SpaceClaim 2009+ Engineering Software Released 

By DE Editors

SpaceClaim has announced the fifth release of the company’s engineering software, SpaceClaim 2009+. This new version of SpaceClaim supports Windows 7 and Multi-Touch for 3D direct modeling. Other new 2009+ capabilities are aimed at driving ease of use in preparing models for simulation. 

SpaceClaim 2009+, says the company, puts modeling tools in the hands of engineers and CAE analysts. With SpaceClaim, engineers are said to be able to perform simulation, collaborate, and converge before specifying the design concept to the CAD team for detailing and design-for-manufacture. Additionally, SpaceClaim provides CAE engineers with a solution to easily prepare, edit, and optimize CAD data, according to the company. 

2009 was a remarkable year for SpaceClaim, according to Chris Randles, SpaceClaim President and CEO. “Our rapid growth this year demonstrates that we are solving real, complex, and costly engineering challenges, such as accelerating the development of concept models, or speeding model preparation for upfront or downstream analysis and simulation,” added Randles in a press statement. “On average, our customers report a halving of the time taken to prepare models for CAE, enabling them to be more productive and accelerating overall time-to-market.”

New features in the 2009+ release include enhanced capabilities for design and analysis engineers, such as.

Direct modeling enhancements:

• Bodies can be locked to prevent unintentional modification.
• New round creation techniques allow rounds to be placed in more complicated situations.
• Curves imprinted on faces can be manipulated, facilitating conceptual sketching in 3D.
 
• Numerous other enhancements to surfacing, patterning, and construction geometry.
 

Model preparation for simulation:

• Conceptual beam elements facilitate structural design.
• A beam library provides beam creation with standard sections.
• Beam extraction converts imported beams to conceptual beams.
• Enhanced geometry checking and repair to diagnose common geometry problems.
• De-featuring is said to faster than earlier versions with new round slicing tools.
• Several ANSYS add-in enhancements, including the ability to transfer beams and pattern count dimensions, are said to make it more convenient to optimize models from within ANSYS Workbench 2.0.
 

Multi-touch user interaction:

• Hands-on interactive solid modeling using up to four fingers.
• New selection techniques such as four-finger box select and lasso select.
• Multi-touch view rotation and gesture support provide access to commands that would normally be hidden behind toggle-keys and shortcuts. 
 

SpaceClaim supports standard data exchange formats including ACIS, STEP, IGES, ECAD, Rhinoceros, DWG, DXF, STL, OBJ, XAML, VRML, and 3D PDF as well as interactivity with Bunkspeed HyperShot. With add-on modules, SpaceClaim Engineer can import and edit native Autodesk Inventor, CATIA v4 and v5, JT, NX, Parasolid, Pro/ENGINEER, and SolidWorks, and NX files

Earlier this year, SpaceClaim announced a licensing and distribution agreement with ANSYS, Inc. The agreement provides customers with bi-directional capabilities between SpaceClaim Engineer and ANSYS 12.0 and 11.0 software as well as ANSYS Workbench 2.0. Additionally, it adds the ANSYS sales force to distribute SpaceClaim to CAE customers.

With industry-leading partners such as ANSYS, SpaceClaim is “now recognized as an innovative solution that is expanding the use of 3D among analysts, engineers, and other non-CAD specialists in modern manufacturing organizations,” said Randles.

For more information, see the What’s New in SpaceClaim 2009+ page.

See a video on the new direct modeling functionality in SpaceClaim 2009.

Watch a video showing SpaceClaim 2009’s Model Preparation features in action.

See a video on the new beam functionality in SpaceClaim 2009.

See a video on the new Multi-touch capability in SpaceClaim 2009.

Sign-up for a free trial of SpaceClaim (includes free online training classes):

Register and download the whitepaper “3D Engineering: How 3D Direct
Modeling Empowers Conceptual Engineering and Enables Simulation-Driven
Product Development.”

Register and download the whitepaper"Simulation-Driven Product
Development: Will Form Finally Follow Function?”

See why DE’s Editors picked SpaceClaim 2009+ as their Pick of the Week.

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