BEYOND IMAGINATION

Visualization tools help ensure quality.

BRUCE: Hey, Benny. What’s with all the pictures taped to your whiteboard? And why are you staring at them so intently?

BENNY: Shhhh. I’m ‘visualizing.’

BRUCE: Visualizing?

BENNY: You know ... you think of something you want, and then visualize already having it. I’m working on a brand new, bright red motorcycle right now. Staring at pictures is supposed to improve your ability to really tap into the power of your imagination, which is supposed to help you visualize.

BRUCE: Uh-huh. Well, that’s one way … I guess. But I thought we were going to discuss the power of visualization tools and how they help ensure accurate design.

BENNY: Oh, yeah. That’s right!

BRUCE: In the December 2006 edition of Solutions, we talked about some of the visualization tools built into Pro/E® like CROSS-SECTION, DYNAMIC CLIPPING and EXPLODE VIEW.

Figure 1: "Dim Bounds" is used to set features at their
minimum or maximum allowable dimension value. The
part us then regenerated to check for assembly
interference and / or clearance.

FIGURE 2: Draft Check shows if and where draft
(angled surfaces that are an important part of plastic
molding) is modeled into the design.The colors
indicate the angle of the draft.

BENNY: And we only briefly touched on Pro/E’s INTERFERENCE and CLEARANCE CHECKS. Let’s start there.

BRUCE: Good idea. Both are valuable to ensuring product quality, and especially valuable when you’re building assemblies, wouldn’t you agree?

BENNY: Absolutely. Obviously, if there’s too much — or not enough — clearance or interference in relation to other parts,then the rest of the manufacturing process doesn’t matter, right? It could be perfect in material composition, and flawless coming off the manufacturing line, but if the part’s interference or clearance in relation to other components is wrong, it’s not going to work.

BRUCE: Right! Pro/E has made accessing and using the tools so simple, there is no reason not to use them. Plus, Pro/E’s colorcoding also makes identifying areas of interference and clearance easy. Interference is coded in red, while clearance is blue. And the results tell you the exact volume of interference, or the shortest distance of clearance, whichever applies. You can also rotate and/or zoom in to an area of interference to get a better picture of where the interference is happening.

BENNY: There are so many options designed to make checking for interference or clearance fast and easy. For example, by using the pull-down list in Assembly Mode, you can measure the distance between a component and portions of another, say, an edge (from Whole Part to Single Entity), or you might select an entire sub-assembly (Whole Subasm) so you don’t have to individually select multiple components for evaluation.

BRUCE: Another great visualization tool that some may not know exists is DIMENSION BOUNDS — or, “Dim Bounds,” for short (see figure 1). By setting the worst case for both upper and lower bounds, Dim Bounds can check interference and clearing for you. For example, you might set one part at its largest size, and another at its smallest to make sure you don’t have interference, or to confirm that the interference you have is correct.

BENNY: That’s a good one. We’re used to doing a lot of hand-calculations for dimension boundaries, and that’s great, too, but with Pro/E’s Dim Bounds,we have a computer-powered double-check. And that’s especially helpful when working with complex shapes and assemblies.

BRUCE: For RL Hudson, MoldFlow® Mold Adviser (MMA), which works in conjunction with PRO/E, is extremely valuable. This tool lets us simulate the part in plastic. It’s a separate program, but if you’re working with plastics, it’s a must-have.

BENNY: It sure is. Overall, it analyzes and helps to visually identify potential design issues that might negatively impact manufacturability or quality. We use MMA to look at things like gate location, and also to help us see potential temperature and pressure issues through cooling quality analysis. And with metal-to-plastic conversion on the rise, more and more of our customers are asking for our assistance in that regard. MMA is an analysis and visualization tool we use throughout that process, as well.

BRUCE: Clearly, visualization tools are valuable in confirming design elements as an engineer moves through the process. But their real value is in creating a Virtual Prototype.

BENNY: True. Prototyping is critical to quality. And virtual prototyping lets you check every possible scenario, which wouldn’t be practical from a time and dollars perspective otherwise. It certainly doesn’t replace actual prototyping, as is done in RL Hudson’s Rapid Tooling Center, nor would it ever replace first articles, but it’s a very valuable part of the entire process.

BRUCE: I agree. Well, that’s probably enough for this session, right Benny?

BENNY: Right, Bruce. We certainly haven’t covered all of the visualization tools available in Pro/E, but hopefully, we’ve created enough interest that our fellow engineers who may not be using them will want to now.

BRUCE: OK, Benny. See you next time. Hey … I wonder if your motorcycle has shown up yet?

Pro/E® and Pro/ENGINEER® are registered trademarks of Parametric Technology Corporation (PTC).

Solutions 4Q07

BEYOND IMAGINATION

Visualization tools help ensure quality.