Autodesk AutoCAD AutoCAD Mechanical - 2010 Instruction Manual
AutoCAD Mechanical 2010
User’s Guide
January 2009
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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 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Collaboration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
iii
Chapter 2 Commands in AutoCAD Mechanical . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Command Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Design and Annotation Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Chapter 3 Working with Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Key Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Working with Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Setting Mechanical Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Specifying Drawing Limits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Saving Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Using Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Setting Default Standards Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Chapter 4 Using Mechanical Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Key Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Working with Mechanical Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Folders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Creating Folders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Modifying Folders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Nesting Folders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Instance vs. Occurrence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Selection Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Components and Component Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Creating Part Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Creating Assembly Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Modifying Assembly Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Using Folders with Component Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Mechanical Browser Display Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Mechanical Browser and BOMs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Browser Restructure and Ghost Components . . . . . . . . . . . 78
External Reference Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Inserting External Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Editing External Components In-place . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Localizing and Externalizing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Annotation Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
Associative Hide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Basics of AMSHIDE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Using AMSHIDE in Assemblies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Chapter 5 Designing Levers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Key Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Extending Designs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
iv | Contents
Using Libraries to Insert Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Configuring Snap Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
Creating Construction Lines (C-Lines) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Creating additional C-Lines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Creating Contours and Applying Fillets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
Trimming Projecting Edges on Contours . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Applying Hatch Patterns to Contours . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Dimensioning Contours . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
Creating and Dimensioning Detail Views . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Chapter 6 Working with Model Space and Layouts . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
Key Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
Working with Model Space and Layouts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
Getting Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
Creating Scale Areas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
Creating Detail Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
Generating New Viewports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
Inserting Holes Within Viewports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
Creating Subassemblies in New Layouts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
Chapter 7 Dimensioning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
Key Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
Adding Dimensions to Drawings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
Adding Multiple Dimensions Simultaneously . . . . . . . . . . . 145
Editing Dimensions with Power Commands . . . . . . . . . . . 149
Breaking Dimension Lines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
Inserting Drawing Borders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
Inserting Fits Lists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
Chapter 8 Working with 2D Hide and 2D Steel Shapes . . . . . . . . . . 159
Key Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
Working with 2D Hide and 2D Steel Shapes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
Opening the initial drawing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
Defining 2D Hide Situations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
Inserting 2D Steel Shapes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
Modifying Steel Shapes Using Power Commands . . . . . . . . . 167
Editing 2D Hide Situations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
Copying and Moving 2D Hide Situations . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
Chapter 9 Working with Standard Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
Key Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
Working with Standard Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
Inserting Screw Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
Copying Screw Connections with Power Copy . . . . . . . . . . 184
Contents | v
Creating Screw Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
Editing Screw Connections with Power Edit . . . . . . . . . . . 195
Working with Power View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198
Deleting with Power Erase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
Inserting Holes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
Inserting Pins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207
Turning Off Centerlines in Configurations . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
Hiding Construction Lines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
Simplifying Representations of Standard Parts . . . . . . . . . . 211
Chapter 10 Working with BOMs and Parts Lists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
Key Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
Working with Parts Lists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216
Inserting Part References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
Editing Part References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220
Placing Balloons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
Creating Parts Lists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227
Merging and Splitting Items In Parts Lists . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233
Collecting Balloons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236
Sorting and Renumbering Items In Parts Lists . . . . . . . . . . 238
Using Filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243
Chapter 11 Creating Shafts with Standard Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247
Key Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247
Creating Shafts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248
Configuring Snap Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249
Configuring Shaft Generators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250
Creating Cylindrical Shaft Sections and Gears . . . . . . . . . . 252
Inserting Spline Profiles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256
Inserting Chamfers and Fillets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257
Inserting Shaft Breaks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258
Creating Side Views of Shafts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259
Inserting Threads on Shafts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259
Editing Shafts and Inserting Sections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260
Replacing Shaft Sections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262
Inserting Bearings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264
Engineering Calculations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267
Chapter 12 Calculating Shafts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269
Key Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269
Calculating Shafts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270
Creating Shaft Contours . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272
Specifying Material . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273
vi | Contents
Placing Shaft Supports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275
Specifying Loads on Shafts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275
Calculating and Inserting Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278
Calculating Strengths of Shafts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280
Chapter 13 Calculating Moments of Inertia and Deflection Lines . . . . . . 285
Key Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285
Performing Calculations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286
Calculating Moments of Inertia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287
Calculating Deflection Lines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289
Chapter 14 Calculating Chains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295
Key Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295
Chain Calculations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295
Performing Length Calculations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297
Optimizing Chain Lengths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300
Inserting Sprockets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302
Inserting Chains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 306
Chapter 15 Calculating Springs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309
Key Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309
Calculating Springs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 310
Starting Spring Calculations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311
Specifying Spring Restrictions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 313
Calculating and Selecting Springs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 316
Inserting Springs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 319
Creating Views of Springs with Power View . . . . . . . . . . . . 320
Chapter 16 Calculating Screw Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 323
Key Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 323
Methods for Calculating Screws . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 323
Using Stand Alone Screw Calculations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 325
Selecting and Specifying Screws . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 326
Selecting and Specifying Nuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 328
Selecting and Specifying Washers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 329
Specifying Plate Geometry and Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . 329
Specifying Contact Areas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 332
Specifying Loads and Moments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333
Specifying Settlement Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 335
Specifying Tightening Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 336
Creating and Inserting Result Blocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337
Chapter 17 Calculating Stress Using FEA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339
Contents | vii
Key Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339
2D FEA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 340
Calculating Stress In Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 341
Defining Loads and Supports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 343
Calculating Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 345
Evaluating and Refining Mesh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 346
Refining Designs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 348
Recalculating Stress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 349
Chapter 18 Designing and Calculating Cams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 353
Key Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 353
Designing and Calculating Cams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 354
Starting Cam Designs and Calculations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 355
Defining Motion Sections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 358
Calculating Strength for Springs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 365
Exporting Cam Data and Viewing Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . 368
Autodesk Inventor Link . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 371
Chapter 19 Using Autodesk Inventor Link Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . 373
Key Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 373
Linking Autodesk Inventor Part Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 374
Shading and Rotating Geometry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 375
Inserting Drawing Borders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 376
Creating Drawing Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 380
Working with Dimensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 386
Exporting Drawing Views to AutoCAD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 391
Linking Autodesk Inventor Assembly Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 392
Accessing Parts from the Browser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 394
Accessing iProperties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 394
Inserting Drawing Borders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 397
Creating Parts Lists and Balloons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 399
Creating Breakout Section Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 402
Modifying Breakout Section Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 409
Removing Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 411
Updating Autodesk Inventor Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 411
viii | Contents
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 413
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 2010.
■ 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.
■ Guides to system variables and accelerator keys.
■ Access to Support Assistance with integrated links to solutions.
4 | Chapter 1 About AutoCAD Mechanical
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
atc.program@autodesk.com 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.
■ Linear/symmetric stretch is used to modify dimensioned geometry by
changing the dimension value.
8 | Chapter 1 About AutoCAD Mechanical
■ 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.
■ 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.
Engineering Calculations | 9
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.
■ 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.
10 | Chapter 1 About AutoCAD Mechanical
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.
■ An editing environment to create and publish your own content libraries.
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.
Annotations | 11
■ 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, email
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 tool button.
2
Command Summary
The following is a list of the AutoCAD Mechanical commands, a brief description
of each, and the associated icon. The icon is used in the ribbon as well as toolbars
Some commands do not have an associated icon. This list does not contain
AutoCAD® commands.
DescriptionCommand NameIcon
AM2DHIDE
Draws hidden lines to represent hidden edges,
when you specify what objects lie in front and
what objects lie behind.
AM2DHIDEDIT
AMABOUT
Edits or updates hide situations created with
the AM2DHIDE command.
Displays a screen containing licensing and
copyright information.
Inserts an adjusting ring on a shaft.AMADJRINGS2D
13
DescriptionCommand NameIcon
AMANALYSEDWG
AMANNOTE
AMASSOHATCH
AMAUTOCLINES
AMAUTODETAIL
AMAUTODIM
AMBALLOON
AMBEARCALC
Analyzes the current drawing and writes layer
information to an ALZ file.
Creates a textual annotation that can be attached to an object in a drawing view.
Creates a hatch that updates when you
modify its boundaries.
Creates vertical and horizontal construction
lines on all endpoints of selected objects.
Moves the selected objects to an external
drawing file and creates an xref to it within
the current drawing.
Creates multiple dimensions from a selected
point to all the vertices on the contour of selected objects.
Creates and places balloons in the drawing
area.
Determines the limiting value, dynamic and
static load rating, dynamic and static equivalent load, and fatigue life of a bearing.
AMBELL2D
AMBOM
AMBOMEXTTEMP
Performs a spring calculation and inserts a
Bellville washer spring in the drawing area.
Inserts a blind hole from the content library.AMBHOLE2D
Creates, edits, or deletes Bills of Materials
(BOMs).
Creates an extraction template to be used by
BOM Migration Utility.
14 | Chapter 2 Commands in AutoCAD Mechanical
DescriptionCommand NameIcon
AMBOMMIGRATE
AMBREAKATPT
AMBROUTLINE
AMBROWSER
AMC_Break_Line
(Layer Name)
(Layer Name)
AMC_Construction
(Layer Name)
AMC_Construction_Invisible (Layer Name)
Migrates non-AutoCAD Mechanical drawings
to the latest AutoCAD Mechanical drawing
format. Legacy BOM data within the drawings
will be migrated to intelligent BOM and Parts
list data.
Breaks a line, polyline, or a spline at a specified
point.
Draws a special spline to show breakout borders.
Displays, hides, and moves the mechanical
browser.
Inserts a blind slot from the content library.AMBSLOT2D
Draws break out lines, as in hatched loop
breaks or freehand breaks in shafts.
Draws centerline.AMC_Centerline
Draws construction lines to display with the
content.
Draws construction lines that do not display
with the content.
(Layer Name)
AMC_Contour_BHII
(Layer Name)
AMC_Contour_BHII_Invisible (Layer Name)
Draws contour edges.AMC_Contour
Draws contours that make underlying and
overlapping objects invisible in a hide situation.
Draws contours that do not display with the
content, and make underlying and overlapping objects invisible in a hide situation.
Command Summary | 1
DescriptionCommand NameIcon
AMC_Contour_BHIU
(Layer Name)
AMC_Contour_BHIU_Invisble (Layer Name)
Name)
AMC_Dimension_Invisible (Layer Name)
Name)
AMC_Text_Medium
(Layer Name)
Name)
AMCAM
Draws contours that make underlying objects
invisible, and leave overlapping objects unchanged in a hide situation.
Draws contours that do not display with the
content, make underlying objects invisible,
and leave overlapping objects unchanged in
a hide situation.
Draws dimensions to display with the content.AMC_Dimension (Layer
Draws dimensions that do not display with
the content.
Draws hidden edges.AMC_Hidden (Layer
Draws text that derives its color from the Text
Medium object. However, this object does not
control the height of the text you draw.
Draws thread lines.AMC_Thread (Layer
Displays a wizard for the design of linear, circular, or cylindrical cams.
AMCARRAY
AMCENCRANGLE
AMCENCRCORNER
Creates multiple copies of content objects in
a pattern.
Edits an existing content array object.AMCARRAYEDIT
Creates concentric pitch circles and places
holes on it at specified angles.
Places a hole at a specified distance from two
contour lines.
16 | Chapter 2 Commands in AutoCAD Mechanical
DescriptionCommand NameIcon
AMCENCRFULLCIRCLE
AMCENCRPLATE
AMCENINBET
AMCENTLINE
Creates concentric pitch circles and places a
specified number of holes on them, distributed
uniformly.
Places a hole at a specified point.AMCENCRHOLE
Places a centerline cross on a circle.AMCENCRINHOLE
Places a centerline cross at a specified point.AMCENCROSS
Places holes at the corners of a closed contour
that represents a plate.
Draws a centerline in between two lines to
mark them as symmetrical.
Inserts a centerhole from the content library.AMCENTERHOLE2D
Draws a centerline at a specified place in the
drawing area.
AMCHAINLENGTHCAL
AMCHAM2D
Draws a chain or belt links along a polyline.AMCHAINDRAW
Calculates the required length of a chain or
belt when you trace the path of the chain or
belt.
Connects two non-parallel objects by extending or trimming them to intersect or to join
with a beveled line.
Command Summary | 17
DescriptionCommand NameIcon
Creates dimensions for chamfers.AMCHAM2D_DIM
AMCHATCH
AMCHECKDIM
Defines content hatch objects in templates for
part or feature views.
Edits an existing content hatch object.AMCHATCHEDIT
Highlights or edits dimensions with dimension
text overrides.
Displays the Content Editor Layers dialog box.AMCLAYER
Inserts a clevis pin from the content library.AMCLEVISPIN2D
Locks or unlocks construction line layers.AMCLINEL
Locks or unlocks the construction line layer.AMCLINEL
Freezes or thaws construction line layers.AMCLINEO
Closes the Content Editor.AMCLOSE
AMCOMP2D
Performs a spring calculation and inserts a
compression spring in the drawing area.
Draws a construction line circle.AMCONST_CIRCLE
18 | Chapter 2 Commands in AutoCAD Mechanical
DescriptionCommand NameIcon
AMCONSTC2
AMCONSTCC
AMCONSTCCREA
AMCONSTCIRCLI
AMCONSTHB
AMCONSTHM
Draws a construction line circle that uses a
specified line as a tangent.
Draws a construction line circle that is concentric to a specified circle.
Draws a construction line circle to represent
a top view of a shaft or hole.
Draws a construction line rectangle around a
circle.
Draws a construction line cross.AMCONSTCRS
Draws a construction line when you specify
two points or a point and an angle.
Draws a construction line that bisects an
angle.
Draws a horizontal construction line.AMCONSTHOR
AMCONSTHW
AMCONSTKR
AMCONSTLOT
Draws a construction line through a point, by
specifying an angle relative to an apparent
line that goes through that point.
Draws a construction line that is tangential to
two specified circles.
Draws construction lines.AMCONSTLINES
Draws a construction line that is perpendicular
to a specified line.
Command Summary | 19
DescriptionCommand NameIcon
AMCONSTLOT2
AMCONSTPAR
AMCONSTPAR2
AMCONSTSWI
AMCONSTTAN
AMCONSTTC
Draws a construction line through a specified
point that is a perpendicular to the direction
specified by another point or angle.
Draws a construction line parallel to an existing line at a specified distance.
Draws a construction line parallel to an existing line and bisects the distance between the
selected line and a specified point or a specified distance.
Switches between construction lines that extend to infinity in both directions or lines that
extend in one direction only.
Draws two parallel construction lines that are
tangential to a specified circle.
Draws two construction lines that are tangential to two specified circles.
Draws a vertical construction line.AMCONSTVER
AMCONSTXLINE
AMCONSTXRAY
AMCONTENTADD
Draws a construction line through a point,
which extends to infinity in both directions.
Draws a construction line starting from a point
and extends to infinity in one direction.
Draws a construction line along the z axis.AMCONSTZ
Creates new content from scratch, the current
drawing, or by selecting a block definition in
the current drawing.
20 | Chapter 2 Commands in AutoCAD Mechanical
DescriptionCommand NameIcon
AMCONTENTEDIT
AMCONTENTLIB
AMCONTENTLIBMIGRATE
AMCONTENTMIGRATE
AMCONTIN
AMCONTOUT
Edits the template of the selected view when
a Content Library part or feature on a drawing
is selected.
Displays the Content Libraries.AMCONTENTLIB
Opens the Content Libraries for selection and
insertion of content.
Migrates Vario libraries to the current release
of AutoCAD Mechanical.
Displays the Content Manager.AMCONTENTMANAGER
Migrates legacy Vario parts and features to
the current AutoCAD Mechanical format.
Creates a closed polyline that traces the inner
contour of an enclosed area.
Creates a closed polyline that traces the outer
contour of an enclosed area.
AMCONTRACE
AMCONVDWG
AMCOPYLG
AMCOPYRM
Creates a closed contour that traces the contour of an area by letting you specify the
boundaries segment by segment.
Changes layers properties (layer name, color,
linetype, lineweight) to that specified in a
Conversion Control file (CCF file).
Copies objects on one or more layer groups
to a new layer group.
Performs copy, rotate, and move operations
on specified objects, in sequence
Command Summary | 21
DescriptionCommand NameIcon
AMCOPYRM_MR
AMCOPYRM_RM
AMCOPYVIEW
Copies, then moves, and then rotates the
specified objects.
Copies, then rotates specified objects.AMCOPYRM_R
Copies, then rotates, and then moves specified
objects.
Copies a drawing view to the same layout or
to a different layout.
Inserts a cotter pin from the content library.AMCOTTERPIN2D
Inserts a counterbore from the content library.AMCOUNTB2D
Inserts a countersink from the content library.AMCOUNTS2D
Places one content part reference in a view.AMCPARTREF
AMCRIVET2D
AMCSAVEAS
Inserts a countersunk rivet from the content
library.
Saves the current view.AMCSAVE
Saves the current view in Content Editor to a
different name.
Displays the Content Settings dialog box.AMCSETTINGS
Navigates between views.AMCSWITCHVIEW
Displays the Family Table.AMCTABLE
22 | Chapter 2 Commands in AutoCAD Mechanical
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