New year 3D CAD release brings enhanced modelling

SolidWorks 2003 is the latest version of the 3D CAD software that streamlines product design and enables companies to bring products to market faster.

SolidWorks 2003 is the latest version of the 3D CAD software that streamlines product design and enables companies to bring products to market faster.

SolidWorks 2003 features hundreds of new enhancements that will help users analyse their design's structural integrity; easily communicate design information to others; locate downloadable parts via online supplier catalogues; and accelerate the design process with new modelling features.

These new capabilities will make designers and engineers more productive, and their companies more competitive in their markets.

SolidWorks 2003's analysis capabilities help designers and engineers get the design right the first time, sparing them the time and cost of fixing production errors.

SolidWorks 2003 also gives users the flexibility to import and work with a variety of file formats including AutoCAD and Cadkey.

This capability helps users embrace 3D and integrate third-party part designs into their CAD files, so they can finish designs quickly.

SolidWorks 2003 is also the first mainstream 3D CAD software that lets users simulate realistic motion so they can easily check how gears in an assembly, for example, will function in actual operation and address any design flaws prior to manufacturing.

"Support for different file types in SolidWorks 2003 will allow us to rapidly bring in different types of parts and easily convert them into SolidWorks models", said Brian Lothson, development engineer at Alloyd.

"Now we can simply drag and drop parts from our reverse engineering systems into SolidWorks instead of having to manually convert files.

This capability will not only save us a significant amount of work around time, it also gives us the opportunity to bring rich content files with colour and textures into the design process.

Overall, SolidWorks 2003 offers the best new functionality to date in SolidWorks software".

SolidWorks 2003 provides customers with several new capabilities and features to improve the design process.

New modelling features allow users to quickly build and edit parts, making SolidWorks 2003 more productive than any other part modeller in the world.

In fact, SolidWorks 2003 enables users to rollback and edit features over 100% faster than previous versions of SolidWorks.

Faster modelling means users can turn out product designs more quickly and efficiently than ever before.

Using shared layout sketches and the most versatile multi-body architecture in the industry, SolidWorks gives users the maximum flexibility in designing parts.

SolidWorks 2003 is the only mechanical design software that provides feature level control over multiple bodies.

This gives users the highest level of control over their designs by providing easy to use, fast solutions to potential design problems prior to manufacturing.

An industry first, Cosmosxpress makes analysis accessible to the entire design and engineering community within SolidWorks software.

Its ease of use allows designers to conduct up-front analysis on part designs directly in SolidWorks, saving time and reducing the need to develop prototypes.

Another industry first, 3D ContentCentral is a new online resource that helps users quickly find the exact supplier part or assembly they need via a website with hundreds of millions of downloadable solid models from leading component manufacturers worldwide.

Users can simply query a vendor's online product catalogue and download a solid model into their product design without having to model it.

3D ContentCentral also provides a constantly updated library of customer-contributed models for sharing within the worldwide mechanical CAD community.

Component manufacturers participating in 3D ContentCentral include Bimba, Boston Gear, BTM, DE-STA-CO Industries, Enerpac, Festo, Jergens, Kaydon, Nook Industries, Robohand, SMC Corporation of America, Warner Electric and WDS.

SolidWorks is the only 3D CAD package to enable users to reduce the number of costly and time-consuming prototypes by testing how mechanisms with contact forces will interact when in motion.

The ability to drive models with motors, springs, and gravitational forces, as well as record and replay simulations has also been added.

SolidWorks Smart Mates help users gather and assemble all the pieces in a design.

The newest version allows users to predefine mating scenarios so components can be fully oriented in a single step.

SolidWorks 2003 helps engineers migrate their legacy 2D AutoCAD files to 3D and enables them to easily import and manage different CAD systems.

Users can now drag 2D drawing or sketch geometry into SolidWorks drawings or sketches for 3D feature creation.

SolidWorks 2003 also enables users to manage blocks (reusable 2D geometry that contain text and figures) not supported in other 3D modellers.

SolidWorks 2003 is the core modelling software in the company's 3D design product suites: SolidWorks Office and the new SolidWorks Office Professional.

SolidWorks Office includes all of the 3D CAD functionality of SolidWorks 2003 with productivity and communication tools to improve product development.

Communication and productivity tools in SolidWorks Office include: eDrawings Professional (e-mail-enabled design communication), 3D Instant Website (a web-publishing tool), PhotoWorks (photorealistic rendering software), SolidWorks Animator (an animation tool), SolidWorks Toolbox (a time-saving library of standard components), SolidWorks Utilities (productivity enhancement software), and FeatureWorks (feature-based recognition software).

SolidWorks Office Professional combines all of the functionality of SolidWorks Office with PDMWorks, a data management solution that allows workgroups to maintain version control and manage all of the design data as they generate it in a fully integrated environment.

"SolidWorks is the standard for mainstream 3D design that helps engineers do their jobs better, faster, and more affordably than any other product in the world", said Dave Corcoran, executive vice president of research and development at SolidWorks.

"With more than 300 enhancements to the entire product line, we've continued to tailor our products to engineers' needs to help them become more effective.

We're the only company that is entirely focused on the needs of product designers and mechanical design engineers.

Our mission is to give designers all of the tools they need for product design in one easy-to-use, affordable package".

(This was Engineeringtalk's Top Story on 19 September 2002).

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