Computer-Aided Design (CAD) has been called the most significant advance since the development of electricity. CAD is regarded as being the greatest breakthrough of modern times in the search for ways to improve the Product Development Process. This improvement is provided in terms of bringing to market better quality and higher performance products in a significantly shorter design/development cycle and at a lower cost. A survey of the various computer-aided design techniques is presented as they are currently being applied in the mechanical product development process. The research of these techniques includes the basic system operation from a user's perspective, as well as discussion of the relative productivity improvements possible as compared with prior techniques and alternative approaches. The survey results are then enhanced through a case study of the more widely used CAD techniques available to a product design engineer. A typical benchmark part design of a thermoplastic clutch pawl was created and analyzed on some of the latest commercially available computer-aided design systems. This case study, conducted at Xerox Corporation, consisted of both wire frame, surface and solids geometry model creation, mass properties analysis, and finite element model structural analysis.
Library of Congress Subject Headings
CAD/CAM systems--Design; Computer integrated manufacturing systems--Design; Production engineering--Data processing
Department, Program, or Center
Mechanical Engineering (KGCOE)
Sturnick, Gerard R., "Integration of computer-aided design techniques into the mechanical product development process" (1989). Thesis. Rochester Institute of Technology. Accessed from
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