How would you handle Bldg Layout

[chancey]

I was curious how other would handle a building layout. There is really no need to be 3d. Should I do everything in the drawing with maybe Blocks ala ACAD or make thin models and putinto an assy and get my top view. Just curious how other would do this.

Thanks in advance

 

[handleman]

I would probably just use DWGEditor. SolidWorks isn't really designed to be a 2D schematic/layout/diagram program. If I had to use SW, I would probably just make the thin models as you planned.

 

[SBaugh]

I have a customer that is building something like this and they made all the machines in SW and placed them into an assembly. Because the assembly was getting big I had them Exported all the machines out as a part and placed them into a new assembly to decrease file size of the assembly and make it easier to work.

If you make it in a drawing you won't get that 3D effect and really what's the purpose of getting a 3D CAD tool if you just use ACAD or DWG editor.

Regards,

Scott Baugh, CSWP

http://www.scottjbaugh.com

faq731-376

 

[tomc1]

I agree with Handleman in that SolidWorks is really not designed to be a 2D system, but by using blocks and setting up a 2D drawing toolbar it can work okay. We are using this method and it is working okay and that allowed us to remain with one CAD platform.

 

[rockguy]

I model the building layout in 3D like everything else (I typically make all the walls ones one part) and add the layout to the assembly file. I then create a drawing using the top view. It works well for me. I'm a firm believer in all 3D or all 2D without mixing the two.

Rob Rodriguez CSWP

http://www.axiscadsolutions.com

http://www.robrodriguez.com

http://designsmarter.typepad.com/rob_rodriguez/

President:

http://www.nvtswug.com

SW 2007 SP 2.0

 

[SBaugh]

Its a 3D world why use the old school 2D when you can build it just the same in 3D?

If you use 3D you can look at using that camera animation if you have animator... its great and is a great marketing tool.

Like rockguy says, you just have to make some changes in they way you put a building to together. SW can handle extremely large assemblies, but the question is mainly can your hardware handle large assemblies? None-the-Less if you think about before building it you can do in 3D SW with very little problem. I did and I had TB parts in my building structure and I still ran it without any problem.

Regards,

Scott Baugh, CSWP

http://www.scottjbaugh.com

faq731-376

 

[ctopher]

I was able to attach and link an ACAD dwg to a sketch and make a SW assy with walls and furniture. As the 2D ACAD updated, so did the SW assy.
But, without the proper hardware/software settings and memory, it is painfully slow. Not worth the effort really.
I agree to make all 3D or all 2D, without mixing.

Chris
SolidWorks 07 3.0/PDMWorks 07
AutoCAD 06
ctopher's home (updated 03-26-07)

 

[chancey]

Thanks for the response. My happy medium - I have done it in 3d but for now I am leaving it thin to get the top view effect. Making depts. as sub assys. Overall flexibility is good and I will be able to add vertical heights someday time permitting. lol.

 

[Valshnar]

Some days ya gotta go against the flow...even if sbaugh is on the other side.

I've done a lot of these both ways for many years. I started off with the GO 3D OR GO HOME attitude but experience has taught me that sometimes it's best to use those Autocad skills I painfully acquired so long ago. It really depends on what you want to end up with.

The arguement for 3d; Solidworks/photoworks is a tremendous marketing tool, if that's what you need. Wow your customer with a huge 3d factory layout...you can often simulate a complex machine pretty easily and there are a lot of tools to go from low detail to high. Check out assembly configurations if you aren't familiar with them, and try using dummy 2d parts in one config and then add in a 3d assembly configuration which can get as complex as you like. If marketing is really important take the time to learn photoworks. Also, find someone with a little taste (this will exclude most of us friendly engineers) who can tell you that your colors are too garish or whatever. Yes, it does make a difference, sorry.

The 2d side? Hey, if 2d is all you need and if you are doing a large, complex building with lots of different components there is a heck of a lot to be said for (this is hard) Autocad. I don't care how good you are in Solidworks, if there is a whole bunch of 2d stuff that's gotta happen, it's gonna happen faster in Autocad. I'll have 25 of my conveyors (or whatever) laid out, half of them mirrored, etc. etc. while you are still struggling to figure out how to copy a collection of entities in a sketch without having the lines all stretch.

Nice things about Autocad; Very easy to copy blocks to exact points and accurately move and stretch or shorten your assemblies or whatever it is you are manipulating. Very easy to overlay the .dwg foundation drawings onto your factory layout to make sure all is kosher.

Another point; if you have a really large layout Solidworks tends to choke on large numbers of 2d entities and get very slow. Don't ask me why...perhaps they've fixed in 2007?

Yes, DWG Editor exists but I gave up on that. It likes to corrupt my DWG files and isn't too stable. I doubt if it would function on a really big drawing...maybe it would but I got pretty annoyed by the crashes.

Gonna use Solidworks? The 2d-3d body approach you chose is fine in many ways and although you have to do all the mates the nice part is...the mates are there so if you wanna change sizes of things it all grows or shrinks nicely.

WARNING: If you choose to do all 2d in Solidworks, fine, but DON'T try to do this in a drawing! Do all your drawing in a part sketch or multiple part sketches, or sketches in multiple parts in an assembly.

Also, read up about the BLOCK tool.

OK, got that off my chest, feel better now.

 

[drawoh]

chancey,

Why do you want to model a building in 3D?

This question matters, because SolidWorks does not have much intelligence that applies to building layouts. How do you want to view stuff? How do you want to print it out? Are you designing something that goes into it?

All of this massively affects your modeling procedure.

JHG