Catia Part Design Book

CATIA Part Design & Sketcher CATIA® V5R6
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Manual Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Log on/off procedures for Windows NT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
To log on . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
To logoff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
CATIA Version 5 Screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Part Design Screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Pull-down Menus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Edit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Insert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Bottom Toolbar in Part Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Part Design Workbench . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Sketcher Screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Sketcher changes to bottom toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Sketcher Workbench . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Working with Documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Creating a new document . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Opening an existing document . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Saving a document . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Closing a document . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Basic Sketcher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Basic Shapes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Creating a new part with a new sketch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Saving and closing the part . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Rectangle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Oriented Rectangle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Parallelogram . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Elongated Slot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Elongated Curved Slot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Keyhole . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Hexagon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Circle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Circle through 3 points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Circle with Cartesian coordinates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Circle tangent to 3 elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Arc through 3 points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Arc through 3 points using limits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Arc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Spline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Connect Curve . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
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Ellipse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Parabola . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Hyperbola . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Conic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Unlimited Line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Bi-tangent Line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Bisect Line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Axis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Point using coordinates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Equidistant points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Intersection Point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Projection Point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Profiles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Constraints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Dimensional Constraints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Geometrical Constraints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Modifications to profiles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
Corner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
Chamfer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
Trim and Break . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
Hide/Show . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Basic Part Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139

Basic Shapes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
Pad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
Pocket . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
Multiple Profiles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
Shaft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
Groove . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
Hole . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
Rib . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
Slot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
Stiffener . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
Modifications to Shapes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
Fillet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
Chamfer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
Draft Angle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
Shell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
Thickness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
Modifying values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
Interfacing with Sketcher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200
Advanced Sketcher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205

3-D Elements on Sketch Plane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
Construction Geometry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
Advanced Constraints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
Sketch Transformations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
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Sketch Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233
Advanced Part Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237

Part Transformations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237
Patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242
Modifying Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253
Inserting Bodies and Boolean Operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266
Inserting Part Bodies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266
Boolean operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267
Part Design Lofts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271
Part Design Using Surfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273
Applying Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277
Reference Geometry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279
Offset from plane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279
Parallel through point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280
Angle/Normal to plane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281
Through three points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281
Through two lines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282
Through point and line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283
Through planar curve . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283
Normal to curve . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284
Equation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284
Tangent to surface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285
Mean through points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285
Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287
Problem #1.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287
Problem #2.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 288
Problem #3.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289
Problem #4.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290
Problem #5.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291
Problem #6.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292
Problem #7.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294
Problem #8.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295
Problem #9.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296
Problem #10.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297
Problem #11.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298
Problem #12.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299
Problem #13.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 300
Problem #14.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301
Problem #15.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302
Problem #16.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303
Problem #17.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 304
Problem #18.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305
Problem #19.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 306
Problem #20.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307
Problem #21.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308
Problem #22.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309
Problem #23.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 310
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Problem #24.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311
Problem #25.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 312
Problem #26.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 313
Problem #27.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 314
Appendix A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315
Customize - Start Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315
Customize - User Workbenches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 316
Customize - Toolbars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 316
Customize - Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 317
Customize - Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 317
Appendix B . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 319
General - Display - Tree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 319
General - Display - Visualization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 320
General - Parameters - Symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321
General - Parameters - Units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 322
Mechanical Design - Part Design - General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 323
Mechanical Design - Part Design - Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 324
Mechanical Design - Sketcher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 325
Appendix C . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 327
Material Library . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 327
Construction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 327
Fabrics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 328
Metal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 329
Other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 330
Stone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331
Wood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 332
Applying a material . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333
Properties of a material . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 334
Rendering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 334
Inheritance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 335
Feature Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 335
Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 336
Drafting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 336
Table of Contents, Page iv ©Wichita State University

Introduction
CATIA Version 5 Part Design and Sketcher
Upon completion of this course the student should have a full understanding of the
following topics:
- Creating sketches
- Constraining sketches
- Modifying sketches
- Creating parts
- Modifying parts
- Performing boolean operations on parts
- Basic use of surfaces in part design
- Applying materials to parts
© Wichita State University Introduction, Page 1

Manual Format
It is important to understand the format of the manual in order to use it most effectively.
This manual is designed to be used along with an instructor; however, you will need to do a
lot of reading as well, in order to fully understand CATIA Version 5. The exercises in this
book will list steps for you to complete, along with explanations that try to inform you what
you have just done and what you are getting ready to do. The actual steps are in bold type
and the information that follows the steps is for your benefit. Anything that appears in
italics refers to a message CATIA provides—this includes information in pull-down menus,
pop-up windows and other messages. Bold type is also used to call your attention to key
terms you may not yet be familiar with.
An example of a step and its explanation is shown below (note: normally the lines will not
be there):
Select a location to the right of the origin. This specifies the other end point of the line.
You will continue specifying locations in order to complete your profile. It should appear
similar to the diagram shown below.
As you can see, the desired action blends in with the text except that it appears in bold.
The information following the step explains what that step accomplished and where you are
going next. It is important for you to read this information to help in your understanding of
CATIA Version 5.
Also, you will find that the exercises build upon themselves. Later exercises often assume
you know how to do certain steps which have been covered in earlier exercises. If you did
not quite pick up what you needed to know from an exercise, you will probably wish to
review it several times before moving on to the more advanced sections. As you progress
through the manual, it expects that you are learning and therefore you are able to do a lot
more with fewer steps. Eventually, you are expected to be able to create parts without any
steps.
Introduction, Page 2 ©Wichita State University

Part Design & Sketcher

CATIA Version 5 uses the Sketcher as its principal method to create profiles. These
profiles can be constrained using many different types of constraints. The first objective of
the course is to learn to use the Sketcher and constrain your profiles to the desired
specifications. If you have used the Dynamic Sketcher from CATIA Version 4, this will
look very similar. Otherwise it is a new environment and it can be frustrating at first,
especially if you already know CATIA Version 4. However, in time you will find that it is a
very powerful method for creating profiles, and is easy to use.
The second objective of the course is to use these sketches in part design. The sketches are
used to define the two-dimensional cross-sections to be used to design three-dimensional
shapes. There are a few different shapes that can be made as well as various operations that
can be performed on them. By combining these shapes and operations, you can design a
variety of parts.
The third objective of the course is to familiarize you with the advanced methods of creating
sketches and parts. This includes using construction geometry and projecting three-
dimensional geometry to the sketch plane. This will include the use of formulas to set up
typical values at multiple locations as well as more complex formulas to provide a more
dynamic sketch. In terms of part design, you will learn how to use multiple parts and
perform boolean operations on them.
The fourth objective is to become efficient at modifying your designs. You can modify your
design either by changing the parameters of a part operation or by modifying the sketch that
was used. In CATIA Version 5 this is fairly simple, and the modification of your design is
the real strength of part design.
The fifth objective is to introduce the use of wireframe and surfaces in the part design
process as well as applying various materials to your design. This is meant only to be an
introduction and not a complete course on these subjects.
In conclusion: You should be able to design many parts using the Sketcher and the Part
Design workbenches of CATIA in an efficient manner. As mentioned before, you may find
it frustrating at first but very natural by the end of the course.

Log on/off procedures for Windows NT

To log on:
The monitor screen should have a gray box displayed with Press Ctrl + Alt + Delete to log
on.
Hold down the Ctrl and Alt keys and press Delete.
Select the User name box. This will allow you to type in your user name in the space
provided.
Type in your user name (do not press Enter). This is the user name that was provided to
you at the beginning of class.
Select the Password box. This will allow you to type in your password in the space
provided.
Type in your user password (do not press Enter). This is the password that was provided
to you at the beginning of class.
Select the Domain box. This allows you to choose which domain you wish to log into.
Select CADLAB. The domain CADLAB is the proper domain for your user.
The Logon Information box should look similar to the one above except with your user
name and your password.

Select OK. When you select OK with your mouse, you are telling the computer that the
information that is in the Logon Information box is correct and you are ready to log in. If
for some reason it can not log you in, you need to verify that you typed in the correct
information.
Once you are logged into the system then you should see a CATIA icon on your screen.
Double-click on the CATIA icon. This will run CATIA.
To logoff:
Select the pull-down menu File.
Select Exit. This will exit you from CATIA; you will still need to log off the system.
Hold down the Ctrl and Alt keys and press Delete. The Windows NT Security box should
appear.
Select Logoff... A new box will appear, allowing you to cancel the logoff in case you ever
happen to select that option by mistake. (This isn’t terribly likely to happen.)
Select OK. This will log you off the system.

CATIA Version 5 Screen
This is how CATIA Version 5 looks when you first run it. There are various areas of the
screen which need to be pointed out.
A This is your specification tree. Currently it has an entity referred to as a product.

You will be working with parts in this class so this will change to be a part and as
you perform different actions the tree will reflect those actions.
B The pull-down menus are used for a variety of different tasks. These will be
discussed in detail later in the book.
C The Welcome to CATIA V5 window allows you to change to different workbenches

that are available. In this class, you will primarily be using the Part Design
workbench.
D The bottom row of icons, or toolbar, contains various icons that will allow different
actions to be performed. These will be discussed in detail later in the book.
E The current workbench is the Product Structure workbench. The current

workbench can be switched to a different one by using the appropriate icon on the
workbench.
The workbenches and the toolbar are customizable. However, this book will assume that
they are in their original location. If you change the positions of the icons, you will be
responsible for knowing where you put them.

Part Design Screen
This is how the Part Design screen normally looks when you first start a new part. Notice
that the pull-down menus remain the same. However the workbench on the side changes to
the Part Design workbench and the bottom row of icons has some additional icons.
A The xy plane, yz plane and zx plane are represented in the specification tree for
every part that you create. These are the standard planes that CATIA uses.
B Notice the definition for your first partbody is also located in the specification tree
when you begin a new part.
C These are the actual planes that are represented in the specification tree. You will
normally use these to help design your part.
D This is the 3D compass and it has three separate parts. The letters X, Y and Z
represent the axes. The Z axis is the default orientation. It has a free rotation handle,
a compass manipulation handle and a privileged plane. The point close to the Z axis
is the free rotation handle. The red square is the compass manipulation handle. The
XY plane is the privileged plane which is located at the base of the compass. This
has various options throughout CATIA, however in this class you will primarily be
using it as another method of rotating your part around.
E This axis represents the true rotation of the part. The compass, by contrast, can be
attached to actual objects.

Pull-down Menus
File
New Creates a new analysis, drawing, part or product
New from Creates a new document based on an existing one
Open Opens an existing document
Close Closes the current document
Save Saves the current document with the same name
Save As Saves the current document with a name you specify
Save All Saves all documents that are currently opened
Save All As Saves all documents that are currently opened with a name you specify
Print Prints the current document
Desk Allows you to view the relationships between documents
Send To Allows you to send CATIA data to an e-mail or another directory
Exit Exits CATIA
The other documents listed there are the most recent documents that were opened. This
allows you to open them again quickly.

Edit
Undo Undoes the last option. You can undo multiple options in a row.
Repeat Redoes the last undo option. You can redo multiple options in a row.
Update Updates your document with changes
Cut Cuts the selected objects from the document
Copy Copies the selected objects
Paste Pastes the previously cut or copied objects in the document
Paste Special Gives additional options to the paste
Delete Deletes selected objects
Search Searches your document for certain objects
Selection Sets Adds or deletes objects from a selection set or creates one
Define Selection Set Takes preselected geometry and stores it in a selection set
Links Edits document links
Properties Displays and edits graphic properties
Scan or Define in Work Object Defines the current work object and allows you to scan
through the part

View
Toolbars Allows you to view or hide toolbars.

You can also customize a toolbar.
Geometry Toggles between seeing and not seeing geometric elements, also
known as geometry
Specification Toggles between seeing and not seeing the specification tree

Compass Toggles between seeing and not seeing the compass
Reset Compass Resets the compass to its original location if moved
Tree Expansion Allows you to expand or collapse the

levels in your specification tree.
Specifications Overview Gives an overview window of the specification tree allowing

you to zoom in on areas of the tree
Geometry Overview Gives an overview window of the geometry in your document,

allowing you to zoom in on an area of the geometry
Fit All In Zooms the display so as to make all the geometry fit on the screen
Zoom Area Zooms in on an area that you specify
Zoom In Out Zooms in or out on your part by using the left mouse button to drag
up or down
Pan Drags the display of your part around with the left mouse button
Rotate Rotates the display of your part around with the left mouse button
Modify This allows you to look at your geometry in a variety

of ways. You can Zoom In or Zoom Out. You can
specify a plane and look normal to the plane with the
Normal View. You can simulate what it looks like as
you turn your head right or left using Turn Head. It
will also let you Fly Through or Walk Through your
design. The Accelerate and Decelerate options control
how fast you fly or walk. The Previous view and Next
view options allow you to page through the different
views that you have defined with the other options.
The Look At option allows you to specify the direction
you want to look at your part.
Named Views Retrieves different views and it allows you to add new views for
retrieval at a later time.

Render Style The different render styles control how the
parts will be displayed. You can customize
your own type of render style using the
Customize View option. You can also view
your part either in Perspective or in Parallel.
In parallel mode, the part is shown with every
dimension exactly to scale; in perspective
mode, the area of your part that is closer to the
screen appears larger than the area that is
farther away. This only affects your part
visually, not geometrically.
Navigation Mode Switches between Examine, Walk and Fly

modes.
Lighting Varies ambient lighting effects
Depth Effect Clips geometry between clipping planes
Ground Visually inserts a plane at ground level
Magnifier Creates a zoomed in view of your part in a separate window
Hide/Show Hides or shows geometry. The Swap visible

space option will toggle between the hidden
side and the show side.
Full Screen Shows your geometry using the full screen, with no menus or
toolbars. To turn off full screen mode, use the right mouse button.

Insert
Object Inserts an object such as a spreadsheet or a word processing

document
Body Inserts a new body in to your part
Annotations Inserts annotations in to your part, same as Part Design

options
Constraints Inserts constraints, same as the Sketcher options
Sketcher Runs the Sketcher, same as the Sketcher icon in Part Design
Axis System Defines a new axis system
Sketch-Based Features Inserts various Sketcher features, same as the Sketcher

options
Dress-Up Features Inserts fillets, chamfers, etc., same as the Part Design options
Surface-Based Features Inserts various features using surfaces, same as the Part
Design options
Transformation Features Inserts various transformation features, same as the Part

Design options
Boolean Operations Inserts boolean operations between part bodies
Advanced Replication Tools Allows you to create and store features

Tools
Formula Allows you to apply formulas to your part
Image Capture allows you to capture images off of the screen

into various formats such as TIFF, JPEG, PNG or
BMP. The Album option is where the captured images
go by default. This option will allow you to access
them. The Video option allows you to record what you
are doing and replay it.
Macro Records, edits and runs macros
Parent/Children Shows the relationships between components of the part
Customize Customizes the toolbars, more information in Appendix A

Visualization Filters Allows you to create and apply filters
Options Customizes settings, more information in Appendix B
Conferencing Tools available for conferencing a CATIA session

Window
New Window Creates a new window
Tile Horizontally Tiles your windows horizontally so they do not overlap
Tile Vertically Tiles your windows vertically so they do not overlap
Cascade Cascades your windows so they overlap but you can still see the top
and left side of each window
The other windows listed are the windows that are currently opened. You can switch
windows by selecting from the list.

Help
CATIA V5 Help Gets contextual help
CATIA User Companion Activates the user companion if available
Contents, Index and Search Allows you to search the online help
What’s This? Allows you to select an option to get information about it
User Galaxy Goes to Dassault Systèmes user galaxy
About CATIA V5 Displays copyright information

Bottom Toolbar in Part Design
Creates a new part Positions view normal to a plane
Open an existing part Changes view
Saves the current part Changes render style
Prints the current part Hides/shows elements
Cuts the selected objects Swaps visible space
Copies the selected objects Applies material to a part
Pastes what’s been copied or cut Measures between two items
Undoes the last action Measures an item
Redoes the last undo Measures inertial properties
Gets help on a selected item Updates a part
Generates a formula Creates an axis system
Generates a table Tolerancing
Knowledge inspector Creates a datum
Goes to fly mode Opens a catalog
Fits all of the geometry in window Change current body
Pans the display window Performs a draft analysis
Rotates the geometry Performs a curvature analysis
Zooms in
Zooms out

Part Design Workbench

Changes workbenches Shells out a side
Selects geometry Adds thickness to a side
Goes to Sketcher Creates thread notation
Creates a pad Adds thickness to a surface
Creates a pocket Splits an object
Creates a shaft Closes a surface
Creates a groove Sews a surface into a part
Creates a hole Translates an object
Creates a rib Rotates an object
Creates a slot Symmetries an object
Creates a stiffener Mirrors an object
Creates a loft Generates a rectangular grid
Removes a loft Generates a circular grid
Fillets with a constant radius Generates a user-defined grid
Fillets with a variable radius Scales an object
Fillets between faces Creates constraints by dialog
Fillets using a tri-tangent Creates a constraint
Chamfers a corner Creates text with a leader
Creates a draft angle Creates a flag note
Draft reflect

Sketcher Screen
This is how the Sketcher screen normally looks when you first start a new sketch. Notice
that the pull-down menus remain the same. However, the workbench on the side changes to
the Sketcher workbench, and the toolbar at the bottom has some changes.
Also notice the grid that appears when you are in Sketcher. This grid can be turned on and
off using the pull-down menu Tools/Options. This grid will be discussed in more detail
later in this book.

Sketcher changes to bottom toolbar

When you go to the Sketcher, most of the icons in the bottom toolbar remain. A few new
ones also appear:
Cuts part by sketch plane. This is helpful when you need to use an edge of the cross-
section to define a constraint.
Toggles between snapping to a point of the grid or not snapping. In the Sketcher
there is a grid defined in the default settings. This grid can be modified using the
pull-down menus. If this icon is highlighted then when you sketch, your selections
will snap to a point on the grid. If you do not have this icon selected then you can
select anywhere in the sketch to define a point for your sketch.
Toggles between creating standard geometry and construction geometry. When

sketching, there are times when you just want to create some geometry to use for the
construction of other geometry—you do not want it to be an actual part of your
sketch in Part Design. If this icon is highlighted, the geometry you create will just
be construction geometry, and will not be part of your sketch in Part Design. If you
do not have this icon selected, you will be creating standard geometry that will be
used in Part Design.
Toggles between automatically generating geometric constraints or not. If it is

highlighted, CATIA will automatically generate geometric constraints as you sketch
your profile. If it is not highlighted, geometric constraints will not automatically
appear.
Toggles between automatically generating dimension constraints or not. If it is

highlighted, CATIA will automatically generate dimension constraints as you sketch
your profile. If it is not highlighted, dimensional constraints will not automatically
appear.

Sketcher Workbench
Changes workbenches Creates a spline
Selects geometry Creates a connect curve
Exits Sketcher Creates an ellipse
Creates constraints by dialog Creates a parabola
Creates a constraint Creates a hyperbola
Creates constraints automatically Creates a conic
Animates constraints Creates a line
Creates a user-defined profile Creates an unlimited line
Creates a rectangle Creates a bitangent line
Creates an oriented rectangle Creates a bisect line
Creates a parallelogram Creates an axis
Creates an elongated slot Creates a point
Creates an elongated curved slot Creates a point using coordinates
Creates a keyhole Creates equidistant points
Creates a hexagon Creates an intersection point
Creates a circle Creates a projected point
Creates a circle through 3 points Creates rounded corners
Creates a circle using coordinates Chamfers elements
Creates a circle tangent to 3 Trims elements

elements
Breaks elements
Creates an arc through 3 points
Quick trim
Creates an arc through 3 points
using limits Closes elements
Creates an arc

Symmetries elements
Translates elements
Rotates elements
Scales elements
Offsets elements
Projects 3D geometry onto the

sketch plane
Intersects 3D geometry with the

sketch plane
Projects canonical edges onto the

sketch plane

Working with Documents

It is important for you to understand how to work with the documents and especially how to
save them in order to be productive using CATIA Version 5.
Creating a new document

This allows you to start a new document. For this class you will normally start a Part
document. This does not close any documents that are already opened, it only creates a new
window with the document.
Select the new icon in the bottom toolbar. This allows you to create a new
document. The document that will be created depends on the selection you make, either an
analysis, drawing, part, product or other. You see that there are many different types of
documents that you can create in CATIA.
Select Part.
Select OK. This will create a new part.

Opening an existing document
This allows you to open a document that has been previously saved. This does not close any
documents that are already opened, it only opens a new window with the document.
Select the open icon in the bottom toolbar. This allows you to open an existing
document. A File Selection window should appear.
This allows you to specify the folder that you want to look in and then specify the file or
document that you want to open.
Find the document that you want to open and select it. You can either open a document
by selecting it and then selecting Open or you can just double-click on the file and it will
automatically open. This step assumes that you just selected the file not double-clicked on
it. The name of the document should appear in the File name box.
Select Open. This should open the document.

Saving a document
This allows you to save a document that you currently have opened.
Select the save icon in the bottom toolbar. This will allow you to save the
document with the current name. If this is the first time you saved this document then it
will automatically open a Save As window allowing you to specify a name for the document.
Otherwise it will just save the document with the same name it already has.
If you want to save a document with a different name, you have to use the Save As option in
the pull-down menu File.
Select Save As. A Save As window should appear. You will need to specify which folder
you want to save the document into and the name of the document.
Choose the correct folder and then enter the file name in the File name box.
Select the Save button. Alternatively, you may press Enter. The document should save
with the new name.

Closing a document
This allows you to close a document that is currently open with or without saving. If the
document has not been saved, CATIA will ask you whether or not you want to save it.
Select Close. If the document has already been saved and has not been modified, CATIA
will close the current document. If the document has been modified and not saved, CATIA
will open the Close window.
If you want to save the changes then press Yes. If the document has previously been saved,
it will be saved again under the same name; otherwise, the Save As window will appear. If
you do not want to save the changes, press No. To return to the document rather than
closing it, select the Cancel button.

This page is intentionally left blank.

Basic Sketcher
This section will cover the basic use of the Sketcher to create profiles for the Part Design
package. This section will consist of four parts: basic shapes, profiles, constraints and
modifications to profiles.
It is assumed that you have the default icons selected in the bottom toolbar. This includes
the snap-to-grid icon, the geometrical constraint icon and the dimensional constraint icon.
These and the other options in the bottom toolbar will be discussed in more detail later in
the manual.
The pictures in this manual are shown without a grid; this is to make them easier to see.
When you are sketching, though, you will have a grid by default. If you want to turn the
grid off, you can use the pull-down menus.
Basic Shapes
This part will discuss the various shapes that can be created in the Sketcher using the icons
on the Sketcher workbench. The purpose of this group of exercises is to introduce how to
use those icons and generate the basic shapes. The usefulness of these shapes depend on the
profile you are trying to create. Therefore you should just concentrate on what each icon
allows you do and the corresponding shape it creates. Later in the class you will learn how
to put everything together to generate your parts.
The following exercises assume that you are in a new sketch. The first page shows you the
necessary steps to begin a new model and start a new sketch on a particular plane. After
that if you need help you will have to refer back to that page.
Note: It may not be necessary to do all of the following exercises step by step. If you feel
comfortable with the material then you can create all of the basic shapes on one sketch. If
you struggle or would like more information then you can consult the individual exercise for
that shape.
© Wichita State University Basic Shapes, Page 29

Creating a new part with a new sketch
Select the new icon in the bottom toolbar. This creates a new document. There are
many types of documents possible, so next you will choose which type you want.
Select Part.
Select OK. This will create a new part.
Select the Sketcher icon. This will activate the Sketcher, but first CATIA needs to
know which plane you wish to use for your sketch.
Select the yz plane. You can either select the yz plane symbol in the center of your screen
or you can select the yz plane name in the specification tree. By selecting this plane you are
telling the computer that you want to sketch a profile in that plane. CATIA will rotate the
window around so that you are looking straight down on (that is, normal to) the plane to
perform your sketch.
Note: Remember to refer back to this page if you have trouble creating a new part with a
new sketch.
Saving and closing the part

Select the pull-down menu File. This will give you the option to use Save As.
Select the Save As option from the pull-down menu. This will open up the Save As
window. You will need to specify your directory in the Save in box and key in the file name
in the File name box.
Select Save. This will save the document as a CATPart with the name you specified in the
directory you specified.
You will now want to close the window because you are finished with this exercise:
Select the pull-down menu File. This will give you the option to Close.
Select Close option from the pull-down menu. This closes the window and you are now
ready to proceed to the next exercise.
Basic Shapes, Page 30 ©Wichita State University

Rectangle
This will cover the steps necessary to build a rectangle using the rectangle icon. This is
useful any time you need a box shape. All you have to do is specify two opposite corners of
the rectangle and Sketcher will generate it for you.
Select the rectangle icon. Notice this icon has a down arrow on it. If you select the
icon at the location of the arrow the various sub-option icons will appear. For now you just
want the regular rectangle. Once you select the icon it should highlight.
Select the origin point of the sketch plane. This will specify one of the corners of your
rectangle.
Select somewhere up and out to the right. This defines the other corner of the rectangle
and the rectangle should appear similar to the one below.
Notice how the horizontal and vertical constraints automatically appeared on the rectangle.
If you wish, you can save your document: call it rectangle with your initials.

Oriented Rectangle
This will cover the steps necessary to build an oriented rectangle using the oriented
rectangle icon. This is useful any time you need a box type shape that is oriented at an angle
instead of being horizontal and vertical. You have to specify a location for the rectangle to
begin at and then specify the other end of the line representing a side of the rectangle. After
doing that then you have to specify a location for the height of the rectangle and then the
rectangle will be generated for you.
Press and hold the left mouse button while on the down arrow of the rectangle icon.
This allows you to access the sub-option icons. You will want the oriented rectangle icon.
Release the button on top of the oriented rectangle icon. The icon should change
to the oriented rectangle icon and highlight. Notice how the rectangle icon no longer
appears; it has moved to the sub-options now. Remember you can always access the sub-
options by holding down the left mouse button on the down arrow of the respective icon.
rectangle. The next location that you select will define the orientation of the rectangle.
Select somewhere up and to the right. This defines the other end of a side of the oriented
rectangle. The next location that you define will determine the height of the oriented
rectangle.
Select somewhere up and to the left of the last location. This defines the height of the
oriented rectangle and it should appear similar to the one shown below.
Notice how the parallel constraints automatically appeared on the oriented rectangle. If you
wish, you can save your document; call it oriented rectangle with your initials.

Parallelogram
This will cover the steps necessary to build a parallelogram using the parallelogram icon.
This is useful any time you need a shape where the sides are parallel to one another but they
can be at any angle. This is similar to the oriented rectangle except the angle between sides
does not have to be 90 degrees. You have to specify a corner point for the parallelogram,
then a point for the other end of a line representing a side of the parallelogram. Finally, you
have to specify the endpoint for one other side of the parallelogram. CATIA will generate a
parallelogram using the given points.
(Note: The rectangle icon may not currently be showing; if not, select the down arrow on the
icon that is showing in the rectangle spot. If you just completed the last exercise then the
icon will be the oriented rectangle icon.) This allows you to access the sub-option icons.
You will want the parallelogram icon.
Release the button on top of the parallelogram icon. The icon should change to the
parallelogram icon and highlight. Notice how the previous icon no longer appears; it has
moved to the sub-options now. Remember you can always access the sub-options by hold
down the left mouse button on the down arrow of the respective icon.
parallelogram. The next location that you select will define the endpoint of one of the sides
of the parallelogram.
Select somewhere up and to the right. This defines the other end of a side of the
parallelogram. The next location that you define will determine the endpoint of the other
side.
Select somewhere up and to the right of the last location. This defines the endpoint of
the other side of the parallelogram and it should appear similar to the one shown below.
Notice how the parallel constraints automatically appeared on the parallelogram. If you
want, save your document and call it parallelogram with your initials.

Elongated Slot
This will cover the steps necessary to build an elongated slot using the elongated slot icon.
This is useful any time you need to define a slot that is linear and curved with a full radius
on both ends. You have to specify a location for the center of one of the curved ends and
then define a location for the center of the other curved end. After doing that then you have
to specify a location defining the radius of the ends and then the elongated slot will be
generated for you.
(Note: The rectangle icon may not currently be showing, just select the down arrow on the
icon will be the parallelogram icon.) This allows you to access the sub-option icons. You
will want the elongated slot icon.
Release the button on top of the elongated slot icon. The icon should change to the
elongated slot icon and highlight. Notice how the previous icon no longer appears; it has
moved to the sub-options now. Remember you can always access the sub-options by hold
down the left mouse button on the down arrow of the respective icon.
Select the origin point of the sketch plane. This will specify the center of one of the
curved ends of your slot. The next location that you select will define the center of the other
curved end of your slot.
Select somewhere up and to the right. This defines the center of the other curved end of
the slot. The next location that you define will determine the radius of the ends.
Select somewhere up and to the right of the last location. This defines the radius of the
ends of the slot and it should appear similar to the one shown below.
Notice how the parallel and tangency constraints automatically appeared on the elongated
slot. If you desire you can save your work; call it elongated slot with your initials.

Elongated Curved Slot
This will cover the steps necessary to build an elongated curved slot using the elongated
curved slot icon. This is useful any time you need to define a slot that is circular and curved
with a full radius on both ends. The first step is to specify a location for the center of the
circular path that the slot is going to follow. Then you specify a location to define the radius
of the circular path which also is the definition of the center of one of the curved ends. The
next step is to specify the center of the other curved end along that radius. The last step is to
specify a location that defines the width of the slot. After all that the elongated curved slot
will be generated for you.
Press and hold the left mouse button while on the down arrow of the rectangle icon of
the current workbench. (Note: The rectangle icon may not currently be showing; just
select the down arrow on the icon that is showing in the rectangle spot. If you just
completed the last exercise then the icon will be the elongated slot icon.) This allows you to
access the sub-option icons. You will want the elongated curved slot icon.
Release the button on top of the elongated curved slot icon. The icon should
change to the elongated curved slot icon and highlight. Notice how the previous icon no
longer appears; it has moved to the sub-options now. Remember you can always access the
sub-options by hold down the left mouse button on the down arrow of the respective icon.
Select the origin point of the sketch plane. This will specify the center of the circular
path. The next location that you select will define the radius of the circular path and the
center of one of the curved ends.

Select out to the right. This defines the radius of the circular path that the slot is going to
follow and the center of one of the curved ends of the slot. The next location that you
define will be the center of the other curved end.
Select somewhere down and out to the left of the last location. This defines the center of
the other curved end of the slot. The next location will determine the width of the slot.
Select somewhere above the last location. This determines the width of the slot and it
should look similar to the one shown below.
Notice how the concentric and tangency constraints automatically appeared on the elongated
curved slot. If you desire you can save the document and call it elongated curved slot
with your initials.

Keyhole
This will cover the steps necessary to build a keyhole shape using the keyhole icon. This is
useful any time you need to define a keyhole. To get the keyhole, you need to define four
locations, in order: the center of the large radius, the center of the small radius, the radius
value of the small radius, and the radius value of the large radius. After all that the keyhole
will be generated.
icon will be the elongated curved slot icon.) This allows you to access the sub-option icons.
You will want the keyhole icon.
Release the button on top of the keyhole icon. The icon should change to the
keyhole icon and highlight. Notice how the previous icon no longer appears; it has moved
to the sub-options now. Remember you can always access the sub-options by hold down the
left mouse button on the down arrow of the respective icon.
Select the origin point of the sketch plane. This will specify the center of the larger radius
of the keyhole. The next location that you select will define the center of the smaller radius
of the keyhole.
Select down below. This defines the center of the smaller radius of the keyhole. The next
location that you specify will determine the smaller radius of the keyhole.
Select to the right of the last location. This defines the radius of the smaller end of the
keyhole. The next location will determine where the larger radius is to begin.
Select somewhere above the last location. This determines the size of the larger radius,
and it should look similar to the one shown below.
Notice how the parallel and tangency constraints automatically appeared on the keyhole.
Save this document, if you wish, with the name keyhole, with your initials.

Hexagon
This will cover the steps necessary to build a hexagon using the hexagon icon. This is
useful any time you need to define a hexagon. All you have to specify is the center of the
hexagon and the distance to a side. The hexagon will then be generated.
icon that is showing in the rectangle spot. If you just completed the last exercise, the icon
will be the keyhole icon.) This allows you to access the sub-option icons. You will want
the hexagon icon.
Release the button on top of the hexagon icon. The icon should change to the
hexagon icon and highlight. Notice how the previous icon no longer appears; it has moved
to the sub-options now. Remember you can always access the sub-options by hold down the
left mouse button on the down arrow of the respective icon.
Select the origin point of the sketch plane. This will specify the center of the hexagon.
The next location that you select will define the distance to a side of the hexagon.
Select to the right. This defines the distance to a side and the hexagon should appear
similar to the one shown below.
Notice how the parallel and coincidence constraints automatically appeared on the hexagon.
Save your document, if you wish, giving it the name hexagon, with your initials.

Circle
This will cover the steps necessary to build a circle using the circle icon. This icon is
similar to the rectangle icon in the sense that it has many sub-options available. For the
main option, all you need to do is specify two points, representing the center and radius of
the circle, and the circle will be generated for you.
Select the circle icon. Notice this icon has a down arrow on it similar to the rectangle
icon. If you select the icon at the location of the arrow the various sub-option icons will
appear. For now you just want the regular circle. Once you select the icon it should
highlight.
Select the origin point of the sketch plane. This will specify the center of the circle. The
next location will define the radius of the circle.
Select any location a short distance away from the center. This determines the radius of
the circle. CATIA will generate a circle similar to the one shown below.
If you desire you can save your work: give it the name circle with your initials.

Circle through 3 points
This will cover the steps necessary to build a circle passing through three points. You have
to specify the three locations for the circle to pass through and then the circle will be
generated for you.
It is assumed that you know how to access the sub-options of a particular icon therefore the
steps will just tell you to select the sub-option icon. If you have trouble, please refer back to
the previous exercises.
Select the three-point circle icon. This is located in the sub-options of the circle
icon. It should be highlighted.
Select the origin point of the sketch plane. This will specify one of the locations that the
circle will pass through. The other two locations will finish the definition of the circle.
Select up and to the right. This specifies the second location for the circle to pass through.
Select to the left of the last location. This specifies the last location for the circle to pass
through and the circle appears similar to the one shown below.
If you desire you can save this document, calling it 3ptcircle with your initials.

Circle with Cartesian coordinates
This will cover the steps necessary to build a circle using coordinates. You have to specify
the coordinates for the center of the circle and its radius and then the circle will be generated
for you.
Select the circle using coordinates icon. A Circle Definition window should appear
and the icon should be highlighted.
Notice that you can enter the coordinates using the Cartesian coordinate system or the polar
coordinate system. You will want to use the Cartesian coordinate system for this exercise.
Enter 2 for H, 2 for V and 1 for Radius. The circle appears similar to the one shown
below.
Notice that the dimension constraints were automatically generated when you created the
circle. If you desire you can save your document and call it circle coord with your initials.

Circle tangent to 3 elements
This will cover the steps necessary to build a circle tangent to three elements. You have to
specify the three elements that you want the circle to be tangent to and then the circle will be
generated.
Start a new part and go into the Sketcher with the yz plane.
Select the circle using coordinates icon. You will use this icon to create three circles
in order to see how the tri-tangent circle icon works.
Create 3 circles using the following coordinates. H=0, V=3, Radius=1.5; H=4.5, V=3,
Radius=2; H=1.5, V=-1, Radius=1. Three circles should appear as shown below. Next you
will create a circle tangent to all three of these.
Select the tri-tangent circle icon. It should be highlighted.
Select the three circles to be tangent to. This will specify the three elements that you want
the circle to be tangent to and the circle appears similar to the one shown below. You can
create a circle tangent to any three elements using this icon.
If you desire you can save your document and call it tritangent with your initials.

Arc through 3 points
This will cover the steps necessary to build an arc passing through three points. You simply
need to specify any three points and an arc will be generated which starts at the first point,
ends at the third point and passes through the second point.
Select the three point arc icon. It should highlight.
Select the origin point of the sketch plane. This will specify one of the locations that the
arc will pass through. The other two locations will finish the definition of the arc.
Select up and to the left. This specifies the second location for the arc to pass through.
Select up and to the right of the last location. This specifies the last location for the arc
to pass through and the arc appears similar to the one shown below.
If you desire you can save your document and call it 3ptarc with your initials.

Arc through 3 points using limits
This will cover the steps necessary to build an arc passing through three points. The
difference between this method and the last one is the order used to specify the three points.
In this icon, the first two points you select are the endpoints, and the third is an additional
point the arc will pass through.
Select the three point arc using limits icon. It should highlight.
Select the origin point of the sketch plane. This will specify one of the endpoints of the
arc. The other two locations will finish the definition of the arc.
Select up and to the right. This specifies the other endpoint of the arc.
Select to the left of the last location. This specifies the location for the arc to pass through
and the arc appears similar to the one shown below.
If you desire you can save your document and call it 3ptarclimits with your initials.

Arc
This will cover the steps necessary to build an arc by specifying the center point and then
the starting point and ending point of the arc. The first location that you define will be the
center point of the arc. The second location determines the radius of the arc and the starting
point of the arc. The third location defines the other endpoint of the arc.
Select the arc icon. It should be highlighted.
Select the origin point of the sketch plane. This will specify the center of your arc. The
other two locations will finish the definition of the arc.
Select up and to the left. This specifies the starting point of the arc and the radius of the
arc.
Select to the right of the last location. This specifies the other endpoint of the arc and the
arc appears similar to the one shown below.
If you desire you can save your document; call it arc with your initials.

Spline
This will cover the steps necessary to build a spline. This icon is useful to create arbitrary
smooth curves through a series of points. You need to specify a number of locations for the
spline to pass through and it will create a smooth curve passing through them. The last
point on the spline needs to be defined by double-clicking.
Select the spline icon. It should be highlighted.
Select the origin point of the sketch plane. This will specify one endpoint for the spline.
The other locations will define the shape of the spline.
Select up and to the right. This specifies the second location for the spline to pass
through.
Select down and to the right of the previous location. This specifies the third location for
the spline to pass through.
Select up and to the right of the previous location. This specifies the fourth location for
the spline to pass through.
Double-click down and to the right of the previous location. By double-clicking this
location you are telling the computer that this location is the other endpoint of the spline.
The finished spline should appear similar to the one shown below.
Save your document, if you wish, under the name spline with your initials.

Connect Curve
This will cover the steps necessary to build a connect curve. This icon is useful to create
arbitrary smooth curves connecting two elements. You need to specify the two endpoints of
the connecting curve along the existing elements that you wish to connect. This option has
two sub-options which will appear to the right of your sketcher icons in the bottom toolbar
or wherever you located them.
This will connect the two elements with an arc
This will connect the two elements with a spline
In this exercise you will use the connect with spline option, but feel free to use both options.
Select the spline icon. It should be highlighted.
Create two splines that look similar to the diagram shown below. You will have to refer
to the previous exercise if you need help creating the splines.
Select the connect curve icon. It should be highlighted.

Select the connect with spline icon. This icon is located next to your sketcher icons
in the bottom toolbar or wherever you located them.
Select on the spline near the location shown below. Where you select the element
determines one of the endpoints of the connect curve.
Select on the other spline near the location shown below. This defines the other endpoint
and generates the connect curve. It should appear similar to the diagram shown below.
If you desire you can save your document. Call it connect curve with your initials.

Ellipse
This will cover the steps necessary to build an ellipse. This icon is useful to create elliptical
shapes. This is a conic shape that has certain mathematical properties useful for some
designs. The first location you define is the center of the ellipse; the second one gives both
the orientation and one of the two diameters. Finally you define the other diameter by
selecting another location.
Select the ellipse icon. It should be highlighted.
Select the origin point of the sketch plane. This will specify the center of the ellipse. The
next location determines the orientation and length of the ellipse.
Select down and to the left. This determines the orientation and the length of the ellipse.
The next location will define a location that the ellipse will pass through thereby defining
the width of the ellipse.
Select up and to the right of the previous location. This specifies a location that the
ellipse will pass through determining the shape of the ellipse. It should appear similar to the
one shown below.
If you desire you can save your document: call it ellipse with your initials.

Parabola
This will cover the steps necessary to build a parabola. This icon is useful to create
parabolic shapes. This is another conic curve that has certain mathematical properties
useful for some designs. You have to define a location for the focus of the parabola and
then the apex, or tip. Finally you must define the two endpoints for the parabola.
Select the parabola icon. It should be highlighted.
Select the origin point of the sketch plane. This will specify the focus of the parabola.
The next location determines the apex or tip of the parabola.
Select below the origin. This determines the apex. A parabola’s shape is determined by
the distance between the focus and the apex. The next two locations define the starting and
ending points of the parabola.
Select up and to the left of the previous location. This specifies the starting location for
the parabola.
Select up and to the right of the previous location. This specifies the ending location for
the parabola and it should appear similar to the one shown below.
If you desire you can save your document. Call it parabola with your initials.

Hyperbola
This will cover the steps necessary to build a hyperbola. A hyperbola is another conic curve
that has certain mathematical properties useful for some designs. You have to define a
location for the focus of the hyperbola and then the center of the hyperbola. After defining
those locations then you must specify a location for the apex or tip of the hyperbola. Then
you can define a starting point and ending point for the hyperbola.
Select the hyperbola icon. It should highlight.
Select the origin point of the sketch plane. This will specify the focus of the hyperbola.
The next location determines the center of the hyperbola.
Select a location well above the origin. This determines the center of the hyperbola. The
next location defines the apex, or tip.
Select somewhere between the origin and the previous location. This determines the
apex, or tip, of the hyperbola. The three locations you have specified so far—focus, center,
and apex—determine the shape of the hyperbola. Next you will specify its endpoints.
Select to the left of the origin point. This specifies one endpoint of the hyperbola.
Select to the right of the origin point. This specifies the other endpoint. The finished
hyperbola should appear similar to the one shown below.
If you desire you can save your document. Call it hyperbola with your initials.

Conic
This will cover the steps necessary to create a conic. There are many sub-options available
under this icon. Depending on which options you select will determine what you can define
when creating the conic. You can define five points, tangency at the first end, tangency at
the second end or tangency at both ends. This exercise will only cover creating a conic with
tangency at both ends but feel free to use the other options until you are comfortable with
them.
Define tangency at the first end
Define tangency at the second end
Define tangency at both ends
Select the conic icon. It should highlight.
Select the tangency at both ends icon. This will allow you specify a location that
will define the tangency at both ends of the conic.
Select the origin point. This defines the first end point of the conic.
Select a location to the right of the origin. This defines the second end point of the conic.
Select a location above and between the two points. This defines the tangency at both
ends, from the endpoint to this point.
Select below the last location. This defines the actual shape of the conic based on the
previously defined tangencies. The conic should appear.
If you desire you can save your document. Call it conic with your initials.

Line
This will cover the steps necessary to build a line. Use this icon for straight edges of your
profiles. To create a line, you only need to specify the two endpoints.
Select the line icon. It should highlight.
Select the origin point of the sketch plane. This will specify one endpoint of the line.
The next location specifies the other endpoint.
Select up and to the right of the origin. This determines the other endpoint. The line
should appear similar to the one shown below.
If you desire you can save your document. Call it line with your initials.

Unlimited Line
This will cover the steps necessary to build an unlimited line. Use this icon for straight
edges of your profiles that you do not want a specific length but instead you want it to go
out essentially forever. This icon has three sub-options that will allow you to create a
horizontal, vertical or point to point unlimited line. Depending on which sub-option you
choose determines what is necessary to create the line. In this exercise you will just use the
point to point sub-option but feel free to use the other options to get familiar with them.
Select the unlimited line icon. It should highlight.
Select the origin point of the sketch plane. This will specify a point along the line. The
next location specifies another point along the line.
Select up and to the right of the origin. This defines another point along the line. The
line should pass through those two locations and go out essentially forever. It should appear
If you desire you can save your document. Call it unlimited line with your initials.

Bi-tangent Line
This will cover the steps necessary to build a bi-tangent line. A bi-tangent line is tangent to
two other elements such as circles. All you have to do is specify the two elements that you
wish the line to be tangent to.
Select the circle using coordinates icon. You will create two circles using this icon.
Create 2 circles using the following coordinates. H=0, V=3, Radius=1; H=2, V=0,
Radius=.5 Two circles should appear as shown below.
Select the bi-tangent line icon. It should highlight.
Select the right side of the larger circle. This will specify the line to be tangent to that
side of the circle. The next location specifies the other element that the line is to be tangent
to.

Select left side of the smaller circle. This makes the line tangent to that side of the circle
as well. The line should appear similar to the one shown below.
If you desire you can save your document with the name bitangent with your initials.

Bisect Line
This will cover the steps necessary to build a bisect line. A bisect line splits the angle
between two other lines. All you have to do is specify the two lines that you wish to bisect
and the bisecting line will be created.
Select the line icon. It should be highlighted.
Create two lines similar to the ones shown below. Start each line at the origin.
Select the bisect line icon. It should be highlighted.
Select one of the lines. This defines one side of the sector that will be bisected.
Select the other line. A bisecting line should appear similar to the one shown below.
If you desire you can save your document with the name bisect with your initials.

Axis
This will cover the steps necessary to build an axis. An axis can be used for mirroring or for
creating a shaft or groove in Part Design. To create an axis, all you have to do is specify
two endpoints.
Select the axis icon. It should be highlighted.
Select the origin point of the sketch plane. This will specify one endpoint of the axis.
Next you will specify the other endpoint.
Select above the origin. This determines the other endpoint of the axis and it should
appear similar to the one shown below.
If you desire you can save your document. Call it axis with your initials.

Point
This will cover the steps necessary to build a point. Points are useful for constraining your
profile. All you have to do is specify a location for the point.
Select the point icon. It should be highlighted.
Select up and to the right of the origin. This will specify a location for the point. You
also have the option of selecting an element to put the point on the element at the specified
location. That option will automatically add a coincidence constraint. The point should
If you desire you can save your document and call it point with your initials.

Point using coordinates
This will cover the steps necessary to build a point using coordinates. This icon is useful for
generating points at specific locations. Normally this is used to position an item within your
profile. All you have to do is enter the coordinates in the window that opens.
Select the point using coordinates icon. A Point Definition window should appear
and the icon should be highlighted.
Notice that you can enter the coordinates using the cartesian coordinate system or the polar
coordinate system. You will want to use the cartesian coordinate system for this exercise.
Enter 2 for H and 2 for V. This will generate a point at that coordinate and it should
Notice the dimension constraints were automatically generated when you created the point.
If you desire you can save your document and call it coord point with your initials.

Equidistant points
This will cover the steps necessary to build equidistant points. This icon is useful for
generating points equidistant along an element. You have to specify an element and then
specify the origin or the starting location for your spacing. Then you have to specify the
spacing and the number of points to be spaced.
Select the three point arc icon. It should be highlighted.
Select the origin point of the sketch plane. This specifies an endpoint of the arc. The
other two locations will determine the shape of the arc.
Select up and to the right of the origin. This defines the second location for the arc.
Select down and to the right of the previous location. This defines the third location for
the arc to pass through and the arc should appear similar to the one shown below.
Select the equidistant points icon. It should highlight. You will now have to specify
the element you want to create equidistant points on.
Select the arc. This is the element that you are going to create equidistant points along.
The next location will determine the starting point for the spacing of the points.
Select the right end of the arc. This determines the starting point for the creation of the
equidistant points. An Equidistant Point Definition window should appear.
There are three different Parameters options. Points & Length, Points & Spacing, and
Spacing & Length. In this exercise you will choose the Points & Spacing parameter.

Enter 1 for Spacing and 3 for New Points. This specifies the distance between the points
and how many points that you want generated.
Select OK. The points should appear similar to the ones shown below.
Notice that constraints were automatically generated for you. If you desire you can save
your document and call it equidist point with your initials.

Intersection Point
This will cover the steps necessary to create a point at the intersection of two elements. All
you have to do to create an intersection point is select the two elements.
Create two lines as shown below.
Select the intersection point icon. It should be highlighted.
Select one of the lines. It will use this line as one of the intersecting elements.
Select the other line. The two lines do not have to actually intersect as long as they would
intersect if they were to continue in length. The intersection point should appear with
constraints as shown below.
If you desire you can save your document and call it intersection point with your initials.

Projection Point
This will cover the steps necessary to create a point by projecting a point to an element. All
you have to do to create a projection point is select a point that you want to project and then
select the element that you want to project the point to.
Create a line as shown below.
Select the point icon. It should be highlighted.
Create a point as shown below.
Select the projection point icon. It should be highlighted.
Select the point. You will use this point to project to the line.

Select the line. A projected point is created and should appear with constraints as shown
below.
If you desire you can save your document and call it projection point with your initials.

Profiles
This part will discuss the profile icon which the most commonly used icon when defining
sketches. The purpose of these exercises are to demonstrate the usefulness of the profile
icon and how to use it effectively. You can use it to generate basic shapes or more involved
shapes all in one operation.
The most common use is to specify corner points of your desired profile and it will generate
lines between those points until you either click on the profile icon again, double-click a
location or select a location that closes the profile. You also can use two other icons that are
located in the bottom toolbar to generate curves as you are defining the profile. Also while
using the line icon of profile you can generate curves by holding down the left mouse button
and dragging it in the direction you want the curve to go and it will know to create a circular
curve from that location.
As you are defining the profile occasionally the element will appear in blue before defining
the endpoint or a constraint may appear in blue. If you select the endpoint while the element
or the constraint is blue then it will automatically put those constraints on the geometry
when it is created. This is useful when defining horizontal and vertical lines because if they
appear in blue while you are defining them then the horizontal and vertical constraint will
automatically be generated on the element.
You will now build various profiles to get experience using the various capabilities of the
profile icon. The first profile you are going to build looks like the one shown below.
Select the profile icon. It should be highlighted.
Select the origin point of the sketch plane. This specifies the starting point for your
profile. When you specify the next location make sure the line appears blue before selecting
the location. This will put the vertical constraint on your element automatically.
Profiles, Page 66 ©Wichita State University

Select a location above the origin. If the line appeared blue before you selected the second
location then it should appear with the vertical constraint on it like the one shown below.
Make sure when you specify the other locations that those elements appear blue as well
before selecting the location.
Select a location to the right of the previous location. It should appear with the
horizontal constraint on the element and look similar to the diagram shown below.
Select a location below the previous location along the H axis. It should appear similar
to the diagram shown below.
© Wichita State University Profiles, Page 67

Select a location to the left of the previous location. It should appear similar to the
diagram shown below.
Select a location above the previous location. It should appear similar to the diagram
shown below.
Select a location to the left of the previous location. It should appear similar to the

Select a location below the previous location. It should appear similar to the diagram
shown below.
Select the origin point of the sketch again. The profile should appear similar to the
diagram shown below and exit the profile icon.
If you desire you can save your document and call it profile1 with your initials.
Save the document and close it.

You will now perform a sketch of a part using the three point arc icon in the bottom toolbar
during the sketch. This icon allows you to define a three point arc while using the profile
icon. The second profile you are going to build looks like the one shown below.
profile. When you specify the next location make sure the line appears blue before selecting
the location. This will put the vertical constraint on your element automatically.
Select a location above the origin. If the line appeared blue before you selected the second
location then it should appear with the vertical constraint on it like the one shown below.
Make sure when you specify the other locations for the lines that they appear blue as well
before selecting the location.
Select a location to the right of the previous location. It should appear similar to the

Select the three point arc icon in the bottom toolbar. This icon will allow you to
specify a location for the arc to pass through and an ending location for the arc. The arc will
begin at the last location specified which is the endpoint of the line.
Select up and to the right of the previous location. This specifies the location that the arc
should pass through. The next point specifies the endpoint of the arc.
Select down and to the right of the previous location. This location should be straight
across from the start of the arc. It should appear similar to the diagram shown below.
Notice how the three point arc icon in the bottom toolbar automatically turned off and the
line icon turned on.
Select to the right of the previous location. It should appear similar to the diagram shown
below.
Select below the previous location. It should appear similar to the diagram shown below.

Select to the left of the previous location. It should appear similar to the diagram shown
below.
Select above the previous location. It should appear similar to the diagram shown below.
below.
Select the three point arc icon in the bottom toolbar. This icon will allow you to
specify a location for the arc to pass through and an ending location for the arc. The arc will
begin at the last location specified which is the endpoint of the line.
Select up and to the left of the previous location. This specifies the location that the arc
should pass through. The next point specifies the endpoint of the arc.

Select down and to the left of the previous location. This location should be straight
across from the start of the arc. It should appear similar to the diagram shown below.
Notice how the three point arc icon in the bottom toolbar automatically turned off and the
line icon turned on.
below.
Select below the previous location. It should appear similar to the diagram shown below.

Select the origin point of the sketch again. The profile should appear similar to the
diagram shown below and exit the profile icon.

You will now perform a sketch of a part using the tangent arc icon in the bottom toolbar
during the sketch. This icon allows you to define an arc tangent to the last line while using
the profile icon. The third profile you are going to build looks like the one shown below.
profile.
Select to the right of the origin. If the line appeared blue before you selected the second
location then it should appear with the horizontal constraint. It should appear similar to the
Select the tangent arc icon in the bottom toolbar. This icon will allow you to
specify an endpoint for an arc starting at the last location. It will automatically put a
tangency constraint on your profile at the initial point.

Select up and to the right of the previous location. This specifies the endpoint of the arc.
It should appear similar to the diagram shown below.
Select up and to the right of the previous location. It should look similar to the diagram
shown below.
Select up and to the left of the previous location. This specifies the endpoint of the arc.

below.
Select down and to the left of the previous location. This specifies the endpoint of the
arc. It should appear similar to the diagram shown below.

Select down and to the right of the previous location. It should look similar to the
Select the origin point of the sketch plane. This specifies the endpoint of the arc. It
should appear similar to the diagram shown below.

You can also create tangent arcs using the mouse instead of using the tangent arc icon in the
bottom toolbar. In order to create an arc instead of a line you need to press and hold the left
mouse button down and drag the mouse in the general shape of the arc. Then you can select
the endpoint of the arc. The following steps will walk you through the steps necessary to
perform this operation, however you may need to see it done in order to really understand
how it works.
You will generate the same profile you created in the previous exercise except you will use
the mouse to generate the arcs instead of the tangent arc icon. The final sketch should look
profile.
Press and hold the left mouse button at a location to the right of the origin. This
specifies the endpoint of the line. You need to continue holding the left mouse button down
in order to specify the tangent arc which will begin at this location.
While holding down the left mouse button drag your mouse in the direction that you
want the arc to follow.
Select a location up and to the right of the previous location. This will specify the
endpoint of the arc. It should appear similar to the diagram shown below.

You can continue this process to complete the sketch. You will probably need to practice
this sketch a few times using this option in order to become proficient. It is a much quicker
method of creating tangent arcs then using the icon in the bottom toolbar.
Finish sketching the part using the drag option for the tangent arcs. It should appear
There is no need to save this sketch since it is similar to the previous one.

Now that you have tried the various options with the profile icon you are ready to sketch
some practice sketches.
Try sketching the following sketches and save them as profile4, profile5 and profile6
respectively.
Sketch the profile shown below and save as profile4 with your initials.


Constraints
Constraints are similar to dimensions and they allow you to force your sketch to be an exact
shape. Sketches without constraints generally are not accurate enough for your design and
therefore it is necessary to put constraints on your sketch to make it an exact size.
There are many types of constraints and most are listed below.
Dimensional Constraints
Distance distance between two elements
Length length of an element
Angle angle between two elements
Radius/Diameter radius or diameter of a circle or arc
Semimajor axis semimajor axis of an ellipse
Semiminor axis semiminor axis of an ellipse
Geometrical Constraints
Symmetry symmetric about an axis or line
Midpoint forces an element to be located at the midpoint of another

element
Equidistant point forces three points to be equidistant from each other
Fix positions an element so it will not move
Coincidence aligns one element with another
Concentricity makes a circle or arc positioned concentric to another circle or

arc
Tangency makes an element tangent to another element
Parallelism forces a line to be parallel to another line
Perpendicularity forces a line to be perpendicular to another line
Horizontality makes a line be positioned horizontally
Verticality makes a line be positioned vertically
© Wichita State University Constraints, Page 83

When defining constraints on your sketch the color of the elements of the sketch will change
color depending on the status of the element. The table below shows the default colors and
the corresponding status.
Color Status
White Not constrained
Green Perfectly constrained
Purple Over constrained
Black Unresolved constraint
Red Invalid geometry
There are a few icons that allow you to generate constraints. Those icons are shown below.
Constraint by dialog icon allows you to define constraints by selecting them from a
window.
Most commonly used constraint icon to define basic constraints on elements and
between elements.
Allows the computer to automatically put constraints on your sketch. Sometimes

this is useful to get a start on the constraints.
Allows for the animation of constraints. This is useful to see how the sketch would
change based on a constraint varying in size.
Normally, the goal is to perfectly constrain your sketch so that it is completely defined
according to your specifications. Therefore you normally want your sketch to appear green
when leaving the Sketcher to go to Part Design.
The first thing you need to remember is that sometimes when you built your sketch
constraints were automatically generated. This was caused by two icons located in the
bottom toolbar. One is for geometrical constraints and the other is for dimensional
constraints.
Geometrical constraints
Dimensional constraints
By default these two icons are selected. You should have seen some of the geometrical and
dimensional constraints generated in your previous exercises. In the following exercises
you will sketch the shape shown and then the steps will walk you through constraining the
sketch.
Constraints, Page 84 ©Wichita State University

Sketch the profile shown below and save as constraint1 with your initials. You should
make sure that the coincidence constraint appears in blue when defining the origin point of
your sketch. That constraint will not appear after creating the sketch it is implied.
Notice some constraints were automatically generated. You will now put additional
constraints on your profile to make it perfectly constrained.
Select the constraint icon. This will allow you to define a constraint.

Select the bottom horizontal line and locate the constraint below the line. A length
constraint should appear underneath the horizontal line. The value that appears for you may
not be the same as shown below.
You can use the constraint icon for almost all of the dimensional constraints. You will now
use it to generate a constraint between two elements.
Select the horizontal line above the bottom one. This defines the first element. You will
now define the second element to create a distance constraint between the two elements.

Select the horizontal line above the previous one and position the constraint to the
right. It should appear similar to the diagram shown below except the value may be
different.
You can also use the constraint icon to put some geometric constraints on elements. You
will now use the constraint icon to make the angled line have the horizontal constraint.
Select the angled line. A constraint will appear but instead of positioning the constraint at
a location you will now press the right mouse button on the constraint.

Press the right mouse button while on the constraint. Various options appear in a
window as shown below.
Select the Horizontal option. This puts the horizontal constraint on the element. It should
appear similar to the diagram shown below.
You will learn more about the other options that appear in the window later. Since it is not
always convenient to have to press the constraint icon each time you want to generate a
constraint, there is a way to make it active for multiple constraints. To do this you have to
double click on the icon using the left mouse button. This will keep the icon activated until
it is turned off. You will do that and then finish constraining your sketch.

Double click on the constraint icon with the left mouse button. This activates the
icon for multiple uses.
Select the bottom right vertical line and position the constraint to the right. It should
appear similar to the diagram shown below but it may have a different value.

Select bottom horizontal line and then the horizontal line above the 1.5 line and
position it to the right. It should appear similar to the diagram shown below but it may
have a different value.

Select the bottom horizontal line and then the top horizontal line and position it to the
right. It should appear similar to the diagram shown below but it may have a different
value.

Put the horizontal and vertical constraints on all of the elements that do not already
have them by selecting the element and then right clicking the constraint and choosing
Horizontal or Vertical. It should appear similar to the diagram shown below.
You will now put a coincidence constraint on two elements while the constraint icon is still
active.
Select the vertical line between the base and the shelf. This selects the first element, but
instead of positioning a constraint you will now select a second element.
Select the vertical line between the shelf and the top of the sketch. This selects the
second element. Now, you will right click on the constraint and choose the Coincidence
option.

Press the right mouse button while on the constraint. Various options appear in a
window as shown below.
Select the Coincidence option. This makes the two elements coincident with one another,
meaning that they line up with one another. Your sketch should now appear similar to the
one shown below but it may have different values.
Notice the part is almost perfectly constrained (green color). You will now finish
constraining the sketch while the constraint icon is still active.

Select the left most vertical line and then the next top vertical line and position the
constraint above the sketch. This constrains the location of both of the coincident lines
due to the coincidence constraint. All that is left is the vertical line of the shelf. It should
appear similar to the diagram shown below but it may have different values.

Select the left most vertical line and the vertical line at the end of the shelf and position
the constraint above the sketch. This will put the final constraint on your sketch and it
should appear all in green. It should also look similar to the diagram shown below but may
have different values.
You will now modify the values of your constraints to force your sketch to be a specific
size. You can change the values of the constraints any time after they are created, you do
not have to perfectly constrain your part ahead of time. The first thing you have to do is to
deactivate the constraint icon.

Select the constraint icon to turn it off. The icon should no longer appear
highlighted. As you experienced, it is much faster to constrain a sketch by forcing the
constraint icon to stay active by double clicking on it instead of having to select it each time.
To change the values of the constraints all you have to do is double click on the value and
then key in a new value. You can move the position of the constraint as well by selecting
the constraint and holding down the left mouse button you can drag the constraint to a new
position. If you want to relocate just the value then you can hold down the left mouse
button on the value, however, if you want to relocate the value along with the constraint
arrows then you must hold down the left mouse button on the arrow lines.
Double click on the constraint representing the total height of the sketch. A window
appears as shown below but it may have a different initial value.
Change the value to 7.00 and press OK. Notice that the sketch automatically changed so
that the height is now seven inches. You will continue to change values until all of the
constraints are set to their proper values.

Change all of the constraints to the values shown below. The sketch should look just
like the one shown below.
Save your document.

Normally you do not have to put all of the horizontal and vertical constraints on your sketch
to make it perfectly constrained. When you put a distance constraint between one element
and another it is assumed that the two elements are parallel to each other.
Remember those constraint option windows that appeared when right clicking the
constraint.
These allow you to specify various constraints using the constraint icon that you normally
could not define. Most of the options are the same as the options that were described
before. However there are a few new options that you need to be aware of in order to
effectively use this icon.
Reference This creates a reference dimension that is shown only to let you know the
value. You can not change the value of a reference dimension, it only
reflects the actual value of the dimension. Therefore if you put constraints
on your sketch that changes that dimension it will be reflected in the value.
Notice that a reference dimension has parentheses around the value.

Horizontal Measure Direction Puts the distance or length constraint to measure
horizontally instead of the default orientation.
Vertical Measure Direction Puts the distance or length constraint to measure

vertically instead of the default orientation.
Default
Horizontal
Vertical

Swap Location This swaps the constraint to go to the other side of the element.
Sometimes when you sketch you may get a line to the wrong side
with respect to another and when you constrain it, you can not give it
a negative value in order for it to switch sides. This is a good option
to use in that circumstance, however, you can also just drag an
element over using the left mouse button.
Before: After:
Allow symmetry line This allows you to define a symmetry line after selecting two
elements that you want to be symmetric to each other. After selecting
the two elements, use your third mouse button to activate the menu,
select Allow symmetry line and then select the symmetry line.

For the rest of the constraint exercises the initial sketch will be provided for you to make it
easier for you to concentrate on the actual constraints.
Open the constraint2 document and save with your initials. This will open the part
called constraint2. In order to work with the sketch you will need to go to the Sketcher and
choose the sketch from the specification tree.
Select the Sketcher icon and then select the Sketch from the specification tree.
This takes you into the sketch and then you can start adding constraints. A diagram of the
sketch is shown below.
Notice that the bottom horizontal line is already constrained. You will now be constraining
this sketch to look like the following diagram.

Double click on the constraint icon with the left mouse button. This will activate
the constraint icon to be used more than once.
Select the bottom horizontal line and position the constraint below the line. It should
Select the bottom horizontal line and the bottom right angled line and position the
constraint to the right. It should appear similar to the diagram shown below.

Select the bottom horizontal line and the bottom left angled line and position the
constraint to the left. It should appear similar to the diagram shown below.
Select the left curve and the bottom left angled line. This will make a constraint but you
are going to press the right mouse button to choose the Tangency option.
Press the right mouse button while on the constraint. A window should appear with
constraint options.
Select the Tangency option. This will force the line and the curve to be tangent to one
another.

Select the left curve and position the constraint to the left. This puts a radius constraint
on your curve.
Select the right curve and position the constraint to the right. This puts a radius
constraint on your curve. It should look similar to the diagram shown below.
Select the bottom left angled line and then the top left angled line.
Press the right mouse button while on the constraint. A window should appear with
constraint options.
Select the Allow symmetry line option. This will allow you to define a symmetry line.
Select the dashed line. This will put a symmetry constraint on the two angled lines using
the dashed line as a symmetry line. It is important to select the symmetry line last. Also, it
should be noted that this symmetry line is a construction line not a standard line and
therefore will not show up in Part Design. You will learn more about construction elements
later in this course.

Select the bottom horizontal line and then the top line.
Press the right mouse button while on the constraint and select the Allow symmetry line
option. This will allow you to define a symmetry line.
Select the dashed line. This puts the symmetry constraint on the two lines using the dashed
line as the symmetry line.
Select the bottom right angled line and then the top right angled line.
Press the right mouse button while on the constraint and select the Allow symmetry line
option. This will allow you to define a symmetry line.

Select the dashed line. This puts the symmetry constraint on the two lines using the dashed
line as the symmetry line. It should appear similar to the diagram shown below.
Select the bottom horizontal line and the dashed line and position the constraint to the
right. This puts a distance constraint between the two elements. It should look similar to
the diagram shown below.

The external profile should all be green now because it is perfectly constrained. However
you still need to constrain the circles.
Select the left circle and position the constraint up and to the left. This puts a diameter
constraint on your circle.
Select the right circle and position the constraint up and to the right. This puts a
diameter constraint on your circle. It should appear similar to the diagram shown below.
You will now put a concentric constraint between the circles and the curves.
Select the circle on the left and the curve on the left and then press the right mouse
button while on the constraint. A window should appear showing you some constraint
options.

Select the Concentricity option. This forces the circle to be concentric with the curve.
Meaning that they have the same center point location. It should appear similar to the
You will now repeat the same procedure to put the concentric constraint on the other circle
and curve.
Select the circle on the right and the curve on the right and then press the right mouse
button while on the constraint. The window should appear again.
Select the Concentricity option. This forces the circle to be concentric with the curve. It

Now the entire sketch is perfectly constrained. You will now change the values to match
those shown below.
Change the values of the constraints to match the diagram shown below. Remember
you have to exit the constraint icon by selecting it. Then you just have to double click on a
value and a window will appear. After you change the value press the Enter key or select
OK.
Save your document.

This takes you into the sketch and then you can start adding constraints. A diagram of the
sketch is shown below.
You will now be constraining this sketch to look like the following diagram.

Double click on the constraint icon with the left mouse button. This will activate
the constraint icon to be used more than once.
Select the bottom horizontal line and position the constraint below the line. It should
Select the left vertical line and position the constraint to the left of the line. It should

Select the top horizontal line and position the constraint above the line. It should
Select the left angled line and position the constraint below and to the left of the angled
line. It should appear similar to the diagram shown below.
You are now going to exit the constraint icon and change the values of the constraints. You
will then finish constraining the sketch using the constraint by dialog icon.

Change the values of the constraints to match the diagram shown below. Remember
you have to exit the constraint icon by selecting it. Then you just have to double click on a
value and a window will appear. After you change the value press the Enter key or select
OK.
You are going to the use the constraint by dialog icon to finish putting the constraints on
your sketch. However, it is important to remember that you could just use the regular
constraint icon to finish the constraints. In order to select two elements at the same time
you must press and hold the Ctrl key when selecting the second element.
Select the bottom horizontal line. It highlights letting you know that it has been selected.
Press and hold the Ctrl key while selecting the horizontal line above the previous line.
This allows you to select a second element while keeping the first element highlighted.
Select the constraint by dialog icon. This opens a Constraint Definition window.

Using that window you can specify which constraint or constraints you would like to put
using the elements that you currently have selected.
Select the Distance option. A check should appear in the Distance box.
Select OK. A distance constraint should appear between the two elements.
Press and hold the left mouse button while on the constraint and drag it above the top
line. It should appear similar to the diagram shown below.
It is important to note that double clicking the constraint by dialog icon will not keep the
icon active for multiple uses since you must select the element or elements before selecting
the icon.
Select the left angled line. It highlights letting you know that it has been selected.
Press and hold the Ctrl key while selecting the bottom end line. This allows you to
select a second element while keeping the first element highlighted.

Select the Perpendicularity option and select OK. This generates the perpendicular
constraint between those two elements. It should appear similar to the diagram shown
below.
Select the left angled line. It highlights letting you know that it has been selected.
Press and hold the Ctrl key while selecting the right angled line above the previous
line. This allows you to select a second element while keeping the first element highlighted.
Select the Parallelism option and select OK. This generates the parallel constraint
between the two elements. It should appear similar to the diagram shown below.

Select the end line. This is the line at the end of the two angled lines.
Select the Length option and select OK. This will generate a length constraint.
Press and hold the left mouse button on the new constraint’s arrow and drag it down
and to the right. By selecting the arrow you can move the entire constraint down and to
the right, however, if you press and hold the left mouse button on the value then it would
only move the value. It should appear similar to the diagram shown below.
Select the right angled line. It highlights letting you know that it has been selected.
Press and hold the Ctrl key while selecting the connecting horizontal line. This allows
you to select a second element while keeping the first element highlighted.
Select the Angle option and select OK. This generates an angle constraint between the two
elements.

Press and hold the left mouse button while on the angle constraint and drag it to the
right of the angled line. It should appear similar to the diagram shown below.
Change the values of the constraints to match the diagram shown below. You have to
double click on a value and a window will appear. After you change the value press the
Enter key or select OK.
Save your document.

Up to now you have used the constraint and the constraint by dialog icons to generate
constraints. Next you will learn how the auto constraint icon and the animate constraint
icon works.
This takes you into the sketch and then you can start adding constraints. There are two
profiles in this sketch and you will try the auto constraint icon on both profiles.
Using the left mouse button box in the first profile shown below. Press and hold the left
mouse button while being up and to the left of the first profile and drag a box around the
profile. This will select all of the elements in the box.
You can either select the elements before choosing the auto constraint icon or after you
select the auto constraint icon. In this case you selected the elements before selecting the
icon.
Select the auto constraint icon. This will open up an auto constraint window as
shown below.

Elements to be constrained specifies what elements are to be constrained
Reference elements allows you to specify an element or elements to use as a

reference for its constraints
Symmetry lines allows you to specify the center lines it should use when
assigning symmetry constraints
Constraint Mode if you specified a reference element then this will determine if
you want the constraints to be defined one at the end of
another (Chained) or if you want all constraints to be defined
from the reference element (Stacked)
Select OK. Since this sketch does not have any symmetry lines and it is referenced by the
origin location there is not a need to set any of the other options. It should appear similar to
the diagram shown below.
You are now going to use the auto constraint icon to constrain the other profile within this
sketch.

Using the left mouse button box in the second profile shown below. Press and hold the
left mouse button while being up and to the left of the second profile and drag a box around
the profile. This will select all of the elements in the box.
shown below.
Select OK. Constraints appear on the profile, however it is not perfectly constrained since it
is not referenced to any location. It should appear similar to the diagram shown below.
You will now undo the these constraints and you will try using the auto constraint icon
using reference elements.
Select the undo icon in the bottom toolbar. All of the constraints should disappear
and the profile should appear highlighted. If they do not disappear, keep selecting the undo
icon until they disappear. If the profile does not appear highlighted then select the profile
like you did earlier.

shown below.
Select in the box for Reference elements. You need to select on the area where it says No
Selection in front of the label Reference elements.
Select the vertical line and horizontal line from the other profile that are at the origin.
This makes those two elements the reference elements for the constraints. The window
should now appear as shown below.
You have two options on the Constraint Mode, either Chained or Stacked. This exercise
will have you choose the Stacked option, however both diagrams are shown for your
reference. You may want to try one and then undo it and try the other option.
Select the Stacked option for the Constraint Mode. You have to select the down arrow to
access the drop down list and then select the Stacked option.

Select OK. Constraints appear on the profile. Notice how all of the constraints originate
from the reference elements. If you use the Chained option then the first constraints
originate from the reference elements but the other constraints originate at the ends of the
previous constraints. Both diagrams are shown below for your comparison.
Stacked
Chained
Save your document.

You will now try using the animate constraint icon on a constrained sketch. You can use
this icon at any time to see how your sketch changes as the value of a constraint varies. In
this exercise you will try using this icon on a perfectly constrained sketch.
This takes you into the sketch and it should appear similar to the diagram shown below.
You will now use the animate constraint icon on a couple of the constraints.
Select the animate constraint icon. This icon allows you to select a constraint and
animate what happens as this constraint changes values.

Select the 1 inch radius constraint in the upper left of the sketch. An Animate
Constraint window appears.
First value the starting value for the animation
Last value the ending value for the animation
Number of steps determines the number of steps shown as the value varies between the
first value and the last value
Actions
plays the animation backwards
pauses the animation
stops the animation
plays the animation forwards
Options
plays the animation once from start to finish
plays the animation from start to finish and then back to the start
continuously loops the animation forwards and backwards
repeats the animation always showing it from start to finish
Hide constraints hides the constraints so all you see animating is the geometry

Change the First value to be .5, the Last value to be 2, and the Number of steps to be 20.
You are now ready to see the animation.
Select the one way icon under Options and then select the forward icon under
Actions. Notice how the sketch changes shape as the constraint varies from its starting
value to its ending value.
Select the Hide constraints button and then select the forward icon again. Notice
how all of the constraints are not seen anymore. This option only shows the actual geometry
of the sketch.
Select the round trip icon under Options and then select the forward icon
under Actions. This time the animation plays from start to finish and then returns back to
the start.
Select the loop icon under Options and then select the forward icon under
Actions. This time the animation plays from start to finish and then returns back to the start
over and over again.
Select the stop icon under Actions. This stops the animation.
Select the repeat icon under Options and then select the forward icon under
Actions. This time the animation plays from start to finish over and over again.
Select the stop icon under Actions. This stops the animation.
Select Cancel. Your sketch returns to the original shape and the constraints appear again.
You should practice animating other constraints using the animate constraint icon.

Modifications to profiles
This involves modifying the geometry of your sketch to generate the desired profile. The
options include cornering, chamfering, trimming and breaking geometry. If we have the
geometrical and dimensional constraint options selected in the bottom toolbar then some
constraints may automatically be generated when performing these options.
Corner
There are three new icons that appear on the bottom toolbar when you are in the corner
option.
trims both elements back to the corner
trims the first element selected back to the corner
generates the corner without trimming the elements
Open the corner document and save with your initials. This will open the part called
corner. In order to work with the sketch you will need to go to the Sketcher and choose the
sketch from the specification tree.
Modifications to profiles, Page 126 ©Wichita State University

Select the corner icon. This activates the option and three new icons appear on the
bottom toolbar.
Make sure that the trim all icon is selected on the bottom toolbar. This is normally
the default choice. This exercise is only going to cover this option since it is the one most
commonly used. It is suggested that you try out the other options on your own in order to
make sure you understand their operation.
Select the left vertical line and the top horizontal line. This specifies the two elements
that you wish to generate a corner between. You now have to arbitrarily locate your corner
which will determine its initial size.
Select somewhere inside the corner. The corner should appear with tangency constraints
generated on the two line and a radius constraint generated on the corner. It should appear
You can change the value of the corner the same way you changed the value of constraints
previously.
Change the radius value to be .5 inches. The corner changes size.
Undo the creation of the corner to get back your original sketch. You are now going to
generate radius corners at all intersection of your sketch with a specified value.
© Wichita State University Modifications to profiles, Page 127

Select all of the sketch. You can do this by pressing and holding the left mouse button up
and to the left of the profile and then dragging the mouse down to the lower right, boxing in
the entire profile.
Select the corner icon. A radius text box appears on the bottom toolbar.
Enter a value of .5 in the Radius box and press Enter. Corners appear at every
intersection at a value of 0.5. It should appear similar to the diagram shown below.
Notice that most of the .5 constraints have a f(x) symbol next to it. This means that a
formula has been applied to determine that constraint. In this case one of the corner
constraints is specified and then all of the other ones are set to be equal to that one. If you
were to change that one value then all of the other values would change because of the
formulas. In the diagram shown above the upper left constraint is the driving constraint.
Change the value of the driving constraint to be 0.75. This is the constraint that does not
have a f(x) symbol next to it. Notice that all of the constraints change to that value.
You will learn more about formulas later in this course.
Save your document.

Chamfer
There are three new icons that appear on the bottom toolbar when you are in the chamfer
option.
trims both elements back to the chamfer
trims the first element selected back to the chamfer
generates the chamfer without trimming the elements
After choosing one of those icons and selecting the elements that you want to use to
chamfer, three more icons appear. These determine what type of information you can enter
and what is generated when the chamfer is created.
hypotenuse and an angle
two lengths
one length and an angle
Open the chamfer document and save with your initials. This will open the part called
chamfer. In order to work with the sketch you will need to go to the Sketcher and choose
the sketch from the specification tree.

Select the chamfer icon. This activates the option and three new icons appear on the
bottom toolbar.
the default choice. This exercise is only going to cover this option since it is the one most
commonly used. It is suggested that you try out the other options on your own in order to
make sure you understand their operation.
Select the left vertical line and the top left horizontal line. This specifies the two
elements that you wish to generate a chamfer between. You can now arbitrarily locate your
chamfer which will determine its initial size.
Select the one length and an angle icon. This will generate a length from the sharp
corner back to the beginning of the chamfer along the first element selected and the angle is
the angle of the chamfer.
Select somewhere inside the corner. The chamfer should appear with a length constraint
and an angle constraint generated. It should appear similar to the diagram shown below.
Change the value of the length and angle to .5 and 30 respectively. Notice the chamfer
changes size and angle. Luckily the 1.5 and 2.5 constraints were generated as distance
constraints between two lines instead of length constraints. If they were generated as length
constraints then a window would appear telling you that they would be converted to distance
constraints because the chamfer will change the length of those lines.

Select the chamfer icon. This activates the option and three new icons appear on the
bottom toolbar.
the default choice.
Select the right vertical line and the top right horizontal line. This specifies the two
elements that you wish to generate a chamfer between. You can now arbitrarily locate your
chamfer which will determine its initial size.
Select the one length and an angle icon. This will generate a length from the sharp
corner back to the beginning of the chamfer along the first element selected and the angle is
the angle of the chamfer.
Select somewhere inside the corner. The chamfer should appear with a length constraint
and an angle constraint generated.
Change the value of the length and angle to .5 and 30 respectively. The final sketch
should appear similar to the one shown below.
Save your document.

Trim and Break
There are four icons that can be used to trim or break elements in the sketcher.
trims both elements back to the intersection or just trims a single element back to the
intersection
trims both elements
trims only the first element
breaks an element at an intersection or at an arbitrary location
quickly trims elements, there are three sub-options to this icon which determine how
it works
trims the element back to the nearest intersections, getting rid of the side you
select
trims the element back to the nearest intersections, keeping the side you
select
breaks the element at the nearest intersections
closes a partial circle back to a full circle
Open the trim document and save with your initials. This will open the part called trim.
In order to work with the sketch you will need to go to the Sketcher and choose the sketch
from the specification tree.

Select the quick trim icon. The icon becomes activated.
Select the break and rubber in icon. This will allow you to break an element and
trim it to the nearest intersections getting rid of the portion you select.
Select the top horizontal line inside the circle. The line breaks at each intersection of the
circle and is removed from the inside of the circle.
Select the quick trim icon. The icon becomes activated.
Select the break and rubber in icon. This will allow you to break an element and
trim it to the nearest intersections getting rid of the portion you select.
Select the bottom horizontal line inside the circle. The line breaks at each intersection of
the circle and is removed from the inside of the circle. It should appear similar to the
Select the break icon. This will allow you break an element in to two pieces.
Select the circle and then the top left horizontal line. The circle breaks at the intersection
of the line. A circle in CATIA has a natural break in order for the circle to have ends.
Therefore it is not necessary to break a circle more than once to get two pieces.
Notice that coincident constraints appeared on the broken elements automatically. Now that
the circle is broken you can trim the two pieces to the appropriate intersections.
Double click on the trim icon. This activates the option and four new icons appear
on the bottom toolbar.
Make sure that the trim all icon is selected. This is normally the default choice.

Select the top right horizontal line and the top right portion of the circle. The circle
should trim up to the intersection.
Select the bottom right horizontal line and the bottom right portion of the circle. The
circle should trim down to the intersection.
Select the bottom left horizontal line and the bottom left portion of the circle. The
circle should trim down to the intersection. The sketch should appear similar to the diagram
shown below.
Sometimes it can be confusing seeing the curve between the lines but it appears only to
show the coincidence between the two circles.

Now that you have gone through most of the constraint options you are ready to constrain
some sketches for practice. Save the constrained sketches as constraint6, constraint7 and
constraint8 respectively.
Open the constraint6 document and go to the sketch and constrain the sketch to
appear like the diagram shown below. You will want to generate the four corners using
the corner option first and then constrain the circles concentric to the corners.
appear like the diagram shown below.

appear like the diagram shown below.
This ends the basic Sketcher section and you are now ready to start producing parts using
the Part Design workbench. From now on it is assumed that you know how to use the
various options that were covered in this section. If at any time you get stuck please refer
back to this section.

Hide/Show
This small exercise is to cover the steps necessary to hide and show geometry, whether it be
sketcher geometry or part design geometry.
Open the hide show document and go to the sketch. You will now hide and show some
geometry.
Select the hide/show icon. This will allow you hide some of your geometry.
Select the circle. The circle disappears but it is not deleted.
Select all four edges of the window on the right. You can do this by selecting up and to
the left of the window and dragging the cursor over the entire window using the first mouse
button.
Select the hide/show icon. All four lines disappear but they are not deleted.
Select the swap visible space icon. Notice your background changes color and the
only geometry you see is the circle and the window that you hid earlier. You have just
switched to the hidden side of your part.
Select the hide/show icon.
Select the circle. The circle disappears and returns to the visible or show side of your part.
Select all four lines and then select the hide/show icon. This will return the four
lines to the visible side of your part.
Select the swap visible space icon. This returns you to the visible side and you
should see all of your geometry.
The procedure for hiding or showing geometry is always the same whether it is using sketch
geometry or part design geometry. There will be times when you are going to want to hide
some of your geometry because it starts cluttering up your display and you are not ready to
delete it or you cannot delete it because it is associated with other geometry.
Save your document.
© Wichita State University Hide/Show, Page 137

Hide/Show, Page 138 ©Wichita State University

Basic Part Design

This section will cover the basic use of the part design workbench to create parts. This
section will consist of three parts: basic shapes, modifications to shapes and interfacing
between part design and sketcher.
Basic Shapes
This part will discuss the various shapes that can be created in part design using the icons on
the Part Design workbench. The purpose of this group of exercises is to introduce how to
use those icons and their options. The usefulness of them depend on the part you are trying
to create. It is important for you to understand how to use each of these icons in conjunction
with your sketches to produce your final part.

Pad
The pad icon allows you to use a sketch and extrude it in a linear direction producing a solid
pad. When you create a pad a Pad Definition window appears like the one shown below.
Initially the window will appear with only the First Limit and then you have the option to
select the More>> option to see the Second Limit. Since the options are the same for both
limits they will be discussed only once.
Type Dimension allows you to key in a Length
Up to next goes to the next side of an existing part
Up to last goes to the last side of an existing part
Up to plane goes to a specified plane which is its Limit
Up to surface goes to a specified surface which is its Limit
When you select a Type other than Dimension you will have the option to specify an
Offset value from the corresponding limit.
Profile
Selection specifies which sketch will be used, you have the option to modify
the sketch using the sketcher icon next to the box
Mirrored extent applies to the Type Dimension, it will go the same distance in
both directions, thereby not being able to specify a second
limit
Reverse Direction changes the direction to the opposite direction
Direction
Normal to profile the direction will be in the normal direction of the sketch
Reference allows you to specify an element that defines the direction

Open the pad1 document and save with your initials. You should see two sketches
already created for you.
Select the pad icon. This will allow you to create a pad using one of the sketches.
This exercise is going to cover the various methods that you can use to create pads.
Select Sketch.1. This specifies that you want to use that sketch to define the profile of your
pad. A Pad Definition window should appear similar to the one shown below.
For this pad you are going to use the basic option of keying in a length for pad. You will
also preview what the Mirrored extent and Reverse Direction options allow you to do.
Change the value in Length to be 4. Do not press enter or else it will automatically create
the pad with that value. Normally you would just enter the value and press Enter, however
you are going to want to Apply in order for you see what it is going to do until you
understand the different options.
Select Preview. A preview of what the pad will look like appears. You will now change
some of the other options to see the difference between them.
Select Mirrored extent and select Preview. As you can see instead of the pad extending in
only the one direction 4 inches it now extends both directions 4 inches each. It basically is
using your current sketch as the mirror plane.
Select Mirrored extent again to turn it off and select Preview. Now you are going to
reverse the direction in order for the pad to be created in the opposite direction.
Select Reverse Direction and select Preview. Notice that the pad is still going to be 4
inches wide but it is now going in the opposite direction. This is the pad you want to create.

Select OK. The pad should be created and appear similar to the diagram shown below.
Notice that the sketch automatically was hidden after being used by the pad. This is true
when using most of the options because of a setting under the pull down menu Tools,
Options.
You are now going to explore some of the other Types that you can use to define limits for
pads that you create.
Select the pad icon.
Select Sketch.2. This specifies the sketch that you want to use to create the next pad. A
Pad Definition window appears as shown below.
Select Reverse Direction so that the direction is toward the other pad. Now you are
going to see what the other Types allow you to do.

Change the Type to Up to next and select Preview. Notice that the pad only goes to the
next side of the other pad. It should appear similar to the diagram shown below.
Change the Type to Up to last and select Preview. Notice that the pad goes all the way to
the last side of the previous part. It should appear similar to the diagram shown below.
Change the Type to Up to plane. When you use this option you have to specify a plane or
a planar side that you want the pad to be limited by.

Select the plane that is away from the origin and select Preview. Notice that the pad
goes up to the plane and then stops. It should appear similar to the diagram shown below.
You may have to rotate the part around in order to see the limitation better. The Up to
surface option works very similar to the Up to plane option except that you can specify a
surface instead of a plane.
Select the More>> option. This expands the window and shows some other options. The
window should appear similar to the one shown below.
Currently the Direction is specified to be Normal to profile. You will turn that off and
specify an element to be used as the direction. Once again this is just to show you the
capabilities of the option.
Select Normal to profile to turn it off. The Normal to profile option is no longer activated.
Select in the Reference box. This allows you to specify an element to be used as the
direction.

Select the angled line closest to the origin and select Preview. The pad extrudes in the
direction of the line and stops at the plane that was specified earlier. It should appear
Select Normal to profile. This changes the direction back to being normal to the sketch.
You are now going to use a First Limit and a Second Limit to create the pad.
Under the First Limit select the Limit box. This will allow you to specify a new plane for
your limit.
Select the angled side closest to the sketch. This defines the First Limit. You will now
define the Second Limit.
Under the Second Limit change the Type to Up to plane.
Under the Second Limit select the Limit box.

Select the angled side farthest from the sketch and select Preview. This defines the
Second Limit and shows you a preview of your new pad. It should appear similar to the
Select OK. The final part should look similar to the diagram shown below.
This exercise showed most of the options available when creating a pad. There are other
shapes that have these same options and they work the same. Hopefully you have a good
understanding of what each option allows you to do.
Note: Open profiles (sketches) can be used to create pads or pockets as long as they will
be closed by the other faces of your existing part.
Save your document.

Open the pad2 document and save with your initials. You should see three sketches
pad.
Using the Type Dimension and a Length of .75 create the pad. The pad should appear
pad.
Using the Type Dimension and a Length of .75 create the pad. The pad should appear

Pocket
The pocket icon allows you to use a sketch and extrude it in a linear direction producing a
pocket. When you create a pocket a Pocket Definition window appears like the one shown
below.
Initially the window will appear with only the First Limit and then you have the option to
select the More>> option to see the Second Limit. Notice that the options are exactly the
same as the options for creating a pad. The major difference between pad and pocket is that
a pocket is removed instead of added to your part.
Type Dimension allows you to key in a Length
Up to next goes to the next side of an existing part
Up to last goes to the last side of an existing part
Up to plane goes to a specified plane which is its Limit
Up to surface goes to a specified surface which is its Limit
When you select a Type other than Dimension you will have the option to specify an
Offset value from the corresponding limit.
Profile
Mirrored extent applies to the Type Dimension, it will go the same distance in
both directions, thereby not being able to specify a second
limit
Reverse Direction changes the direction to the opposite direction
Direction
Normal to profile the direction will be in the normal direction of the sketch
Reference allows you to specify an element that defines the direction

You will now create a pocket in the existing part using Sketch.3.
Select the pocket icon. This will allow you to create a pocket using one of the
sketches.
pocket.
Select Reverse Direction.
Using the Type Up to next create the pocket. The pocket should appear similar to the
Save your document.

Open the pocket document and save with your initials. You should see a pad and a
sketch that have been created for you.
Select the pocket icon. This will allow you to create a pocket using the sketch.
pocket.
Change the Type to Up to next and select Preview. A preview of the pocket should
appear. It should appear similar to the diagram shown below.
Change the Type to Up to last and select Preview. A preview of the pocket should appear.
Select OK. The pocket appears.
Save your document.

Multiple Profiles
You can create objects using a single profile of a sketch that contains multiple profiles.
This allows you to create multiple profiles on the same sketch and then using pad or pocket
you can have each profile extrude a different distance as if they were separate sketches.
When you do this each pad or pocket will reference the same sketch just a different part of
the sketch.
Open the multiple profiles document and save with your initials. You should see a
sketch that has already been created for you.
Select the pad icon.
In the Selection box press the third mouse button and select Go to profile definition.
The Profile Definition window appears as shown below.
This will allow you to select the sub-elements of a sketch.
Select the box portion of the sketch. Notice just by selecting an edge that entire profile
was selected but not the whole sketch.
Select OK. This closes the Profile Definition window and returns to the Pad Definition
window with the Selection being Complex.
Change the Length to be 1 and select OK. The pad is created using just the one profile of
the sketch. Notice that the sketch still remains shown because you did not use the entire
sketch therefore it did not automatically hide.

Repeat the steps and create pads out of the other two profiles 1 inch in length. It
The specification tree should have each pad using the same sketch as shown below.
It is normally a better idea to create a separate sketch for each object but there are times
when this capability becomes extremely useful, especially when constraining. Remember
this option is only available with pad and pocket.
Save your document.

Shaft
The shaft icon allows you to use a sketch and rotate it in a circular direction producing a
solid revolution. It is necessary to have an axis defined in your sketch in order to create a
shaft. The axis needs to represent the center of the revolution. When you create a shaft a
Shaft Definition window appears like the one shown below.
As you can see there are few options when creating a shaft compared to creating a pad.
Limits
First angle the angle in the initial direction from the sketch
Second angle the angle in the opposite direction from the sketch
Profile
Axis
Selection defines the axis that the profile will be rotated around

Open the shaft document and save with your initials. You should see two sketches that
have been created for you.
Select the shaft icon. This will allow you to create a shaft using a sketch.
shaft.
Change the First angle value to 90 and the Second angle value to 135 and select
Preview. Notice that the shaft went 90 degrees in the one direction and 135 degrees in the
other direction. It should appear similar to the diagram shown below. You can also use a
negative value to get the shaft to start and end at a different location then where the sketch
is.
Change the First angle value to -90 and the Second angle value to 270 and select
Preview. Notice that the shaft begins at -90 and ends at 270. The total angle that the shaft
covers is the addition of the two angles, therefore it is necessary that the sum does not
exceed 360. It should appear similar to the diagram shown below.

Change the First angle value to 90 and the Second angle value to 90 and select Preview.
Now the shaft is defined for the other half. It should appear similar to the diagram shown
below.
Change the Second angle value to 0 and the First angle value to 360 and select OK. The
shaft is created as a full revolution. It should appear similar to the diagram shown below.

Groove
The groove icon allows you to use a sketch and rotate it in a circular direction producing a
solid revolution that is removed from the current part. It is necessary to have an axis
defined in your sketch in order to create a groove. The axis needs to represent the center of
the revolution. When you create a groove a Groove Definition window appears like the one
shown below.
Notice that the options are exactly the same as the options for creating a shaft. The major
difference between shaft and groove is that a groove is removed instead of added to your
part.
Limits
First angle the angle in the initial direction from the sketch
Second angle the angle in the opposite direction from the sketch
Profile
Axis
Selection defines the axis that the profile will be rotated around

Select the groove icon. This will allow you to create a groove using a sketch.
groove.
Change the First angle value to 360 and the Second angle value to 0 and select OK. It
You can define the angles the same way as you define the angles for a shaft.
Save your document.

Open the groove document and save with your initials. You should see a shaft and a
sketch that have been created for you.
Select the groove icon. This will allow you to create a groove using a sketch.
groove.
Change the First angle value to -15 and the Second angle value to 345 and select Apply.
Notice that the groove has a 30 degree gap in it centered around the sketch. It should appear
Select OK.
Save your document.

Hole
The hole icon allows you to create a variety of holes from simple holes to counterdrilled
holes. When you create a hole a Hole Definition window appears like the one shown below.
There are many options for creating a hole. The various options are spread over three tabs,
Extension, Type and Thread Definition. The Extension options are explained below.
There are five different options for defining the length of the hole, many of which are
similar to the pad and pocket options.
Blind goes a certain distance
Up To Next goes to the next side of an existing part
Up To Last goes to the last side of an existing part
Up To Plane goes to a specified plane which is its Limit
Up To Surface goes to a specified surface which is its Limit
Diameter the diameter of the hole
Depth the length of the hole, only applies to Blind
Limit defines the limit element, only applies to Up to Plane and Up

to Surface
Offset the offset distance from the limit

Axis
Reverse reverses the direction of the hole
Normal to surface aligns the axis of the hole normal to the surface if selected
otherwise you can specify the direction using the box below
the option
Positioning Sketch allows you to constrain the center of the hole before creating
Bottom
Flat the hole will be flat on the bottom, only applies to Blind
V-Bottom the hole will have a v-shaped bottom, only applies to Blind, the angle
of the v-shape can be specified in the Angle box under the option
The Type options are explained below.
Simple a straight hole with no parameters
Tapered the parameters define the angle of the taper

Counterbored the parameters define the size and the depth of the counterbore
The counterbore diameter must be greater than the hole diameter and the hole depth must be
greater than the counterbore depth.
Countersunk the parameters define the depth and angle of the countersunk
The countersink diameter must be greater than the hole diameter and the countersink angle
must be greater than 0 and less than 180 degrees.

Counterdrilled the parameters define the diameter and depth of the counterbore and
the angle from the bottom of the counterbore to the diameter of the
hole.
The counterdrill diameter must be greater than the hole diameter, the hole depth must be
greater than the counterdrill depth and the counterdrill angle must be greater than 0 and less
than 180 degrees.

The Thread Definition options are explained below.
Thread Definition
Type
No Standard Allows the user to enter the values
Metric Thin Pitch Uses AFNOR standard values
Metric Thick Pitch Uses AFNOR standard values
Thread Diameter Diameter of the thread
Hole Diameter Diameter of the hole
Thread Depth How far the thread extends in the hole
Hole Depth The depth of the hole
Pitch The distance the thread drops in one revolution
Right-Threaded or Left-Threaded Determines which way the thread will be

revolved
Standards
Add Allows you to create a standard thread definition
Remove Allows you to remove a standard thread definition

Open the hole document and save with your initials. You should see a part already
created for you. You will probably want to rotate the part so that you can see the top
surfaces easier.
Select the hole icon. This will allow you to create a hole. The nice thing about using
the hole icon is that you do not have to generate a sketch ahead of time. It will create a
sketch for you specifying the center of the hole. You can go in to the sketch and put
parameters on the sketch to position the hole. You can also have it automatically generate
parameters by selecting an edge or edges before defining the surface that you want the hole
to appear on. You will now try creating some holes using various options.
Select the top inner edge of the rim. This specifies that you want the hole to be concentric
with this edge.
Select the flat surface at the bottom of the pocket. This specifies the surface where you
want the hole to be located. The Hole Definition window should appear.
Using the Extension tab change the mode to Up To Last and the Diameter to 1 inch.

Using the Type tab change the type to Simple and select OK. This is the default type so it
may not be necessary to change it. The hole should appear similar to the diagram shown
below.
Select the hole icon. This will allow you to create a hole.
Select the bottom inner edge of the rim. This specifies that you want the hole to be
concentric with this edge.
Select the flat surface at the bottom of the pocket. This specifies the surface where you
want the hole to be located. The Hole Definition window should appear.

Using the Extension tab change the mode to Up To Last and the Diameter to 1 inch. It
may already have those settings, if it does then it is not necessary to change them.
Using the Type tab change the type to Simple and select OK. This is the default type so it
may not be necessary to change it. The hole should appear similar to the diagram shown
below.
Select the top surface of the bottom plate as indicated by the arrow. This specifies that
you want the hole to be approximately between the small radius and large radius on that
surface. The Hole Definition window should appear.

Using the Extension tab change the mode to Up To Last and the Diameter to 1 inch. It
may already have those settings, if it does then it is not necessary to change them.
Using the Type tab change the type to Tapered and change the Angle to 45 and select
Preview. The hole should appear similar to the diagram shown below.
Using the Type tab change the type to Counterbored, the Diameter to 1.5 and the Depth
to .25 and select Preview. The hole should appear similar to the diagram shown below.

Using the Type tab change the type to Counterdrilled, the Diameter to 1.5, the Depth to
.25 and the Angle to 120 and select Preview. The hole should appear similar to the
Using the Type tab change the type to Countersunk, the Depth to .25 and the Angle to
90 and select OK. The hole should appear similar to the diagram shown below.
The previous steps took you through the different types of holes that you can create. There
are some other options available under the Extension tab. Most of those options apply to
Blind holes and you should make sure you are aware of them. The option that is not
covered in this exercise that you definitely want to understand is the option to change the
direction of the hole. This option works exactly the same as it did when you created pads.
The thread options are not covered in this exercise but if you use those options, your hole
icon in your specification tree will appear with a thread notation. When you create a
drawing from this part the thread notation will appear in the appropriate views.

To finish this exercise you are going to create five more holes on the top surface of the
bottom plate and then constrain all of them and the previous hole. All the holes are
countersunk holes using a depth of .25 and an angle of 90.
Create five holes at the approximate locations indicated by the arrows. The holes
should be Countersunk, with a Depth of .25 and an Angle of 90. The diagram shown
below shows the locations. If you have trouble, please refer back to the previous steps.
After you have finished creating the holes the part should appear similar to the diagram
shown below.

Constrain the locations of the six holes using the constraints as shown below. This
diagram is given just to show you the constraint values, you will have to constrain each hole
individually. It is suggested that you use the planes when constructing your constraints.
Notice that only the previous holes appear when you constrain, this is because of the
location you are at in the specification tree. You will get more involved with the
specification tree at a later time.
Note: This is not the suggested method to use when creating a group of identical holes.
Later in class you will learn how to define a pattern that can be applied to an object such as
a hole.
Save your document.

Rib
The rib icon allows you to use a sketch to define a profile and then use another sketch to
determine the path that the profile will follow. When you create a rib a Rib Definition
window appears like the one shown below.
The options are discussed below.
Profile defines the shape that is supposed to be used for the rib
Center curve defines the path that is to be followed by the profile
Profile control
Keep angle keeps the profile at the same orientation with respect to the
center curve as it is initially as it follows the curve
Pulling direction defines an orientation that you want the profile to keep as it
follows the center curve
Reference surface defines a surface that controls the orientation of the profile to
be normal to the surface as it follows the center curve
Merge ends creates material between the ends of the rib and existing material in specific
cases
Open the rib document and save with your initials. You should see three sketches that
have been created for you.
Select the rib icon. This will allow you to create a rib using the sketches.
rib.
Select Sketch.2. This specifies the center curve that you want your profile to follow. You
are going to use the Keep angle option therefore you are ready to select Preview.

Select Preview. A preview of the rib appears and should look similar to the diagram shown
below.
Notice that the orientation with respect to the center curve is the same from beginning to
end as it followed the curve. The orientation was determined by the initial orientation the
sketch had with the center curve. Next you will define a pulling direction using the third
sketch to see the difference.
Change the Profile control to Pulling direction. You now have to define a direction.
Select the vertical line of Sketch.3 and select Preview. This defines that edge as the
pulling direction for the rib.
Select OK. The rib appears similar to the diagram shown below.
Save your document.

Slot
The slot icon allows you to use a sketch to define a profile and then use another sketch to
determine the path that the profile will follow. The main difference between a slot and a rib
is that the slot will remove the material instead of add material. When you create a slot a
Slot Definition window appears like the one shown below.
The options are the same as the rib options but they are still discussed below.
Profile defines the shape that is supposed to be used for the slot
Center curve defines the path that is to be followed by the profile
Profile control
Keep angle keeps the profile at the same orientation with respect to the
center curve as it is initially as it follows the curve
Pulling direction defines an orientation that you want the profile to keep as it
follows the center curve
Reference surface defines a surface that controls the orientation of the profile to
be normal to the surface as it follows the center curve
Merge ends removes material between the ends of the slot and existing material in
specific cases
Open the slot document and save with your initials. You should see a pad and a few
sketches that have been created for you.
Select the slot icon. This will allow you to create a slot using the sketches.
slot.
Select Sketch.3. This specifies the center curve that you want your profile to follow. You
are going to use the Keep angle option therefore you are ready to select OK.

Select OK. The slot appears and should look similar to the diagram shown below.
Save your document.

Stiffener
The stiffener icon allows you to create a stiffener by defining the shape of the stiffener in a
sketch. It will fill in the area between that sketch and the rest of the part. When you create
a stiffener a Stiffener Definition window appears like the one shown below.
The options are explained below.
Thickness defines the thickness of the stiffener
Mirrored extent toggle between having the stiffener centered around the original
sketch or having it extrude in only one direction
Depth specifies which direction you want the stiffener to follow toward the part in
order to make the stiffener
Profile
This option is useful since you do not have to create a closed profile in your sketch. All you
have to do is create the outside edge of your stiffener and it will limit itself to the boundaries
of your existing part similar to pad. In this exercise you will see that it does not extend
underneath the existing part are into the hole area of the part.
Open the stiffener document and save with your initials. You should see a part made
up of a few shapes.
Select the stiffener icon. This will allow you to create a stiffener using one of the
sketches.
Select Sketch.8. This sketch is used to define the shape of the stiffener. A Stiffener
Definition window should appear.
Change the Thickness to .625 and make sure that Mirrored extent is on. You are now
ready to build the stiffener.

Select OK. The stiffener is created and should appear similar to the diagram shown below.
If you rotate your part around you will see that the stiffener limited itself to the existing part.
It did not continue into the hole or underneath the part.
Later in this course you will learn how to use edges of your part to help constrain your
sketches. If you want to attempt to do this now you can try building a sketch on the center
plane by using the line option and constraining it to be tangent to both curved edges. After
creating the sketch you can create a stiffener on that side of the part as well.
Save your document.

Modifications to Shapes
This part of the book will cover the icons that are available to let you modify your parts.
These options include filleting, chamfering, applying draft angles, shelling, adding thickness
and adding thread definition to your existing part. You will also learn how to modify the
values that were used when creating basic shapes.
Fillet
The fillet icon allows you to create fillets on interior edges and rounds on exterior edges.
The program will determine whether you want a fillet or a rounded edge based on the type
of edge that is selected. There are a few options when creating fillets.
creates a fillet or round along edges of your part
Radius the radius of the fillet or round
Object(s) to fillet the edge or face that needs to be filleted
Propagation Tangency will propagate around tangencies
Minimal will only fillet the selected edge
Edge(s) to keep defines rolling edges for your fillet
© Wichita State University Modifications to Shapes, Page 177

creates a variable radius fillet or round along edges of your part
Points the locations along an edge that you can specify a different radius
Variation Cubic maintains tangencies as it varies
Linear varies linearly, following a straight line
Circle Fillet allows you to create a fillet that maintains its circular shape while
using a spine, this option could be used to create a fillet along two
consecutive edges that are not tangent continuous that you want to be
treated as a single edge
creates a fillet connecting two faces
Faces to fillet the faces that you want to use to fillet between
creates a tri-tangent fillet using three faces
Face to remove the third tangent face that will be removed when the fillet is
generated
Modifications to Shapes, Page 178 ©Wichita State University

Open the fillet document and save with your initials. You should see the following part.
Select the tritangent fillet icon. This will allow you to create a fillet using two faces
to determine the sides of the fillet and a third face that the fillet will be tangent to.
Select the left flat side. The side should highlight. You may have to rotate the part in order
to select the other side.
Select the right flat side. The side should highlight. Notice in the Tritangent Fillet
Definition window that it automatically moved to Face to remove. The next face that you
select will be removed and the fillet will be created tangent to that face.
Select the front end of the part. This is the end that does not have the stiffener.
Select OK. The front end of the part is filleted. It should appear similar to the diagram
shown below.

Select the edge fillet icon. This will allow you to specify a radius and then select
edges that you want filleted or rounded.
Change the radius to .125.
Select the edges as shown in the diagrams below. Sometimes the fillet outcome can vary
depending on which edges you select first. For our case select the angled lines first.
Select OK. The fillets should appear similar to the diagram shown below.
Notice that in the corners the fillets come to a sharp edge. This is because you missed
selecting two of the edges. Fortunately this is not your fault because that is what you were
instructed to do. This gives you an opportunity to modify your fillet and include those two
edges.

Double click on EdgeFillet.1 in the specification tree. This opens up the Edge Fillet
Definition window and allows you to either add or remove edges to be filleted.
Select the two edges shown in the diagram below. Notice that the other seven edges
remain selected since you selected them the first time.
Save your document.

Open the other fillets document and save with your initials. You should see the
following part.
Select the edge fillet icon. This will allow you to put radius corners on the front two
edges of the part.
Change the value of the Radius to be .5 and select the two front edges of the part as
shown above.
Select the edge fillet icon. This time you are going to define edges to keep.
Select the More>> option and then select in the Edge(s) to keep box. This will allow you
to select the rolling edges.

Select the three edges as shown below. The edges should turn a pink color.
Select in the Object(s) to fillet box and select the edges as shown below. The radius value
should still be 0.5.

Select the variable radius fillet icon. This will allow you to create a variable radius
fillet along the top outside edge of the base.
Select the top outside edges of the base as shown below. Radius values should appear at
the ends of each edge selected.
Change the radii on the two sides to be 0.25 (4 places) and the radii on the front edge
to be 0.125 (2 places) and select OK. The fillet should appear similar to the diagram
shown below.
Save your document.

Chamfer
The chamfer icon allows you to create chamfers either by using two lengths or using a
length and an angle. This will basically remove a sharp corner and replace it with an angled
corner. The Chamfer Definition window appears below along with an explanation of its
options.
Mode Length1/Angle the length is the distance from the sharp corner
back to the start of the chamfer and the angle is
the angle the chamfer will use when created
Length1/Length2 the lengths specify the distance from the sharp

corner back to the start and end of the chamfer
Object(s) to chamfer these are the edges or faces that you wish to chamfer
Propagation Tangency will propagate around tangencies
Minimal will only chamfer the selected edge
Reverse reverses the direction of the first length
Open the chamfer2 document and save with your initials. You should see the
following part.

Select the chamfer icon. This will allow you to create a chamfer along an edge. The
Chamfer Definition window should appear.
Change the Mode to Length1/Length2. This allows you to specify two lengths which are
the distances from the sharp corner to the beginning and ending of the chamfer.
Change Length1 to be 1 inch and Length2 to be .5 inches. You want the chamfer to
begin 1 inch from the sharp corner and end .5 inches from the corner in the other direction.
Select the edges shown in the diagram below.
Make sure the direction is pointing across and not down, if it is not select the Reverse
box. This will force the chamfer to start 1 inch over and end .5 inches down.
Select OK. The chamfer is created and should look similar to the diagram shown below.
Save your document.

Draft Angle
The draft angle icon allows you to put draft angles on your part. This is useful when
designing molded parts since it is necessary for them to have draft angles in order for the
part to be removed from the mold. There are two options when creating draft angles.
creates draft angles along faces of a part
Angle angle of the draft
Face(s) to draft faces to be drafted
Selection by neutral face selects the faces that are adjacent to the neutral face
Neutral Element
Selection the element that is to remain neutral and the angle is based off
of this neutral
Propagation None uses the element that is selected only
Smooth uses the element that is selected and adjacent

elements that are tangent to the selected
element
Pulling Direction
Selection the direction that the mold would be removed
Controlled by reference if toggled on then when you modify the pulling

direction element the draft will modify accordingly

Parting Element
Parting = Neutral uses the neutral element as a parting element
Draft both sides applies the draft angle to both sides of the parting
element
Define parting element allows you to define a parting element other than the
neutral element
Selection the element that is used as the parting element
This has some of the same options as discussed earlier except you can choose a curved face
and use its reflect lines to draft a side or sides.
The draft option uses colors to signify the different elements. The neutral element is blue,
the neutral curve is pink and the faces to be drafted are dark red.
Open the document called draft and save it with your initials. If you prefer you could
open your chamfer2 document and save it with the name draft. You should see the
following part.

Select the draft angle icon. This will allow you to put draft angles on faces of your
part. The Draft Definition window appears.
Change the Angle to 20 degrees.
Select the front face and the back face of the part. You will have to rotate the part
around in order to select the back face.
Select in the Selection box under Neutral Element and select the top face of your part.
This makes the top face the neutral element.
Make sure the pulling direction is pointing up. If the arrow is not pointing up then you
need to select it to reverse its direction.
Select OK. The draft angles are applied to your part and it should appear similar to the
You will now try applying a draft angle using the reflect lines option.
Select the draft reflect line icon. This allows you to select a curved face and apply
draft angles to that side using the reflect lines of the curved face. The Draft Reflect Line
Definition window appears.

Select the four curved faces of the part. There are two curved faces on the left side and
two curved faces on the right side. You can refer to the diagram shown above for a
reference. You may have to rotate your part around in order to select the other curved faces.
Notice that neutral lines or reflect lines appear on the curved faces.
Make sure that the Angle is set to 20 degrees and that the pulling direction is pointing
up and select OK. The draft angles are applied to the sides of the part and it should appear
Save your document.

Shell
The shell icon allows you to hollow out a part by selecting which faces you want removed
and then specifying a wall thickness. This is a great option when working with thin walled
parts. The Shell Definition window and its options are discussed below.
Default inside thickness how far in the wall thickness will go from the existing part
Default outside thickness how far out the wall thickness will go from the existing part
Faces to remove the faces that are going to be removed
Other thickness faces allows you to select faces and then specify a thickness from
those faces other than the default thicknesses specified earlier
Open the document called shell and save it with your initials. The part should look like
the one shown below.
Select the shell icon. This will allow you to hollow out this part. The Shell
Definition window should appear.
Select the top face of the part. This is the face that is going to be removed leaving a wall
thickness. You can specify more than one face to be removed but in this case you will not.

Change the Default inside thickness to .125 inches and the Default outside thickness to 0
inches. When you specify a thickness you have to be careful not to specify too large of a
thickness because you can violate the radius of your curved faces. For example, this part
has radii of .25 and if you specify an Inside thickness equal to or greater than .25 then it will
not be able to perform the shell.
Select OK. The shell is performed and it should appear similar to the diagram shown
below.
Save your document.

Thickness
The thickness icon allows you to either add or remove thickness on a side of a part. You
would normally use this option when you need to add thickness to a side made up of several
basic shapes. Otherwise, you would just modify the shape that needs to be a different
thickness. The Thickness Definition window and its options are discussed below.
Default thickness the default amount of thickness that you want added or
removed, a negative value removes thickness
Default thickness faces the faces that you want the Default thickness to be applied to
Other thickness faces the faces that you want a different thickness applied to other
than the Default thickness
Open the thick document and save it with your initials. The part should appear like the
one shown below.
Select the thickness icon. This will allow you to add or remove thickness to a side.
The Thickness Definition window should appear.

Select the inside curved face of the outside cylinder. The face should highlight. Notice
that it propagated around to all tangent faces.
Change the Default thickness to .125 inches. This will add .125 inches to the thickness of
that face.
Select OK. It should appear similar to the diagram shown below.
Save your document.

Modifying values
When you create any of the basic shapes or perform any of the modifications to your part
using the options discussed earlier they appear in the specification tree. The values used to
make up those shapes or modifications are stored in those items. If you want to modify the
values all you have to do is double click on the item in the tree and the definition window
for that item will appear. This allows you to change any of the specifications in the
window. You can also modify the sketch of any of the basic shapes by double clicking on
them as well. This will take you to sketcher mode and then you can modify the constraints
of the sketch.
The following exercises will have you make changes to some existing parts.
Open the modify1 document and save it with your initials. The part should appear
Double click on Pad.2. Notice that the Pad Definition window appears. Also the only
thing shown on the screen now is from Pad.2 on up, everything that occurred after Pad.2
does not presently appear.
Change the Length to .5 inches and select OK. The pad becomes thicker.
Double click on EdgeFillet.2. Notice that the Edge Fillet Definition window appears.

Change the Radius to .125 inches and select OK. The fillets change size. The part should
now appear similar to the one shown below.
Rotate the part so you can see the pocket in the middle of the part. It should look
You are now going to modify the sketch of the pocket.

Double click on Sketch.8. Notice that it automatically went into sketcher mode. You
should see all of the constraints for the sketch.
Change the .25 radius constraint to be .375 inches. The sketch should change shape but
still be perfectly constrained.
Exit the sketcher by selecting the icon. This exits the sketcher and returns you to
your part. The part automatically updates reflecting the change you made to the sketch of
the pocket.
Save your document.

Open the modify2 document and save it with your initials. It should appear similar to
Modify Hole.1 to have a diameter of 1.5 inches.
Change Hole.4 to use Up to Surface and select the inside of the big cylinder. You
should be able to see the hole extend into the middle cylinder of the part.
Modify EdgeFillet.1 to use a radius of .625 inches.
Modify EdgeFillet.2 to use a radius of .125 inches. The part should look similar to the
Save your document.

Open the modify3 document and save it with your initials. It should appear similar to
Modify Pad.3 to be .375 inches thick.
Modify Pad.4 to be Mirrored extent with a Length of .25 inches. This will make the pad
.5 inches thick.
Modify EdgeFillet.2 to use a radius of .125 inches.
Change Hole.2 to be countersunk instead of counterbored and use an angle of 90

degrees.
Change Hole.3 to use a 1 inch diameter and to be countersunk with an angle of 90

degrees. The part should look similar to the diagram shown below.
Save your document.

Interfacing with Sketcher
In order to create many of the parts that you will be creating it is necessary for you to be able
to use existing part geometry to assist in making a sketch. This part of the book covers how
to use existing sides of your part to define a sketch plane and how to use existing edges of
your part to constrain your sketch.
Open the interface document and save it with your initials. A single pad should appear
Select the sketcher icon and select the face of the part as shown below.
Notice that you were able to select a face of an existing part and use it to define the sketch
plane. This gives you added flexibility instead of always using the three primary planes.
Create a box using the rectangle icon. It should be positioned and look similar to the
Constrain the left side of the rectangle to be coincident with the left edge of the face.
Notice that you will use the edge of the part to force the left side of the current sketch to be
coincident with the left edge of that face.
Constrain the right side of the rectangle to be coincident with the right edge of the
face.
Constrain the bottom of the rectangle to be coincident with the bottom edge of the
face.
Interfacing with Sketcher, Page 200 ©Wichita State University

Constrain the length of the right side to be 2.5 inches. The sketch should be perfectly
constrained and appear similar to the one shown below.
Exit the sketcher and create a pad using this sketch that is .625 thick, it should extrude
into the existing part. The part now includes your new pad.
Select the sketcher icon and select the face of the part as shown.
© Wichita State University Interfacing with Sketcher, Page 201

Create and constrain the sketch as shown below. Notice that you will be using edges of
the existing part to constrain some of your elements.
Exit the sketcher and create a pocket using this sketch and have it go all the way
through the part.

Exit the sketcher and create a pad using this sketch, it should go .125 inches above the
existing face and go .75 inches below the existing face. This creates a .125 extension on
both sides of the part.
© Wichita State University Interfacing with Sketcher, Page 203

Exit the sketcher and create a pocket using this sketch and have it go all the way
through the part. It should appear similar to the diagram shown below.
Notice that it is not any harder to use part edges and faces to create your sketches. In fact it
makes life easier because you do not have to create planes in order to define your sketch
plane, you can just use a face of the part. Also your constraints can then be based on the
edges of your part and therefore will change if you modify that particular item. However,
you must be careful because sometimes that can result in to problems. Now that you
understand the basics of part design you will now learn some advanced techniques using the
sketcher.
Save your document.

Advanced Sketcher
This section discusses the advanced features of sketcher and how they can be used to help
you design parts. It will cover how to get 3-D elements from your part onto your sketch
plane, use formulas, use construction geometry and use transformations.
3-D Elements on Sketch Plane

This part will cover how to get 3-D geometry from your part projected onto the sketch
plane. If the geometry is projected properly it will update when the part is modified. An
example of this is if an edge of a pad was projected, then that edge was moved due to some
modification, the projected elements would also be moved. Projected geometry is especially
useful when working with construction geometry covered later in this course. There are two
icons that will allow this to happen.
Project 3D Elements projects 3-D geometry to the sketch plane
Intersect 3D Elements intersects 3-D geometry with the sketch plane
Project 3D Silhouette Edges projects the implied edges of curved 3-D geometry
Open the 3D elements document and save with your initials. This part has two planes
pre-defined. A blue plane that is parallel to the YZ plane, and a green plane that is parallel
to the XY plane.
Begin a sketch on the blue plane. This plane is going to have geometry projected to it.
Select the project 3-D element icon. Geometry will be projected in two different
methods, selecting a face and selecting an edge.
Select the face that is shown in the diagram below. The boundary of the face is projected
to the plane as geometry.
Notice that the projected geometry is yellow. This means that the geometry is associated to
the part. If the part changes then the projected geometry will also change. You have the
option of isolating the geometry using the third mouse button while on the geometry.
© Wichita State University 3-D Elements on Sketch Plane, Page 205

Select the project 3-D element icon. This time, geometry will be projected in such a
manner that it will be updated when the pad is modified.
Select the edge that is shown in the diagram below. This time you will only project a
single edge to the sketch plane.
Exit the sketch. You will see that the geometry was actually projected to the blue plane as
shown below.
Start a sketch on the green plane. This time, geometry will be intersected with the sketch
plane instead of projected.
Select the intersect 3-D elements icon. You will intersect the geometry with the
sketch plane.
3-D Elements on Sketch Plane, Page 206 ©Wichita State University

Select Rear Body from the specification tree. A warning message is displayed. It is
telling you that the geometry is not associated with the part and will not be updated when
the part is changed.
Select OK.
Select intersect 3-D elements icon. This time, you will intersect selecting a face of
the part.
Select a side face of the Stiffener as shown below. This time the geometry is associated
with the part, and will change when the part is changed.

Exit the sketch. The sketch geometry is displayed on the sketch plane as shown in the
diagram below.
If geometry is selected that does not intersect the sketch plane, then an error message will be
displayed, and nothing will happen.
Save your document.
3-D Elements on Sketch Plane, Page 208 ©Wichita State University

Open the 3D elements 2 document and save with your initials. This part has a pulley
and a plane pre-defined. The plane is parallel to the zx plane.
Begin a sketch on the parallel plane. This plane is going to have geometry projected to it.
Select the project 3-D elements icon. You are going to try to project the curved edge
of the pulley to the sketch plane.
Select the curved edge (face) of the pulley as shown below. You will notice only the
center line shows up.
Select the undo icon. You were trying to get the curved edge projected not the
centerline therefore you are undoing that projection.
Select the project 3-D silhouette edges icon. This will allow you to project the
circular edges of a part.
Select the curved edge (face) of the pulley again. The boundary of the face is projected to
the plane as geometry. Notice both edges the right and left side were projected to the sketch
plane and are associated to the 3-D geometry.
Exit the sketcher. It should appear similar to the diagram shown below.
Save your document.

Construction Geometry
Construction geometry is useful when you need an element to exist in order to constrain
your sketch but you do not want that element to be part of your sketch when in part design.
This part of the book will use construction geometry, as well as projected 3-D elements to
build sketches.
Open the construction geometry document and save with your initials. This part has
a pad already built for you.
Start a sketch on the top face. On this face you are going to sketch a slot that is
constrained using construction geometry and projected elements.
Project the top face to the sketch plane. This will project the elements, while keeping
them associated with the original pad.
While the geometry is highlighted, select the construction/standard element icon from
the bottom toolbar. This will turn the geometry to construction geometry (geometry
that only exists in the sketch plane). The geometry should now be dashed, rather than solid.
Project the bottom edge to the sketch plane as shown below. This will complete
the construction geometry needed from the existing part. Other construction geometry will
be created as needed.
Notice the geometry is already set as construction. The construction/standard icon will stay
highlighted until it is selected again.
Switch back to a normal view of the sketch plane.
Sketch a vertical line down the center of the part. This line will be the center of the part.
Notice that the line is construction geometry. Make sure that the line is not highlighted
before continuing.
Construction Geometry, Page 210 ©Wichita State University

Select the constraint icon. You are going to constrain the vertical line to be in the
center of the other two vertical lines.
Select the left vertical line, then the right vertical line and using the third mouse
button while on the constraint select Allow symmetry line.
Select the center vertical line. This will define the outside lines to be symmetric to the
center line forcing the center line to be centered between the two lines.
Select the construction/standard element icon. This allows you to create standard
geometry instead of construction geometry.
Sketch a slot on the bottom half of the part as shown below. Remember the slot icon
under the rectangle icon.
The center of the slot created is a construction line. That construction line is going to be
centered between the bottom two horizontal projected lines.
© Wichita State University Construction Geometry, Page 211

Constrain the center line of the slot to be centered between the bottom two projected
horizontal lines. The construction line should turn green, and symmetry symbols should
appear.
Constrain the slot as shown below using the projected geometry.
Now the slot is completely constrained. You will now create two circles and constrain them
with the center vertical line.
Create two circles and constrain them as shown below.
Exit the sketch.
Using the sketch use pocket to remove the material with the Type set to Up to last. The
pocket is now made. Now, when the pad changes, the sketch will modify with it.
Change the Length of Pad.1 to 10 inches instead of 6 inches. Notice the slot changed
dimensions with the changing of the pad and the two holes stayed 1.25 inches from the
center line. You do not see the center line because it is construction geometry and is only
seen in the sketcher.
Construction Geometry, Page 212 ©Wichita State University

Change the sketch of Pad.1 to be 7 inches wide instead of 5 inches. Notice that the slot
moved to stay centered and the holes moved to stay 1.25 inches from the bottom edge. The
part should appear similar to the diagram shown below.
Construction geometry does not always need to be generated. The edges of the part can be
used directly from the part.
Start a new sketch on the top of the part. This time you are going to create another slot
around the current one. You want the new slot to be .25 inches away from the other slot,
while the centers of the ends stay in the same place.
Sketch a slot in the same place as the other slot, but larger.
Constrain the sketch so that the two curved ends are concentric with the existing slot
and that they are .25 inches away from the existing slot.
Exit the sketch.
© Wichita State University Construction Geometry, Page 213

Using the sketch use pocket to remove the material with the Type set to Up to plane and
select the face as shown below. The pocket is now made. Now, when the pad changes, the
sketch will modify with it.
Any changes made to the part will be reflected in the slots. Try making modifications to the
pad definition, or the original pad sketch and notice how they affect the position of the holes
and slots.
Save your document.
Advanced Constraints, Page 214 ©Wichita State University

Advanced Constraints
This part will cover advanced constraining methods. You will also be using construction
geometry to define some of your advanced constraints.
Open the advanced constraints document and save with your initials. This
document has a pre-defined sketch and constraints.
Double click on the Profile Sketch. This will allow you to modify the sketch. Notice the
sketch is over constrained.
Press the third mouse button while on the leftmost distance constraint (3.55). This will
bring up a menu of options that can be performed on this constraint.
© Wichita State University Advanced Constraints, Page 215

Select the Offset.19 object option. This will bring up a window with more options.
Select Definition... This will bring up the Constraint Definition window. This option
allows you to change the value of the constraint or you can specify that it is a reference
dimension only and therefore is not used as a constraint. If this is done then as the sketch is
modified, the reference dimension will change as that distance changes but it does not force
that distance to be any certain amount.
Select the Reference box and select OK. This will change the constraint to be a reference
dimension rather than an actual constraint. Notice that the sketch is perfectly constrained
and that the dimension appears in parentheses signifying that it is reference only.
Press the third mouse button while on the constraint next to the reference dimension
(1.902). This will bring up a menu of options that can be performed on this constraint.

Select the Offset.21 object option. This will bring up a window with more options.
Select Edit formula. This will bring up the Formula Editor window.
The Formula Editor will allow you to enter a variety of formulas. Simple mathematical
formulas to advanced formulas, such as engineering strain equations, can be entered in the
Formula Editor. Based on the formula, a value will be calculated. Many times these
formulas depend on other constraints in the sketch, so when that constraint is modified, the
formulated constraint will automatically recalculate. This class will cover simple formulas
but feel free to make them as complex as necessary to get the proper results.
Notice that the first box contains the current constraint name and the second box is where
the formula is entered. You are going to enter a formula that will make this constraint be
half the distance of the reference dimension that you specified earlier.
Enter 0.5* in the second box. You are going to make this constraint equal to half of the
referenced dimension. In order to specify the referenced dimension you just have to select
the value and it will automatically put it in the box for you.
Select the referenced dimension (3.55) and select OK. The constraint adjusts, and a f(x)
symbol appears next to it. This denotes a formulated constraint, and cannot be modified
directly. If the constraint is to be modified, then the formula has to be deleted.
Edit the formula of the bottom constraint (1.372). Use the same process as previously
covered. The Formula Editor window should appear.

In the Formula Editor window set the constraint to equal the previously formulated
constraint and select OK (1.775). This will set the constraint to be exactly the same as the
other.
Edit the formula on the top constraint (4.369). You are going to make this constraint
equal two inches more than the bottom constraint. The Formula Editor window should
appear.
Select the bottom constraint (1.775). This enters that constraint to be used in the formula.
Key +2in after the constraint name in the second box. The (in) is mandatory, otherwise,
the system does not know what units you are using. The units used can be any length unit:
in, ft, mi, mm, cm, km, etc.
Select OK. The length is now two inches longer than the bottom constraint.
Edit the formula on the radius. You are now going to make the radius equal to 1/3 the
value of the bottom constraint. The Formula Editor window should appear.
Key 1/3* in the second box. This will make the new constraint be one third of the next
constraint you select. Putting the fraction in the parentheses is necessary.

Select the bottom constraint (1.775). This will make the value of the radius equal one
third the length of that constraint. If you were to use a fraction after a value then you need
to put the fraction in parentheses in order for it to calculate that value first.
Modify the right dimension (2.197) to be twice the length of the dimension just below it
(1.354). Notice how some of the constraint changed automatically because they are based
of that length.
Modify the bottom unformulated constraint (5.482) to be four times the length of the
(1.354) constraint.
Change the angle constraint to be 70 degrees. You will not put a formula on the angle
constraint. You are now going to animate your last dimension constraint to visualize the
formulas in action.
Select the animate constraint icon and select the last unformulated length (1.354). This
will bring up the Animate Constraint window.

Set the First value to 1.0, the Last value to 3.0, and the Number of steps to 40. This will
make our constraint animate between 1 and 3 inches, with forty intermediate steps.
Select the loop icon from the Animate Constraint window. This will make the
animation run continuously.
Select the forward icon and watch the other dimensions change with the animated
constraint.
Select Cancel. This will stop the animation of the constraints, and return them back to the
original position.
Change the 1.354 constraint to be 1.5.
Press the third mouse button while on the 1.5 constraint. This will bring up a menu of
options that can be performed on this constraint.
Select the Length.10 object option. This will bring up a window with more options.
Select Display with Leader. This will allow you to display the constraint with a leader
arrow.
Press and hold the first mouse button while on the 1.5 constraint and drag it out to the
right. You see a leader arrow appear similar to the diagram shown below.
You can turn the leader back off by following the same steps but now the option is to
Display without Leader. You can also display the name and value instead of just the value
of the constraint. You are going to do that now.

Press the third mouse button while on the 1.5 constraint. This will bring up a menu of
options that can be performed on this constraint.
Select Name/Value Display. This will allow you to display the constraint name along with
its value. It should appear similar to the diagram shown below.
You can change the display back to just the value by following the same steps but now the
option is Value Display. Using similar options you can also Deactivate and Activate the
constraint. When you deactivate a constraint a little () symbol appears near the constraint.
This exercise will not have you deactivate or activate any constraints but try it out on your
own. The last thing you will do with the constraint is to rename it.
Press the third mouse button while on the Length.10=1.5 constraint. This will bring up
a menu of options that can be performed on this constraint.
Select Rename parameter. This will bring up an Edit Parameter window.

In the left box change the name to be Lower_Height.
Select OK. Now you can reference that constraint using formulas in another sketch or even
in Part Design by using this parameter name. This is an excellent way of building
“knowledge” into your design. You will explore some of those options a little later in the
course.
Exit the sketch, and create a pad 6 inches wide using the sketch.
You do not have to use formulas for every sketch, however, with the use of formulas you
can make your sketch easier to modify and you start to add “knowledge” to your geometry.
Sometimes formulas are generated automatically when performing actions such as cornering
multiple corners at the same time.
Save your document.

Sketch Transformations
This part will cover the various transformation icons within the sketcher. There are a
variety of options when performing transformations on your sketch. You can symmetry,
translate, rotate, scale and offset existing geometry using transformations.
symmetry copies geometry across a symmetry line
translate moves or copies geometry in a specified direction
rotate rotates geometry, it can duplicate or replace
scale scales geometry, it can duplicate or replace
offset offsets geometry in a normal direction while copying
Open the sketch transformation symmetry document and save with your initials.
Symmetry transformations are the most useful of the transformations. Symmetry constraints
are built when the transformation is applied, hence, this could be very useful when making a
symmetric part of any type. This part has a sketch pre-built. You are going to symmetry the
sketch about the given center lines
Edit the sketch. The sketch is fully constrained (the constraints are hidden) except for
position with two symmetry lines.
Select the symmetry icon. You will be able to symmetry any number of geometric
elements about a line.
© Wichita State University Sketch Transformations, Page 223

Select the profile. Using the mouse you can select the entire profile by holding down the
first mouse button and dragging a box around the profile. This will allow all of the
geometry to be selected. For this exercise, it is not necessary to select all the geometry at
the same time, but when working with a more complex document, it may be desirable to
select many elements at the same time. When selecting the profile be careful not to select
geometry that crosses the mirror line because this can cause an artificial edge to be
generated when you use this sketch in part design.
Select the vertical construction line. This will define the mirror line. The geometry is
duplicated on the other side of the symmetry line. Notice the symmetry symbols on both
profiles. These elements are now linked to one another and when the left profile is changed,
the right profile will change also.
If you want you can symmetry both profile across the horizontal construction line.
Note: The symmetry line does not have to be a construction line. The line can be standard
or construction. Also, the geometry that you are using can be selected either before or after
selecting the icon.
Feel free to show the constraints and change them to visualize the symmetry working.
Exit the sketch.
Save your document.
Sketch Transformations, Page 224 ©Wichita State University

Open the sketch transformation translate offset document and save with your
initials. This is another document with a pre-defined sketch. This sketch is to have
translations and offsets applied to it.
Edit the sketch.
Select the translate icon. This will allow geometry to be translated.
Duplicate
Instance(s) defines how many instances will be created,

only applies in Duplicate mode
Duplicate mode duplicates the geometry when translated
Conservation of the constraints reproduces similar constraints on the translated

profile when in Duplicate mode
Length
Value defines the length of the translation
Snap Mode forces the length to snap to the grid defined in your sketcher
Translations work in three steps. First you define what is to be translated, then you select
the reference point, and then define a destination point.
Select the spline. A blue cursor will appear. This means that it is ready for you to select
the reference point.
Select the point closest to the axis. This defines the point that is to be translated. This
point can be on the geometric element but it does not have to be.
The next point can either be at an exact location, or just an arbitrary location. To obtain an
exact distance, key a distance in the Translation Definition window, or another known point
can be selected.

Select about six inches above and to the right of the current spline. This will create a
new, duplicated spline.
Notice no special constraints are added.
Select the undo icon.
Translate the spline again this time using the Conservation of the constraints option.
Notice that constraints were automatically generated on the new spline similar to the ones
that were on the original spline.
Select the undo icon. You may want to try out the various options to make sure you
have a good understanding of them. These options are available when using some of the
other transformations as well.
Select the offset icon. There are many sub-options that appear when defining an
offset, they are explained below. Once you specify the element the options appear and you
can define an offset by either just selecting a location or by specifying a distance in the
Offset area.
offsets a single element
offsets the element selected and propagates along any tangencies
offsets the element selected and propagates along any connected geometry
will perform a double offset and can be used in conjunction with any of the other
three options
Make sure the single element icon is selected with double offset being off and
select the spline. This defines what is to be offset.
Select just above the spline. This creates a spline offset, parallel, to the original. You will
now use the other profile and try out the other options of offsetting.

The rest of this exercise uses the other profile found in this sketch as shown below.
You are going to do a series of offsets using different options each time and then undoing
them.
Select the offset icon.
Select the single element icon.
Select the top line and select a location above it. Only that line gets offset.

Select the tangency propagation icon. This will grab all elements that are
continuous in tangency to the selected element.
Select the top line and select a location above it. Notice that the curve and other line were
offset as well because they were tangency continuous to the selected element.
Select the point propagation icon. This will grab all elements that are connected
with the selected element.
Select the top line and select a location above it. Notice that the entire profile was
selected since it is a closed profile and all of the geometry is connected to the selected
element through points.

Select the double offset icon. This will allow the geometry to be offset in both
directions at the same time. The point propagation icon should still be activated.
Select the top line and select a location above it. Notice that the entire profile was offset
in both directions.
If a red symbol appears when you are trying to select your offset location you cannot select
there because it violates a dimension. This is common when offsetting a circle inward and
you try to offset it beyond the radius of the circle. Hopefully this gives you a good idea
what each option allows you to do.
Save your document.

Open the sketch transformation rotate document and save with your initials. This
document also has a pre-defined sketch. In the sketch there is a keyhole that needs to be
rotated about the center multiple times.
Edit the sketch.
Select the rotate icon. The rotate option is a four step process. You must define the
geometry to be rotated, a point of rotation, a reference line and then an angle. You may also
define a starting point and ending point to determine the angle instead of defining a
reference line and an angle.
The various options are the same as translate except you can define an angle instead of a
length.
Select all of the keyhole. This can either be accomplished by holding Ctrl and selecting the
geometry, or by selecting and dragging a box around the keyhole.
Change the number of Instance(s) to 5, make sure Duplicate mode is on and

Conservation of the constraints is off. This will make five duplicates of the keyhole at
equal distances around the rotation axis. You now have to define the rotation point or the
center of the rotation.
Select in the center of the sketch. This will define the point that you want the geometry to
rotate around. Instead of defining a reference line and then an angle you are going to define
a starting point of the angle and then the ending point of the angle.
Select the outside corner just below the keyhole. This defines the beginning of the angle.

Select the outside corner just above the keyhole. Notice the five keyholes fan out as the
cursor is moved towards the second corner. This defines the end of the angle.
There should be a total of six keyholes evenly spaced about the center of the part. Notice
there are no constraints on any of the other keyholes.
Be sure no elements are selected before the next step.
Select the scale icon. This will allow you to scale geometry larger or smaller.
The options are the same as translate except you specify a value for the scale instead of a
length.
Make sure the Duplicate mode is off.
Select all of the sketch. Next, a scale point will need to be defined.

Select in the center of the HV axis. The part will now be scaled about this point.
Change the Value to be 1.5 and select OK. This will scale the sketch to be one and a half
times its original size.
Save your document.

Sketch Analysis
Open the sketch analysis document and save with your initials. This document also
has a pre-defined sketch.
Select the pad icon and select the sketch. A Feature Definition Error window appears,
stating that your sketch has points that are standard geometry and they need to be
construction geometry.
Select No. This will close the error window.
Deactivate the pad icon. This gets out of the pad creation mode.
Edit the sketch. You will now correct the problem using the Sketch Analysis option under
the Tools pull down menu.
Select Sketch Analysis under the Tools pull down menu. This will run a sketch analysis
on your sketch and display a window with the results as shown below.

If you have a good sketch then there should only be closed profiles under Detailed
Information. As you can see there is an open profile, an isolated line and an isolated point.
The error message you received earlier gave you an idea that there was a problem with a
point but that was it. You should notice three icons under Corrective Actions, these icons
allow you to quickly fix your sketch and are described below.
changes the geometry to construction geometry
closes the open sections of a profile
erases the geometry
In this case you will change the point to construction geometry.
Select Point.22 in the Sketch Analysis window.
Select the construction geometry icon in the window. Notice that the point disappears
from the Sketch Analysis window because it is no longer considered to be a problem.
Select Close. This will exit the Sketch Analysis window. You will now try to make a pad
out of this sketch again even though the sketch analysis still shows some problems.
Exit the sketcher.
Try to create a pad with the sketch. Another Feature Definition Error window appears as
shown below.
Notice that this error message now tells you that you have open contours (profiles) or some
geometry that needs to be construction geometry instead of standard. You will now go back
in to your sketch and correct those problems using the sketch analysis tool.
Select No. This will close the error window.
Deactivate the pad icon. This gets out of the pad creation mode.
Edit the sketch. You will now correct the problem using the Sketch Analysis option under
the Tools pull down menu.
Select Sketch Analysis under the Tools pull down menu. This will run a sketch analysis
on your sketch again.

Select Line.6 from the Sketch Analysis window.
Select the construction geometry icon. The line disappears from the window because it is
no longer considered to be a problem. Notice that the center line has changed to
construction geometry, that was Line.6. You still have an open profile that needs to be
closed. If you look at the lower right corner you will see that is where the problem is
located.
Select the open profile in the window.
Select the close icon. This will close the profile changing the status to closed as shown in
the window.
Note: You need to be careful using the close option because if you have two lines that have
a break in between them and you close the profile it will just trim one of the lines to the
other. What you would want to do is erase one of the lines and then trim the other one,
otherwise you generate a false edge on your pad. You are now ready to create the pad.
Select Close. This will close the Sketch Analysis window.
Exit the sketcher and create a 1 inch pad using the sketch.
Save your document.


Advanced Part Design

Part Transformations
This section will cover how to perform transformations on your part. The available
transformations are translate, rotate, symmetry, mirror and scale. These icons can be very
useful for increasing your efficiency in your part design. The icons are explained below.
translates your part a specified direction and distance without copying
rotates your part around a specified axis and angle without copying
mirrors your part around a specified plane without copying
mirrors an object or list of objects around a specified plane while copying
scales your part based off a reference point and specified scale
Note: It is important to remember that all of these options other than the mirror option
work on the entire part from current position in the specification tree on up.
Open the transformations document and save with your initials. This part has been
pre-created for you. This section will translate, rotate, symmetry, mirror, and scale this part.
Select the translation icon. This will allow a part to be translated along a selected
direction. The Translation Definition window appears. You have to define a Direction and
a Distance.
© Wichita State University Part Transformations, Page 237

Select the lower straight edge of part as shown below. By selecting an edge of your part,
you define a direction for the translation.
A green symbol will appear on your part with two arrows. If you wanted to you could select
one of those arrows and drag it to define the translation otherwise you can key in a specific
distance in the window.
Change the Distance to 2.0. The distance is measured in the positive direction of the edge.
Select OK. The part is now translated two inches to the left. A Translate branch appears in
your specification tree. Now you will rotate the part.
Select the rotate icon. This will allow the part to be rotated about any given axis, a
given angle. The Rotate Definition window appears. You have to define an Axis and an
Angle.
Select the same edge of the part. This defines the rotation axis. The part will rotate about
this line, positive direction being clockwise. Once again a green symbol appears with two
arrows. You can define the rotation using these arrows or key in a specific angle.
Change the Angle to be 270. This will change the part to be vertical. The alternative to
270 degrees would be -90 degrees.
Select OK. The part is now rotated 270 degrees about the axis selected. A Rotate branch
appears in your specification tree. Next, you will symmetry the part along the open face to
make a right-handed part versus a left handed part.
Part Transformations, Page 238 ©Wichita State University

Select the symmetry icon. This will allow symmetrical parts to be made about any
given face or plane, while not keeping the original part. The Symmetry Definition window
appears. You have to define a Reference element for the part to mirrored across.
Select the open face as shown below. The symmetry side of the part is displayed as
wireframe, giving a preview of the part that is going to be created.
Select OK. The part is now a mirror image of the original part. A Symmetry branch appears
in your specification tree. This is useful for making left handed parts out of right handed
parts or vice versa.
Delete the three previous transformations. The part returns back to the original position.
You are now going to mirror some of the geometry about a mirror plane. The difference
between mirror and symmetry is that mirror will duplicate the geometry. The other
difference with mirror is that it can be applied to a specific object or list of objects in the
tree instead of to the whole body. If you want the mirror option to use something other than
the entire body you must select those objects before selecting the mirror icon.
Select Pad.1 from the specification tree. It will use just this object when mirroring.

Select the mirror icon. This will allow for the object to be mirrored, while keeping
the original object. The Mirror Definition window appears.
Select the face shown below as the Mirroring element. This will mirror the pad across
this face.
Select OK. The part has been mirrored making a closed loop. Notice only the pad was
mirrored and not the pockets. Normally in this case you would probably of wanted the
pockets as well but this is just an exercise. From here, holes, slots and other manipulations
can be made to the part as though it was created as one piece.
Select the scaling icon. You can scale the part about any given plane or any point.
Scaling about a plane will only make the scale ratio effect the part in the normal direction of
the plane. Scaling about a point will make the entire part scale about that point. The
Scaling Definition window appears. You have to define a Reference element and a Ratio.
Part Transformations, Page 240 ©Wichita State University

Select the point in the center of the three axis planes. This will define the point about
which the part will be scaled. Notice the green symbol with the arrows. You can adjust the
scale using them or you can specify a ratio in the window.
Change the Ratio to 2.0. A wireframe model is displayed showing a preview.
Select OK. The part is now scaled to twice its original size. A Scaling branch appears in
the specification tree.
Note: It is important to remember that the placement of the transformations in the

specification tree can drastically effect the results.
Save your document.

Patterns
In this section patterns will be applied to different holes and pockets on a part. Patterns are
also useful to quickly replicate any type of sketch across a part in a variety of ways.
creates a rectangular pattern
The First Direction and Second Direction tabs have the same options.
Parameters There are three options for which parameters you are going to use to create
the rectangular pattern. They are Instance(s) & Spacing, Instance(s) &
Length and Spacing & Length.
Instance(s) the number of items you want the pattern to have in that direction
Spacing the distance between each instance
Length the total length of the pattern in that direction
Reference Direction
Reference element the element that specifies the direction for the pattern
Reverse reverses the reference direction
Object to Pattern
Object the item that is to be used when creating the pattern
Keep specifications keeps the specifications of the object, such as Up to next.
Patterns, Page 242 ©Wichita State University

Position of Object in Pattern
Row in direction 1 the row where the original element should exist
Row in direction 2 the row where the original element should exist
Rotation angle the angle of the pattern in reference to the original element
Pattern Representation
Simplified representation allows you to specify which elements of the pattern

you wish not to see in order to speed up response time
when dealing with large patterns
The circular pattern has similar options under More>>, but they deal with angular and
radial directions instead of first and second. Patterns can use either the entire part, a single
object of the part or multiple objects of the part. If you want to use multiple objects you
need to select them before you select the icon.
© Wichita State University Patterns, Page 243

creates a circular pattern
Some options are the same as the rectangular pattern so they will not be covered again.
Axial Reference
Parameters There are four options for which parameters you are going to use to
create the circular pattern. They are Instance(s) & angular spacing,
Instance(s) & total angle, Angular spacing & total angle and
Complete crown.
Instance(s) the number of items you want the pattern to have in each circle
Angular spacing the space between instances measured in degrees
Total angle the total span that the pattern should be defined in
Crown Definition
Parameters There are three options for which parameters you are going to use to
create the circular pattern. They are Circle(s) & circle spacing,
Circle(s) & crown thickness and Circle spacing & crown thickness.
Circle(s) how many circles should be used in the pattern
Circle spacing the distance between each circle
Crown thickness the total distance between the first and last circle

creates a user defined pattern
Instances
Positions the sketch that is used to define the positions of the instances
Object to Pattern
Anchor defines how the pattern is positioned with respect to the original
object
The following exercise will explore the various pattern definitions to create pegs and holes.
Open the patterns document and save with your initials. This part has several holes in
it as well as a square pocket that will be distributed throughout the part using patterns.
Select the rectangular pattern icon. This will generate rectangular patterns using a
selected item or the entire part.

Select the Peg. The peg can either be selected off of the tree, or from the part. The
Rectangular Pattern Definition window appears.
There are two directions that can be specified when creating a rectangular pattern. They are
the First Direction and the Second Direction. When a Reference element is selected, a 1
and 2 vector will be displayed. The vectors can be reversed by selecting the Reverse button
in the window.
Select the Reference element box in the window. The box will highlight. In order to
create a pattern the Reference element has to be defined. Depending on what element is
selected, the pattern will be defined in different ways.
Select the bottom pocket face as shown below. This defines the face that will be the
reference for the pattern. This also defines the positive direction for the 1 and 2 vector,
these directions are the H and V axis directions of the sketch of the object that contains that
face.

In the First Direction tab the following options need to be set: Parameters needs to be
Instance(s) & Spacing, Instance(s) needs to be 3 and Spacing needs to be 2 inches. This
defines that in the first direction there should be 3 pegs with 2 inches between each one.
In the Second Direction tab the following options need to be set: Parameters needs to
be Spacing & Length, Spacing needs to be 1.5 inches and Length needs to be 4 inches.
This defines that in the second direction the pegs should use 4 inches of space with 1.5
inches between the pegs. This will create as many instances as necessary in order to not
exceed a total length of 4 inches with 1.5 inches between each peg, which ends up defining
three rows.
Select OK. A square pattern of nine pegs have now been created. It should appear similar
to the diagram shown below.
Next, the same type of pattern will be created, but this time it will be skewed to fit in the
other end of the part.
Select the rectangular pattern icon.
Select the Large Hole. This defines the object that is to be used for the pattern.
Select the Reference element box in the window.
Select the same bottom pocket face. This will define the reference for the pattern. This
time the same pattern that was used before is displayed. The pattern is in the wrong
direction and not slanted.
Select the Reverse button for the First Direction. This will make the 1 vector reversed
bringing the holes back to the part.
Select the More>> button. This will bring up additional options for your pattern. You will
change the Rotation angle so that the pattern will fit in between the sides of the part.
Change the Rotation angle to -15. This will rotate the pattern negative fifteen degrees.
Now the pattern lines up nicely with the tab.

Select OK. The pattern is created and set in place at the angle you designated. It should
Save your document.

Next a circular pattern will be created with the smaller hole in the center.
Select the circular pattern icon. This allows you to create a circular pattern.
Circular patterns work similar to rectangular patterns in that they can be defined in two
directions. With circular patterns, they are defined using an Axial Reference and a Crown
Definition. The Axial Reference defines how many times the holes are repeated around the
axis as well as the spacing of the holes as they rotate around the axis. The Crown Definition
defines how many holes there are in the radial direction.
Select the Center Hole. This can be selected from the tree or by selecting the part. The
Circular Pattern Definition window should appear.
Select the Reference element box in the window. As with the rectangular pattern, a
reference element still has to be defined.
Select the bottom pocket face. This will display the wireframe holes before they are
created. This will use the origin of the sketch of the object that contains that face as the
center of the circular pattern.
In the Axial Reference tab the following options need to be set: Parameters needs to be
Complete crown and the Instance(s) needs to be 8. This will have the pattern generate in
a complete circle using eight holes equally spaced.
In the Crown Definition tab the following options need to be set: Parameters needs to
be Circle(s) & circle spacing, Circle(s) needs to be 3 and Circle spacing needs to be 1.25
inches. This will force the pattern to used 3 circles with 1.25 inches between each circle.

Select OK. This finishes the pattern definition. It should appear similar to the diagram
shown below.
Save your document.
There are times when holes, cutouts, or other geometry need to appear in a pattern that is
neither rectangular or circular. The user pattern icon is useful because it allows you to
define your pattern using a sketch of points. The item that is used for the pattern will be
centered on each point.
Select the user pattern icon. The pattern can now be defined by a user defined
sketch of points.
Select the Square Cutout. This defines the object that will be used in the pattern.
Select the Flange Sketch. This is a sketch of points that are constrained to define the center
of the square cutout at various locations.

Select OK. This will create square cutouts at all the locations of the pattern. It should
By defining a series of points any type of pattern can be created, not just rectangular or
circular. If you wanted to use a sketch but not use all of the points in the sketch you have
the option of selecting the points after you have selected the sketch to remove them from the
pattern. The other advantage of using a user defined pattern is that adding or removing
elements of the pattern is as easy as creating or deleting a point from the sketch that was
used.
There are situations that occur when you need to change the size of one of the elements in
the pattern but not all of the elements in the pattern. The options you have are to redefine
the pattern and then add the additional element or to explode your pattern. Exploding your
pattern will cause each element in the pattern to be generated as an individual element. You
are going to do this now.
Using the third mouse button select on RectPattern.1. This will open a window with
various options on it.

Select the RectPattern.1 object at the bottom of the window. A new window should
Select Explode. Notice a whole bunch of pegs appear in your specification tree and your
part needs to be updated. These pegs are the result of CATIA creating a new pad for
element in the rectangular pattern.
Select the update icon. Your part should update. Now that each peg is independent
you can change just one of them.
Save your document.

Modifying Parts
Many times it is necessary to modify parts after they have been finished. This is usually the
case for many production parts as they go through the manufacturing process. The
following documents will have multiple modifications made to the part operations
themselves, not the sketches. Modification of the sketches was covered earlier in the book
along with making basic changes to the parameters of parts. You can modify the constraints
of a sketch when you are modifying the object that is using the sketch. As you will see
when you double click on an object the sketch constraints of that object will appear on the
screen and you can double click on them to change their values without having to go in to
the sketch. These exercises will have you make some basic changes along with some more
involved changes to a part.
Open the modify4 document and save with your initials. This part has several different
types of operations applied. You will make several modifications to this part.
Change the Length of the Main Body to be 4 inches. This will change the height of the
Main Body to 4 inches instead of 3 inches. Notice the slot no longer cuts all the way
through the part.
Change the slot to go all the way through the main body. The disadvantage of using a
dimension value to define a pocket is that if your part changes the dimension value does not
automatically change. Whereas using the other options the length of the pocket is defined
by an element or a side of the part. Therefore when you change the part the pocket will
automatically adjust to the those changes in most cases. It is suggested that you change the
limit Type of the pocket instead of just increasing the value of the dimension.
Change the Length of the Back Mount 1 to be 1 inch. This will change the pad definition
to be 1 inch tall.
Change the Small Hole Definition to have a .625 inch Diameter. This changes the
diameter of all the holes in the part. The hole pattern also needs to be changed to add three
more rows of holes to the part.
Change the Small Hole Pattern to have 7 Instances. The hole pattern now has seven rows
of holes instead of four. Next, the hook slot will be changed so that it is parallel to the main
body instead of at an angle.
© Wichita State University Modifying Parts, Page 253

Change the Second Angle of the Hook Base to be 90 degrees. The Hook Base, Hook Top,
and Hook Web all change with respect to the new angle. Next, the Hook Web will be
changed to be thicker.
Change the Hook Web to have a Thickness of .375 inches. The web thickness is now .75
(.375 mirrored) instead of .5 in.
All of those changes were just a matter of modifying the parameters of the various elements.
You can also insert new objects into your tree by defining which object is the Work Object
and then the next operation will occur right after that object. The object that is underlined in
the tree is the Work Object. You are going to insert a new pad in your part right after the
Back Mount 1 object.
Select the third mouse button while on the Back Mount 1 object. An options panel will
display.
Select the Define In Work Object option. This will display the part back to the point that it
was at when the Back Mount 1 pad was made. This can be done at any point in the tree.
This is very useful when wanting to go back and add to the part.
Modifying Parts, Page 254 ©Wichita State University

Create a sketch on the bottom of the part. A rectangular mounting plate is going to be
added to the front of the part. Create and constrain the sketch as shown below.
Create a pad that is .75 inches thick using the sketch. The pad should go from the botton
of the part up .75 inches so you need to make sure your direction is correct. This adds the
pad into the part just after the Back Mount 1.
Notice that the new pad is underlined because it is the Work Object, therefore your part only
displays what has occurred up to that point. You will change the Work Object so that it will
display the entire part taking in to account all the operations.
Change the PartBody to be the Work Object. You do this the same way as you did before
using the third mouse button. This will show all the part operations that have been applied
to the PartBody. Now you will add fillets to the new pad.
Double Select on the Fillets. The Edge Fillet Definition window displays. However
instead of changing the size of the fillets you are going to add additional edges to your fillet
operation.

Where the new pad is located, select all the edges next to the Main Body and those
along the top of the pad. The diagram shown below will show you which edges on one
side of the part except for the hidden edge. You will need to select those same edges on the
other side. In the end, you should have selected an additional 16 edges, 8 on each side,
making a total of 58 edges selected. You can also remove edges from your fillet definition
by selecting edges that have already been defined.
Select OK. The new fillets are now added in. It should appear similar to the diagram
shown below.
Save your document.

You can also change the properties of your objects or of the whole body. You will continue
working with this part and change some of the graphic properties of your part along with
renaming your part body.
Select the third mouse button while on PartBody. This brings up the options panel. You
will be changing the properties of the body.
Select Properties from the window. This opens a new window similar to the one shown
below. You will change the name of the body first and then some of the graphic properties.
Select the Feature Properties tab. You will see a Name box and you can change the name
by changing the text in the box.
Change the name from PartBody to Finished. The name should change but until you
select OK or Apply it will not appear in the tree.
Select Apply. The name changes in the tree.

Select the Graphic tab. The window should change to look similar to the one shown
below.
Change the Weight of the Edges to be 1. This will make the edges of your part appear
thinner. This will not take effect until you select Apply.
When changing color you can select the down arrow and a little window will appear with
various colors. You have the option of selecting one of those colors or you can select the
More colors... option at the bottom of the list.
Select Color arrow under Fill. This will allow you to change the color of the faces of the
part opposed to just the edges. A color list will appear similar to the one shown below.

Select the More Colors option. You may have to scroll down in order to see the More
Colors option. Another window opens with color options.
You can select a color from the Basic Colors or you can select a color from the Custom
Colors. Custom Colors are ones that you create using the Define Custom Colors >> option.
You are going to create a Custom Color and then Apply it to your part body.
Select the Define Custom Colors >> option. The window changes to appear similar to the
one shown below.
You can define a color by selecting in the color span or you can adjust the values for the
various options. When you get a color that you like you can add it the Custom Colors by
selecting Add to Custom Colors.

Create a color of your choice and select Add to Custom Colors. The color appears in the
Custom Colors.
Select the color you just added and select OK. This takes you back to the original
properties window.
Select OK. This applies and accepts the settings for the part body.
Save your document.

In this exercise you will learn how to replace a sketch with another sketch and how to
change the sketch support for a sketch. This allows you to make a complete change to the
shape of an object without having to create a new object and then inserting it in the correct
location and then removing the old object.
Open the modify5 document and save with your initials.
The slot that has already been created in the part needs to be curved instead of straight
across. Instead of going in and modifying the sketch you will create a new sketch and then
replace the current one with the new one.
Create the sketch on the face as shown above and constrain it as shown below. You
have to be careful not to constrain your sketch using elements that do not get generated until
after the sketch you are replacing.

Exit the sketcher. You will now replace Sketch.3 with your new sketch.
Press the third mouse button while on Sketch.3 and select Replace. The Replace
window appears as shown below.
You have the option of checking the Delete replaced elements and exclusive parents box if
you want the item you are replacing deleted instead of moved to the bottom of the tree.
Select the Delete replaced elements and exclusive parents option. This will erase Sketch.3
when it is replaced by your new sketch.
Select your new sketch from the tree and select OK. Notice that the slot changed to be
curved instead of straight across. If you look in the tree you can see that your new sketch is
located where Sketch.3 used to be. The part should look similar to the one shown below.
After replacing that sketch you realized that you do not need the slot to go through the front
wall just the back wall. Unfortunately you created that sketch using the front face as the
sketch support. You could modify Pocket.1 to use different faces for its limits or another
option is to change the sketch support for that sketch. You are going to change the sketch
support to be the front face of the back wall instead of the front face of the front wall.

Press the third mouse button while on the sketch of Pocket.1.
You will select the bottom option which is the name of the sketch and then select the
Change sketch support option from the new window. The current sketch support appears
highlighted. You will now select the new sketch support.
Select the front face of the back wall as shown in the diagram below.
Notice that the slot appears only in the back wall. The parameters of the pocket did not
change, it is still Up to last. The only difference is that the sketch now belongs on the front
face of the back wall.
You can also cut, copy and paste elements on your part. After much discussion with your
team, they decide that the front extension needs two holes in order for the part to be bolted
down more securely. You want the same size hole therefore instead of recreating the hole
you are going to just copy and paste the hole.
Select the third mouse button while on Hole.3 and select Copy. Nothing appears to
happen but it did copy the hole.
While having the cursor on the PartBody in your tree, press the third mouse button
and select Paste. This will paste the hole you copied earlier at the end of the tree. An
Update Diagnosis window appears because the hole is pasted right on top of the hole you
copied. Once you change the location of the hole the update will work fine.

Select Close.
Edit the sketch of Hole.4. You are going to constrain the sketch so that the hole is located
at a different position.
Constrain the sketch of the hole as it appears below.
Notice that the center of the hole was constrained to be equidistant between the two lines
and then one inch from the left edge.
Exit the sketcher and the part will update with the change.
Sometimes it is necessary to reorder the elements in your specification tree because you
need one element before the other for constraint purposes or to have an operation occur or
not occur on additional objects, such as when using transformations. In this exercise you
are going to reorder Hole.2 to be before Hole.1 in the specification tree.

Select the third mouse button while on Hole.2.
You will select the bottom option which is the name of the hole and then select the
Reorder option from the new window. This will open the Feature Reorder window which
will allow you to specify after which object you would like Hole.2 to go.
Select Pocket.1 from the specification tree.
Select OK. This puts Hole.2 after the pocket and before Hole.1.
Another option you have available to you is to scan through the tree looking at the various
stages of your part design.
Select the pull down menu Edit and select Scan or Define In Work Object. This will
open a Scan window that will allow you to run through your specification tree.
Press the forward button continuously until you go all way through your tree.
This is a good way to walk through a part design to get a better understanding of the method
of creation when you were not the one who created the initial part.
These exercises were to demonstrate various options that you have when modifying your
parts. A lot of them depend on how you constrained your part in the first place. You want
to make sure you pre-plan your approach before you start designing your parts in order to
make it easy to modify.
Save your document.

Inserting Bodies and Boolean Operations
Since there are some operations that affect the whole part body, there are times when it is
necessary to use multiple part bodies in your part. In order to generate a part that is
composed of one main body it is necessary to use boolean operations to combine the various
bodies of the part. The disadvantage to using multiple bodies is that you can not perform
some operations across bodies unless they have been combined. This exercise will have you
insert bodies and then use boolean operations to combine the bodies into a single element.
Inserting Part Bodies

Open the assembly document and save with your initials. This document has several
bodies in it. They will all be combined into one body using various boolean operations to
build the part.
Select the pull down menu Insert and select Body. This allows you to insert a new body
into the part. The body gets inserted at the bottom of the specification tree, you may have to
scroll down in order to see it. You should notice that it is the current in work object since it
is underlined.
Create a sketch on the zx plane, constrained as shown below.
These two circles will be used to create two pegs in the part.
Pad the sketch 6 inches in the first direction and .25 inches in the second direction.
Two pegs are now created completely through the part.
This part is constructed in a common fashion as Version 4 solids were modeled. Every
object is a separate body and then boolean operations are used to combine them in a variety
of ways. The next page discusses the different options that are available to combine your
multiple bodies into a single body.
Inserting Bodies and Boolean Operations, Page 266 ©Wichita State University
Boolean operations
Assemble similar to Add but will add or remove material depending on the
objects in the body, most useful to add pockets and holes to other pre-
joined bodies
Add adds one body with another body
Remove removes one body from another body
Intersect keeps the common material between two bodies
Union Trim adds several bodies together while allowing multiple faces to be
removed or trimmed back to the combined part
Remove Lump removes a separated piece of the part, normally you can avoid using
this option by modifying your sketch or adjusting part bodies
You are going to start combining the bodies of the part together using the boolean
operations. The exercise will cover a few options for selecting the boolean options. You
are going to start by adding the Front Body with the Main Body.
Select the Front Body from the tree. This will define what body you are going to be
working on.
Select the pull down menu Insert, Boolean Operations, Add. This will tell the system that
the Front Body will be added to another body.
Select in the After box and select the Main Body from the tree. This will define the body
that the Front Body will be added to.
Select OK. The two parts now act and behave as a single part. Notice how the bodies
appear in the tree. The Front Body appears underneath an Add.1 branch which is under the
Main Body now.
Select Body.9 from the tree. This is the body created earlier. You may have to scroll down
in order to see it. You are going to add this to the Side Holes.
Press the third mouse button while on Body.9 and select Body.9 object, Add. This is
another way to select boolean operations. You can use either option to select the boolean
operation, both ways work the same way. The advantage of using the third mouse button is
that you do not have to go up to the top and select a pull down menu.
© Wichita State University Inserting Bodies and Boolean Operations, Page 267
Select in the After box and select Side Holes and select OK. This will define where
Body.9 will be added. The two bodies are now added together as one. Next you are going
to remove the holes from the Main Body.
Select the object Side Holes. Notice all five holes are highlighted.
Select the boolean operation Remove. You can use either of the previous methods to
select the operation.
Select in the After box and select the Main Body and then select OK. The holes are now
removed from the Main Body. You will use the Assemble operation to add the Lg Hole to
the Main Body.
Select the object Lg Hole. This hole will be assembled to the Main Body.
Select the boolean operation Assemble.
Select in the After box and select the Main Body and then select OK. Notice the hole
was removed from the Main Body. Since the Lg Hole was defined as a pocket, the pocket
was placed in the tree, and was then pocketed out as though it were defined on a single
body. If you would have used the Add operation then the pocket would not have been
removed it would of just been added to the Main Body. Next, a more advanced type of
boolean operation will be performed.
Make the Rear Guide Tubes the current object. You can do this by using the Define In
Work Object option using the third button of the mouse.
Select the object Stiffener for Tubes. You are going to union (add) this body with the
tubes but you are going to trim back the inside edges to the tube walls.
Select the boolean operation Union Trim. This will allow the part to be unioned (added)
with the tubes and have faces trimmed back in the same operation.
Select the Faces to remove box. This is where you can define the faces that you want
removed when the body is unioned.
Select the faces of the stiffener that are inside the tubes. You’ll probably have to zoom
in and rotate the part to select the faces on the inside of the tubes. The diagram shows the
faces that you need to select.
Select OK. The stiffener will now be trimmed back to the tubes, and then unioned to the
tubes. Next, the Rear Guide Tubes will be unioned and trimmed with the Main Body.
Make the Main Body the current object.
Select the boolean operation Union Trim on the Rear Guide Tubes.
Select the Faces to remove box and select the faces of the Main Body that are inside the
tubes. Again, this will define what is going to be removed when the tubes are unioned to
the Main Body. The diagram shows you which faces to select.
© Wichita State University Inserting Bodies and Boolean Operations, Page 269
Select OK. Now the tubes are unioned to the Main Body. To finish the part you are going
to intersect the Contour body with the Main Body. You will not see the Contour body
because it is hidden at the moment. If you want to see the Contour before you intersect it
then you can show it.
Select the boolean operation Intersect on the Contour. The Intersect window appears.
Select OK. The Contour is intersected with the Main Body since it is the current work
object. You are now finished with the part. It should look similar to the one shown below.
Save your document.
Part Design Lofts
This section will cover two ways to generate a part using multiple sketches using the loft
icons.
Open the loft create document and save with your initials. This document has several
sketches that contain circles and ovals. These sketches will be used to define the contour of
your part.
Select the loft icon. This will allow multiple contours as well as guide and spine
curves to be utilized in a single part. Guide curves and spines will not be used here.
Creating such curves will be covered in the Wireframe and Surfaces Class.
Select Curve 1 from the tree. This will define the first profile of the part.
Select Curve 2 through Curve 5 in order. This will finish the definition of the part. The
section curves are not limited to just round or circular curves. They can be of any profile
shape desired. Note the arrows along the right side of each section curve. These arrows
must be along the same side of the curves and they also must be pointing in the same
direction. If they are not then the result will be a twisted part.
Select OK. A part is created that passes through each of the section curves defined in the
order that you selected them. In the specification tree you should notice the loft branch
added and underneath that branch is all of the sketches that were used to create this loft.
You can modify those sketches at any time and the loft will automatically update.
© Wichita State University Part Design Lofts, Page 271

Shell the part with an Outside thickness of .25 inches and an Inside thickness of 0
inches while removing the two ends. This will turn the part into a tube with the inside
passing through the sketches defined. It should appear similar to the diagram shown below.
Save your document.
Open the loft remove document and save with your initials. This exercise uses the
same set of curves. The difference is, this time the loft will be removed from the cylindrical
pad.
Select the loft remove icon. This will create the loft as before, and then automatically
remove it as though it were a pocket.
Select Curve 1 through Curve 5 in order and select OK. The loft is created and then
removed.
Save your document.
Part Design Lofts, Page 272 ©Wichita State University

Part Design Using Surfaces
The next couple of exercises will utilize surfaces to generate parts. The surfaces will be
provided for you. If you wish to learn about building surfaces, they will be covered in the
Wireframe and Surfaces class. The thing to remember is that you are capable of integrating
surfaces in to your part design. In doing so, you are able to make modifications to the
surfaces that are used and the part will automatically update. Even though this course only
covers the use of surfaces to a small degree be aware that it is extremely important that you
understand how to integrate surfaces in to your part design if you want to be able to create
specific contoured parts.
Open the sew & split surface document and save with your initials. This part has two
surfaces. The part is going to be split with the top surface and the bottom surface is going to
be sewn in.
Select the split icon. This will split a part with any given surface or plane.
Select the top surface. This will display an arrow on the surface, and the Split Definition
window will appear.
Make sure the arrow points towards the part. The direction the arrow is pointing is what
is kept in the split operation.
Select OK. The part now has the contour of the surface.
Hide the top surface. This shows the top contour much better. Next, the bottom surface
will be sewn into the part.
© Wichita State University Part Design Using Surfaces, Page 273

Select sew surface icon. When the four sides of a surface come in contact with a part
and the sew operation is used, the area between the surface and the part gets filled in.
Select the bottom surface. The Sew Surface Definition window appears and again an
arrow is displayed on the surface.
Make sure the arrow points towards the part and select OK. The area between the
surface and the part is now filled in.
Hide the bottom surface. These options are very useful if a specialized contour is needed
on a part. It should appear similar to the diagram shown below.
Save your document.
Part Design Using Surfaces, Page 274 ©Wichita State University

Open the thick surface document and save with your initials. This document has a
single surface in a circular shape.
Select the thick surface icon. This will allow a thickness to be added to a face or a
surface.
Select the surface. The Thick Surface Definition window appears. An arrow will be
displayed on the surface indicating the direction of the First Offset.
Make the First Offset 1 inch and the Second Offset .5 inches. This will make the total
pad 1.5 inches thick.
Select OK. The surface has the thickness applied and a part is created.
Select the thickness surface icon again. This time the end of the part will have a thickness
added.
Select the face on the end of the newly created part as shown below.
Change the First Offset to 5 inches and the Second Offset to 0 inches and make sure the
arrow points away from the thickness.
Select OK. The side of this part has now been extended (thickened) linearly by five inches.
It is important to note that the thickness is applied linearly instead of following the tangency
of the part. Even though you applied the thickness to the end of the part it still added the
thickness straight out ignoring the fact that the part is curved going to that end. This
happens because it is adding the thickness in the normal direction of the selected face.
Therefore, if you add thickness to a curved side then it will add thickness in the normal
direction to the curved surface.
Save your document.
© Wichita State University Part Design Using Surfaces, Page 275

Open the close surface document and save with your initials. This document has one
surface in the shape of an airfoil. The surface is completely wrapped around, but is open on
each end.
Select the close surface icon. This will allow closed surfaces to be enclosed with a
solid part.
Select the Airfoil Surface. The Close Surface Definition window appears.
Select OK and hide the Airfoil Surface. The surface was enclosed with a solid part and
now other operations can be added to the part.
Save your document.
Part Design Using Surfaces, Page 276 ©Wichita State University

Applying Materials
This section will cover applying materials to a defined part.
Open the materials document and save with your initials. Materials from the material
library will be applied to this part.
Select the apply material icon from the bottom toolbar. This will display the
material library.
The Material Library contains many different types of materials. Each material stores
information about itself such as texture, density, drafting pattern and other engineering
properties. The materials are broken down into several categories. The categories are
construction, fabrics, metal, other, stone and wood. Any type of material can be applied to
any type of part, but only one material can be applied per part. Assemblies must be used in
order to have multiple parts with different materials applied. Diagrams of each material
window can be found in Appendix C.
Select the Metal tab. This tab contains the various types of metal definitions in CATIA.
Other definitions can be added, but this is not within the scope of this course.
Select Aluminum. This will be the material applied to the part.
Select the Mounting Bracket and select OK. This will apply the material to the part. You
should notice an aluminum branch added to the tree. Double selecting this branch will
display the various properties of the aluminum which are shown in Appendix C as well. In
order for the part to appear aluminum you have to change the render style.
© Wichita State University Applying Materials, Page 277

Press and hold the first mouse button while on the render style icon on the bottom
toolbar. Release the mouse button while on the customized view parameters
icon. This will allow a customized shading method. This icon will bring up the
Customized View Modes window. If this icon has already been initialized then it will appear
differently and you will have to use the pull down menu View, Render Style, Customize
View in order to bring up the Custom View Modes window.
Set the options so that only Materials and Shading are on. This will shade the part using
the material texture.
Select OK. The part is now shaded with the Aluminum property.
All other materials are applied in the same manner. You can apply another material and it
will replace the current material that is applied. You may want to try out a few of the
materials just to see what they look like.
Save your document.
Applying Materials, Page 278 ©Wichita State University

Reference Geometry
As you have gone through some of the exercises you may have noticed various planes in
addition to the default ones. These were created using the reference elements toolbar.
Planes are very useful to define supports for sketches, to split geometry and to define limits
for your objects. In future courses you will find other uses for planes as well. This exercise
is going to introduce you to the various options available to create planes.
Open the planes document and save with your initials. The first thing you are going to
have to do is add the reference elements toolbar to your workbench.
Add the Reference Elements (Compact) toolbar to your workbench. You can do this by
using the pull down menu View, Toolbars, Reference Elements (Compact). You should see
a new icon appear on your workbench that appears as a point.
There are three icons in this toolbar: point , line and plane . This exercise will
focus on the plane icon.
Offset from plane
Select the plane icon. This will open the Plane Definition window. Most of the
plane types will be covered in this exercise.
Change the Plane type to Offset from plane. This will allow you create a plane offset from
the yz plane.
© Wichita State University Reference Geometry, Page 279

Use the yz plane as the Reference and change the Offset to 3 and select OK. A new
plane appears three inches from the yz plane and parallel to it.
Parallel through point
Select the plane icon.
Change the Plane type to Parallel through point.
Use the yz plane as the Reference and the end point of the line for the Point as shown
above and select OK. A plane appears parallel to the yz plane passing through the point.
Reference Geometry, Page 280 ©Wichita State University

Angle/Normal to plane
Change the Plane type to Angle/Normal to plane.
Use the line as the Rotation axis, the yz plane as the Reference, change the Angle to 45
and select OK. A plane appears passing through the line and at a 45 degree angle to the yz
plane.
Through three points
Change the Plane type to Through three points.

Select the three points as shown below and select OK. A plane appears passing through
the three points.
Through two lines
Change the Plane type to Through two lines.
Select the line and the H axis of Sketch.2 and select OK. You will know if it is Sketch.2’s
H axis because when you put your cursor on it, Sketch.2 will highlight in the specification
tree. A plane appears passing through the two lines.

Through point and line
Change the Plane type to Through point and line.
Select the top end point of the spline as the Point and select the line and then select OK.
A plane appears at the point passing through the line.
Through planar curve
Change the Plane type to Through planar curve.
Select the curve and select OK. A plane appears passing through the curve.

Normal to curve
Change the Plane type to Normal to curve.
Select the curve and leave the Point to be Default (Middle) and select OK. A plane
appears normal to the curve and passing through the midpoint of the curve.
Equation
Change the Plane type to Equation.
Change the value of D to be 2 and select OK. A plane appears 2 inches in the z direction.
You can use this option to key in a variety of planes using the equation of a plane.

The other two options, Tangent to surface and Mean through points will not be covered in
this course.
If you were to use these planes in your part design and then you modify the plane the part
will update automatically. Most of the time you can see the part update dynamically as you
move a plane.


Problems
Problem #1.0
© Wichita State University Problems, Page 287

Problem #2.0
Problems, Page 288 ©Wichita State University

Problem #3.0

Problem #4.0

Problem #5.0

Problem #6.0


Problem #7.0

Problem #8.0

Problem #9.0

Problem #10.0

Problem #11.0

Problem #12.0

Problem #13.0

Problem #14.0

Problem #15.0

Problem #16.0

Problem #17.0

Problem #18.0

Problem #19.0

Problem #20.0

Problem #21.0

Problem #22.0

Problem #23.0

Problem #24.0

Problem #25.0

Problem #26.0

Problem #27.0

Appendix A
This section is to introduce you to the various options that are available under the pull down
menu Tools, Customize. This will only give you a brief overview of the various options.
Customize - Start Menu
This allows you to specify what workbenches you want available to you on the start menu.
You can access these workbenches by selecting the change workbench icon on each
workbench. An example of what you could possibly see is shown below.
© Wichita State University Appendix A, Page 315

Customize - User Workbenches
Allows you to define their own workbenches with their own toolbars on the workbench.
Customize - Toolbars
Allows you to modify existing toolbars or create your own toolbars.
Appendix A, Page 316 ©Wichita State University

Customize - Commands
Allows you to add or delete commands from toolbars. You can also set up hot keys for
various options if you Show Properties.
Customize - Options
Allows you toggle on or off the Large Icons or Tooltips.
© Wichita State University Appendix A, Page 317

Appendix A, Page 318 ©Wichita State University

Appendix B
This will give a general overview of some of the options available through the pull down
menu Tools, Options. Not all of the options will be covered, just the ones that are pertinent
to this course.
General - Display - Tree
Tree Type allows you to change how the tree appears based on the type selected
Tree Orientation orients the tree either horizontally or vertically
Tree Item Size this pertains to the size of the text in the tree
Tree Show/NoShow if turned on, items in your tree that are hidden will have their icons
blurred or appear fuzzy
© Wichita State University Appendix B, Page 319

General - Display - Visualization
Colors
Graduated color background if turned on the background color will appear

graduated from top to bottom instead of solid
Background color of the background
Selected elements color of elements that you have selected
Selected edges color of edges that have been selected
Preselected element linetype linetype of preselected elements
Low-intensity elements color of elements that appear in low-intensity
Update needed color you part will appear when an update is needed
Handles color of the various handles that appear, such as the

handle that appears when translating
Appendix B, Page 320 ©Wichita State University

General - Parameters - Symbols
Constraint Style allows you to change the color of the constraints based on their
condition
Display at Creation allows you to change the default display of your constraints to be
either value, value and name, or value and name and formula

General - Parameters - Units
Units allows you to select the magnitude and then specify the units that you
want to use for that magnitude
Dimensions display you can specify if you want trailing zeros, when to use exponential
notation and how many decimal places you want to see displayed

Mechanical Design - Part Design - General
Update sets whether or not your part gets updated automatically when a
change occurs or you have to manually update it, you also can turn on
or off having the update stop on the first error
Delete Operation toggle on or off whether you want the delete dialog box to appear
when you delete and you can toggle whether you want referenced
sketches deleted

Mechanical Design - Part Design - Display
Specification tree determines what gets displayed by default in the specification tree,
the options not selected will be collapsed underneath their respective
object

Mechanical Design - Sketcher
Grid allows you to toggle the display of the grid and the snap to point option on
the sketch plane
Sketch Plane toggle for having the sketch plane appear shaded and for positioning the
sketch plane parallel to the screen
Geometry toggle for the creation of center points automatically when a circle or ellipse
is created and the direct manipulation allows you to select an element of the
sketch and drag it to manipulate the sketch
Constraint toggle for automatically generating geometrical and dimensional constraints
Colors change the default color of sketch elements and to change the color of
elements when they are over constrained, construction geometry, associated
geometry, etc.


Appendix C
Material Library
Materials are used to attach structural properties to parts as well as allow them to be
displayed in a more accurate manner. They will also automatically produce patterns
corresponding to the material when drawings are created from the parts. The following
pages show you diagrams of the available materials that come with CATIA.
Construction
© Wichita State University Appendix C, Page 327

Fabrics
Appendix C, Page 328 ©Wichita State University

Metal

Other

Stone

Wood
You can add additional materials to the library but that topic is beyond the scope of this
course. However, your company will probably populate this library with the various
materials that are commonly used and you will be able to apply them in the same manner to
which you apply these materials.

Applying a material
In order to apply a material to a part, all you have to do is select the apply material icon in
the bottom toolbar, select the material, select the body and select OK.
Select the apply material icon.
Select the material desired.
Select the part body that you want this material to be applied to.
Select OK.
In order to see the material shaded on your part you need to make sure your customized
render style includes materials and shading. You can configure this by using the pull down
menu View, Render Style, Customize View. If this is set up then you just have to activate
that render style by choosing it from the bottom toolbar.

Properties of a material
Using the third mouse button while on the material in the specification tree you can access
the properties of the material. There are many tabs with various properties on each tab
depending on the material that is being used. The tabs are Rendering, Inheritance, Feature
Properties, Analysis and Drafting. The following diagrams relate to Italian Marble
however they should be similar to many of the other materials.
Rendering
As you can see there are two tabs located under Rendering: Lighting and Texture.
The Material size pertains to the size of the texture, for small parts you will want the size to
be smaller and for large parts you will want it to be larger. You can also change the
mapping style using the icon.
The Lighting options are self defining as long as you are familiar with the graphic arts
language. The important thing to note is that you can adjust all of those values.
The Texture options tell you the tif file that it is using for the texture and the rest of the
options allow you to adjust that texture.

Inheritance
Determines what features will be affected with this material. This pertains to the parent and
child elements of the part body that has the material. This is more useful when working
with assemblies then with parts.
Feature Properties
Allows you to change the name of the material as it is displayed in the specification tree.

Analysis
This contains the structural properties of the material.
Drafting
This allows you to adjust the pattern that is going to be used when you create drawings from
this part. You can choose a different pattern by using the Pattern table button.

When you select the Pattern table button the Pattern Chooser window appears.
This allows you specify the pattern that you would like to use when a drawing is created.
You can filter the pattern options by categories: Hatching, Dots and Color or you can
choose All types. In order to see the rest of your options you have to select the Next button.
This overview was meant to introduce you to various options involving materials, you will
need to use the various options in order to get a better understanding of them.


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CATIA Part Design & Sketcher CATIA® V5R6

© Wichita State University Table of Contents, Page i

Basic Part Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139

Advanced Sketcher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205

Table of Contents, Page ii ©Wichita State University

Advanced Part Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237

© Wichita State University Table of Contents, Page iii

Table of Contents, Page iv ©Wichita State University

- Performing boolean operations on parts

- Basic use of surfaces in part design

- Applying materials to parts

© Wichita State University Introduction, Page 1

Introduction, Page 2 ©Wichita State University

Part Design & Sketcher

© Wichita State University Introduction, Page 3

Log on/off procedures for Windows NT

Introduction, Page 4 ©Wichita State University

Double-click on the CATIA icon. This will run CATIA.

Select OK. This will log you off the system.

© Wichita State University Introduction, Page 5

CATIA Version 5 Screen

A This is your specification tree. Currently it has an entity referred to as a product.

C The Welcome to CATIA V5 window allows you to change to different workbenches

E The current workbench is the Product Structure workbench. The current

Introduction, Page 6 ©Wichita State University

Part Design Screen

© Wichita State University Introduction, Page 7

New Creates a new analysis, drawing, part or product

New from Creates a new document based on an existing one

Open Opens an existing document

Close Closes the current document

Save Saves the current document with the same name

Save As Saves the current document with a name you specify

Save All Saves all documents that are currently opened

Print Prints the current document

Desk Allows you to view the relationships between documents

Send To Allows you to send CATIA data to an e-mail or another directory

Exit Exits CATIA

Introduction, Page 8 ©Wichita State University

Update Updates your document with changes

Cut Cuts the selected objects from the document

Copy Copies the selected objects

Paste Pastes the previously cut or copied objects in the document

Paste Special Gives additional options to the paste

Delete Deletes selected objects

Search Searches your document for certain objects

Links Edits document links

Properties Displays and edits graphic properties

© Wichita State University Introduction, Page 9

Toolbars Allows you to view or hide toolbars.

Introduction, Page 10 ©Wichita State University

Reset Compass Resets the compass to its original location if moved

Tree Expansion Allows you to expand or collapse the

Specifications Overview Gives an overview window of the specification tree allowing

Geometry Overview Gives an overview window of the geometry in your document,

Zoom Area Zooms in on an area that you specify

Modify This allows you to look at your geometry in a variety

© Wichita State University Introduction, Page 11

Navigation Mode Switches between Examine, Walk and Fly

Lighting Varies ambient lighting effects

Depth Effect Clips geometry between clipping planes

Ground Visually inserts a plane at ground level

Magnifier Creates a zoomed in view of your part in a separate window