar snap, and filters
for object snaps.

Creates top or side views of standard parts.AMPOWERVIEW

Creates a projection crosshairs used for creat­ing orthographic views.

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

30 | Chapter 2 Commands in AutoCAD Mechanical

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DescriptionCommand NameToolbut-

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

AMPSNAPVINT

AMPSNAPZO

AMRECTANG

Snaps to a virtual intersection point of two
lines.

Switches snapping of the Z coordinate on or
off.

Creates a rectangle by defining its starting and
endpoint. See Appendix A, Design Toolbar ­Draw - Rectangle for more rectangle com­mands.

Saves REFEDIT working set changes.AMREFCLOSE

Command Summary | 31

ton

DescriptionCommand NameToolbut-

AMREFCOPY

AMREFDIM

AMRESCALE

AMREVLINE

Copies objects from other blocks to the
REFEDIT working set.

Creates reference dimensions between the
part edges created in Model mode and lines,
arcs, circles, ellipses created in Drawing mode.

Rescales dimensions and symbols in model
and layout.

Switches revision lists on or off.AMREV

Inserts a revision list into a drawing or adds
an additional revision line to an existing revi­sion list.

Updates revision lists.AMREVUPDATE

Creates plain and countersunk rivets.AMRIVET2D

AMROLBEAR2D

AMSACTIVATE

AMSBASE

Inserts a radial or axial roller bearing on a shaft
or in a housing.

Selects folder(s) or view folder(s) in mechanical
structure and sets them as the active edit tar­get.

Specifies new base points for folders or views
that can be activated.

Allows scaling for entities in X and Y direction.AMSCALEXY

32 | Chapter 2 Commands in AutoCAD Mechanical

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DescriptionCommand NameToolbut-

AMSCAREA

AMSCATALOG

AMSCMONITOR

AMSCOPYDEF

AMSCREATE

Creates a scale area (an area that has a scale
that is different to model space scale) in
model space.

Opens the structure catalog dialog box, which
gives you the ability to insert structure com­ponents to the current drawing as external
references and manage them.

Opens the structure catalog dialog boxAMSCATALOGOPEN

Closes the structure catalog dialog box.AMSCATALOGCLOSE

Views and edits the scale of scale areas or
viewports.

Copies the definitions of instanced folders,
components or views in the mechanical
structure environment.

Creates components, component views,
folders, and annotation views in drawings in
the mechanical structure environment.

AMSCREWCALC

Creates a screw or bolt.AMSCREW2D

Calculates factors of safety for parts of a screw
connection.

Opens the Screw Connection dialog box.AMSCREWCON2D

Command Summary | 33

ton

DescriptionCommand NameToolbut-

AMSCREWMACRO2D

AMSEALS2D

AMSEDIT

AMSEXTERNALIZE

Opens the Screw Assembly Templates dialog
box.

Generates scripts.AMSCRIPT

Creates a sealing ring for use under a plug.AMSEALRING2D

Inserts a seal or O-ring with the appropriate
groove in a shaft.

Creates cutting plane lines.AMSECTIONLINE

Directly manipulates the contents of an active
folder or view in the mechanical structure en­vironment.

Sets up a drawing.AMSETUPDWG

Moves a structure component from the cur­rent drawing to a new drawing file and con­verts it to an external reference component.

AMSHAFT2D

AMSHAFTCALC

AMSHAFTEND

Creates rotationally symmetric shaft parts and
inner and outer shaft contours.

Calculates deflection line, bending moment,
torsion moment, supporting force, torque ro­tation angle, equivalent tension, and the safety
factor of shafts.

Creates a zigzag line, a free-hand line, or loop
to represent a shaft end.

34 | Chapter 2 Commands in AutoCAD Mechanical

ton

DescriptionCommand NameToolbut-

AMSHAFTKEY2D

AMSHAFTLNUT2D

AMSHIDE

AMSINSERT

Inserts a parallel or woodruff key with the ap­propriate keyseat in a shaft.

Creates a shaft lock nut including the lock
washer and inserts both in a shaft.

Creates and edits hide situations in the
mechanical structure environment.

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, in
the mechanical structure environment.

AMSLOCALIZE

AMSMOVE

AMSNAVMODE

Converts an external reference component to
a local component on the current drawing.

Moves objects and their associated occur­rences in one or more folders or views to an­other folder or view in the mechanical struc­ture environment.

Toggles the Design Navigation mode on and
off.

Command Summary | 35

ton

DescriptionCommand NameToolbut-

AMSNEW

AMSPURGE

AMSREPLACEDEF

AMSTDPLIB

AMSTDPLIBEDIT

Creates and manages new folders, compon­ents, and annotation views in the mechanical
structure environment.

Draws sprockets or pulleys.AMSPROCKET

Removes unused structure objects, including
folders, components, views, and annotation
views in the mechanical structure environ­ment.

Replaces the definition of a folder or view with
another definition of objects in the mechanical
structure environment.

Opens the Standard Parts Database dialog box
for selection.

Opens the Standard Parts Database dialog box
for editing.

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

36 | Chapter 2 Commands in AutoCAD Mechanical

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DescriptionCommand NameToolbut-

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

AMTAPTHOLE2D

Creates a taper hole with an internal thread.AMTAPITHREAD2D

Creates a taper pin.AMTAPERPIN2D

Creates a standard related tapped through
hole.

Creates a taper or slope symbol.AMTAPERSYM

Command Summary | 37

ton

DescriptionCommand NameToolbut-

Inserts mtext with 3.5 mm height.AMTEXT3

AMTEXT5

AMTEXTHORIZ

AMTEXTSIZE

Inserts mtext with 5 mm height. See Appendix
A, Assistance Toolbar - Text for more text
commands.

Inserts mtext with 7 mm height.AMTEXT7

Centers text horizontally and vertically.AMTEXTCENT

Centers text centered horizontally around the
selected point.

Aligns mtext to the right.AMTEXTRIGHT

Sets text to its default size in model space and
layout, and defines a height for an inserted
text.

Creates text with the text style to TXT.AMTEXTTXT

Creates a standard related through hole.AMTHOLE2D

Creates a thread end.AMTHREADEND2D

38 | Chapter 2 Commands in AutoCAD Mechanical

ton

DescriptionCommand NameToolbut-

Inserts a title block and a drawing border.AMTITLE

AMTOR2D

Designs, calculates, and inserts torsion springs,
and inserts spring specification tables in
drawings.

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

ton

DescriptionCommand NameToolbut-

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

AMVIEWLL

AMVIEWLR

AMVIEWUL

AMVIEWUR

Zooms the predefined lower-left quarter of
the drawing.

Zooms the predefined lower-right quarter of
the drawing.

Zooms the predefined upper-left quarter of
the drawing.

Zooms the predefined upper-right quarter of
the drawing.

Creates a viewport in layout.AMVPORT

Creates viewports automatically.AMVPORTAUTO

Resets the viewports to the default scale factor.AMVPZOOMALL

Creates a washer.AMWASHER2D

40 | Chapter 2 Commands in AutoCAD Mechanical

ton

DescriptionCommand NameToolbut-

Creates a welding symbol.AMWELDSYM

Controls the representation of xrefs.AMXREFSET

Draws zigzag lines.AMZIGZAGLINE

Displays a selected area in another viewport.AMZOOMVP

SAVEAS

Saves a file into a different file format for use
in more than one version of AutoCAD Mech­anical.

Command Summary | 41

42

New and Revised Commands

This chapter contains information about new and revised

commands in AutoCAD® Mechanical.

3

In this chapter

■ Revised Commands

■ New Commands

43

Revised Commands

This following are revised commands in this version of AutoCAD Mechanical.

AMBALLOON

Creates and places a balloon.

Toolbutton

Menu

■ Contains a powerful expression builder enabling you to create complex

formulas for Balloons.

■ All dialog boxes displayed that are displayed in response to this command

have been enhanced with the intention of making them easier to
understand and easier to use.

Annotate ➤ Parts List Tools ➤ Balloons

AMBOMCommand

AMBOM

Creates a formatted BOM database containing a list of attributes, parts lists with item numbers, and lists
of like items in a BOM.

Toolbutton

Menu

■ Contains a powerful expression builder enabling you to create complex

formulas for component properties, much easier than was possible in
previous releases.

Annotate ➤ Parts List Tools ➤ BOM Database

AMBOMCommand

44 | Chapter 3 New and Revised Commands

■ All dialog boxes displayed that are displayed in response to this command

have been enhanced with the intention of making them easier to
understand and easier to use.

AMOPTIONS

Sets configurations.

Menu

■ The AM:Structure tab has been updated to provide additional options for

pre-configure how component views are created when they are copied,
arrayed or mirrored. The remaining options have been rearranged to make
them easier to understand.

■ The AM:Standards tab has been updated to let you independently configure

text settings for each symbol separately. The entire BOM, Balloon and Part
List configuration process has been revamped. All related dialog boxes
have been redesigned with the intention of making them easier to
understand and easier to use.

NoneToolbutton

Assist ➤ Options

AMOPTIONSCommand

AMPARTLIST

Creates and places a parts list in a drawing.

Toolbutton

Menu

■ Provides options to wrap columns (also known as column splitting) directly

from the Parts List dialog box.

Annotate ➤ Parts List Tools ➤ Parts list

AMPARTLISTCommand

AMOPTIONS | 45

■ All dialog boxes displayed that are displayed in response to this command

have been enhanced with the intention of making them easier to
understand and easier to use.

AMPARTREF

Creates part references.

Toolbutton

Menu

■ All dialog boxes displayed that are displayed in response to this command

have been enhanced with the intention of making them easier to
understand and easier to use.

AMPARTREFEDIT

Creates part references.

Toolbutton

Menu

■ All dialog boxes displayed that are displayed in response to this command

have been enhanced with the intention of making them easier to
understand and easier to use.

AMPOWERDIM

Annotate ➤ Parts List Tools ➤ Part Reference

AMPARTREFCommand

Annotate ➤ Parts List Tools ➤ Part Reference Edit

AMPARTREFEDITCommand

Creates power dimensions, or assigns tolerances or fits to power dimensions.

46 | Chapter 3 New and Revised Commands

Toolbutton

Menu

■ Command has been enhanced to automatically create arc extension lines

when points outside an arc is dimensioned.

■ Supports the creation of inspection dimensions.

Annotate ➤ Power Dimensioning

AMPOWERDIMCommand

AMSCATLOG

Opens the structure catalog dialog box, which gives you the ability to insert structure components to
the current drawing as external references and manage them.

Toolbutton

Menu

■ The structure catalog is now seamlessly integrated with Autodesk Vault

and displays the status of vaulted referenced files.

■ The dialog box has been enhanced and the right-click menus have been

reorganized with the intention of making the options easier to understand
and easier to use.

Insert ➤ Structure Catalog

AMSCATALOGCommand

AMSCREATE

Creates components, component views, folders, and annotation views in drawings in the mechanical
structure environment.

NoneToolbutton

AMSCREATECommand

■ The command can now create annotation views in paper space. Creation

of annotation views is fully supported with calculation of the most

AMSCATLOG | 47

appropriate scale for a given paper size and standard compliant labels for
each view.

AMSEXTERNALIZE

Creates components, component views, folders, and annotation views in drawings in the mechanical
structure environment.

Toolbutton

AMSEXTERNALIZECommand

■ The command can now externalize local annotation views of xref

components, back to the source file.

AMSINSERT

Inserts a new instance of a component view, folder or annotation view in model space, in the mechanical
structure environment.

Toolbutton

AMSINSERTCommand

■ The command can now create multiple instances of annotation views in

model 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

AMSLOCALIZECommand

■ The command can now localize xref annotation views.

AMSNEW

Creates and manages new folders, components, and annotation views in the mechanical structure envir­onment.

Toolbutton

AMSLOCALIZECommand

■ The command can now create annotation views in paper space. Creation

of annotation views is fully supported with calculation of the most
appropriate scale for a given paper size and standard compliant labels for
each view.

AMSTLSHAP2D

Creates a steel shape.

Toolbutton

Menu

■ The command has been updated to contain over 500 new steel shapes, in

compliance with the year 2005 revision of the JIS and GB standards.

AMSURFSYM

Creates surface texture symbols.

Content ➤ Steel Shapes

AMSTLSHAP2DCommand

AMSNEW | 49

Toolbutton

Menu

■ You can now specify the surface texture parameter designation, numerical

limit value and transmission band as a single surface texture requirement.

■ The Surface Symbol dialog box has been updated to contain customizable

drop-down lists.

AMWELDSYMBOL

Creates welding symbols.

Toolbutton

Menu

■ The Welding Symbol dialog box contains a revised process list. Additional

you can automatically prefix the process number with the ISO standard
that governs the symbol.

Annotate ➤ Symbols ➤ Surface Texture

AMSURFSYMCommand

Annotate ➤ Symbols ➤ Welding

AMWELDSYMBOLCommand

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

■ Typically invoked when the Structure workspace is turned on.

AMBROWSERCLOSE

Turns off the mechanical browser.

■ Typically invoked when workspaces other than the structure workspace is

turned on.

AMSCATALOGOPEN

Turns on the mechanical browser.

AMBROWSEROPENCommand

NoneToolbutton

NoneMenu

AMBROWSERCLOSECommand

NoneToolbutton

NoneMenu

AMSCATALOGOPENCommand

■ Typically invoked when the Structure workspace is turned on.

AMSCATALOGCLOSE

Turns off the mechanical browser.

■ Typically invoked when workspaces other than the structure workspace is

turned on.

NoneToolbutton

NoneMenu

AMSCATALOGCLOSECommand

AMBROWSERCLOSE | 51

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 cursor

through model space, each component the cursor moves over highlights
(in model space as well as in the mechanical browser) and a tootip displays
the hierarchical structure of the component.

52 | Chapter 3 New and Revised Commands

Design and Annotation
Tools

The tutorials in this section teach you how to use AutoCAD

Mechanical’s design, annotation and productivity tools. The

lessons include step-by-step instructions and helpful

illustrations. You learn how to work with templates and layers,

mechanical structure, model space and layouts, dimensions,

steel shapes, bills of material (BOMs) and parts lists.

Instructions on how to prepare your designs for final

documentation are also included.

®

In this part

■ Working with Templates

■ Using Mechanical Structure

■ Working with Layers and

Layer Groups

■ Designing Levers

■ Working with Model Space

and Layouts

■ Dimensioning

■ Working with 2D Hide and

2D Steel Shapes

■ Working with Standard

Parts

■ Working with BOMs and

Parts Lists

■ Creating Shafts with

Standard Parts

■ Calculating Shafts

53

54

Working with Templates

4

In this tutorial, you learn about the predefined templates and

how to create your own user-defined templates in AutoCAD

Mechanical.

In this chapter

®

■ Key Terms

■ Working with Templates

55

Key Terms

DefinitionTerm

base layer

layer group

part layers

template

A layer made up of working layers and standard parts layers. Base layers are re­peated in every layer group.

A group of associated or related items in a drawing. A major advantage of
working with layer groups is that you can deactivate a specific layer group and
a complete component. The drawing and its overview are enhanced with a re­duction in regeneration time.

A layer where the standard parts are put. All standard parts layers have the suffix
AM_*N.

A file with predefined settings to use for new drawings. However, any drawing
can be used as a 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 as
am_iso.dwt or am_ansi.dwt, are supplied with AutoCAD Mechanical. You can
create your own templates, or use any drawing as a template. When you use
a drawing as a template, the settings in that drawing are used in the new
drawing.

Although you can save any drawing as a template, prepare templates to include
settings and drawing elements that are consistent with your company or
project 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

■ title blocks, borders, and logos

■ dimension and text styles

■ linetypes and lineweights

If you start a drawing from scratch, AutoCAD Mechanical reads the system
defaults from the registry. The system defaults have a predefined standard.

If you create a new drawing based on an existing template and make changes
to the drawing, those changes do not affect the template.

To begin working with templates immediately, you can use the predefined
template 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 full
administrator. Logging on as a user with administrator privileges is not
sufficient, 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 does
not belong to the Mechanical layers, it is not displayed in the Layer Control
dialog box of AutoCAD Mechanical if you select Mechanical Layer in the Show
field.

It is required that you specify the mechanical layer AM_0 as the default starting
layer.

To specify a starting layer

1 Start the Layer Control command.

Toolbutton

Menu

2 In the Layer Control dialog box, Layer Control tab, select the layer AM_0

and then choose Current.

Assist ➤ Layer/Layergroup ➤ Layer/Layer Group
Control

AMLAYERCommand

Setting Up Starting Layers | 57

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 AutoCAD
Mechanical, Autodesk® Mechanical Desktop®, and AutoCAD®. Tabs that affect
settings for either Mechanical Desktop or AutoCAD Mechanical, or both, have
an AM prefix. Use the arrows at the right end of the tab bar to move left and
right through all of the available tabs.

When you start the AutoCAD Mechanical application, mechanical structure
is enabled by default. Although this setting is not stored in templates, disable
mechanical structure for this exercise.

To set mechanical options

1 Start the Mechanical Options command.

58 | Chapter 4 Working with Templates

Menu

Assist ➤ Options

OPTIONS or AMOPTIONSCommand

2 In the Options dialog box, AM:Structure tab, clear the Enable Structure

check 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 settings
are listed in the right section.

Setting Mechanical Options | 59

Specifying Drawing Limits

Specify the drawing limits according to size A0 (840 x 1188 mm). This limits
your drawing space to the specified size.

To specify the drawing limits

1 Start the Drawing Limits command.

Menu

2 Respond to the prompts as follows:

Specify lower left corner or [ON/OFF] <0.00,0.00>: Press ENTER

Specify upper right corner <420.00,297.00>: Enter 841, 1189, press

ENTER

The limits are expanded to A0 format.

Saving Templates

Save the previously changed drawing as a template.

To save a template

Assist ➤ Format ➤ Drawing Limits

LIMITSCommand

1 Start the Save As command.

Menu

2 In the Save Drawing As dialog box, specify:

Files of type: AutoCAD Mechanical Drawing Template (*.dwt)

File name: my_own_template

File ➤ Save As

SAVEASCommand

60 | Chapter 4 Working with Templates

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

Using Templates

Use the previously created template to start a new drawing.

To open a template

1 Start the New command.

Toolbutton

Menu

2 In the Select template dialog box, select my_own_template.dwt, and then

choose Open.

Start the new drawing using the settings of the previously saved template.

File ➤ New

NEWCommand

Setting Default Standards Templates

Specify your template as the default template.

62 | Chapter 4 Working with Templates

To set a default template

1 Start the Mechanical Options command.

Menu

2 In the Options dialog box, AM:Standards tab, choose Browse.

Assist ➤ Options

AMOPTIONSCommand

3 In the Open dialog box, select my_own_template.dwt, and then choose

Open.

4 In the Options dialog box, choose OK.

The template my_own_template is used as the default standards template
until you specify a different default template.

NOTE The default standards template is used if a drawing does not contain
any AutoCAD Mechanical configuration. If a drawing already contains
AutoCAD Mechanical configuration data, or a new drawing has been created
using an AutoCAD Mechanical template, the default template does not affect
the drawing.

This is the end of this tutorial chapter.

Setting Default Standards Templates | 63

64

Using Mechanical Structure

In this tutorial, you learn how to use mechanical structure in

AutoCAD® Mechanical. You learn how to work with folders,

components and component views. You also review the bill

of materials, restructure components and resolve ghost

components. You learn how to insert components from

external files, edit in-place, localize external components and

externalize local components.

5

In this chapter

■ Key Terms

■ Working with Mechanical

Structure

■ Folders

■ Selection Modes

■ Mechanical Browser

Display Options

■ External Reference

Components

■ Annotation Views

■ Associative Hide

65

Key Terms

DefinitionTerm

annotation view

associative

mechanical browser

component

component view
folder

definition

elemental geometry

folder

A folder that contains one or more component views dedicated to annotating
and detailing parts and subassemblies.

In mechanical structure, the implication that a change to one instance of a
definition is reflected in all other instances of that definition, including the
definition itself.

A browser that contains the hierarchy of components, component views, an­notation views, and folders of a given mechanical structure.

A browser placeholder and identification for the component type. A component
is analogous to the manufacturing units of parts and assemblies.

A folder nested under a component that contains the geometry for a particular
view of that component.

A description of a folder, component, or view that AutoCAD Mechanical saves
in the database, similar to a block definition.

The graphical elements of a drawing that represent the shape and size of a part
or assembly.

A folder that contains any drawing item that does not have a dedicated or default
folder preprogrammed in mechanical structure.

A unit of elemental geometry.free object (as used in
the Create Hide Situ­ation dialog box)

geometry

The graphical elements of a drawing that represent the shape and size of a part

or assembly.

Geometry that is included in a hide situation.hidden geometry

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DefinitionTerm

An iteration of a definition as it appears in mechanical structure.instance

object

occurrence

Used variously to describe any item in mechanical structure, whether a compon­ent, folder, or geometry.

Placement of a component, usually in multiple-level assemblies, where a com­ponent is replicated as a result of multiple placements of a single part or sub­assembly.

Working with Mechanical Structure

Mechanical structure is a set of tools used to organize data for reuse. Structure
is graphically represented by a tree called the mechanical browser.

In this chapter, you learn how to use mechanical structure by working through
simple demonstrations. First, you must create a new drawing and enable
mechanical structure.

Working with Mechanical Structure | 67

Enabling Mechanical structure

To enable mechanical structure

■ Click the STRUCT status bar button and latch it down to enable mechanical

structure.

To display the mechanical browser

1 If the mechanical browser is not visible, in the command line, enter

AMBROWSER.

2 When prompted, enter ON.

Folders

The basic element of mechanical structure is the folder. A folder is similar to
a block in that it has a definition that can be instanced multiple times. Like
a block, the definition is stored away in the nongraphical area of the drawing.
Similar to blocks, any change you make to the folder definition is reflected in
all instances of that folder.

Creating Folders

1 Use the Circle tool to create a circle. The size and proportions are not

important.

2 Use the Rectangle tool to draw a rectangle around the circle.

3 Right-click anywhere in the browser, and select New ➤ Folder.

4 Respond to the prompts as shown:

Enter folder name <Folder1>: Press ENTER

Select objects for new component view:

Select the circle and then the rectangle and press ENTER

Specify base point: Pick the lower left corner of the rectangle

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Modifying Folders

While folders are similar to blocks, there are significant differences. The most
significant, is that the contents of a folder remain editable without the need
for a special editing mode like REFEDIT.

To grip edit the circle

1 Continue clicking the circle until you see the word CIRCLE in the tooltip

window.

2 Select a grip, drag and then click.

If a folder's contents are selectable, how do you select the folder? This is where
the tooltip comes in. You select folders (and other elements of structure) by
cycling through a selection, and the tooltip tells you what you are selecting.
In the next exercise, you copy the folder to demonstrate structure selection.

To copy the folder

1 Press ESC to clear any preselection.

2 In the command line, enter -COPY and press ENTER.

Modifying Folders | 69

3 Continue clicking the circle until you see the word Folder1:1 in the tooltip

window.

4 Press ENTER to complete selection, then pick points to finish the copy.

5 Press ESC to finish.

The mechanical browser shows a second instance of the folder (Folder1:2),
implying that you copied the folder, not just the contents.

In the next exercise you modify the contents of a folder to demonstrate that
modifying one instance of a folder updates both.

To edit an instance

1 Continue clicking a circle until you see the word CIRCLE in the tooltip

window.

2 Press DELETE. Note how the circle is deleted from both instances.

Next, you add new geometry to a folder. Before you add geometry you must
activate the folder to make it the active edit target. This ensures that geometry
is added to the folder and not to model space.

To activate and add geometry

1 In the browser, right-click Folder1:1 and select Activate. The geometry

that does not belong to this folder is dimmed out.

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2 Use LINE to draw two diagonal lines from corner to corner on the

rectangle. Note that the lines appear in the other instance as soon as the
command is completed.

3 Double-click a vacant area in the browser to reset activation.

Nesting Folders

Like blocks, folders can be nested. However, a folder cannot be nested within
itself, which is about the only restriction on folder nesting.

1 Draw a small circle in the lower triangle in the second instance of the

folder.

2 Draw a line from the center of the circle to the 3 o’clock quadrant of the

circle.

3 In the browser, right-click Folder1:2 and select New Folder.

Nesting Folders | 71

4 Respond to the prompts as shown:

Enter folder name <Folder2>: Press ENTER

Select objects for new component view:

Select the circle and then the line and press ENTER

Specify base point: Select the center of the circle.

5 Expand Folder1:1 and Folder 1:2 and verify that a nested folder was

created.

6 In the browser, right-click Folder1:2 again and select Insert Folder.

7 Respond to the prompts as below:

Enter folder name to insert or [?] <?>: Enter Folder2 and press ENTER

Specify the insertion point or [Base point/Rotate 90]:

Click in the triangle on the right, in the second instance of Folder1

Specify rotation angle <0>: Enter 45 and press ENTER

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Notice that when you added the nested folders, both instances updated,
just like when you added the lines. Folder2:1 was created as a child of
Folder1:2 because we chose New Folder from its context menu, and
Folder2:2 was inserted into Folder1:2 for the same reason. Note that as
with blocks, you were able to rotate the folder instance on insertion.

Instance vs. Occurrence

To finish with folders, you inspect a few browser functions such as visibility
and property overrides. While performing these exercises you learn the
difference between instances and occurrences.

To override properties

1 In the browser, right-click Folder1:1 and select Property Overrides.

2 In the Property Overrides dialog box, select the Enable overrides check

box.

3 Select the Color check box, The default color changes to red.

4 Click OK.

Note how the entire instance, inclusive of the nested folders is now red.
Also note how the color change did not have an effect on Folder1:2.

5 In the browser, right-click Folder1:1 again, and select Property Overrides

6 In the Property Overrides dialog box, clear the Enable overrides check

box, and click OK.

Instance vs. Occurrence | 73

7 In the browser, right click Folder1:1 ➤ Folder2:1 and select property

overrides.

8 Apply a color override of red to the folder.

The subfolder you selected is now red, but the other subfolder is not.
Notice that the same subfolder is red in Folder1:2. This is because property
overrides are instance-based. When you look at visibility you will
understand why this matters.

To apply visibility overrides

1 In the browser, right-click Folder1:1 and select Visible. The entire folder

is now invisible.

2 In the browser, right-click Folder1:1 and select Visible. The folder is visible

again.

3 In the browser, right-click Folder1:1\Folder2:2 and select Visible. Notice

that unlike the property overrides, both instances of Folder2 are visible
in Folder1:2. That's because visibility is occurrence-based.

Selection Modes

The three status bar buttons next to the STRUCT status bar button control the
different selection modes.

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FunctionButton

BTM-UP/TOP­DN

R-LOCK

S-LOCK

Switches the structure selection order between bottom­up and top-down.

Switches the Reference Lock on and off. When the Refer­ence Lock is on, you cannot select entities in an external
folder or view (more on this later).

Switches the Selection Lock on and off. When the Selection
Lock is on, selection is restricted to the active edit target
and below.

The next two exercises demonstrate the behavior of the BTM-UP/TOP-DN and
S-LOCK selection modes.

To select items when the selection mode is set to top-down

1 Press ESC to clear any selections.

2 Click the BTM-UP/TOP-DN button and ensure that the text on the button

reads TOP-DN.

3 Click one of the circles in Folder1:1. Note the tooltip indicates that you

selected the folder, Folder1:1, and not the circle.

4 Click the circle again. Note the tooltip indicates that you selected the

nested folder.

5 Click the circle again. Note the tooltip indicates that you have finally

managed to select the circle.

6 Click the circle again. Selection cycles to Folder1:1 again.

When the selection mode is set to top-down, the selection sequence begins
at the topmost level and ends with the elemental geometry. When the selection
mode is set to bottom-up the selection begins with the elemental geometry.

You may want to set the selection mode and repeat the exercise to verify the
behavior of the selection modes under the bottom-up.

Selection Modes | 75

To select items when S-LOCK is on

1 Press ESC to clear any selections.

2 In the browser, double-click Folder1:1 to activate it.

3 Click the S-LOCK button and latch it down to turn on the selection lock.

4 Click one of the circles in Folder1:2. Note that the circle is no longer

selectable.

5 Click one of the circles in Folder1:1. Grips appear, indicating that selection

is possible.

6 Double-click the root of the mechanical browser tree to reset activation.

7 Close the drawing. You can save the drawing, if required.

Components and Component Views

You may notice that folders provide some useful features, but they're probably
not different enough from blocks to convince you to change over to the
structure paradigm. The potential of mechanical structure begins to be revealed
when you start dealing with components and component views.

Component Views are basically folders with some extra rules that make them
more suitable for mechanical design. You typically need more than one view
to fully describe a part or assembly. Folders (and blocks before them) don't
offer any mechanism other than naming to associate multiple views of the
same part. Components and views solve this by allowing you to collect multiple
folders (component views) under a single Component.

A component can be a part or assembly, based on its contents (if a component
contains another component, then it's an assembly). The component also
gives you a place to store attributes like description and material. Components
don't actually contain geometry; they just group the views that contain the
geometry. This will begin to make more sense when you create some
components and component views.

Creating Part Components

1 Start a new drawing and draw a long thin rectangle (the edge view of a

plate).

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2 Draw a second rectangle, above the first, having the same width (the top

view).

3 Right-click anywhere in the browser, and select New ➤ Component.

4 Respond to the prompts as shown:

Enter new component name <COMP1>: Press ENTER

Enter new view name <Top>: Press ENTER

Select objects for new component view:

Select the larger rectangle and press ENTER

Specify base point: Pick the lower left corner of the rectangle

Note that the mechanical browser now displays the component COMP1:1
and that it contains the component view; Top, below it.

To add a new view to a component

1 In the browser, right-click COMP1:1 and select New ➤ Component

View.

2 Accept the default name for the component view.

3 Select the smaller rectangle and press ENTER.

4 To specify a base point, click the lower left corner of the rectangle. Note

that the new component view, Front, was added to the component
COMP1:1

Creating Part Components | 77

Creating Assembly Components

You now have two component views; Front and Top, and they are grouped
together in the browser by COMP1:1. In the next exercise, you insert another
instance of COMP1 and assemble the two components (parts) in an “L” shape.

To insert a new instance of a component

1 In the browser, right-click a vacant area, and select Insert ➤ Component.

2 Respond to the prompts as shown:

Enter component name or [?] <?>: Enter COMP1 and press ENTER

Enter component view name or [?] <Top>: Enter Front and press ENTER

Specify the insertion point or [Base point/Rotate 90]:

Pick point 1, the top left corner of the larger rectangle

Specify rotation angle <0>: Press ENTER

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3 In the browser, right-click COMP1:2 and select Insert ➤ Component

View ➤ Top.

4 Respond to the prompts as shown:

Specify the insertion point or [Base point/Rotate 90]:

Pick point 2, the lower left corner of the front view of COMP1:1

Specify rotation angle <0>: Press ENTER.

To assemble components

1 Right-click anywhere In the browser, and select New ➤ Component.

Creating Assembly Components | 79

2 Respond to the prompts as shown:

Enter new component name <COMP2>: Enter ASSY and press ENTER

Enter new view name <Top>: Enter Front and press ENTER

Select objects for new component view:

Select COMP1:1 (Front) and COMP1:2 (Top) and press ENTER

To select a component view instead of the geometry, continue clicking
the geometry until you see the component view name in the tooltip
window. If you accidentally select the wrong view, you can cancel the
selection by selecting the view again with the SHIFT key pressed.

Specify base point: Pick the lower left corner of the combined view.

The Component Restructure dialog box is displayed.

3 In the Destination Components list, right-click a vacant area, and select

Create New View.

4 Respond to the prompts as shown:

Enter new view name <Top>: Press ENTER

Select objects for new component view:

Select COMP1:1 (Top) and COMP1:2 (Front) and press ENTER

Specify base point: Pick the lower left corner of the combined view

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Modifying Assembly Components

As you work, you can continue to add views as needed. To demonstrate this,
in the next exercise, you add a side view of this assembly.

To add a component view

1 Draw a rectangle representing the side view of the first instance of COMP1.

2 In the browser, right-click ASSY:1 and select New ➤ Component View.

3 Respond to the prompts as follows:

Enter new view name <Right>: Enter Side and press ENTER

Select objects for new component view:

Don’t pick anything - just press ENTER

Specify base point: Pick the lower left corner of the rectangle

4 In the browser, right-click COMP1:1 and select New ➤ Component

View.

5 Respond to the prompts as shown:

Enter new view name <Right>: Enter Side and press ENTER

Specify parent view or [?] <Front>: Enter Side and press ENTER

Select objects for new component view:

Modifying Assembly Components | 81

Pick the rectangle and press ENTER

Specify base point: Pick the lower left corner of the rectangle

6 In the browser, right-click COMP1:2 and select Insert ➤ Component

View ➤ Side.

7 Respond to the prompts as shown:

Specify parent view or [?] <Front>: Enter Side and press ENTER

Specify the insertion point or [Base point/Rotate 90/nextView]:

Enter R and press ENTER

Specify the insertion point or [Base point/Rotate 90/nextView]:

Pick a place close to the other view

Specify rotation angle <90>: Press ENTER

8 Move the view into the correct position.

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In the next exercise, you add a component to the assembly to demonstrate
the ability to add a component after the assembly is created.

To add a component

1 Draw a circle on the top view of the assembly.

2 In the browser, right-click ASSY:1(Top) and select New ➤ Component.

3 Respond to the prompts as shown:

Enter new component name <COMP2>: Press ENTER

Enter new view name <Top>: Press ENTER

Select objects for new component view: Select the circle and press ENTER

Specify base point: Click the center of the circle

Modifying Assembly Components | 83

4 Draw a rectangle representing the projected view in the front view of the

assembly

5 In the browser, double-click ASSY:1 ➤ Top to activate that view

6 Right-click COMP2:1 and select New ➤ Component View.

7 Respond to the prompts as shown:

Enter new view name <Front>: Enter Side and press ENTER

Specify parent view or [?] <Front>: Press ENTER

Select objects for new component view:

Select the rectangle and press ENTER

Specify base point: Pick the midpoint of the lower edge of the rectangle

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8 In the browser, double-click ASSY:1 ➤ Side to activate it.

9 Ensure that S-LOCK is off and copy COMP2:1(Side) and position it in the

side view.

To select a component view instead of the geometry, continue clicking
the geometry until you see the component view name in the tooltip
window

10 In the Component View Instance created dialog box, select Existing in

the last column.

11 Double-click a vacant area to reset activation.

Modifying Assembly Components | 85

Using Folders with Component Views

When folders are used in conjunction with component views, you can do
several useful things. This section shows two examples.

You can use folders to contain drawing items that would otherwise not be
accounted for with a default component view folder.

In the following example, a folder, Groove:1, was created to contain the upper
groove and arrayed to create the others. Because the groove is implemented
as a folder, it does not have an impact on the BOM. Modifying one of the
grooves results in all grooves being updated.

In the following example, a folder, Profile:1, was created to contain the
upper-wheel profile. Profile:2 is another instance of this folder, created by
mirroring Profile:1. Changing one profile automatically updates the other.
The wheel component was created after the Profile folders. The design intent
is captured and organized with these folders.

Mechanical Browser Display Options

The mechanical browser shows the hierarchical organization of components
within a drawing. In this section, you use browser options to show data in
different ways to get a better understanding of components and component
views.

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The default view of the mechanical browser shows the hierarchical organization
of components as well as indicates which component owns a given component
view.

To show the View Tree and Component Tree

1 Right-click the root node of the mechanical browser and select Browser

Options.

2 In the View Tree section, select the Display Tree check box.

3 In the Component Tree section, clear the Component Views check box.

4 Click OK.

5 Right-click a vacant area in the browser and select Expand All.

In this view, the hierarchy of components as well as views are shown.

Mechanical Browser Display Options | 87

To show both default and expandable assembly views

1 Right-click the root node of the mechanical browser and select Browser

Options.

2 In the Component Tree section, select the Component Views check box.

3 Click OK.

In this view, the mechanical browser shows the hierarchy of components,
component views as well as indicates which component owns a given
component view. In practice, you can work with the view settings that makes
most sense to you.

Mechanical Browser and Bombs

Components not only group component views, they hold bills of material
(BOM) attributes as well. In the next exercise, you insert a parts list and in the
process, explore the BOM of the simple assembly you created.

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