CATIA V5

FUNDAMENTALS

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TOPICS COVERED
1 INTRODUCTION TO CATIA
2 Profile Creation
3 Basic Features
4 Additional Part Features
5 Reusing Data & Finalizing Design Intent
6 Assembly Design
7 Designing In Context
8 Drafting

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 Introduction to CATIA

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 CATIA can be used for concept development, product definition, manufacturing, simulation
and after – market information found in various life stages of a product.
A typical Product Life cycle can be described as shown below:

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Key Terms: Feature Based
Feature Based: CATIA is a feature based mechanical
design software. Just like a machine is composed of a
number of different parts, similarly, a CATIA part also has
a number of individual elements. These are called
features.

A CATIA part is composed

of Features

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Feature Based: Types of Features
The features created are stored in the Specification
Tree in the sequence of creation.
There are two types of Features:
1. Sketch Based Features: These features are created
using a 2D sketch. Pad and Shaft are examples of
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such Features
2. Dress Up Features: These are created directly on the
3D model. Fillets and Chamfers are examples of such
Features.
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Key Terms: Parametric
CATIA stores the dimensions and relations used to create
a part model with the part which allows the user to make
the changes later on very easily and also capture the
Design Intent.
Driving Dimensions: These are the dimensions that control
the feature that are created in the sketcher as well as in
the modeling environment.
Relations: These include information like Parallelism,
Tangency and Concentricity. This allows the user to
capture the design intent in the initial stages itself.

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Design Intent
Design Intent is the plan of how to create the solid model of a part.
Design intent should be carefully considered before and also when modeling the part.
The design intent will determine how the part model will behave when it undergoes
changes during its lifecycle.
The design intent will affect the part model’s:
Flexibility to change
The stability during the change and
Resources required to affect the change.

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Design Intent

Factors Affecting Design Intent

Automatic Relations: During the creation of the sketch or the feature, CATIA can add
relations to the sketch or feature.
Equations: They provide a means of controlling the output of the part mathematically
Additional Relations: These can be added to control the part in greater amount.
Dimensioning: Keep in mind the Design Intent when dimensioning your sketch.
These are the basic controls that you will have for changing the part later on.

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Design Intent

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Approaches To Creating Features
There are many ways to create any model in CATIA.
Though the end result maybe the same, the approach of the user when creating the part
is very crucial part of the design intent.
There are 3 commonly used approaches to creating a model:
The Layered Approach
The Potter’s Wheel Approach
The Manufacturing Approach

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The Layered Approach
The layered approach adds features one after the another.
Any change in one feature will create a ripple effect, i.e., moving all the
further features forward or backward.

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Potter’s Wheel Approach

This approach builds the part as a single revolved

feature.
It has a single sketch which incorporates all the
information and the Design Intent of the part.
This approach limits flexibility and can sometimes be too
complicated for a single feature.

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Manufacturing Approach
The manufacturing approach mimics the way the part would be
manufactured.
In this instance a piece of bar stock could be machined on a lathe to
get the required part.

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V5 Documents
You can create 3 types of documents in CATIA:
A. Part Document
B. Assembly Document
C. Drawing Document

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CATIA User Interface
A. Menu Commands
B. Specification Tree
C. Active document’s window
D. Name of the current file
E. Minimize, maximize and restore
F. Active workbench
G. Workbench specific toolbars
H. Standard toolbar
I. Compass
J. Geometry Area

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WORKBENCH
CATIA uses the concept of workbenches to
define the type of files being created.
Each workbench gives access to certain tools
that are used in that particular workbench.
Some commonly used workbenches are:
Part Design
Assembly Design
Wireframe & Surface
Sketcher
Generative Drafting
Different Workbenches in
CATIA
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WORKBENCHES
The user can switch between
workbenches when in a file to get access
to the commands in some other
workbench.
Use the Start Menu to open the required
workbench.

Switching Workbenches in CATIA

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Manipulating the Specification Tree

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Pre Selection Navigator
If the element you wish to select is not visible in the current view, then you can use the
pre-selection navigator to browse to the element you wish to select.
To use the pre-selection navigator, you have to activate it from the Tools  Options
menu.

Displaying the Pre-

Selection Navigator

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Pre – Selection Navigator
Using the Pre – Selection Navigator to choose the
different available elements to select from.
Hover the cursor on the location for a few seconds
and press the arrow keys on the keyboard to switch
between available elements.
You will be shown a list of elements to choose from
and a preview of the element currently selected.
To choose any element, simply browse to it in the
Pre – Selection Navigator and click.

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Using the mouse
CATIA uses a three – button mouse
configuration that is used to perform MMB
different actions.
The three buttons will be referred
hereafter as: RMB
Left Mouse Button (LMB) LMB
Middle Mouse Button (MMB) and
Right Mouse Button

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The Compass
The compass is a very useful tool in CATIA.
Found in the upper right corner of the geometry area, you can use it to manipulate the
objects in the geometry area
You can pan and rotate the objects using the compass.

The compass in CATIA

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The View Toolbar
1. Fly through
2. Fit all in 1 3 5 7 9 11
3. Pan
4. Rotate
5. Zoom in
6. Zoom out 2 4 6 8 10 12
7. Normal view
8. Multi-view
9. Standard views
10. Rendering styles
11. Hide/Show
12. Swap Visible space
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Manipulating Objects
In CATIA you can use the mouse and the compass to manipulate objects in the geometry
area in different ways.
There are 3 ways of manipulating objects:
Panning
Rotating
Zooming in or out
These can be done using either the mouse, the compass or the views toolbar.

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Manipulating Objects: Panning
Panning means to move the object around in the geometry area without any changes to
the object’s features.
This can be done with the mouse as well as the compass or even the view toolbar.
To Pan With Mouse: Hold down the MMB and move. You can move the object anywhere
in the whole environment.
To Pan With Compass: The compass allows you to move objects in defined way, for
instance you can hold the LMB on one of the X, Y or Z axes and move the object only
along that axis. You can also click inside any of the planes in the compass and move the
object in that plane.
In The View Toolbar: Click on the Pan command to activate it, and move the object in the
geometry area

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Manipulating Objects: Rotating
You can rotate the object to look at it from different angles to better understand the
features in the part.
With Mouse: Hold down the MMB and RMB in the geometry area. This activates a sphere
in the center of the geometry area. You can move the sphere to rotate the view as
required.
With Compass: Hold down the LMB on the arcs in the compass and it will allow you to
rotate the object about the perpendicular axis on dragging the mouse. Or hold down the
LMB on the point at the top of the compass and it will allow you to rotate the object freely
in the geometry area.
With View Toolbar: Choose from the available views in the Standard Views command or
use the Rotate command.

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Zooming In or Out
Zooming in or out allows you to look a small object in great detail or have a complete
view of a very big model.
With Mouse: Hold down the MMB and click the RMB once. Pushing the mouse towards
the screen will zoom in and pulling the mouse away from the screen will zoom out.
With View Toolbar: Use the zoom in or zoom out commands.

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Rendering Styles
You can use the different rendering styles available to get
more clarity in the view and understand the part in greater
detail.
The Rendering Styles command in the View Toolbar gives
access to changing the rendering style of the part.
1. Shading
2. Shading with edges
3. Shading without smooth edges
4. Shading with hidden lines visible
5. Shading with material
6. Wireframe

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Visible Space and Invisible Space
CATIA has two visual spaces:
Visible Space
Invisible Space
The Visible Space contains all the visible objects and the Invisible Space contains all the
hidden objects.
Use the Swap Visible Space command to see all the hidden objects at once. Click on it
once again to return to normal view.

Swap Visible
Space
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Hide/Show
You can hide or show any element
using the Hide/Show command in the
View Toolbar.
Click on the Hide/Show command and Hide/Show
click on the visible object in the
Specification Tree or in the geometry
area to send it to Invisible Space.
To bring an object back into Visible
Space, you can click on the Hide/Show
command and click on the object in the
Specification Tree.

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 PROFILE CREATION

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 1 Case Study, Design Intent, Stages

2 Choosing Sketch Support

3 Create Sketch Geometry

4 Constraining the Sketch

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Case Study

The Support Plaque which will be our

case study for this section

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Design Intent
The Support Plaque has certain design
requirements that have to be met during the
design. They are as follows:
The Model must be created as a single feature.
The smaller holes must be 30mm away from
the center hole.
The center hole must remain at the center of
the support.

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Stages In The Process

1 Create a new part

2 Select the Proper sketch support

3 Create the Sketch Geometry

4 Constrain the Sketch Geometry

5 Create the Pad

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Create A New Part
You can create a new part in a number of ways:
1. Click on the Start menu  Mechanical Design  Part design

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Create A New Part
You can create a new part in a number of ways:
2. Use the Standard Toolbar  New  Choose the type of file to be created.

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Create A New Part
Give the new part a name.

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Part Design Workbench
The Part Design Workbench contains the three
default planes that you can use for the sketch
support of the first feature.

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 Selecting The Proper
Sketch Support

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Sketch… What is that?
Every part begins with a 2D profile which is the sketch of the
part.
The sketcher is a 2D environment which creates only 2D
wireframe elements.
The sketch of a part is constrained so that we can easily
modify it by altering a few key dimensions.

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Orientation
The default orientation of the model is dependent on the
selection of the sketch support.
The YZ plane is considered as the “Front Plane”.
Choose the right plane for the sketch based on the view
you start your model from

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Positioned Sketches
The Positioned Sketches command allows us to define the Horizontal and Vertical
directions of the sketching plane.

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 Creating the Sketcher Geometry

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The Grid
In the sketcher environment the Grid allows us to have an approximate measure of the
geometry created.
By default the cursor snaps to the grid points.
This can be turned on or off as per requirement by using the Sketch Tools toolbar.

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Grid Spacing
You can go to Tools  Options  Mechanical Design  Sketcher to change the grid
spacing in both the Horizontal(H) and Vertical(V) directions
Primary spacing is the distance between two consecutive thick lines.
So if Primary Spacing = 100 and Number of Graduations = 10, then the distance between each
line will be 10mm

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Geometry Creation
You can create geometry using tools in the Profile Toolbar.
A. User Defined Profiles
B. Pre-Defined Profiles
C. Circles
D. Splines
E. Ellipses and Parabolas
F. Lines
G. Axes
H. Points

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Geometry Creation contd.
You can use the Operations Toolbar to modify
the geometry you have created.
1. Round
2. Chamfer 1
3. Relimitation Tools
4. Translation Tools
2 3 4

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Construction Geometry
You can create construction geometry to aid in the creation of the sketch.
Unlike standard geometry, construction geometry is not recognized in the part modeling
environment.
The command to create Construction geometry is in the Sketch Tools toolbar.

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DO IT YOURSELF
Create the profile shown here using ZX plane as the support.

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 Creating Sketcher Constraints

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Constraints
After creating the sketched geometry, geometric constraints and
dimensions can be added.
Constraints are added to relate elements to each other and to
themselves.
After addition of the constraints and dimensions, they can be changed to
explore alternative designs while keeping the original design intent.

An unconstrained sketch can moved

with the mouse in any way.
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Fully Constrained Sketches
CATIA tells the user about the constraint status of the sketch through color codes:

White – Under Green – Iso Purple – Over

Constrained – Not Constrained – Constrained –Too
enough constraints Enough constraints many constraints
It is recommended to use Iso – constrained sketches as much as possible.
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Dimensional Constraints
These are used to create dimensions between elements and for the element itself.

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Controlling the Dimension Direction
When creating the dimensions, the default direction is parallel to the line joining the two
points.
You can force a horizontal or vertical dimension by clicking the RMB and choosing the
direction you require.

Default direction of Forcing a direction for the

dimension dimension
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Geometric Constraints
These are used to create geometric relations between elements and for the element
itself.

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A Few Wise Words… Initial Sketches
Try to create the initial geometry as close as possible to the required shape to get the part
right after specifying the geometric and dimensional constraints.
Drawing the right Initial Sketch for the profile creation

The Final Sketch

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A Few Wise Words… Geometrical Constraints
The geometrical constraints toggle in the Sketch Tools toolbar creates constraints
automatically while creating the sketcher.
Make sure it is on when you are starting to create the sketch.
It saves a lot of time and effort later on.

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Exercises

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DO IT YOURSELF
Create the required sketch for the case study.

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Creating the Pad
Exit the Sketcher Workbench and return to the Part Modeling
Workbench.
Start the PAD command and pad the sketch for a thickness of 5mm.

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