Siemens PLM Software Releases Solid Edge ST4

By DE Editors

Siemens PLM Software (Plano, TX) has announced the release of Solid Edge ST4, the newest version of its mechanical CAD system. The company says that this latest release offers enhancements to synchronous technology, improved multi-CAD collaboration using the JT data format, new tools to speed up sheet metal design validation, and further refinements to its drafting capability.

“Solid Edge ST4 helps the machine designer and engineer create better designs by making its ground-breaking synchronous technology easier than ever to incorporate into everyday tasks and by making its core modeling tools easier and more productive to use,” said Dan Staples, director of Solid Edge product development, Siemens PLM Software, in a press statement.

Siemens PLM Software reports that new tools in Solid Edge ST4 include an automated “live sections” capability that helps users create and edit revolved parts more easily and quickly. New 3D modeling relationships facilitate the centering, offsetting, and editing of native or imported geometry, and 3D assembly relationships automatically position parts in an assembly to avoid part interference. Solid Edge ST4 also offers enhancements to its exploded views capability, and, through a new partnership with Cadenas GmbH, a strategic parts management system that provides a dedicated portal for the configuration of 3D standard and supplier parts in native Solid Edge format.

Solid Edge ST4 works with Teamcenter or Teamcenter Express digital lifecycle management solutions from Siemens PLM Software, to leverage JT, a 3D data format for sharing product information. Solid Edge leverages JT data in assemblies, which, the company, says allows it to provide fully associative updates from JT data content.

Solid Edge ST4 reportedly enhances collaboration with a new feature that enables parts and assemblies to be saved to 3D PDF files for viewing and sharing using Adobe Reader. Product and manufacturing information (PMI), dimensions, and annotations are included in the PDF document, together with a schematic of the assembly structure.

Enhancements to the drafting features in Solid Edge ST4 include a table customization feature, annotation and dimension control, the ability to create of highly customized view captions, and automatic view scaling on individual drawing sheets.

“I am very impressed with what I have seen in Solid Edge ST4, especially the enhancements to the drafting capability,” said Jan Bos, an engineering manager for Geha BV in a supplied testimonial. “Using Solid Edge has doubled the design productivity of our staff while producing higher quality products with less rework.”

Solid Edge ST4 also includes several enhancements to its sheet metal capabilities said to improve simulations and accelerate design validation, says Siemens PLM Software. Sheet metal mid-surface creation is now available at the assembly level, and a new capability to unite surface and solid bodies is said to improve finite element mesh reliability across very complicated parts. New options to refine and control meshing, such as setting minimum element on an edge and max elements for small features, lets users increase detail, which reportedly produces more accurate results. Additionally, surfacing tools can be used for creating mid-surfaces of general thin parts, such as plastic parts, to speed results and increase solve reliability.

“By delivering new ways to leverage synchronous technology, Solid Edge ST4 allows users to work in whatever design environment best suits their needs, enabling them to stay focused on their design tasks without thinking about their design software,” said Staples. “As a result, Solid Edge ST4 simplifies product design while offering one of the industry’s most powerful modeling systems for the advanced designer.”

Solid Edge ST4 is expected to be available in the third quarter of this year. For more information, visit Siemens PLM Software’s Solid Edge site.

Watch Solid Edge ST 4 demos as a slide show on SlideShare.

Or go to the Solid Edge ST 4 demo library on YouTube.

Download the “What’s New in Solid Edge ST 4” fact sheet.

Sources: Press materials received from the company and additional information gleaned from the company’s website.