Model Based Definition, or MBD as it is commonly referred to, is the latest revolution in product development and manufacturing offering an integrated technology that provides all the manufacturing data in 3D CAD drawings without a single 2D engineering drawing being required at all.
What’s included in MBD?
Within the 3D CAD software, all the information that was traditionally added to 2D engineering drawings can now be applied directly to the 3D model instead, including:
- Any specific manufacturing notes
- Design intent
- Standard dimensions and geometric dimensions and tolerancing (GD&T) data
- Bill of materials (BOM)
- Configurations for engineering
Benefits of model based definition
- Cost reduction, due to the fact no 2D drawings need to be generated.
- Reduction in scrap and rework, due to misinterpretation of information from the 2D drawings.
- Improved quality, as all the quality requirements can be added directly to the 3D model which is used directly to manufacture the component.
Overall, MBD is a quicker and easier way of disseminating all the vital information required to manufacture products. MBD also accelerates the handling and processing of engineering change orders (ECO’s) when changes are made after a product has been released into production. As the model is updated with the appropriate changes, all the associated data automatically gets updated in the master 3D model thus eliminating the risk of wrong drawings being sent to suppliers, suppliers not updating the drawings for manufacture, etc…
Applicable standards
Applicable standards include:
ASME Y14.41-2012 ‘Digital Product Definition Data Practices’,
ISO 16792,
DIN ISO 16792, and
GB/T 24734.
The United States Department of Defense released MIL-STD-31000 Revision A to codify the use of MBD as a requirement for technical data packages (TDP).
For more information on model based definition, watch our short video on the subject which gives a quick overview of MBD:
