Saturday February 4, 2012

3D CAD Tips

Should you buy your CAD software—or rent?

CAD software isn’t cheap. A mainstream 3D CAD program will set you back thousands of dollars upfront, and a bunch more in annual maintenance charges. The cost can be daunting. But what if there was a way to spread it out, and pay as you go? Rental: An idea that’s been tried. A dozen years or so ago, a relatively new CAD vendor, Think3, started offering their CAD software on a monthly rental basis. It was an intriguing idea, but it would have worked better had Think3′s... Read More


Electromagnetic design tool provides short route to motor perfection

Cobham’s Machines Environment introduced a new level of user friendliness when it was launched by providing a design entry system that allows precision FEA models of motors and generators to be created and solved in minutes. The 2D version of the software has now been integrated with Cobham’s optimization tool which automatically finds the optimal solution within a design space – even for multiple or competing design objectives.The software is an application-specific... Read More


Should you buy an expensive graphics card?

You already know the answer to this question. If you’re perfectly happy with the graphics performance of your CAD system, then the answer is “no.” If you’d like faster, smoother, or more realistic graphics on your system, then the answer is “yes.” The term “expensive graphics card” might be troubling to GPU suppliers such as Nvidia and AMD. Yet, it is probably more accurate than, for example, “high-performance graphics card.” For many years, all graphics... Read More


SpaceClaim: Sheet metal design for pirates?

Let this be a warning to all CAD vendors: Don’t encourage your application engineers to “be creative and have fun.” You might end up with product videos such as this one:All seriousness aside, SpaceClaim does have compelling sheet metal tools for people other than pretend pirates. And, unlike some older CAD programs, SpaceClaim is relatively fun to use – probably because it doesn’t make you “walk the plank” to get your job done. What this video alludes... Read More


High-tech tools for a cool ride

When Marcus Hays first heard about an electric bike, he was less than enthusiastic. Why load a bike with battery weight, turning the human motor into passenger in the process? That was 1995 and Hays was working with Lee Iococca to develop electric cars and bikes.Electric bikes use less than 1,000 watts of total power and can be used on bike paths. When Hays first encountered these hybrid vehicles, most models were imported from a variety of countries. They relied on an injection... Read More


Guitar maker speeds design process

Fender Musical Instruments Corporation is a leading manufacturer of stringed instruments, including electric, acoustic, and bass guitars as well as guitar amplifiers. While the company handcrafted guitars and used 2D AutoCAD design tools for many years, the 2002 acquisition of the JACKSON guitar brand brought more complex geometry challenges that required 3D design technology to drive manufacturing.Fender chose SolidWorks CAD software – first deployed on the JACKSON and FENDER... Read More


Athletic gear gets muscle

Concept2, the world leader in rowing exercise equipment, uses KeyCreator software to design and develop its complete line of indoor rowers and oars, including the recently introduced Model E and the popular Concept2 ‘Model D’ rowing machine – voted  “Most Innovative Fitness Product” by Health Magazine. Concept2 rowing exercise equipment is used by 99% of the rowing clubs and school rowing teams throughout the world.Concept2 was founded by Dick... Read More


Giant sculpture created in 3D CAD

Whether they need a reminder that they’re late or welcome a distraction from the hassle of modern travel, visitors to Sacramento’s International Airport will not miss Denver-based artist Lawrence Argent’s Leap sculpture. Completed recently in the new Corgan Associates-designed Terminal B, the 56-foot-long red rabbit is suspended mid-jump in the building’s three-story central atrium. An oversize “vortical suitcase” placed in the baggage claim below completes the piece.... Read More


Michigan Autonomous Aerial Vehicle robots take flight

Danny Ellis was first introduced to CAD in high school with a course in Autodesk Inventor. As he advanced into the engineering program at the University of Michigan, he was introduced to CATIA.“In between my freshman and sophomore years, I became irritated at how cumbersome it was to rotate a model using a traditional mouse. I thought I could get a trackball mouse and program it so when I rotate the mouse it rotates the part on screen. That’s when I came across 3Dconnexion.... Read More


Fast design process supports rapid growth

As its name implies, Giant KONE Elevator Co., Ltd., is big in the elevator industry. Founded in 1910 in Finland, the company has become one of the world’s largest elevator and escalator manufacturers. KONE first entered the Chinese market in 1996. KONE entered into a joint venture agreement with Zhejiang Giant Elevator Co., Ltd., the leading Chinese elevator manufacturer.The company’s product line includes escalators, moving sidewalks, passenger elevators, sightseeing elevators,... Read More


Boots for the boundary-free skier

Black Diamond Equipment Ltd. makes equipment for climbing and skiing that regularly wins awards for its innovation and quality. Several years ago, Black Diamond decided to apply its expertise to a new area – free-ride ski boots. These boots are used in a certain niche of skiing known as “boundary-free” skiing. Boundary-free skiers strap their skis to a backpack, hike up a mountain (far from a conventional ski resort), and then ski down private slopes. Boundary-free skiers... Read More


Software that fits the need

Common scenario: An aerospace supplier is requested to provide a CAD model of a hydraulic system to its customer. Historically, after the appropriate paperwork has been completed, an IGES or STEP file is generated by the data management group, and the file is sent on its way to the customer.The problem: The supplier has provided their customer with their intellectual property from the result of many hours of engineering, design, and analysis. Should another supplier happen upon... Read More


Ice Dream: Towing an iceberg for fresh water

“With the world’s water resources projected to diminish by one third in the next two decades, providing pure water to an ever- increasing world population is vital,” Mougin explained. To Mougin and Mauviel, one solution would be to transport icebergs to areas that lack fresh water for drinking and even cooling purposes. The scientific challenges are impressive — capturing a large iceberg that can weigh up to 7 million tons, protecting it from melting while... Read More


MSC Software’s Patran and Marc software used in cellular research at Clemson University

The goal of this study is to construct a representative 3D finite element model of a biological cell based on the sub-cellular structures that provide the cell with its mechanical properties. The geometries for the model are constructed from 3D microscope images of cells using proprietary analytical algorithms, imported into Patran for pre-processing, and submitted to Marc for analysis. Vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) are chosen for the study due to the strong correlation... Read More


10th anniversary of Maple T.A.

Maplesoft released Maple T.A. 8.0 with adaptive questions to help with student comprehension. These questions give extra guidance to students who give an incorrect response to a question, increasing their understanding of the concepts and techniques involved. Knowing the student is having problems, the questions can be adapted to walk the student through the problem step by step, allow the student to try a simpler version of the same question before retrying the original, and... Read More


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Siemens PLM

Should you buy your CAD software—or rent?

CAD software isn’t cheap. A mainstream 3D CAD program will set you back thousands of dollars upfront, and a bunch more in annual maintenance charges. The cost can be daunting. But what if there was a way to spread it out, and pay as you go? Rental: An idea that’s been tried. A dozen years [...]

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Pro/Engineer

Analysis linked to CAD

Comsol’s latest update to its flagship multiphysics software Comsol 4.2a includes enhanced LiveLink capability. The new associativity to between Comsol and Creo packages means any changes to a feature in the Creo CAD model automatically updates the geometry in Comsol Multiphysics while retaining physics settings. All parameters specified in Creo can be interactively linked with [...]

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SolidWorks

Guitar maker speeds design process

Fender Musical Instruments Corporation is a leading manufacturer of stringed instruments, including electric, acoustic, and bass guitars as well as guitar amplifiers. While the company handcrafted guitars and used 2D AutoCAD design tools for many years, the 2002 acquisition of the JACKSON guitar brand brought more complex geometry challenges that required 3D design technology to [...]

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Catia

Michigan Autonomous Aerial Vehicle robots take flight

Danny Ellis was first introduced to CAD in high school with a course in Autodesk Inventor. As he advanced into the engineering program at the University of Michigan, he was introduced to CATIA. “In between my freshman and sophomore years, I became irritated at how cumbersome it was to rotate a model using a traditional [...]