Siemens Releases NX 8 CAD/CAM/CAE

By DE Editors

Siemens PLM Software has announced the latest release of its NX software, the company's fully integrated CAD/CAM/CAE solution. NX 8 includes extensive enhancements to its CAE offering, including the NX Nastran software.

NX CAE can operate as a standalone simulation solution or as a fully integrated component of the NX product development suite, and works with most leading FEA solvers as well as Siemens PLM Softwares NX Nastran. NX CAE users can import geometry from a variety of sources and easily modify it for rapid what-if analyses using synchronous technology.

NX 8 for simulation offers new solutions for optimization and multi-physics analysis, along with new methods for analyzing complex assemblies. Enhancements to NX Nastran include improvements in nonlinear and dynamic analysis, as well as increases in computational performance and modeling ease-of-use. The new and existing functionality in NX CAE helps reduce the time spent preparing and solving analysis models by up to 70 percent when compared to traditional CAE tools. The solution's High Definition 3D (HD3D) capabilities include enhancements like new simulation results measures, that allow users to tie results directly to requirements.

The high-definition 3D (HD3D) environment and visual reporting and analytics
tools in NX have been expanded to enable visual interaction and information
delivery for validation, product templates and other applications.

Enhancements to the NX 8 manufacturing capabilities include new or extended functionality focused on both machinery and tooling design, such as optimized NC programming for machinery and heavy equipment part production, along with improvements that combine tooling design automation with CAE-based validation tools.

NX CAM enhancements for machinery and heavy equipment extend existing CAD/CAM, programming automation, and integrated machine tool simulation capabilities with new automated, context-specific functions to simplify the generation of smart tool paths for prismatic parts. With new volume-based 2.5D milling operations for faster programming, automatic tracking of uncut material across multi-stage machining processes, and programming automation for multi-part setups, NX CAM for machinery delivers a fast and highly accurate machining solution.

NX Nastran 8 includes non-linear analysis material and loading enhancements
that let you simulate more material types for non-linear analysis.

NX 8 also includes new "part modules" technology to simplify modeling and editing of complex designs, expanded HD3D and design validation tools, synchronous technology enhancements to make it easier to modify  models, and new feature modeling capabilities.

The visualization tools in NX have been enhanced with advanced realtime
shading and rendering tools for aesthetic design review and validation.

For more information, visit Siemens PLM Software.

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