With TRACE PARTS thousands of the most commonly used components in mechanical design are just a click away, including: fasteners, bearings, pneumatic and hydraulic cylinders, flanges, shafts, keys, gears, pins, seals, motors, reducers, springs, sections and chains.

Navigation through the contents of the library is simplified by the use of a powerful search engine. You then just need to select the component required, choose the dimensions to be applied, and the part is inserted into your assembly.

The product, TRACE PARTS, is based upon close and official relationships with the major manufacturers of mechanical components. The effect of this is that the contents of the library are always kept up-to-date. TRACE Software is largely committed to the CAD mechanical parts market due to its considerable technical expertise in the area of 2D and 3D parametrics.

 Why use parametric models for part libraries?
Let us take the example of a ball bearing that is available in a range of 300 different sizes. Using non-parametric models a parts library would require 300 individual files to represent this bearing's varying sizes. This would require between 3 to 5 MB for just one type of bearing. With parametric design you require only two files, one parametric CAD model and a database of dimensions, which in the case of this bearing would take approximately 60 KB of room.
This represents a saving of more than 95%!

As well as the advantages that are achieved in terms of storage space, one should also consider the ease of use of the application. Using databases means that you can perform a number of advanced operations on the information when it is displayed, for example the use of filter criteria, the association of multiple databases to the same model and the addition of personal parameters to the database (e.g. cost) are all possibilities.

 The design of parametric models
What are the formats of the parametric CAD files used today in industry?

In 2D
DXF and DWG format files, originating from Autodesk products, have become the standards for data transfer. However, neither DXFs nor DWGs are parametric formats, TRACE Software therefore designed and introduced an application named ParaBase, which allows users to design parametric models in standard DWG format.
To redimension a ParaBase parametric model you only need a Runtime version of ParaBase. There is a Runtime version for AutoCAD, however, one of the most interesting features of ParaBase, other than its exceptional ease of use, is the availability of a stand-alone runtime version, in the form of a dll that can be integrated into any Windows ® application.

In 3D
In 3D solid modeling the problem is more complex. Even though all the various Solid Modeling platforms work with parametric models, they are also incompatible with each other and conversion programs are required to go from one platform to another, often resulting in the loss of parametric features and information. The accepted IGES or STEP, file formats are not altogether satisfying. They either involve to many conversion problems or are not used widely enough.
This having been said, the main objective of a mechanical parts library is to save time, meaning that the insertion of components needs to be as quick as possible. This is not possible using conversion programs and therefore an independent 3D parametric format (compatible with all the main platforms) is required.

 A universal 3D parametric file format!
TRACE Software’s neutral 3D parametric file format is the ".CAD" file.
To answer the requirement for a universal parametric format for the creation of components TRACE Software has developed specialised technology based upon descriptive files in which components are defined using elementary operations.
Specialised drivers are used to interpret and create the components in each individual platform, with the resultant 3D part always being native to the platform used.
Following this methodology TRACE Software has already developed drivers for some of the main CAD platforms on the market, including Autodesk, SolidWorks and Unigraphics Solid Edge, and others are on the way.

 ParaBase for 2D contours
In 3D one of the most difficult stages in the creation of a parametric model is the definition of 2D contours. Each CAD system uses its own sketcher to create parametric contours.
TRACE’s 3D parametric models use ParaBase contours (DWG) to define complex parametric contours. Once created, ParaBase contours can be assigned the traditional transformations, such as extrusions and rotations, to model components