CAD — DFM, Tolerances & GD&T (Advanced)
Curated: learn to design parts that actually manufacture — wall thickness, draft, and clearances for moulding and 3D printing, tolerance stack-up, and the GD&T that pins it all down. Study a top free course, prove it in Forge, and get certified.
Design for Quality, Manufacturing and Assembly
NPTEL · IIT Madras · video · ~20h · Free · English
Why we picked it: NPTEL's flagship free mechanical-engineering course on designing for manufacture (Prof. Palaniappan Ramu & Prof. Saravanakumar, IIT Madras). It is the most complete free backbone for this module: it teaches DFM best practices for injection moulding and for additive (3D-print) manufacturing, plus the variability/tolerance thinking that decides whether real parts fit. We layer the GD&T vocabulary (datums, flatness, position) and print-vs-mould tolerance practice on top via the study guide, the K-Check, and the Forge prove-it.
- quality, robustness and six-sigma thinking — why variation must be designed for
- robust/tolerance design: signal-to-noise ratio, design of experiments, orthogonal arrays
- DFM 'over-the-wall' pitfalls and best practices for injection moulding
- DFM for sheet-metal working
- design for additive manufacturing (3D printing): single- and multi-point tools
- design for assembly: Boothroyd–Dewhurst method and theoretical minimum part count
- manual-assembly do's and don'ts, assembly-time estimation, design for robotic assembly
- design for sustainability
Study guide
Open the study guide →1 study section · what to focus on + prove it in Forge, then take the check.
Forge practical
Build it in Forge Design · 3 checks · auto-verified from your design
Start the practical →