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Advanced Mechanical Tools
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TurboCAD Pro Mechanical Edition provides much greater flexibility to rapidly and precisely design and draw complex parts. There are four principal areas in which the Mechanical Edition differs from the TurboCAD Pro basic product. They are in constraints, design tools, modification tools, and the Advanced Part Tree.
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Mechanical Edition Constraints
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TurboCAD Pro Mechanical Edition includes two additional constraint functions: a mid-point constraint, and a pattern constraint.
The midpoint constraint provides a point-to-line constraint where the point is constrained on the imaginary line that would be perpendicular to the line selected and intersecting with the midpoint of that line.
Pattern constraints are an extremely valuable design aid. It works by turning on the Pattern Constraint function and then using either an array copy, or a polar array copy. An array of constrained parts is created that have numerous associative relationships.
Add driving dimensional constraints between patterned elements, and the entire pattern may be driven parametrically using the calculator palette. This may include the dimensions of the copied object, the distances, or angles between objects.
In a full array, elements of the array may be deleted to create gaps as well. These gaps and breaks in the pattern are maintained even when the pattern is adjusted.
The pattern constraint may be used for creating profiles for 3D extrudes that themselves may have bends and different shapes applied. This is very useful for creating items like keyboards, air vents, or speaker cut-outs on product molds, and hundreds of other uses.
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Mechanical Design Tools
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A number of design tools are available in TurboCAD Pro Mechanical Edition for 3D solid and surface modeling. These tools can enable the creation of parts that might not have been entirely possible in some cases, or which would have been far more difficult to create. Among them are:
- Thread Tool - Easily create threaded 3D objects. The pitch and height of threading are parametrically defined and editable.
- Twisted Extrude - Create a wide variety of twisted extrusions with this simple extrude tool that offers added parameters including twist angle, distance type, normal, full height, twist to top, twist start distance, twist end distance, and twist continuity (G0, G1 or G2).
- Extrude to Face - Now extrude or subtract a face of a solid to either another face of a solid or to a surface.
- Parametric Holes with Boss Hole Type - Create parametric holes in objects in a few easy steps and modify the properties at any time including an option for easy parametric cylindrical bosses.
- Imprint – Updated for better productivity, it now saves up to 3 steps by optionally combining Booleans with the Extrude, Blend, and Chamfer tools into one single procedure. New dimple feature enhancement makes sheet metal work easier with this tool.
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Mechanical Modification Tools
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TurboCAD Pro Mechanical Edition includes several items for modifying existing geometry. These include:
- Bend - Create accurate bends measuring from a specific distance from the edge. Set the axis, angle, and radius and let TurboCAD do the rest.
- Tube Bend Tool - Make cylinders incredibly flexible. Simply choose where you want to bend on the tube.
- Unbend - Great for sheet metal and fabrication shops, creates an unfolded object, leaving the original object intact.
- Unfold Face- Unfolds faces of various ACIS objects including cone, cylindrical, planar, and NURBs surfaces; even those with a filleted rectangle as the base. This is also knows as obtaining the involute of a surface. It’s great for working with materials like sheet metal or fabrics.
- Facet Offset Tool - Move a facet in or out of its current position while updating all connecting surfaces.
- Flange Tool - Rapidly creates flat and bent flanges using the Smart Dimensioning tool for precision.
- Tube Flange Tool - Simply extend a tube and bend it in a few clicks.
These tools become even more powerful when combined with the Advanced Part Tree capabilities discussed in the next section.
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Advanced Part Tree
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Although there is a Part Tree capability in TurboCAD Pro basic edition, the capabilities of the Advanced Part Tree are staggeringly more powerful. Each of the Mechanical Edition design tools and modification tools above, and most of the 3D primitives, and basic edition 3D design and modification tools may be driven by the Advanced Part Tree.
It can be viewed as a selective UNDO/REDO: adjust the parameters of a bend, an offset, or a flange without having to UNDO the steps that have been done since. Each subsequent step will be applied correctly on the newly updated geometry.
This is a critical aspect of parametric design: by adjusting a value of any one action taken at any time during the design phase, the entire part is properly updated.
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