CAD/CAE DATA EXCHANGE WITH FULL ASSOCIATIVITY ACCELERATES DESIGN OPTIMIZATION

This Pro/ENGINEER model of a support bracket was optimized based on results from ALGOR’s static stress analysis with linear material models. Full associativity between Pro/ENGINEER and ALGOR enabled multiple analysis iterations to be performed quickly.

PITTSBURGH, PA – April 8, 2003 – ALGOR, Inc., a leading maker of software for mechanical engineers, announced that its InCAD technology for direct CAD/CAE data exchange now includes full associativity with each design change for Autodesk Inventor, Pro/ENGINEER, Solid Edge and SolidWorks. Full associativity enables any changes to the CAD geometry to be reflected in the associated FEA model for each design iteration.

Now, when engineers make geometry changes in the CAD solid modeler, a new mesh is created and any surface-based loads or constraints, element types, material properties and analysis parameters are automatically updated with each change. Associating the FEA data directly with the CAD geometry saves engineers time doing multiple design and analysis iterations.

"Full associativity between CAD and our FEA solutions enables engineers to more quickly perform the multiple iterations often needed to optimize product designs," said ALGOR product manager, Bob Williams. "Accelerating the design process enables engineers to speed up time to market and make better, safer products at a lower cost."

"Full associativity is a very useful addition to ALGOR's InCAD technology because it speeds up the iterative analysis process, in which I typically evaluate several geometric variations on a pre-production design," said Mike Hagland of Gyrus Medical, Ltd.

InCAD technology with full associativity works within FEMPRO, ALGOR's single user interface with full finite element modeling, results evaluation and presentation environments, and is fully extensible to ALGOR’s full range of simulation capabilities including static stress and Mechanical Event Simulation (MES) with linear and nonlinear material models, linear dynamics, steady-state and transient heat transfer, steady and unsteady fluid flow with turbulence, electrostatics, full multiphysics and piping.

ALGOR customers with current software upgrade subscriptions can get these new capabilities at no charge by requesting the latest updates.