Computer-aided design (CAD) is the use of

computer A computer is a machine that can be programmed to Execution (computing), carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (computation) automatically. Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic sets of operations known as C ...

s (or ) to aid in the creation, modification, analysis, or optimization of a

design A design is a plan or specification for the construction of an object or system or for the implementation of an activity or process or the result of that plan or specification in the form of a prototype, product, or process. The verb ''to design'' ...

. This software is used to increase the productivity of the designer, improve the quality of design, improve communications through documentation, and to create a database for manufacturing. Designs made through CAD software are helpful in protecting products and inventions when used in

patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A p ...

applications. CAD output is often in the form of electronic files for print, machining, or other manufacturing operations. The terms computer-aided drafting (CAD) and computer aided design and drafting (CADD) are also used. Its use in designing electronic systems is known as ''

electronic design automation Electronic design automation (EDA), also referred to as electronic computer-aided design (ECAD), is a category of software tools for designing Electronics, electronic systems such as integrated circuits and printed circuit boards. The tools wo ...

'' (''EDA''). In

mechanical design Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and mathematics principles with materials science, to design, analyze, manufacture, and ...

it is known as ''mechanical design automation'' (''MDA''), which includes the process of creating a

technical drawing Technical drawing, drafting or drawing, is the act and Academic discipline, discipline of composing Plan (drawing), drawings that Visual communication, visually communicate how something functions or is constructed. Technical drawing is essent ...

with the use of

computer software Software is a set of computer programs and associated documentation and data. This is in contrast to hardware, from which the system is built and which actually performs the work. At the lowest programming level, executable code consists ...

. CAD software for mechanical design uses either vector-based graphics to depict the objects of traditional drafting, or may also produce

raster graphics upright=1, The Smiley, smiley face in the top left corner is a raster image. When enlarged, individual pixels appear as squares. Enlarging further, each pixel can be analyzed, with their colors constructed through combination of the values for ...

showing the overall appearance of designed objects. However, it involves more than just shapes. As in the manual

drafting Drafting or draughting may refer to: * Campdrafting, an Australian equestrian sport * Drafting (aerodynamics), slipstreaming * Drafting (writing), writing something that is likely to be amended * Technical drawing, the act and discipline of compo ...

technical Technical may refer to: * Technical (vehicle), an improvised fighting vehicle * Technical analysis, a discipline for forecasting the future direction of prices through the study of past market data * Technical drawing, showing how something is co ...

and

engineering drawing An engineering drawing is a type of technical drawing that is used to convey information about an object. A common use is to specify the geometry necessary for the construction of a component and is called a detail drawing. Usually, a number of ...

s, the output of CAD must convey information, such as

material Material is a substance or mixture of substances that constitutes an object. Materials can be pure or impure, living or non-living matter. Materials can be classified on the basis of their physical and chemical properties, or on their geologi ...

process A process is a series or set of activities that interact to produce a result; it may occur once-only or be recurrent or periodic. Things called a process include: Business and management *Business process, activities that produce a specific se ...

es,

dimension In physics and mathematics, the dimension of a Space (mathematics), mathematical space (or object) is informally defined as the minimum number of coordinates needed to specify any Point (geometry), point within it. Thus, a Line (geometry), lin ...

s, and

tolerance Tolerance or toleration is the state of tolerating, or putting up with, conditionally. Economics, business, and politics * Toleration Party, a historic political party active in Connecticut * Tolerant Systems, the former name of Veritas Software ...

s, according to application-specific conventions. CAD may be used to design curves and figures in two-dimensional (2D) space; or curves, surfaces, and solids in

three-dimensional Three-dimensional space (also: 3D space, 3-space or, rarely, tri-dimensional space) is a geometric setting in which three values (called ''parameters'') are required to determine the position of an element (i.e., point). This is the informal ...

(3D) space. CAD is an important

industrial art Industrial design is a process of design applied to physical products that are to be manufactured by mass production. It is the creative act of determining and defining a product's form and features, which takes place in advance of the manufactu ...

extensively used in many applications, including automotive,

shipbuilding Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other floating vessels. It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces its roots to befor ...

, and

aerospace Aerospace is a term used to collectively refer to the atmosphere and outer space. Aerospace activity is very diverse, with a multitude of commercial, industrial and military applications. Aerospace engineering consists of aeronautics and astrona ...

industries, industrial and

architectural design Building design refers to the broadly based architectural, engineering and technical applications to the design of buildings. All building projects require the services of a building designer, typically a licensed architect. Smaller, less complic ...

(

building information modeling Building information modeling (BIM) is a process supported by various tools, technologies and contracts involving the generation and management of digital representations of physical and functional characteristics of places. Building informatio ...

), prosthetics, and many more. CAD is also widely used to produce

computer animation Computer animation is the process used for digitally generating animations. The more general term computer-generated imagery (CGI) encompasses both static scenes (still images) and dynamic images (moving images), while computer animation refe ...

for

special effect Special effects (often abbreviated as SFX, F/X or simply FX) are illusions or visual tricks used in the theatre, film, television, video game, amusement park and simulator industries to simulate the imagined events in a story or virtual wor ...

s in movies,

advertising Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...

and technical manuals, often called DCC

digital content creation Content creation is the contribution of information to any media and most especially to digital media for an end-user/audience in specific contexts. Content is "something that is to be expressed through some medium, as speech, writing or any of ...

. The modern ubiquity and power of computers means that even perfume bottles and shampoo dispensers are designed using techniques unheard of by engineers of the 1960s. Because of its enormous economic importance, CAD has been a major driving force for research in

computational geometry Computational geometry is a branch of computer science devoted to the study of algorithms which can be stated in terms of geometry. Some purely geometrical problems arise out of the study of computational geometric algorithms, and such problems ar ...

computer graphics Computer graphics deals with generating images with the aid of computers. Today, computer graphics is a core technology in digital photography, film, video games, cell phone and computer displays, and many specialized applications. A great de ...

(both hardware and software), and

discrete differential geometry Discrete differential geometry is the study of discrete counterparts of notions in differential geometry. Instead of smooth curves and surfaces, there are polygons, meshes, and simplicial complexes. It is used in the study of computer graphics, ge ...

. The design of

geometric model __NOTOC__ Geometric modeling is a branch of applied mathematics and computational geometry that studies methods and algorithms for the mathematical description of shapes. The shapes studied in geometric modeling are mostly two- or three-dimensio ...

s for object shapes, in particular, is occasionally called computer-aided geometric design (CAGD).

Overview

Computer-aided design is one of the many tools used by engineers and designers and is used in many ways depending on the profession of the user and the type of software in question. CAD is one part of the whole digital product development (DPD) activity within the product lifecycle management (PLM) processes, and as such is used together with other tools, which are either integrated modules or stand-alone products, such as: * Computer-aided engineering (CAE) and

finite element analysis The finite element method (FEM) is a popular method for numerically solving differential equations arising in engineering and mathematical modeling. Typical problem areas of interest include the traditional fields of structural analysis, heat ...

(FEA, FEM) * Computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) including instructions to

computer numerical control Numerical control (also computer numerical control, and commonly called CNC) is the automated control of machining tools (such as drills, lathes, mills, grinders, routers and 3D printers) by means of a computer. A CNC machine processes a pie ...

(CNC) machines *

Photorealistic rendering __NOTOC__ Within the field of computer graphics, unbiased rendering refers to any rendering (computer graphics), rendering technique that does not introduce systematic error, or bias of an estimator, bias, into the rendering equation, radiance ap ...

and motion simulation. *Document management and revision control using

product data management Product data management (PDM) should not be confused with product information management (PIM). PDM is the name of a business function within product lifecycle management (PLM) that is denotes the management and publication of product data. In soft ...

(PDM) CAD is also used for the accurate creation of photo simulations that are often required in the preparation of environmental impact reports, in which computer-aided designs of intended buildings are superimposed into photographs of existing environments to represent what that locale will be like, where the proposed facilities are allowed to be built. Potential blockage of view corridors and shadow studies are also frequently analyzed through the use of CAD. Using four properties which are history, features, parameterization, and high-level constraints are helpful in everyday engineering. The construction history can be used to look back into the model's personal features and work on the single area rather than the whole model. Parameters and constraints can be used to determine the size, shape, and other properties of the different modeling elements. The features in the CAD system can be used for the variety of tools for measurement such as tensile strength, yield strength, electrical, or electromagnetic properties. Also its stress, strain,

timing Timing is the tracking or planning of the spacing of events in time. It may refer to: * Timekeeping, the process of measuring the passage of time * Synchronization, controlling the timing of a process relative to another process * Time metrolog ...

, or how the element gets affected in certain temperatures, etc.

Types

There are several different types of CAD, each requiring the operator to think differently about how to use them and design their virtual components in a different manner for each.

2D CAD

There are many producers of the lower-end 2D systems, including a number of free and open-source programs. These provide an approach to the drawing process without all the fuss over scale and placement on the drawing sheet that accompanied hand drafting since these can be adjusted as required during the creation of the final draft.

3D CAD

''3D wireframe'' is basically an extension of 2D drafting (not often used today) into a

three-dimensional space Three-dimensional space (also: 3D space, 3-space or, rarely, tri-dimensional space) is a geometric setting in which three values (called ''parameters'') are required to determine the position (geometry), position of an element (i.e., Point (m ...

. Each line has to be manually inserted into the drawing. The final product has no mass properties associated with it and cannot have features directly add to it, such as holes. The operator approaches these in a similar fashion to the 2D systems, although many 3D systems allow using the wireframe model to make the final engineering drawing views. ''3D "dumb" solids'' are created in a way analogous to manipulations of real-world objects (not often used today). Basic three-dimensional geometric forms (prisms, cylinders, spheres, rectangle) have solid volumes added or subtracted from them as if assembling or cutting real-world objects. Two-dimensional projected views can easily be generated from the models. Basic 3D solids don't usually include tools to easily allow the motion of the components, set their limits to their motion, or identify interference between components. There are two types of ''3D solid modeling'' * ''

Parametric modeling Procedural modeling is an umbrella term for a number of techniques in computer graphics to create 3D models and textures from sets of rules. L-Systems, fractals, and generative modeling are procedural modeling techniques since they apply algorit ...

'' allows the operator to use what is referred to as "design intent". The objects and features are created modifiable. Any future modifications can be made by changing on how the original part was created. If a feature was intended to be located from the center of the part, the operator should locate it from the center of the model. The feature could be located using any geometric object already available in the part, but this random placement would defeat the design intent. If the operator designs the part as it functions the parametric modeler is able to make changes to the part while maintaining geometric and functional relationships. * '' Direct or explicit modeling'' provide the ability to edit geometry without a history tree With direct modeling, once a sketch is used to create geometry the sketch is incorporated into the new geometry and the designer just modifies the geometry without needing the original sketch. As with parametric modeling,

direct modeling Direct may refer to: Mathematics * Directed set, in order theory * Direct limit of (pre), sheaves * Direct sum of modules, a construction in abstract algebra which combines several vector spaces Computing * Direct access (disambiguation), a ...

has the ability to include the relationships between selected geometry (e.g., tangency, concentricity).

FreeForm CAD

The top-end systems offer the capabilities to incorporate more organic, aesthetic and ergonomic features into the designs.

Freeform surface modeling Freeform surface modelling is a technique for engineering freeform surfaces with a CAD or CAID system. The technology has encompassed two main fields. Either creating aesthetic surfaces (class A surfaces) that also perform a function; for exam ...

is often combined with solids to allow the designer to create products that fit the human form and visual requirements as well as they interface with the machine.

Technology

Originally software for CAD systems was developed with computer languages such as Fortran, ALGOL but with the advancement of

object-oriented programming Object-oriented programming (OOP) is a programming paradigm based on the concept of "objects", which can contain data and code. The data is in the form of fields (often known as attributes or ''properties''), and the code is in the form of pr ...

methods this has radically changed. Typical modern

parametric feature-based modeler Parametric may refer to: Mathematics *Parametric equation, a representation of a curve through equations, as functions of a variable *Parametric statistics, a branch of statistics that assumes data has come from a type of probability distribut ...

and

freeform surface Freeform surface modelling is a technique for engineering freeform surfaces with a CAD or CAID system. The technology has encompassed two main fields. Either creating aesthetic surfaces (class A surfaces) that also perform a function; for examp ...

systems are built around a number of key C modules with their own

API An application programming interface (API) is a way for two or more computer programs to communicate with each other. It is a type of software Interface (computing), interface, offering a service to other pieces of software. A document or standa ...

s. A CAD system can be seen as built up from the interaction of a

graphical user interface The GUI ( "UI" by itself is still usually pronounced . or ), graphical user interface, is a form of user interface that allows users to interact with electronic devices through graphical icons and audio indicator such as primary notation, inste ...

(GUI) with NURBS geometry or boundary representation (B-rep) data via a geometric modeling kernel. A geometry constraint engine may also be employed to manage the associative relationships between geometry, such as wireframe geometry in a sketch or components in an assembly. Unexpected capabilities of these associative relationships have led to a new form of prototyping called

digital prototyping Digital Prototyping gives conceptual design, engineering, manufacturing, and sales and marketing departments the ability to virtually explore a complete product before it's built. Industrial designers, manufacturers, and engineers use Digital Prot ...

. In contrast to physical prototypes, which entail manufacturing time in the design. That said, CAD models can be generated by a computer after the physical prototype has been scanned using an

industrial CT scanning Industrial computed tomography (CT) scanning is any computer-aided tomographic process, usually X-ray computed tomography, that uses irradiation to produce three-dimensional internal and external representations of a scanned object. Industrial CT ...

machine. Depending on the nature of the business, digital or physical prototypes can be initially chosen according to specific needs. Today, CAD systems exist for all the major platforms (

Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...

Linux Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, which ...

UNIX Unix (; trademarked as UNIX) is a family of multitasking, multiuser computer operating systems that derive from the original AT&T Unix, whose development started in 1969 at the Bell Labs research center by Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, and ot ...

and

Mac OS X macOS (; previously OS X and originally Mac OS X) is a Unix operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2001. It is the primary operating system for Apple's Mac (computer), Mac computers. Within the market of ...

); some packages support multiple platforms. Currently, no special hardware is required for most CAD software. However, some CAD systems can do graphically and computationally intensive tasks, so a modern

graphics card A graphics card (also called a video card, display card, graphics adapter, VGA card/VGA, video adapter, display adapter, or mistakenly GPU) is an expansion card which generates a feed of output images to a display device, such as a computer moni ...

, high speed (and possibly multiple)

CPU A central processing unit (CPU), also called a central processor, main processor or just processor, is the electronic circuitry that executes instructions comprising a computer program. The CPU performs basic arithmetic, logic, controlling, and ...

s and large amounts of RAM may be recommended. The human-machine interface is generally via a

computer mouse A computer mouse (plural mice, sometimes mouses) is a hand-held pointing device that detects two-dimensional motion relative to a surface. This motion is typically translated into the motion of a pointer on a display, which allows a smooth c ...

but can also be via a pen and digitizing graphics tablet. Manipulation of the view of the model on the screen is also sometimes done with the use of a Spacemouse/SpaceBall. Some systems also support stereoscopic glasses for viewing the 3D model. Technologies which in the past were limited to larger installations or specialist applications have become available to a wide group of users. These include the

CAVE A cave or cavern is a natural void in the ground, specifically a space large enough for a human to enter. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. The word ''cave'' can refer to smaller openings such as sea ...

or HMDs and interactive devices like motion-sensing

technology Technology is the application of knowledge to reach practical goals in a specifiable and reproducible way. The word ''technology'' may also mean the product of such an endeavor. The use of technology is widely prevalent in medicine, science, ...

Software

Starting around the mid-1960s, with the IBM Drafting System, computer-aided design systems began to provide more capability than just an ability to reproduce manual drafting with electronic drafting, the cost-benefit for companies to switch to CAD became apparent. The benefits of CAD systems over manual drafting are the capabilities one often takes for granted from computer systems today; automated generation of bills of materials, auto layout in

integrated circuits An integrated circuit or monolithic integrated circuit (also referred to as an IC, a chip, or a microchip) is a set of electronic circuits on one small flat piece (or "chip") of semiconductor material, usually silicon. Large numbers of tiny ...

, interference checking, and many others. Eventually, CAD provided the designer with the ability to perform engineering calculations. During this transition, calculations were still performed either by hand or by those individuals who could run computer programs. CAD was a revolutionary change in the engineering industry, where draftsmen, designers, and engineering roles begin to merge. It did not eliminate departments as much as it merged departments and empowered draftsmen, designers, and engineers. CAD is an example of the pervasive effect computers were beginning to have on the industry. Current computer-aided design software packages range from 2D vector-based drafting systems to 3D

solid Solid is one of the State of matter#Four fundamental states, four fundamental states of matter (the others being liquid, gas, and Plasma (physics), plasma). The molecules in a solid are closely packed together and contain the least amount o ...

and surface modelers. Modern CAD packages can also frequently allow rotations in three dimensions, allowing viewing of a designed object from any desired angle, even from the inside looking out. Some CAD software is capable of dynamic mathematical modeling. CAD technology is used in the design of tools and machinery and in the drafting and design of all types of buildings, from small residential types (houses) to the largest commercial and industrial structures (hospitals and factories). CAD is mainly used for detailed engineering of 3D models or 2D drawings of physical components, but it is also used throughout the engineering process from conceptual design and layout of products, through strength and dynamic analysis of assemblies to definition of manufacturing methods of components. It can also be used to design objects such as jewelry, furniture, appliances, etc. Furthermore, many CAD applications now offer advanced rendering and animation capabilities so engineers can better visualize their product designs.

4D BIM 4D or 4-D may refer to: * 4-dimensional spacetime: three-dimensional space of length, width, and height, plus time * Four-dimensional space Computers and photography * 4D (software), a complete programming environment including database and web s ...

is a type of virtual construction engineering simulation incorporating time or schedule-related information for project management. CAD has become an especially important technology within the scope of

computer-aided technologies Computer-aided technologies (CAx) is the use of computer technology to aid in the design, analysis, and manufacture of products. Advanced CAx tools merge many different aspects of the product lifecycle management (PLM), including design, finite ...

, with benefits such as lower product development costs and a greatly shortened

design cycle A decision cycle is a sequence of steps used by an entity on a repeated basis to reach and implement decisions and to learn from the results. The "decision cycle" phrase has a history of use to broadly categorize various methods of making decision ...

. CAD enables designers to layout and develop work on screen, print it out and save it for future editing, saving time on their drawings.

License management software

In the beginning of 2000, some CAD system software vendors might have shipped their distributions with a dedicated license manager software that might control how often or how many users can utilize CAD system. It could run either on a local machine (by loading from a local storage device) or a local network fileserver and was usually tied to a specific IP address in latter case.

List of software packages

CAD software enables engineers and architects to design, inspect and manage engineering projects within an integrated

(GUI) on a

personal computer A personal computer (PC) is a multi-purpose microcomputer whose size, capabilities, and price make it feasible for individual use. Personal computers are intended to be operated directly by an end user, rather than by a computer expert or tec ...

system. Most applications support solid modeling with boundary representation (B-Rep) and NURBS geometry, and enable the same to be published in a variety of formats. A geometric modeling kernel is a software component that provides solid modeling and surface modeling features to CAD applications. Based on market statistics,

commercial software Commercial software, or seldom payware, is a computer software that is produced for sale or that serves commercial purposes. Commercial software can be proprietary software or free and open-source software. Background and challenge While soft ...

from Autodesk, Dassault Systems, Siemens PLM Software, and PTC dominate the CAD industry. The following is a list of major CAD applications, grouped by usage statistics.List of mechanical CAD softwares
BeyondMech

Commercial software

AC3D AC3D is a 3D design program which has been available since 1994. The software is used by designers for modeling 3D graphics for games and simulations - most notably it is used by the scenery creators at Laminar Research on the X-Plane (simulator ...

Alibre Design Alibre Design is a 3D parametric computer aided design (3D CAD) software suite developed by Alibre for Microsoft Windows. Available in fifteen languages. Alibre is a brand of Alibre, LLC, a company based in Texas. About Founded in 1997, Alibre ...

* ArchiCAD (

Graphisoft Graphisoft SE is a Hungarian design software company headquartered in Budapest, Hungary. As a subsidiary of Nemetschek, Graphisoft develops Building Information Modeling software products for architects, interior designers and planners. Graphisof ...

) * AutoCAD ( Autodesk) * Autodesk Inventor *

AxSTREAM AxSTREAM is a software suite designed by SoftInWay Inc. for the conceptual design of turbines and compressors and also thermodynamic calculations of existing turbomachinery on-design and off-design operation. The application area of the AxSTREAM so ...

* BricsCAD * CATIA (Dassault Systèmes) *

Cobalt Cobalt is a chemical element with the symbol Co and atomic number 27. As with nickel, cobalt is found in the Earth's crust only in a chemically combined form, save for small deposits found in alloys of natural meteoric iron. The free element, pr ...

CorelCAD CorelCAD is a computer-aided design (CAD) application for 2D and 3D design. It works on macOS and Windows operating systems. There is also a mobile app of CorelCAD for Android and iOS devices, but it needs a license in order to be accessible. ...

Fusion 360 Fusion 360 is a commercial computer-aided design (CAD), computer-aided manufacturing (CAM), computer-aided engineering (CAE) and printed circuit board (PCB) design software application, developed by Autodesk. It is available for Windows and mac ...

(Autodesk) * IntelliCAD * IRONCAD * KeyCreator (Kubotek) *

Landscape Express Landscape Express is a CAD software Application software, application for 2-d, 2D and Three-dimensional space, 3D design and drafting. It is used primarily by landscape designers. The software is developed, sold and supported by the United Kingd ...

* MEDUSA *

MicroStation MicroStation is a CAD software platform for two- and three-dimensional design and drafting, developed and sold by Bentley Systems and used in the architectural and engineering industries. It generates 2D/3D vector graphics objects and elements and ...

(

Bentley Systems Bentley Systems, Incorporated is an American-based software development company that develops, manufactures, licenses, sells and supports computer software and services for the design, construction, and operation of infrastructure. The company' ...

) *

Modelur Modelur is a 3D computer graphics, 3D parametric urban design software, implemented as a SketchUp plugin. In contrast to common Computer-aided design, CAD applications, where the user designs buildings with usual dimensions such as width, depth, ...

(AgiliCity) *

Onshape Onshape is a computer-aided design (CAD) software system, delivered over the Internet via a software as a service (SAAS) model. It makes extensive use of cloud computing, with compute-intensive processing and Rendering (computer graphics), render ...

Promine Promine Inc. is a company which produces a self-titled software used for mining engineering and geological work. Promine functions as an extension of AutoDesk's AutoCAD software, providing additional functionality specifically oriented for work ...

* PTC Creo (successor to Pro/ENGINEER) *

PunchCAD Encore Software, LLC ("Encore") is a Delaware limited liability company focused on software sales, distribution and software development. In November 2008, Encore announced an expanded license with Riverdeep. Under the terms of the agreement Encor ...

Remo 3D Remo 3D is a 3D computer graphics software specialized in creating 3D models for realtime visualization. As opposed to many other 3D modeling products that are primarily intended for rendering. Remo 3D focuses on supporting realtime features like ...

* Revit (Autodesk) *

Rhinoceros 3D Rhinoceros (typically abbreviated Rhino or Rhino3D) is a commercial 3D computer graphics and computer-aided design (CAD) application software that was developed by Robert McNeel & Associates, an American, privately held, and employee-owned com ...

Siemens NX NX, formerly known as "unigraphics", is an advanced high-end CAD/CAM/ CAE, which has been owned since 2007 by Siemens Digital Industries Software. In 2000, Unigraphics purchased SDRC I-DEAS and began an effort to integrate aspects of both softwar ...

SketchUp SketchUp is a suite of subscription products that include SketchUp Pro Desktop, a 3D modeling Computer-Aided Design (CAD) program for a broad range of drawing and design applications — including architectural, interior design, industrial an ...

* Solid Edge (Siemens) *

SolidWorks SolidWorks is a solid modeling computer-aided design (CAD) and computer-aided engineering (CAE) application published by Dassault Systèmes. According to the publisher, over two million engineers and designers at more than 165,000 companies we ...

(Dassault Systèmes) * SpaceClaim *

T-FLEX CAD T-FLEX CAD (T-FLEX) – is a Russian-made parametric computer-aided design (CAD) software application for 2D design, drafting, and 3D solid modeling based on commercial Parasolid geometric kernel. It's primarily developed and distributed by ...

TranslateCAD {{Infobox Software , name = TranslateCAD , logo = , screenshot = , caption = , developer = TranslationToSpanish.com , released = 2008 , latest relea ...

TurboCAD TurboCAD is a computer-aided design, CAD software application for 2d computer graphics, 2D and 3d computer graphics, 3D design and technical drawing, drafting which runs on MacOS and Microsoft Windows operating systems. Windows versions TurboCA ...

Vectorworks Vectorworks, Inc. is a U.S.-based software development company that focuses on CAD and BIM software for the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC), landscape, and entertainment industries. Vectorworks is owned by the Nemetschek Group, ...

( Nemetschek)

Open-source software

BRL-CAD BRL-CAD is a constructive solid geometry (CSG) solid modeling computer-aided design (CAD) system. It includes an interactive geometry editor, ray tracing support for graphics rendering and geometric analysis, computer network distributed frameb ...

FreeCAD FreeCAD is a general-purpose parametric 3D computer-aided design (CAD) modeler and a building information modeling (BIM) software application with finite element method (FEM) support. It is intended for mechanical engineering product design bu ...

* LibreCAD *

LeoCAD LeoCAD is a free and open-source 3D CAD program for creating virtual Lego models by using parts from LDraw library. It was developed by Leonardo Zide in 1997. See also * Lego Digital Designer References Bibliography * T. Santos, A ...

OpenSCAD OpenSCAD is a free software application for creating solid 3D computer-aided design (CAD) objects. It is a script-only based modeller that uses its own description language; parts can be previewed, but cannot be interactively modified by mouse i ...

QCAD QCAD is a computer-aided design (CAD) software application for 2D design and drafting. It is available for Linux, Apple macOS, Unix and Microsoft Windows. The QCAD GUI is based on the Qt framework. QCAD is partly released under the GNU General ...

Salome (software) SALOME is a multi-platform open source ( LGPL-2.1-or-later) scientific computing environment, allowing the realization of industrial studies of physics simulations. This platform, developed by a partnership between EDF and CEA, sets up an envir ...

SolveSpace SolveSpace is a free and open-source 2D/ 3D constraint-based parametric computer-aided design (CAD) software that supports basic 2D and 3D constructive solid geometry modeling. It is a constraint-based parametric modeler with simple mechanic ...

CAD Sketcher Computer-aided design (CAD) is the use of computers (or ) to aid in the creation, modification, analysis, or optimization of a design. This software is used to increase the productivity of the designer, improve the quality of design, improve c ...

Freeware

* BricsCAD Shape *

Tinkercad Tinkercad is a free-of-charge, online 3D modeling program that runs in a web browser. Since it became available in 2011 it has become a popular platform for creating models for 3D printing as well as an entry-level introduction to constructive s ...

(successor to

Autodesk 123D Autodesk 123D was a suite of hobbyist CAD and 3D modelling tools created by Autodesk. It is similar in scope to Trimble SketchUp and is based on Autodesk Inventor. As well as the more basic drawing and modelling capabilities it also has asse ...

)

CAD kernels

* ACIS by Spatial *

C3D Toolkit C3D Toolkit is a geometric modeling kernel, geometric modeling kit originally developed by ASCON , ASCON Group, now by C3D Labs, using C++ and written in Microsoft Visual Studio, Visual Studio. C3D Toolkit responsible for constructing and editin ...

by C3D Labs *

Open CASCADE Open Cascade is an Information Technology Company of Capgemini,. Open Cascade provides services in the domain of scientific and technical computing and simulation tools. Open Cascade is primarily known to public for its Open Source platforms the ...

Open Source * Parasolid by Siemens *

ShapeManager Autodesk ShapeManager is a 3D geometric modeling kernel used by Autodesk Inventor and other Autodesk products that is developed inside the company. It was originally forked from ACIS 7.0 in November 2001, and the first version became available ...

by Autodesk

References

External links

MIT 1982 CAD lab
* * * * {{Authority control Design engineering

CAD Computer-aided design (CAD) is the use of computers (or ) to aid in the creation, modification, analysis, or optimization of a design. This software is used to increase the productivity of the designer, improve the quality of design, improve co ...