Siemens PLM Software Releases 2D DCM, Version 57.0 and PGM, Version 57.0

By DE Editors

Siemens PLM Software has released the latest version of the D-Cubed 2D Dimensional Constraint Manager (2D DCM), a software component that controls 2D parametric sketches in 2D and 3D design environments.

Some of the new features specific to version 57.0 include:

• Arc length dimension. Version 57.0 introduces a new driving dimension for constraining the distance along an arc between its end-points. In common with all other driving dimensions supported by the 2D DCM, the value of the arc length can be defined explicitly, or assigned a variable value which is computed with reference to other values (e.g. other dimensions in the sketch, values from a spreadsheet, etc.). The new functionality completes the 2D DCM’s support for curve length dimensions, with elliptic segments, splines (NURBS curves) and evaluated parametric curves already being supported.
• Copy curves. Applications can now create copies of splines, parametric curves, and offset curves with reference to a parent curve and a transformation for each copy. This removes a previous requirement for applications to create duplicate data structures for these more complex curve types, which could use significantly more memory. In general, any constraint type that can be applied to the original curve can be applied to the copy and there is no order-dependence when solving constraints, so the shape of the parent curve can be defined by constraints on a copy curve.
• Identifying special underdefined cases. The 2D DCM provides comprehensive diagnostics, including whether a sketch has been fully constrained, or remains underdefined. However, in some special configurations, geometry may remain under-constrained even though the number of applied constraints would usually indicate that the sketch is fully constrained. Version 57.0 now identifies special cases of this kind, providing applications with more feedback about the status of such sketches.

The company has also announced the latest release of the D-Cubed Profile Geometry Manager (PGM), a software component that adds productivity tools to the 2D environment in 2D or 3D design and manufacturing applications. New functionality specific to version includes:

• Improved support for global trimming operations. In certain offsetting scenarios, non-adjacent edges in the offset loop will intersect, creating sub-loops. The PGM segments such offset edges into intersecting regions and non-intersecting regions so that the application can identify and draw the sub-loops. This is known as “global trimming,” although the offset loop is actually preserved as a single intersecting loop in the PGM’s data-structures. Version 57 introduces a new function that generates a new loop from each sub-loop. The availability of each sub-loop as a separate loop in the output from the PGM makes it easier for applications to use the results of these global trimming operations, according to the company.

For more information, visit Siemens PLM Software.

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