Insert standard components

00:03

Let's place a bolted connection and the holes associated with the fastener into the design,

00:10

will generate projected views of the bolts without having to draw them,

00:14

and then add a spring in additional fasteners without having to use any cleanup tools for the geometry that's already in the drawing.

00:22

It's easy to find libraries of fasteners and even download specialized ones from the web.

00:27

The Bolted Connection tool inside of AutoCAD mechanical allows you to select a series of fasteners,

00:33

whether they're bolts or screws, washers,

00:36

and then choose what type of holes they will pass through as they go through elements of the drawing.

00:43

You have a broad selection of standards and within those standards, a broad selection of the individual fasteners to choose from.

01:04

Once you've selected the bolt stack, you can even save it to a library if you use that combination of fasteners frequently.

01:27

Then selecting the location, you want to place the fastener, you'll be choosing where the holes will pass through.

01:34

After setting the location values,

01:36

you choose how you want the Bolted Connection to appear and it will update the rest of the drawing to follow suit.

01:55

If you need more than one instance of this Bolted Connection,

01:58

you can use the Power Copy tool to select the object,

02:03

and place another instance of it into the model without having to reselect all of the various options.

02:09

Simply place it and it takes care of all the cleanup for you.

02:41

Now that we have one set of Bolted Connections, let's go ahead and place a Power View of the Bolted Connection.

02:48

A Power View allows you to generate an alternate view of the connection.

02:52

So we'll put a top view of the bolt in place.

02:55

Then we'll use Power Copy again to replicate that.

03:11

Including the ability to follow standard drafting practice and orient the new Bolted Connection around the axis.

03:27

There are many other types of standard hardware built into AutoCAD Mechanical as well.

03:33

For example, you can place many types of springs.

03:36

You can calculate the spring.

03:38

You can use standard predefined springs from catalogs, or you can generate your own type of spring,

03:45

or you just simply need to represent the spring on the screen.

04:04

You choose the style you want, set the size attributes,

04:19

and place it into the drawing with automatic cleanup of any of the entities that spring would be wrapped around.

04:43

Once the spring is in place, you can go back to the Libraries and Select a Washer, choosing standard size options.

05:24

And place a Nut to retain it all.

05:28

And once again, all of this is done without having to do any cleanup of objects that were already in the drawing.

05:49

And having the intelligence built into AutoCAD Mechanical to understand that these are not just lines and arcs,

05:54

they are real objects that have relationships to one another.

Video transcript

00:03

Let's place a bolted connection and the holes associated with the fastener into the design,

00:10

will generate projected views of the bolts without having to draw them,

00:14

and then add a spring in additional fasteners without having to use any cleanup tools for the geometry that's already in the drawing.

00:22

It's easy to find libraries of fasteners and even download specialized ones from the web.

00:27

The Bolted Connection tool inside of AutoCAD mechanical allows you to select a series of fasteners,

00:33

whether they're bolts or screws, washers,

00:36

and then choose what type of holes they will pass through as they go through elements of the drawing.

00:43

You have a broad selection of standards and within those standards, a broad selection of the individual fasteners to choose from.

01:04

Once you've selected the bolt stack, you can even save it to a library if you use that combination of fasteners frequently.

01:27

Then selecting the location, you want to place the fastener, you'll be choosing where the holes will pass through.

01:34

After setting the location values,

01:36

you choose how you want the Bolted Connection to appear and it will update the rest of the drawing to follow suit.

01:55

If you need more than one instance of this Bolted Connection,

01:58

you can use the Power Copy tool to select the object,

02:03

and place another instance of it into the model without having to reselect all of the various options.

02:09

Simply place it and it takes care of all the cleanup for you.

02:41

Now that we have one set of Bolted Connections, let's go ahead and place a Power View of the Bolted Connection.

02:48

A Power View allows you to generate an alternate view of the connection.

02:52

So we'll put a top view of the bolt in place.

02:55

Then we'll use Power Copy again to replicate that.

03:11

Including the ability to follow standard drafting practice and orient the new Bolted Connection around the axis.

03:27

There are many other types of standard hardware built into AutoCAD Mechanical as well.

03:33

For example, you can place many types of springs.

03:36

You can calculate the spring.

03:38

You can use standard predefined springs from catalogs, or you can generate your own type of spring,

03:45

or you just simply need to represent the spring on the screen.

04:04

You choose the style you want, set the size attributes,

04:19

and place it into the drawing with automatic cleanup of any of the entities that spring would be wrapped around.

04:43

Once the spring is in place, you can go back to the Libraries and Select a Washer, choosing standard size options.

05:24

And place a Nut to retain it all.

05:28

And once again, all of this is done without having to do any cleanup of objects that were already in the drawing.

05:49

And having the intelligence built into AutoCAD Mechanical to understand that these are not just lines and arcs,

05:54

they are real objects that have relationships to one another.

Insert standard components - Exercise

Task 1: Insert a bolted connection

  1. From the project files, open Belt Driven Gear Reducer 4.dwg. 
  2. In the Content tab>Fasteners panel, click Screw Connection.



  3. In the Screw Connection - Front View dialog box, click <Screws>.



  4. In the Select a Screw dialog box, select Socket Head Types>Hexagon Socket Head Cap Screw – UNC (Regular Thread - Inch)>Front.



  5. In the Screw Connection - Front View dialog box, click <Washers>. 
  6. In the Select a Washer dialog box, select Plain>Type B - Plain Washer (Inch).



  7. In the Screw Connection - Front View dialog box, click the first <Holes> in the list. 
  8. In the Select a Hole dialog box, select Through Cylindrical>Free.



  9. In the Screw Connection - Front View dialog box, click the second <Holes> in the list. 
  10. In the Select a Hole dialog box, select Tapped Holes>Through>UNC (Regular Thread - Inch).



  11. Select 1/4″ - 20 UNC from the list on the right-hand side of the Screw Connection dialog box and click Next.



  12. At the Specify insertion point of first hole prompt, select the midpoint of the right short vertical line at the bottom of GEAR COVER:1, as shown below.



  13. At the Specify endpoint of first hole prompt, select a point straight to the left of the first point selected and on the left short vertical line at the bottom of GEAR COVER:1, so that the directional line of the first hole is perpendicular to the left short vertical line at the bottom of GEAR COVER:1, as shown below.



  14. At the Specify endpoint of second hole prompt, select a point straight to the left of the last point selected and on the left vertical line at the bottom of STAND:1, so that the directional line of the second hole is perpendicular to the left vertical line at the bottom of STAND:1, as shown below.



  15. In the Screw Assembly Location - Front View dialog box, confirm the Insertion Point coordinates and click Next. 
  16. In the Screw Assembly Grip Representation - Front View dialog box, select Normal and click Finish.



  17. In the Select Part Size dialog box, select ANSI B18.22.1 - 1/4 - narrow - Type B and click OK. 
  18. Drag the part so it fits in the drawing, clicking when the length value is .75, as shown below.



  19. In the Home tab>Modify panel, click Copy. 
  20. Select the bolted connection SCREW CON1:1 that was just inserted in the drawing. 
  21. At the Specify insertion point prompt, select the midpoint of the right short vertical line at the top of GEAR COVER:1, as shown below.



  22. At the Specify direction prompt, select a point directly to the left of the previous point selected, as shown below.



  23. To add construction lines, in the Home tab>Construction panel, click Construction Lines.  
  24. In the Construction Lines dialog box, click the Horizontal construction line option. At the Specify insertion point prompts, click the right endpoint of each of the centerlines of the last two bolted connections that were just placed, as shown below, then press <Esc> to end and exit the command.



  25. In the Content tab>Tools panel, click Power View.



  26. Select the bottom bolted connection. 
  27. In the dialog box prompting which view should be drawn, click Top. 
  28. To place the power view in the drawing, at the Specify insertion point prompt, select the intersection of the two construction lines, as shown below.



  29. In the Home tab>Modify panel, click Copy. 
  30. Select the Front view of the bolted connection that was just placed with the Power View command, then place two more front view instances of the copied bolted connection in the drawing using the intersections of the construction lines for their insertion points, and the intersection of the two blue centerlines when specifying the rotation angles, as shown below.



    • Once the two instances are placed, your drawing should appear similar to the one shown below.



Task 2: Insert a spring

  1. In the Content tab>Calculation panel, click the drop-down arrow beside Springs and select Compression.



  2. In the Select Compression Spring dialog box, select Only Draw>Front. 
  3. To place the spring in the drawing, at the Specify starting point prompt, select the intersection of the left tall vertical line of SYNCHRONOUS BELT 1:1 and the centerline of INPUT SHAFT:1, as shown below.



  4. At the Specify direction prompt, click the left endpoint of the centerline of INPUT SHAFT:1, as shown below.



  5. In the Compression Springs - Only Draw [inch] dialog box, set the following: 
    • Wire diameter d = .207
    • Outer Diameter Da = 1.45
    • Total Number of Coils n = 2



  6. Click Finish. 
  7. At the Topical Length prompt, drag to vary the size of the spring, then enter a value of 1.5 (as shown below) and press <Enter>.



  8. At the Select rod prompt, select the three top and three bottom horizontal lines and the single large vertical line that make up the left half of the INPUT SHAFT:1, as shown below, and then right-click the mouse.



  9. In the Hide Situation dialog box, verify that the Display hidden lines option is unchecked and click OK.

Task 3: Insert a washer

  1. In the Content tab>Fasteners panel, click Washer.



  2. In the Select a Washer dialog box, select Plain>Type A - Plain Washer (Inch)>Front.



  3. To place the washer in the drawing, at the Specify insertion point prompt, select the intersection of the centerline and the left vertical line of the COMPRESSION SPRING, as shown below.



  4. At the Specify rotation angle prompt, select a point along the centerline to the left of the COMPRESSION SPRING. 
  5. In the Type A - Plain Washer (Inch) - Nominal Diameter dialog box, select 3/4″ and click Finish. 
  6. In the Select Part Size dialog box, confirm that ANSI B18.22.1 - 3/4 - narrow - Type A is selected and click OK. 
  7. In the Hide Situation dialog box, verify that the Display hidden lines option is unchecked and click OK.

Task 4: Insert a nut

  1. In the Content tab>Fasteners panel, click Nut.



  2. In the Select a Nut dialog box, select Hex Nuts>Hex Jam Nut - UNC (Regular Thread - Inch)>Front. 
  3. To place the nut in the drawing, at the Specify insertion point prompt, select the intersection of the centerline and the left vertical line of WASHER A 1:2, as shown below.



  4. At the Specify rotation angle prompt, select a point along the centerline and to the left of the WASHER A 1:2. 
  5. In the Hex Jam Nut - UNC (Regular Thread - Inch) - Nominal Diameter dialog box, select 3/4″ - 10 UNC and click Finish.



  6. In the Hide Situation dialog box, verify that the Display hidden lines option is unchecked, and click OK.  
  7. Save the drawing. Your completed drawing should look similar to the one shown below.

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