Autodesk AutoCAD AutoCAD Mechanical - 2009 Instruction Manual

AutoCAD Mechanical 2009

User’s Guide

January 2008

©

2008 Autodesk, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Except as otherwise permitted by Autodesk, Inc., this publication, or parts thereof, may not be

reproduced in any form, by any method, for any purpose.

Certain materials included in this publication are reprinted with the permission of the copyright holder.

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Published by:
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Contents

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

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

AutoCAD Mechanical Software Package . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Leveraging Legacy Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

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

AutoCAD Mechanical Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Product Support and Training Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Design Features in AutoCAD Mechanical . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Mechanical Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Associative Design and Detailing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

External References for Mechanical Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Associative 2D Hide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Autodesk Inventor link . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

2D Design Productivity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Engineering Calculations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Machinery Systems Generators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Intelligent Production Drawing and Detailing . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Detailing Productivity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Annotations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Standard Mechanical Content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Standard Parts Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Collaboration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

iii

Chapter 2 Commands in AutoCAD Mechanical . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Command Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Design and Annotation Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Chapter 3 Working with Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Key Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Working with Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Setting Mechanical Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Specifying Drawing Limits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Saving Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Using Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Setting Default Standards Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Chapter 4 Using Mechanical Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Key Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Working with Mechanical Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

Folders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

Creating Folders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

Modifying Folders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

Nesting Folders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

Instance vs. Occurrence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Selection Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

Components and Component Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

Creating Part Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

Creating Assembly Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

Modifying Assembly Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

Using Folders with Component Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

Mechanical Browser Display Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

Mechanical Browser and BOMs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

Browser Restructure and Ghost Components . . . . . . . . . . . 76

External Reference Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

Inserting External Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

Editing External Components In-place . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

Localizing and Externalizing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89

Annotation Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

Associative Hide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

Basics of AMSHIDE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93

Using AMSHIDE in Assemblies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96

Chapter 5 Designing Levers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

Key Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

Extending Designs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100

iv | Contents

Using Libraries to Insert Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101

Configuring Snap Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102

Creating Construction Lines (C-Lines) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

Creating additional C-Lines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

Creating Contours and Applying Fillets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

Trimming Projecting Edges on Contours . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109

Applying Hatch Patterns to Contours . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112

Dimensioning Contours . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112

Creating and Dimensioning Detail Views . . . . . . . . . . . . 114

Chapter 6 Working with Model Space and Layouts . . . . . . . . . . . . 119

Key Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119

Working with Model Space and Layouts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120

Getting Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120

Creating Scale Areas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121

Creating Detail Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123

Generating New Viewports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125

Inserting Holes Within Viewports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127

Creating Subassemblies in New Layouts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131

Chapter 7 Dimensioning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135

Key Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135

Adding Dimensions to Drawings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136

Adding Multiple Dimensions Simultaneously . . . . . . . . . . . 137

Editing Dimensions with Power Commands . . . . . . . . . . . 140

Breaking Dimension Lines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144

Inserting Drawing Borders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144

Inserting Fits Lists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147

Chapter 8 Working with 2D Hide and 2D Steel Shapes . . . . . . . . . . 151

Key Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151

Working with 2D Hide and 2D Steel Shapes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152

Opening the initial drawing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152

Defining 2D Hide Situations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153

Inserting 2D Steel Shapes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156

Modifying Steel Shapes Using Power Commands . . . . . . . . . 159

Editing 2D Hide Situations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160

Copying and Moving 2D Hide Situations . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162

Chapter 9 Working with Standard Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167

Key Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167

Working with Standard Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168

Inserting Screw Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170

Copying Screw Connections with Power Copy . . . . . . . . . . 176

Contents | v

Creating Screw Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178

Editing Screw Connections with Power Edit . . . . . . . . . . . 186

Working with Power View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189

Deleting with Power Erase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192

Inserting Holes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194

Inserting Pins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197

Turning Off Centerlines in Configurations . . . . . . . . . . . . 200

Hiding Construction Lines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200

Simplifying Representations of Standard Parts . . . . . . . . . . 201

Chapter 10 Working with BOMs and Parts Lists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205

Key Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205

Working with Parts Lists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206

Inserting Part References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207

Editing Part References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209

Placing Balloons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211

Creating Parts Lists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216

Merging and Splitting Items In Parts Lists . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222

Collecting Balloons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225

Sorting and Renumbering Items In Parts Lists . . . . . . . . . . 227

Using Filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231

Chapter 11 Creating Shafts with Standard Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235

Key Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235

Creating Shafts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236

Configuring Snap Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237

Configuring Shaft Generators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238

Creating Cylindrical Shaft Sections and Gears . . . . . . . . . . 240

Inserting Spline Profiles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244

Inserting Chamfers and Fillets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245

Inserting Shaft Breaks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246

Creating Side Views of Shafts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247

Inserting Threads on Shafts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248

Editing Shafts and Inserting Sections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249

Replacing Shaft Sections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250

Inserting Bearings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252

Engineering Calculations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257

Chapter 12 Calculating Shafts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259

Key Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259

Calculating Shafts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260

Creating Shaft Contours . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261

Specifying Material . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262

vi | Contents

Placing Shaft Supports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264

Specifying Loads on Shafts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265

Calculating and Inserting Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268

Calculating Strengths of Shafts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270

Chapter 13 Calculating Moments of Inertia and Deflection Lines . . . . . . 275

Key Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275

Performing Calculations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276

Calculating Moments of Inertia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277

Calculating Deflection Lines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279

Chapter 14 Calculating Chains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285

Key Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285

Chain Calculations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285

Performing Length Calculations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287

Optimizing Chain Lengths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290

Inserting Sprockets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291

Inserting Chains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296

Chapter 15 Calculating Springs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299

Key Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299

Calculating Springs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300

Starting Spring Calculations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301

Specifying Spring Restrictions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302

Calculating and Selecting Springs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305

Inserting Springs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308

Creating Views of Springs with Power View . . . . . . . . . . . . 309

Chapter 16 Calculating Screw Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311

Key Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311

Methods for Calculating Screws . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311

Using Stand Alone Screw Calculations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 313

Selecting and Specifying Screws . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 313

Selecting and Specifying Nuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315

Selecting and Specifying Washers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 316

Specifying Plate Geometry and Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . 317

Specifying Contact Areas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 320

Specifying Loads and Moments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321

Specifying Settlement Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 323

Specifying Tightening Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 324

Creating and Inserting Result Blocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 325

Chapter 17 Calculating Stress Using FEA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 327

Contents | vii

Key Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 327

2D FEA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 328

Calculating Stress In Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 329

Defining Loads and Supports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 330

Calculating Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 332

Evaluating and Refining Mesh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 334

Refining Designs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 336

Recalculating Stress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337

Chapter 18 Designing and Calculating Cams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 341

Key Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 341

Designing and Calculating Cams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 342

Starting Cam Designs and Calculations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 343

Defining Motion Sections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 346

Calculating Strength for Springs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 353

Exporting Cam Data and Viewing Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . 356

Autodesk Inventor Link . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 359

Chapter 19 Using Autodesk Inventor Link Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . 361

Key Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 361

Linking Autodesk Inventor Part Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 362

Shading and Rotating Geometry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 363

Inserting Drawing Borders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 364

Creating Drawing Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 367

Working with Dimensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 372

Exporting Drawing Views to AutoCAD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 377

Linking Autodesk Inventor Assembly Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 378

Accessing Parts from the Browser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 379

Accessing iProperties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 380

Inserting Drawing Borders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 383

Creating Parts Lists and Balloons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 384

Creating Breakout Section Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 387

Modifying Breakout Section Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 394

Removing Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 396

Updating Autodesk Inventor Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 397

viii | Contents

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 399

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.

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

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.

3

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:

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
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.

4 | Chapter 1 About AutoCAD Mechanical

■ 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.

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.

Product Support and Training Resources | 5

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.

■ 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.

6 | Chapter 1 About AutoCAD Mechanical

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.

■ 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.

External References for Mechanical Structure | 7

Autodesk Inventor link

Autodesk® Inventor™ link redefines the meaning of 3D to 2D interoperability.
Use the functionality to link to Autodesk Inventor parts and assemblies 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.

■ Mechanical line objects are available for creating centerlines and center

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

8 | Chapter 1 About AutoCAD Mechanical

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

Engineering Calculations | 9

■ 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.

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

dimensions.

10 | Chapter 1 About AutoCAD Mechanical

■ 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.

Annotations | 11

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.

12 | Chapter 1 About AutoCAD Mechanical

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

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

DescriptionCommand NameToolbut-

Provides layer group support within the Auto­CAD Design Center.

Hides invisible edges in unstructured situa­tions.

13

ton

DescriptionCommand NameToolbut-

Edits existing unstructured hide situations.AM2DHIDEDIT

Creates an adjusting ring on a shaft.AMADJRINGS2D

AMANALYSEDWG

AMANNOTE

AMAUTOCLINES

AMAUTODETAIL

AMAUTODIM

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

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

14 | Chapter 2 Commands in AutoCAD Mechanical

ton

DescriptionCommand NameToolbut-

AMBELL2D

AMBOM

AMBREAKATPT

AMBROUTLINE

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

Creates a standard related blind hole.AMBHOLE2D

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.

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

Command Summary | 15

ton

DescriptionCommand NameToolbut-

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

Draws centerline cross on a plate.AMCENCRPLATE

Draws a centerline in between two lines.AMCENINBET

Creates a centerhole.AMCENTERHOLE2D

AMCENLINE

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

Draws a centerline.AMCENTLINE

16 | Chapter 2 Commands in AutoCAD Mechanical

ton

DescriptionCommand NameToolbut-

Draws chain or belt links.AMCHAINDRAW

AMCHAINLENGTHCAL

AMCHECKDIM

Determines the tangent definition between
sprockets or pulleys.

Bevels the edges of objects.AMCHAM2D

create dimensions for chamfers.AMCHAM2D_DIM

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

Creates a clevis pin.AMCLEVISPIN2D

Locks or unlocks the construction line layer.AMCLINEL

Switches construction lines on or off.AMCLINEO

AMCOMP2D

AMCONSTLINES

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.

Command Summary | 17

ton

DescriptionCommand NameToolbut-

AMCONSTSWI

AMCOPYLG

AMCOPYVIEW

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

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

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

18 | Chapter 2 Commands in AutoCAD Mechanical

ton

DescriptionCommand NameToolbut-

Creates a cylindrical pin.AMCYLPIN2D

Creates datum identifier symbols.AMDATUMID

Creates datum target symbols.AMDATUMTGT

AMDEFLINE

AMDETAIL

AMDIMALIGN

AMDIMARRANGE

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.

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

Command Summary | 19

ton

DescriptionCommand NameToolbut-

AMDIMINSERT

AMDIMJOIN

AMDIMSTRETCH

AMDRBUSHHOLE2D

AMDWGVIEW

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

Resizes objects by stretching/shrinking linear
and symmetric dimensions.

Creates a single drill bushing.AMDRBUSH2D

Creates a drill bushing and the corresponding
hole.

Creates views of Autodesk® Inventor™ linked

models while in Drawing mode.

Creates edge symbols.AMEDGESYM

Edits balloons, parts lists, and symbols.AMEDIT

AMEDITPSCUTLINE

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

20 | Chapter 2 Commands in AutoCAD Mechanical

ton

DescriptionCommand NameToolbut-

Edits views created in Drawing mode.AMEDITVIEW

Generates and organizes equations.AMEQUATEDIT

Erases all construction lines.AMERASEALLCL

Erases selected construction lines.AMERASECL

AMEXPLODE

AMEXT2D

AMFEA2D

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

Creates feature control frame symbols.AMFCFRAME

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

Command Summary | 21

ton

DescriptionCommand NameToolbut-

Rounds and fillets the edges of objects.AMFILLET2D

AMFITSLIST

AMGROOVE2D

AMHATCH_135_11

AMHATCH_135_2

AMHATCH_135_4

AMHATCH_45_13

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.

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

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

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

AMHATCH_45_2

AMHATCH_45_5

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

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

22 | Chapter 2 Commands in AutoCAD Mechanical