Total number of pages: 310
Total Hours: 32

This Student Guide is designed to introduce students to the concepts, commands, and techniques of part and assembly modeling with Autodesk Mechanical Desktop. Students should be experienced AutoCAD users and should be familiar with AutoCAD basic 3D features. Running in the AutoCAD environment, Mechanical Desktop brings together tools for part modeling, assembly modeling, and surface modeling in one integrated package. Part modeling allows the user to construct “intelligent” 3D solid models with features like holes and fillets that update automatically when the dimensions are changed. With assembly modeling, multiple parts can be brought together in defined relationships, analyzed to check for interference, displayed in exploded views, etc. Finally, surface modeling can create complex contoured shapes, either as stand-alone surface models or in combination with solids to further refine the shape of parts. This class covers part and assembly modeling, not surfaces.

The goal of this Level 1 class is to provide students with the essential concepts and techniques of part modeling and an introduction to assemblies. Students who need more advanced knowledge can continue with the Level 2 class, which covers assemblies in greater depth, as well as more sophisticated part modeling techniques such as lofting, 3D paths, and design variables.