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CATIA V5R15
1 Jan, 2006 By: Jeffrey RoweA Lot to Learn, but a Lot to Like
Let me say this at the outset: I have not reviewed a CAD product like CATIA since the last time I reviewed CATIA a few years ago. It has a breadth and depth that I don't often encounter in other CAD products. It also has a pretty steep learning curve—not that it's overly difficult, but it does several basic things differently from what I'm used to—but more about that later. Overall, this is a whopper of a CAD application that, once mastered, has endless potential for mechanical design and engineering. It's not without some trouble spots, though, and I'll cover those, too.
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There is so much to CATIA that it's going to be very difficult to cover everything here. To keep it somewhat simple, I'll cover some basic modeling techniques and tasks that CATIA 5 supports. Another reason to cover only the basics is that the more complex jobs get, the more combinations of supplemental CATIA products can enter the mix.
 CATIA V5 R15 |
I looked at CATIA V5 R15. IBM/Dassault has since released V5 R16, which features 64-bit Windows support and enhancements to simulation, electrical, shipbuilding and modeling functionality. With that said, let's get started.
All About Workbenches
CATIA is a parametric, feature-based modeler that provides its basic design capabilities through various workbenches—different environments with tools for performing specific sets of tasks. This concept isn't really all that different from most other CAD applications, but is implemented in a definitive and disciplined manner. The basic design workbenches covered in this review include:
Part Design. This is where users create solid models from sketches by converting sketches into features. Additional features, such as chamfers and fillets, are known as dress-up features in CATIA vernacular (figure 1). This workbench is also where materials are assigned to a model.
 Figure 1. CATIA V5 provides extremely robust fillet creation. |
Wire-frame and Surface Design. The tools in this workbench are much like those found in the Part Design workbench, except users create, edit and manipulate surfaces into shapes.
Assembly Design. CATIA supports two approaches for assembling components—top-down and bottom-up. Top-down lets users create component parts contained in an assembly from within the Assembly workbench. Bottom-up lets users constrain together previously created parts in an assembly to maintain their design intent.
Drafting. CATIA provides two methods for documenting parts and assemblies—generative and interactive drafting. Each has its place, depending on needs and workflow.
Because of its sheer magnitude, CATIA is not an application that can be put to work right out of the box. Plan on investing in a good training class or series of classes to become familiar and proficient with CATIA before expecting to do productive work. A couple of good third-party reference books won't hurt, either. The documentation included with CATIA helps users get acquainted with the basics, but that's about it.
Sketch and Create Base Features
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