Basics of solid CAD system modeling in teaching

Abstract

The paper considers the problem of teaching 3D solid modeling in the parametric computer-aided design systems when training students and specialists who need proper occupational study. The author describes the importance of this design method for the production tasks and the problems related to the lack of algorithmization tools of such training. The author proposes using two interrelated techniques: solid geometry modeling and teaching this kind of design. To solve the development task of the first technique, the author proposes to supplement the solid modeling terminology in Russian and formalize the features of solid geometry decomposition. The paper introduces three ways of solid decomposition based on the criteria of the sketch form and specification tree. The author proposes a design technique algorithm consisting of two stages. Each stage is divided into four steps, and the features of some steps are described. Further, the author presents the technique of teaching solid modeling. This technique is based on the frequency of using solid primitives and the necessity to develop tasks for students depending on this frequency. The author identifies the main skill to be mastered by the students. The technique introduces the ways of solving problems faced by students and engineers during solid modeling. The author proposes the distribution of hours for training basic concepts of solid modeling. The paper presents the teaching technique implementation in the existing higher school educational programs and proposes its deployment to the related areas of design.