thanks for the link PapaPerk! will check it out, here in a day or so.
ya pretty much sum it up PapaPerk. i am caught in the eye of a storm.
it is the gap between, software packages, that i am so far am feeling *ughs* about. and been hitting
Wikipedia to re-learn all the "spin words" tossed out there. CAD, CAM, CASE, CFD, etc...
at moment though, i am caught between, just sitting down, and just coding something up. that would take a good amount of fair to long time. vs waiting it out and research through the major software packages out there. and see about working with the program. but at moment, everything almost seems counter initiative. there is collaboration between CAD, CAM, Simulations, etc... software. but at moment i am... kinda in that eye of storm. looking for what would work for next couple stages through development.
one of wolfram software has caught me eye to some degree. due to integrating, the full range of everything. from 3D design, to electrical, to fluid, to heat, to stress, to other... hoping various selections of various grades of metals.
on other hand. the model library of the simple stuff of things, various bearing types, gears, cylinders, metal structural members, various channels of metal rods. springs, various wheels, etc.... with ability to double click or goto properties and change dimensions, or obtain some variables to let a computer function / small program change things of a set range of variations and let computer program go through the various simulations with statics back...
and now that i have hit
Wikipedia i am at in idea, beginning of a new Phase. of what software package or packages. would work well long term.
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it would be awesome, to have access to a model library that has following things...
--various types of gears
--various types of bearings
--various types joints (hinges, pivot, etc..)
--various types of wheels (car / truck / agriculture / etc..)
--various types of tracks
--various types of hyd cylinders and just actuators to pneumatic cylinders.
--various types of valves, both simple stuff, ball valves, knife valves, butteryfly valves, but also the more complex valves, of 2,3,4,5,6 way valves and various patterns.
--various engine types (gas, diesel, propane), axial, internal combustion center shaft, inverted etc....
--various pumps and motors (electrical, hyd, and like)
--various transmissions
and just fully developed 3D / CAD models, that you can just go in and "scale" the dimensions. 2 foot by 3 foot engine, and then cylinders, rods, and everything else scales down/up. it does not mean the engine will actually work. but... *shrugs* partial reason of wanting to get into a large company, to be able to sink my teeth into these larger model libraries i would imagine, and fairly sure, that they have already. and pay the CAD folks to create basic stuff as needed. and let the CAD folks focus more on various models, that really do not fit into a specific generic theme and in that more into specialty made parts
example of some random specialty made part. a hyd cylinder, with hyd valve (proportional valve) mount directly on the cylinder. with metal pipes going between both ports on cylinder and to the valve. then hyd hoses going between valve, and hyd pump or main hyd lines on the machine. perhaps instead a of a regular end cap with a couple brackets on the end of the cylinder itself. a different end cap with valves built into it the end cap itself. or rather off to one side of the end cap. so when a cylinder took on a large extreme force. the hyd metal pipe between cylinder and valve. would more likely handle a higher PSI. and then let the hyd rubber hoses. only needing to flex and handle a set amount of PSI. and not needing to take on the "sudden shock loads" that a hyd cylinder might see. a rubber hyd hose is more likely to rupture, or split or crack and be prone to vandalism. i would imagine vs a hyd metal pipe would be. ((ya i know off the wall, thought, that i can already think of as having more con's than pro's vs the general doings on machines)) but more of odd ball things. that i would of hope seeing CAD folks doing. vs creating things over and over and over again. ya i know there is a lot more that goes on. with all the various workings of even a simple gear, but that is were the specialized engineers come into play. let them fine tune things. vs having them design it, and then going back to fine tune it themselves.
it is that software package that i am looking for that has the resources and abilities. of almost "drag and drop" capability for rapid design. that can spit back specifications or states of this or that with minimal fuss beyond the learning curve itself. and knowledge to understand what ya looking at / wanting to know.