The CAD process is used in special vehicle construction for planning new components and in the field of reverse engineering. The term "CAD" is the abbreviation for "computer-aided design".
CAD process: Application
For the CAD process, a part of a vehicle or special vehicle is 3D scanned using state-of-the-art methods and the resulting data record is transferred to a CAD program. This creates a true-to-the-original image of the original part on the computer, including the specific material properties. This makes it possible to create an exact reproduction or, if possible and desired, to make improvements to the original design. The CAD process is therefore a great help, particularly for planning design steps and for the supply of spare parts - especially when original construction plans are not (or no longer) available. Among other things, maintenance planning and spare parts documentation benefit from the availability of such data: Optimized production and assembly processes reduce the downtime or repair time of a vehicle.
Special measuring instruments and software solutions are required to use the CAD process. After the scan, the CAD model built in the computer can be viewed from all angles and checked for accuracy. The level of detail compared to the original parts is one of the most important advantages of production based on CAD data and facilitates the reproduction or production of special parts.
The CAD process is also used successfully in the mass production of vehicles and in other highly specialized industries for the design and reproduction of components. CAD is part of the so-called CAx technologies. Other sub-areas of this field are computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) and computer-aided quality control (CAQ).
