CAD Design
SD Sails CAD Design Process & Services
About our CAD Design services
Whether it’s a simple cover or a complex architectural membrane, every job at SD Sails starts life in our CAD Design department. Combining powerful trade-specific software with years of experience, this approach is simple, accurate, reliable and fast. This ultimately allows us to get the job right first time and foresee any potential issues before they happen.
Submitting the information required to price and build your unique Freeform canopy is easy. It takes less than 1 minute to choose from the options in 5 simple drop-down boxes on our online system to give you a price. Once you have then filed out one of our measuring forms to complete the order, our design process can begin.
Utilising the latest trade-specific CAD software, we plot your dimensions, form-find the canopy and email you back a general arrangement drawing to approve before we go any further. This gives you the opportunity to check your dimensions and visualise the actual size and shape of the canopy to ensure it meets your client’s needs.
Once approved, we then convert the 3D form into 2D panels, checking the shear strain and panel size matches the criteria of the fabric being used. These individual panels are then compensated to allow for the stretch specified by the fabric’s unique bi-axial test data before seam and hem allowances are added.
The final stage of our design process is to nest the panels tightly together within the fabric width before transferring it to our Blackman & White automated plotting and cutting machine.