CIMdata PLM Industry Summary Online Archive

6 November 2007

Product News

SpaceClaim Professional 2007+ Sets the Bar for CAD Interoperability

SpaceClaim Corp. announced the newest release of its flagship product, SpaceClaim Professional 2007+. The software delivers advanced file open and modification capabilities for concept design, engineering analysis and manufacturing to directly contribute their expertise to 3D product design.

SpaceClaim Professional 2007+ major enhancements include the ability to open, modify and create sheet metal parts, work with lightweight assemblies, drive 3D modifications via 2D sections, add and modify driving dimensions and supports integration with CAD-neutral partner applications. SpaceClaim Professional 2007+ advances SpaceClaim's intuitive 3D modeling capabilities and builds on core technology to address the pain of CAD interoperability and make 3D more accessible to a broader group of product development professionals.

The new capabilities in SpaceClaim Professional 2007+ let the extended development team import and work freely with the designer's model, without having to understand the method used to construct it. Engineers across multiple disciplines are able to immediately add their expertise to the design, rather than spend time deciphering the model or struggle with the software, increasing productivity and hastening time to market.

"I have been impressed with SpaceClaim and how intuitive it is to use," said 2007+ Beta client David Maloney, Sr. Engineer at JACO Manufacturing. "JACO manufactures sheet metal parts coming from a mix of customers and CAD systems. With SpaceClaim we easily import the model and then flag it as a sheet metal part. We can then make any modification we need to accommodate our manufacturing process. Before we had SpaceClaim we struggled to make changes to the models we received. What used to take hours using our old process, now takes minutes."

"SpaceClaim Professional 2007+ release is a significant milestone for the company. This release comes just 8 months after the initial release of the product, and includes many capabilities and enhancements requested by our growing client base," stated Michael McGuinness, COO of SpaceClaim Corp. "We are seeing worldwide acceptance of our CAD-neutral modification solution across multiple industries. They all have a similar challenge of addressing CAD interoperability and extending the benefits of working in 3D to more participants in the development process. These companies see SpaceClaim as the solution."

Enabling Collaboration throughout Multi-CAD Environments

SpaceClaim Professional 2007+ includes a powerful and robust set of client driven enhancements, new capabilities and partner integrations.

Sheet Metal Module provides intuitive 3D modeling for sheet metal parts. The capabilities include automated bend relief, unfold and ability to work simultaneously in 3D and flat pattern. The software automatically understands modeling intent, such as bend type, based on user edge selections on the model. Sheet metal properties wall thickness, bend radius and K-factor can be assigned. Imported thin-walled models are recognized as sheet metal parts and behave as native SpaceClaim models.

3D Section Modification provides a familiar and intuitive way to modify a model for those more comfortable working in 2D. A virtual cross section can be placed anywhere within a part or assembly and modified. Changes to the 3D model can be made simply by pulling an edge or vertices. 3D functions such as pull, move, round, shell, mirror and combine can be used while working in the 2D plane.

Lightweight Assemblies provide fast retrieval of large assemblies. Assembly components can be selected as needed for full retrieval and modification. Changes can be made in context of the full design, reducing the likelihood of component interference and assembly mismatch.

ECAD Integration supports data exchange with ECAD systems for printed circuit board design (PCBs). IDF and Mentor PADS file formats can be imported, automatically generating 3D board and component models. Components can be visually checked for interference and 3D models are available for stress or thermal analysis.

Driving Dimensions capture design intent at any product development stage. Design variables, such as a dimension between ribs, are associated with a user-named geometry selection, for example "support rib." The dimension can be modified at anytime, or removed if the design intent is no longer valid. The driving dimension is accessible to third-party applications, such as analysis, that typically solve for one or two key design variables rather than a set of many parameters.

The SpaceClaim Professional 2007+ release includes many enhancements requested by the Company's client community. Advanced Geometry capabilities have been extended to include the ability to create and modify bounded blends, helical surfaces, and standard shapes (e.g. hexagons). Geometric patterns are enhanced to allow for fast review of design alternatives. Holes can be directly modified into a slot for "on the spot" manufacturability. And additional drawing capabilities include more view types, geometric dimensioning and tolerances, annotations and associative notes for improved documentation and communication.

Integrated Partner Solutions

SpaceClaim Professional 2007+ adds support for a number of market leading third-party applications used by the extended development team.

The 2007+ release includes support for Adobe® Acrobat® 3D Version 8 file format. With SpaceClaim Professional 2007+, the extended development team can open a 3D PDF file, modify the geometry and save it back as a 3D PDF file for improved 3D collaboration and communication.

The latest release supports integration with ANSYS® Gambit and ANSYS Workbench products. Both applications can be launched from within SpaceClaim, and the model automatically exported to the application for pre-processing and analysis. The combined solution enables analysts to simplify the master CAD model, independent of the originating CAD system, for faster pre-processing, and to optimize the design based on analysis results.

SpaceClaim Professional 2007+ supports open, modify and save of the Rhinocerous® file format (.3dm). The solution provides improved collaboration between industrial and mechanical design disciplines resulting in better product designs and faster time-to-market.

A Development API is provided with SpaceClaim Professional 2007+ for clients to integrate their internal applications. Third-party developers can also make use of the API after signing a standard Developers Agreement.

Availability

SpaceClaim Professional 2007+ will be released on 15 November 2007.

The SpaceClaim product line includes: SpaceClaim Professional 2007+ with complimentary Home Edition, 3D Data Exchange products (includes Rhino import/export), Sheet metal Module, ECAD Integration Module, JT Open Data Exchange, CATIA V5 data exchange and SpaceClaim standard parts library.

The software is available in English, Japanese, German, French, Korean, Italian, Traditional and Simplified Chinese languages.

SpaceClaim Professional 2007+ is available through resellers worldwide and for purchase and download from the company's web site, http://www.spaceclaim.com/ .

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