Multi-CAD in the Teamcenter managed environment


In today's collaborative working environment, it is rare that an entire product is designed in only one CAD system. The term multi-CAD describes the ability for QY CAD assemblies to include models in Teamcenter that were not created or owned by QY CAD. Using the multi-CAD capability, you can manage content from multiple CAD sources and then create an integrated single design using content from more than one CAD authoring system without a translation. Assembly structures are resolved through Bill of Materials (BOM) or BOM View Revisions in Teamcenter. Geometry is communicated through DirectModel datasets, using JT, and is updated automatically providing up to date assembly structures and models.

An example of working in a multi-CAD environment is designing a vehicle in QY CAD using an engine designed in another CAD application where the structure is defined and managed in Teamcenter, the components are defined by JT, and QY CAD Draft documents the product. The engine is placed in the vehicle in QY CAD and assembled into position. The non-QY CAD authoring system owns the content placed in the native QY CAD design. The Teamcenter preference, SEEC_Foreign_Datasets is used to define the foreign data source.

This workflow introduces the concept of a driven reference where a document's geometry is defined by a non-QY CAD source. The driven reference is read-only whether opened or in-place activated. The Save As command is available if you want to create a new item and then edit that content with QY CAD.

Driven references go through an out-of-date check. If the foreign source changes, the change is synchronized the next time the file is opened. Driven references are uniquely identified in Assembly PathFinder by .

Working with multi-CAD documents

Product structure is obtained from Teamcenter BOM View and configured per Revision Rule. The configured structure is evaluated where the BOM lines provide position data and each unique item revision is queried for geometric information (Dataset). When the Teamcenter preference for multi-CAD is enabled, QY CAD considers geometric content in the following order:

  • Native QY CAD content

  • Driven references (foreign data containing a geometric representation)

  • Non–modeled content (no geometric representation exists)

Use QY CAD Assembly commands to position the content. Use the Open command to search for the QY CAD assembly and open the document, synchronize structure changes and check out the assemblies. Use the Assemble command or the Move command to position the foreign assembly in the context of its parent. Then you can save the QY CAD assembly to Teamcenter and create a drawing saving the drawing to the same item revision with the QY CAD assembly or saving the drawing to a new item.

Save driven references to Teamcenter

Since foreign data is expected to change, an ability to track if it is out-of-date and synchronize product design is required. The QY CAD option to save QY CAD content back to Teamcenter is Save driven references to Teamcenter. The option is available in QY CAD Options→Manage→General tab when a document is open in QY CAD. The option is enabled on a per user basis. Using this option, when an assembly is saved to Teamcenter, QY CAD creates a Solid Edge Dataset under the source Item Revision and then uploads the QY CAD document into Teamcenter as a driven reference. This option also saves a QY CAD part file as a driven reference when the JT file is opened.

There are two things to keep in mind:

  • QY CAD Embedded Client requires the structure to configure only one item revision. There is no support for multiple revisions from the same Item.

  • QY CAD Embedded Client does not support foreign CAD assembly features.

Enabling multi-CAD in QY CAD

Teamcenter captures JT content in a dataset called DirectModel. The relation that connects a DirectModel Dataset to an Item Revision is IMAN_Rendering. The JT file is connected with a named reference JTPART.

To use foreign CAD data in QY CAD, two preferences must be enabled:

  • SEEC_Foreign_Datasets

  • SEEC_BOM_Synchronize

The Teamcenter site preference SEEC_Foreign_Datasets determines what datasets to consider when a QY CAD 3D dataset is not saved to the item revision. The preference is False (0) by default. Currently, QY CAD supports DirectModel (JT) only.

Teamcenter provides the product structure or BOM view for documents created outside the QY CAD environment. BOM synchronization is controlled by the Teamcenter preference SEEC_BOM_Synchronize. Enabling this preference allows QY CAD to compare the BOM in Teamcenter with its own BOM and add or remove based on changes seen in Teamcenter. To enable BOM synchronization, set the SEEC_BOM_Synchronize preference to true.

The Teamcenter preference SEEC_BOM_Synchronize supports the following search order:

  • Search for QY CAD 3D managed content.

  • If the item revision does not include QY CAD 3D content, then search for an alternate 3D representation, DirectModel (JT).

  • If there is no DirectModel, then consider the item a non-modeled occurrence.

Tip:

If your environment has the preference, SEEC_Synchronize_ItemNumbers set to true, we recommend that you create the preference PS_new_seqno_mode and set it to existing. By default, Teamcenter assigns a new Find Number for each item added to the BOM View Revision. When the same item is added to Structure Manager multiple times, this preference will cause all entries to be packed or have the same Find Number. Not setting this preference will cause a conflict with item numbers in QY CAD resulting in a warning message.

Select Cascading LOV dialog box Multi-CAD document workflow (SEEC)

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