NEi Launches FEA-integrated CAD

Two engineering practices that traditionally live in separate packages -- 3D mechanical CAD modeling and finite element analysis (FEA) -- get a lot closer to each other in NEi Software's new product: NEi Nastran in-CAD 2011. Today marks the premiere of the software, described by NEi as "an FEA solution delivered in a 3D environment."

In offering a FEA solution within a CAD interface, NEi hopes to capture a segment of engineers and designers who may have previously been prevented from performing FEA due to unfamiliarity. According to the announcement,"NEi Nastran in-CAD answers the demand for a CAD associative and scalable FEA solution for small to medium-sized companies."

With the new software, NEi believes, "product design teams can perform FEA pre-processing, analysis, and post-processing within the same CAD-associative environment. Engineers can use this flexible computer aided-engineering (CAE) solution to work with Nastran data files and perform advanced analysis only available from NEi Software."

NEi Nastran in-CAD includes:

• parametric CAD modeling functions;
• Nastran solvers;
• a range of 1D, 2D, and 3D mesh types (beams, bars, springs, and more); and
• file sharing via the Nastran Bulk Data File.

NEi Nastran in-CAD comes with native file translators from most industry-standard CAD packages, including CATIA, SolidWorks, Autodesk Inventor, and NX. Its CAD modeling functions are driven by classic parametric methods. In addition to simple 3D modeling functions, the software offers advance 3D features (lofting, sweeping, complex blending), assembly features, rendering, drag-and-drop color application to design, and keyframe animation.

According to the company's product brochure, "NEi Nastran in-CAD is the perfect package for getting started in Finite Element Analysis (FEA) because it combines two outstanding technologies at a fraction of the cost of high-end FEA offerings."

NEi is marking the launch of NEi in-CAD 201 with a webinar, scheduled for 10-11 AM pacific today (Aug 23).