Part of the process

By Laura Carrabine
July/August 2002

VDO North America is a leading supplier of electronic

information and control systems for original equipment
manufacturers in the automotive, heavy duty,
industrial, marine, and power sports industries, as well
as instrumentation and electrical products to the
automotive, marine, and industrial after markets. The
company has been using Moldflow software to great
effect for three years

VDO North America produces a wide range of vehicle systems and components including
information, navigation and audio in-car systems, complete cockpit and dashboard modules,
complete truck cabins, engine and fuel management modules, cruise controls, throttle body
assemblies, and sensors.
Its North American customers include GM, Saturn, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Volkswagen,
Bombardier, Freightliner, Land Rover, MACK, Navistar, John Deere, Caterpillar, Paccar, Mercury
Marine, Harley Davidson, and Yamaha, among others. VDO is a certified ISO 9001/QS 9000 &
ISO14001 manufacturer.
The company's Cheshire, CT-based VDO operation designs and manufactures automotive
sensors and actuators. Its main customers are Ford, GM and Chrysler. VDO design engineers
use I-DEAS, Catia, and 3CP for Ford CAD packages. Manufacturing engineer Dana Bryan uses
Moldflow software from Moldflow Corporation for simulating and analysing plastic parts.
Bryan says: "A little over three years ago, we started using Moldflow Plastic Adviser (MPA) during
the upfront design phase to double check wall thickness, for example. Since then, we obtained
Moldflow Plastics Insight (MPI) Flow, Cool, Thermoset, Fusion and Warp modules to aid in
gathering all possible data we can to help us make the right decisions the first time. Ninety
percent of the materials we use are engineering polymers such as nylons and polyesters and
most are 30+ per cent glass filled. Using Moldflow is really critical to predict the warp on parts
using these materials.In fact, today we will not select a gate location until we perform warpage
analysis."
Meeting challenges
VDO customers demand high quality, reliable products that are cost effective and delivered ontime. "We know we can meet these challenges," adds Bryan, "because of the upfront analysis
work. We use design and process FMEA (failure mode and effects analysis) spreadsheets
comprised of possible problems that can arise. Using Moldflow, we can troubleshoot design
errors."
In addition, design engineers use Pro/Mechanica software to check for a parts structural integrity.

KJ Sensor reservoir at 33% fill - no flow tab

KJ Sensor reservoir at 33% fill- with flow tab

KJ Sensor reservoir at 100% fill - no flow tab

KJ Sensor reservoir at 100% fill - with flow tab

When designs warrant a change, the redesigned part is re-analysed using MPA or MPI
throughout the product lifecycle to assure that the part and the manufacturing processes are
accurate and meet specifications. "We don't want any surprises once the part moves to the
manufacturing floor," says Bryan. "The APQP teams are integral to product quality and
manufacturability.
"That's why we use Moldflow. We want to make sure that our designs are robust and will fill
properly. The software helps us eliminate unwanted knit lines and filling problems. Our parts must
be completely sealed. If engine fluids or water seep in, they can damage the sensors."
All the product development information is shared across the board, even with the mold makers.
In addition, The CT-based VDO operation maintains a reliability lab where environmental and
DV/PV testing is conducted. Bryan adds: "On the shop floor, we also take into account lean
manufacturing and Kaizen principles in all of our line set ups. The Kaizen business strategy
involves everyone in an organisation working together to make improvements without large
capital investments. Moldflow is part of all that process."
He says that VDO plans to use Moldflow for 3D-flow analysis in the future. "Many of our parts are
over-molded," says Bryan. "We have a thermoset ncapsulation that is being overmolded by
thermoplastic. I am hoping that 3D flow capabilities will provide a lot of data on the stresses and
strains caused the actual part being in there. This functionality is something Moldflow is
considering."
Bryan attests that ever since implementing Moldflow software three years ago, his team has
enjoyed excellent results. "Today, it's company policy that a part will not be manufactured without
performing Moldflow analysis. As a result, we have saved ourselves a lot of design-related issues,

problems, and headaches. Performing the simulations is definitely worth it in terms of improving
product quality and saving time and money."
Significant projects
Recently, Bryan worked on a reservoir for a GM fuel pump that involves a large mold. "The mold
operators were injecting the product from the top of the mold. The part was filling the rounded
side of the part first and the flatter side second. As a result, they experienced a thin wall problem
on one end caused by core deflection. We used Moldflow to simulate different flow leaders to
promote flow to the other side to help the part fill more uniformly. That effort worked beautifully
and the team was very pleased that we solved the problem so easily. We saved six to eight
weeks in tooling time and $10,000 in tooling costs for just that one part."
Since that project, Bryan was asked to make a change to a different fuel pump. Prior to doing so,
he used Moldflow to confirm the flow leader. "The general trend here and throughout the
company is to verify the design and/or design changes prior to building or modifying the tool(s).
Our teams throughout the world want proof that the designs will work the first time," Bryan notes.
"People are beginning to realise how powerful Moldflow tools really are and subsequently, relying
on them to solve problems they've experienced in the past and to prevent problems in the future,"
Bryan adds.
For a recent sensor project, called medium data rate (MDR) crank position sensor, Bryan and the
MDR team analysed and molded the parts using different materials such as nylons and PBTs.
"For warpage, it was critical that we correctly determined the gate location so that the nose
position was correct relative to the flange. We redesigned the whole rear section wall thickness
and gating configuration to eliminate the differential shrinkage and orientation effects," adds
Bryan.
He says he can conduct multiple Moldflow analyses for his colleagues located around the world.
He can provide next-day results. "My ability to quickly deliver simulation results can slash time
and money off important projects. I know the software is making a big difference," Bryan explains.
Design engineers are also using Moldflow as a critical sales tool. "Because we do a lot of work for
Chrysler," says Bryan, "our designers will analyse the proposed design(s) prior to approaching
the customer. Their proactive strategy is helping win new business. The customer has the
confidence that we can do the work.
Since the merger of Siemens and VDO, Siemens VDO Automotive Corporation management
recently asked Bryan to contribute to a brochure being developed that discusses the capabilities
of Moldflow within the organisation. The document is meant to instruct the organisation how the
technology is helping improve productivity and save time and money.
Bryan runs his software on HP UNIX workstations. He says he has a good relationship with the
Moldflow support team. "Moldflow's support team have always been easy to work with and
helpful," notes Bryan. This week, Bryan is honing his Moldflow skills by enrolling in certification
training at Moldflow's corporate training center. "I'm always learning new ways to use the
technology. Gaining certification will help promote our organisation as more proficient than our
competition. Moldflow certification will be an excellent marketing tool in gaining new business,"
concludes Bryan.

Initial prototype design of KJ Sensor

Revised prototype desin and ultimate production design of KJ Sensor

Small is beautiful
July/August 2002
It's a Nicam digital television. It's a
DVD/VCD video player. It's a CD player
and FM radio. It's a digital stereo
system. And it's a powerful PC. And at a
mere 64 mm (2.5 inches) deep, it's
probably the world's smallest footprint
all-in-one PC. What's more, it's British

The Cassius Intertainment Centre and its sister product, the Cassius Pro, were designed by
Densitron Computers, a division of Densitron Technologies, of Biggin Hill in Kent. They recently
went on sale in selected high street stores in the UK, as well as in the USA and Japan.
As a world-wide company with a long history in display devices and industrial computers, the
Cassius was a bold step for Densitron. It was the company's first foray into the retail end of the
computer marketplace and the first time that the company had designed a product that didn't

already have a customer waiting for it. Rigorous market research and analysis were essential
elements in the development process, as were the latest 3D solid modelling design techniques.
As design manager Edward Price explained: "With the electronics design for the Cassius being
carried out in the Far East and the mechanical design and packaging being performed in the UK,
the main challenge was to ensure that the electronics and mechanical design moved forward
simultaneously in order to keep the development time-scale as short as possible. As the
mechanical design was driven by the size of the electronic components, this demanded tight
integration between the two design disciplines, as well as regular use of the Internet and a
mechanical design tool that would enable us to package everything into the smallest possible
space without difficulty".
The design tool Densitron selected for this was Solid Edge, from EDS PLM Solutions. This was
supplied to them and is supported by Birmingham-based Solid Edge value-added reseller, Solid
Applications Ltd.
Integrated design
Once Solid Applications' engineers had installed and implemented Solid Edge at Densitron's
offices, the design process for the Cassius started with taking a standard 15" TFT LCD flat screen
and then allowing some space for the various connections. This established the minimum overall
size of the complete unit.
An important aspect of the design process at this early stage was the use of a Solid Edge thirdparty add-on software product known as PCB-to-3D, which again, was supplied by Solid
Applications. This allowed a 3D space model of the PCB physical design, or layout, to be created
and read into Solid Edge to provide the mechanical design team with the space information they
needed. Importantly, it also enabled them to move components around on the PCB in order to
achieve the optimum layout in terms of physical space allocations.
The modified PCB layout was then transmitted back to the Far East via the Internet in order for
the electronics design team to update its design accordingly, check that it still performed as
required and to then confirm this back to the UK.
Assembly modelling
As the mechanical design developed, the assembly modelling facilities in Solid Edge became
essential in ensuring that everything fitted into the smallest possible space.
Eventually, every single component of the Cassius was included in the assembly model to ensure
that there was no interference between individual components and that everything fitted into the
available space. It also enabled the finished unit's weight and centre of gravity to be calculated so
that the team could ensure that on its stand, it met safety regulations for tilt angle etc.
"With the high component count involved and with only a millimetre between many of them, the
assembly modelling facilities in Solid Edge were a crucial element in this stage of the
development process and saved us a great deal of time and re-working," said Price.
With design of the Cassius nearing completion, the next step was to test market a working
version of the product. Solid Edge was used to create accurate STL files of the Cassius' casing
from the 3D model. These were provided to a rapid prototyping bureau for the production of a
sterolithography prototype.

This prototype was then used to produce ten silicon mouldings of the unit, which were fitted out
with prototype PCBs, standard components and connections etc. to make ten working units.
These were shipped to the USA for demonstration at the annual Comdex computer show.
Meanwhile, rendered images of the completed 3D model were produced using the in-built
visualisation facilities in Solid Edge and sent to the marketing department for use in the first
publicity leaflets for the Cassius.
As Price explained: "Being able to do all this from within Solid Edge gave us major advantages in
terms of our time-to-market and our development costs. For a start, we didn't have to spend
anything at this pre-market acceptance stage on expensive mould tools. And we could produce
photo-realistic images of the product for the marketing documentation before anything had even
been built."
The result of the test marketing exercise at Comdex was a very strong interest in the Cassius
from several possible sales outlets and the decision by Densitron to go ahead with manufacturing
and a full product launch.
Downstream applications
The design team's attentions then turned to liaising with its suppliers in order to get the first
production units finished in the agreed time frame. With the injection mould tools to be produced
by a company in China, Solid Edge was used to produce accurate IGES files of the appropriate
parts, which were then transmitted as Zip files via the Internet to China. The resulting mould tool
designs were right first time.
Meanwhile, the sheet metal manufacturer in the UK was getting on with his part of the work. For
some of the more complex shapes, the sheet metal design facilities in Solid Edge were used by
Densitron's engineers to create the flat pattern information the manufacturer required. Other parts
were sent as 3D component files, together with a set of detailed engineering drawings along with
DXF files, so that the manufacturer had as much information as was possible in order to keep
time-scales and costs down.
Solid Edge was also used to create hidden-line-removed drawings from the 3D models, which
were then imported into Microsoft Word for inclusion in the technical and user support
documentation, saving the time and cost of having illustrations produced independently.
Summing up the value of using 3D solid modelling design techniques, Price commented: "Without
Solid Edge it would have been impossible for us to design the Cassius in anything like the time
we did. Its assembly modelling facilities and ability to communicate design information with other
applications were key here. Once you have an accurate 3D model, the data can be used in a
wide range of areas. All in all, Solid Edge has already paid for itself many times over."

An edge over the competition By Colin Mathews

UGS' mid range solid modelling solution Solid Edge
is now in release 10 with a massive range of
customer-driven enhancements to improve
functionality and productivity for all aspect of the
mechanical design process. C3's review team gets
into the latest version and comes away impressed.

Development of the design centric solid

modellers continues apace with version 10
of Solid Edge. Aimed primarily at
mechanical design, UGS claims to have
delivered enhancements commonly
requested by their 8,000 customers.

Despite intensifying competition, the progressive maturity of the modellers reduces scope for
major additions, forcing new releases to rely upon functionality gap filling and productivity
enhancements. Highlights in v10 include assembly configurations, sheet metal flat version
enhancements, weldments and drawing view handling.
By definition assemblies contain multiple parts, usually in order to allow relative movement
between them. Since components are intended to occupy several if not numerous relative
positions, it is important that each critical position can be represented for review in the CAD
model. Version 10 introduces Alternate Position assemblies allowing different configurations to
be created and specified wherever the assembly is used including drawing views. This avoids
the need to create multiple versions of the assembly by containing all configurations in a single
assembly file.
Component positions can be driven by numeric variables for all or selected instances. A
variation on this ability is Family of Assemblies which also enables some parts and
subassemblies to be different between the configurations. The power of this feature is evident
in the intelligent handling of mates which are maintained with the replacement parts wherever
possible. This mate handling also applies if a part is manually replaced into the assembly. It is
also possible to specify whether all or selected instances are to be replaced.
In many cases the design process does not
allow the optimum assembly structure to be
established before modelling commences.
What ensues is often a flat structure with most
components placed at the root level.

A number of restructuring tools are now available to subsequently manipulate the hierarchy

Fire power
May 2002
Switching to solid modelling has drastically cut
production times at Focal Point Fires - the UK's
largest, independent fuel-effect fire manufacturer
Product design manager Peter Rosoman says using
Solid Edge - an EDS software package provided and
supported by specialist systems integrators Cadac - has
transformed the production process.
A section
through a Flueless Stove produced using Solid
Edge

"Now," says Rosoman, "it is possible to receive a request for a new component by 9 am and
have it drawn up and emailed to his fabricator team the same day, ready for work to start
immediately."
Previously, this would have taken much longer, perhaps up to a week. With particularly
complex designs, a site visit to the fabricators to run through the design details might also
have been necessary.
"Working with 2D CAD was fine when the company was smaller," Rosoman explains. "But it
was very basic and we had to rely more on the fabricators. Using Solid Edge saves time and
money, but there's more to it than that," he insists. "From my point of view, with 2D I would
have had to draw it and explain it to the fabricators, and maybe even had to visit them. Now I
can give them an unfolded development plan and email it straight to them.
"It also means that when our directors ask us to come up with a new product we can show
them exactly how it will look. We can do a walk-through of the room, going in through the door
and zooming-in to the fire. It gives us a much greater degree of confidence that the finished
product matches our design."
Fire works
Focal Point Fires was established in 1984 and has grown swiftly from a small enterprise to an
established, multi-million pound company. Based in Christchurch, it is the largest independent
manufacturer of domestic gas and electric fires with a market share of over 50 per cent. The
company has an annual turnover approaching 30 million and a key customer is the B&Q
chain.
"We needed a new CAD programme and Cadac advised us to go for Solid Edge," says
Rosoman. "They didn't try to oversell us things we didn't need. They also supported the
package with training, which was vital. We went on a training course, which made the
programme easy to understand and afterwards I was able to start work on it straight away."
Adrian Taylor of Cadac SMP adds, "From our very first meeting it was obvious to us that Focal
Fires were clearly aiming to dominate their marketplace. We were certain that adding Solid
Edge into their formula would be the catalyst that would help to get them there".
In common with so many manufacturing firms, they could achieve their designs so much

Discreet's 3ds max

June 2002
3DMax and ART's RenderDrive were
used to great effect by artist Barclay
Shaw during the visualisation stages
of the recently-completed Information
Dominance Centre. This facility was
built for the US Army Intelligence and
Security Command to address the
increasing demands of the
information age

Shaw's visualisations helped understand what the facility would look like and
be like to work in

Artist Barclay Shaw recently recieved an interesting assignment from The Land Information
Warfare Activity (LIWA ) branch of the US Army Intelligence and Security Command. The project
was to assist in the design and visualisation of a proposed new facility, The Information
Dominance Center. This was to be a state of the art facility designed to address the increasing
technological demands created by the information age.
The idea was to have the facility environment reflect and be conducive to the type of work being
done there. The design process was a group effort encompassing LIWA personnel, designers,
and architects. Shaw's task was to work on development of the interior design treatment and to
create visualizations of those designs. The still imagery and animated fly-throughs turned out to
be an invaluable aid in understanding what the facility would actually look like and be like to work
in.
One byproduct of the accuracy of the reality-based renderings generated by ART's RenderDrive
was that many design decisions and material selections could be made based on the renderings
alone, avoiding costly prototyping.
Vision made true
Construction of the facility was recently completed and Shaw describes walking through it was
one of the spookiest experiences of his life.

He comments: "Having dealt with the illusion of 3D

throughout my career, this was the first time I have
ever had a design made real. I knew the facility like the
back of my hand from building the 3D model, yet I had
never set foot in it before. It certainly brought home the
power of visualisation."

Barclay Shaw has been self-employed as a freelance artist since 1978. His artistic influences
cover a broad range: from the Pre-Raphaelites to the Surrealists to the 60's Psychedelic Poster
movement to contemporary artists as diverse as Louise Nevelson and Edward Klienholz. Aninitial
passion for sculpture translated itself into his painting as an expression of dimensionality through
a surreal, pristine and highly sculptural rendering style.
Mixing it up
"I find each medium has its own expressive appeal and am eternally intrigued with the interaction
between different media. Consequently, I have enthusiastically embraced combining various
media within individual works," says Shaw.
Early in the 1990's the desktop digital medium matured to the point where it became a truly
usable artistic tool and which Shaw describes as a revelation:
"Here was a medium that allowed me to combine interests in painting and sculpture as well as
long standing interests in animation and music production. Over the course of the 90's I have
made the transition from incorporating digital design elements into traditional media, to using
traditional media as elements within digital compositions; then expanded that to include animation
and sound design. So, in addition to traditional art tools, my studio now includes both Macintosh
and Windows/NT platforms and has full digital audio and digital video production capabilities."
Shaw continues: "My initial foray into the realm of digital media was on the Macintosh platform.
But after a few years I began looking into programs that were more robust for 3D content creation
than was available on the Mac at the time, and so made the move to 3DS Max on NT. I love
working in Max and have found it to be an extremely deep and powerful tool with one reservation
- its renderer. I could spot a Max rendering across the room by its underlying greyish flatness. A
lot of dancing with lighting, texturing and environmental effects was necessary to overcome these
rendering problems. Over time, Max has made enormous strides in dealing with this issue, but a
lot of dancing is still required to produce an acceptable image.
"For an artist, image quality is paramount regardless of medium. Beyond content, it is image
quality by which work is judged and on which future work depends. The most brilliant concept
poorly realized will suffer accordingly. For my purposes, the answer to 3D rendering issues is
raytracing. The accurate reflections, refraction and reality based lighting effects achieved through
raytracing (and only simulated in phong rendering) are exactly what I look for in 3D rendering.
The primary difficulty with software based raytracers is the tradeoff between high image quality
and long rendering times; where rendering time alone can make a fully raytraced scene
impractical and a partially raytraced scene just that.
Driving force

After I first saw RenderDrive, it took me a few months before I bit the bullet and purchased a unit;
as a solo artist this represented a significant investment on my part. The RenderDrive contains a
series of dedicated raytracing processor chips that fully raytrace a Max scene with remarkable
speed. The unit resides on the network and operates transparently within Max through software
plugins; setup could not be easier. From my first image produced on the RenderDrive I could tell I
had made a sound investment. Here were beautiful vibrant colors, convincing natural shadows
and stunningly accurate reflections and refraction - all without the dancing!
I have found that using the RenderDrive has significantly increased my productivity by generating
imagery of substantially higher quality with much less setup time. From a business perspective,
this increased productivity and ability to realize images up to my highest artistic standards has
allowed me to please my clients and expand my client base. In addition I found that I had fully
recouped the cost of the unit after just a few jobs.
For the past few years I have had the pleasure of working with Program Managers at The
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, creating illustrations and animations for a variety
of their projects. The move from Science Fiction to this was hardly noticeable. On the basis of my
work for DARPA, I have also received work with a number of related concerns.

The enemy within

May 2002
The systems that keep aircraft in the air and guide them safely to their destinations are
heavily reliant on electronics, both onboard the aircraft, on the ground and, increasingly,
in orbit. Ensuring that these systems work in harmony with each other and with natural
electromagnetic phenomena such as lightning is a vital part of the aircraft manufacturer's
job

Aviation has benefited more than most industries from the information revolution. Military aircraft
depend heavily on electronics. As well as navigation and flight control they also need to be able to

locate, identify and pinpoint potential threats and targets. Some of these activities involve
powerful laser and radar systems with significant levels of electromagnetic radiation. It is
therefore vital that the various systems do not interfere with each other or compromise the safety
of the crew. These are among the sensitive issues dealt with by the experts at BAE Systems.

Responsibility for BAE Systems whole vehicle electromagnetic

testing and analysis falls under the auspices of the
Electromagnetic Engineering and Test department based at
Warton, Lancashire, a department which reflects the planned
change of remit from just aircraft to a broader base of land, sea
and air vehicles.

Such developments are likely to put an even greater strain on the computation analysis team.
"Our product portfolio already includes Nimrod and Eurofighter, both extremely complex aircraft in
their own different ways," says Chris Jones, Technologist Consultant in the Electromagnetic
Engineering department. "Each vehicle we deal with has probably been designed in a number of
different locations and possibly with a number of different design systems. But the analyses we
perform demand a single, accurate geometric representation and the generation of this geometry
is often the single biggest challenge. With new vehicles coming online it will be more vital than
ever that we can maintain the integrity of our data - and fast."
Multiple modellers
Jones and his team have been using electromagnetic analysis software since it first became a
viable option over 15 years ago. Even then, with the CAD market still relatively young, a survey
revealed that there were no less than 17 CAD systems in use within BAE Systems. Consolidation
has reduced this number significantly today but there remains a daunting diversity when it comes
to defining geometry for computational analysis.
"Eurofighter is a classic example: the complete geometry comes from four different countries,
Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK," says Jones. "We have to bring all this data into a neutral
environment, clean it up where necessary, assign material properties, generate a mesh and then
format this so that it can be used in our analysis packages."
Even if there was just a single analysis package this
would be problematical enough, but the different
flavours of electromagnetic simulation performed at
BAE Systems all demand different codes and
different ways of defining mesh geometry.

A Eurofighter being prepared for take-off

Analysis methods include, among others, generic transmission line matrix (TLM), finite difference
methods and boundary element methods, as well as systems that have been specifically
developed for lightning strike and installed antenna performance analysis.
"In effect, we go from a set of CAD systems to a set of numerical analysis codes," says Jones.
"Fortunately, we have found a way to avoid a separate data processing nightmare for every
combination."

BAE Systems EE&T uses CADfix, the leading data interoperability tool developed by
TranscenData (formerly FEGS), as a central resource of geometric data.

Above left and right: Meshes prepared in CADfix for electromagnetic analysis.

Because it offers a reliable link - either directly or via IGES - to every major CAD system on the
market, CADfix provides the perfect platform for such a diverse range of data. And because of
TranscenData's long heritage in the pre- and post-processing for FEA (CADfix's underlying
technology draws heavily on FAM, TranscenData's widely used FE modeller) it is offers the
perfect route from raw geometry to refined, analysis-ready mesh.
"CADfix is at the heart of everything we do," says Paul Baker, a BAE Systems Computational
Electromagnetics (CEM) specialist. "In effect we use it as the hub of our operation, a central
resource for all the geometry we have to work on. Whatever kind of analysis we need to perform,
whatever mesh we need, the starting point is always the clean geometry that's been assembled
inside CADfix."
As well as providing a central data resource, CADfix
also makes its presence felt in a manner perhaps
more typically associated with TranscenData
solutions. Before BAE Systems began using FAM and later its successor, CADfix - the generation of the
meshes on which calculations are based was
essentially a manual operation and therefore a
lengthy one.

Now, meshes are generated directly within CADfix and the time savings are enormous: a single
wing could take six to nine months previously; a whole plane can now be meshed in just three or
four hours.
"Even with the powerful computers we use, an analysis of a complete aircraft can take about ten
days," says Baker. "So the last thing we need is to spend ages building meshes. With CADfix we
can generate new meshes in just a few hours so we are not restricted when it comes to trying a
different kind of analysis."
Graphical feedback
CADfix's powerful post processing capabilities are also used to the fore at BAE Systems. "We use
pretty standard mathematical software to retrieve the precise graphs and figures we need for our
reports and safety checks," says Baker. "But our first port of call is always CADfix, where we can
display field contours on the original CAD model.

This gives an instant picture of where we should be looking for maximum concentrations, and
while this is often not much more than a 'sanity check' to make sure we're looking in the right
place, it does throw up the occasional surprise."
One such revelation came when looking at the effects of a lightning strike on the cockpit of the
Eurofighter.
"Our initial analysis confirmed that a modified design performed just as well as the original, but it
also revealed a slight anomaly that would have been impossible to spot through physical testing,"
explains Baker. "It showed that, during a lightning strike a small but significant current passed
through some aerodynamic strakes on the outside of the cockpit. Although this current was within
safety standards, there was a very small chance that a spark could have formed at one of the
strake's fasteners. Such sparking is the last thing you want in a jet fighter."
Problems like this can usually be fixed quite easily if caught early enough explains Jones:" In this
case the problem was fixed with a relatively simple design modification, but without the depth of
analysis we get from using CADfix it could have taken us years to spot something so subtle."

A race against time

April 2002
At the end of 1999, Toyota
formally announced its entry into the Formula One
bun fight.
With this goal firmly in its sights, Toyota has
armed each of its designers with a SpaceMouse
from 3Dconnexion to ensure their design
technique is just as dynamic as the car they are
creating

Toyota has always relished a challenge and entry into Formula One is certainly that. Starting
with what the team calls 'a clean sheet of paper', it has been a very busy couple of years to
get from nothing to build a race car to compete against the established F1 teams. To add to
the challenge, the Toyota team is building the entire car in-house, allowing its designers a free
reign of creativity.
To assist its design team, Toyota has invested in over one hundred advanced input devices
from 3Dconnexion. The SpaceMouse, which works in conjunction with the traditional 2D
mouse, has become an integral part of the race car design process at Toyota. The new car's
engine, chassis, gearbox, suspension and brakes have all been designed and modelled using
its 3D manipulation capabilities.
SpaceMouse products have become a critical part of the overall design process of the cars,
allowing designers and engineers to save over 15 percent of their design time by enabling
them to move objects intuitively using the zoom, pan and rotate features. Toyota's design and
engineering team now has the ability to manipulate 3D objects on the screen, while
simultaneously controlling 3D angles and positions for viewing those objects.
Slick operation
The CAD/CAM support group of Toyota
F1's IT department knows that the need
for speed and agility is just as important
for the Toyota team off the track as on it,
and has overseen the introduction of
SpaceMouse into the design
department.

"We have been using SpaceMouse since the start of the F1 project two years ago," says IT
manager, Waldemar Klemm. "Now everyone in the design department has one and every
CAD station is provided with one." The introduction of the SpaceMouse to workstations
represented a new way of working for most of the designers, and it was important that the
transition didn't slow down the design process while they adjusted to it.
"The designers who were new to the technology required some training to familiarise

Cashing in with Moldflow

by Laura Carrabine
Coin mechanism designer and
manufacturer, Coin Acceptors,
has slashed it's modelling time
by 80 percent using Moldflow's MPI

Photo-realistic rendering of a gear tool,

designed and built at Coinco

St. Louis-based Coin Acceptors, (Coinco) is a leader in the design and manufacture of coin
mechanisms and control systems for vending machines for the global food and beverage vending
industry.
Senior Coinco engineer, Max Molenaar, supervises the tool design and drafting departments,
model shop, prototyping, and computer-aided engineering (CAE) activities, including the use of
Moldflow Plastics Insight (MPI) software. The company also uses Pro/ENGINEER Mechanica for
stress analysis, as well as Unigraphics and Solid Edge for computer aided design. He says a
major challenge to designing the company's products is molding plastic parts that require close
tolerances.
"Typically, coin changers are restricted in size and require small and accurate components." says
Molenaar. "Designing and molding a plastic part to meet our expected criteria can be
challenging."
Coinco customers demand products that are reliable and tamper-proof. "A combination of good
design, careful analysis, and testing helps us achieve reliability and tamper proof devices for our
customers," adds Molenaar.

Rear view of a Coinco changer component, designed and photo- Front view of a Coinco changer component, designed and photorendered in Unigraphics
rendered in Unigraphics

top
Using MPI
Molenaar and his peers have been using MPI/Fusion software since September 2001. However,
the tool design department had already been using flow analysis software at Coinco since the
early 1990s, when the company introduced software from C-MOLD for flow analysis. (Moldflow
acquired C-MOLD in 2000.) Molenaar migrated to MPI as a beta customer for Synergy, the
revolutionary new user interface that debuted with MPI 3.0.

"We use MPI for analysing each newly designed plastic part," adds Molenaar. "The software is an
integral part of the overall design process, it allows us to achieve the accuracy, the reliability and
the consistency that our customers expect. The company established a policy several years ago
to perform flow and cooling analyses on each new part during tool design.
"The other benefit derived from those activities include optimising the design accurately at the
beginning of the design cycle, and eliminating subsequent design cycles. In addition, the analysis
allows us to plan and position the cooling lines before machining them. This effort helps prevent
very costly and time consuming retooling."
He says that upfront analysis also helps him make more informed decisions. "We could have a
scenario where instead of cooling the mould with water, we could opt for using beryllium copper.
The software helps us save time and money because it eliminates the trial and error out of the
design cycle. MPI allows us to establish a process for the production floor so operators can easily
initiate the start-up process for the mold. They have a processing window ready for them."
top
Coinco's projects
Molenaar and his team are currently using MPI to design new plastic parts - some as large as 6inches wide by 18-inches long, and as small as gear pieces with quarter-inch diameters.
He says: "Using Synergy for a current project is particularly helpful because we are almost 99
percent sure that the gate locations and cooling lines are accurate. There are aesthetic issues
with any product so we make sure that unsightly nit and weld lines do not appear in critical areas
that could be visible to the outside. That's why it's also very important to perform MPI analysis
during the design cycle - to make sure that we don't have imperfections in cosmetically critical
areas."
Benefits of using MPI

Molenaar figured out that he and his colleagues

were spending up to eight hours per model to
generate meshes and clean them up using midplane
meshing tools. Using MPI for a current project, he's
realized savings so far of 120 man-hours. Over time,
he calculated that the company would save more
than $26,000 per year as a result of implementing
MPI. "The company's return on this investment will
be realized in less than a year," adds Molenaar.
Rear view of a Coinco changer component after MPI cooling
analysis

top
He says that he and his colleagues have been able to reduce modelling time by 80 percent.
"When we participated in the beta test for MPI/Fusion," explains Molenaar, "I selected a small,
complex gear as a test model. It required a mesh with a large number of triangles. Using CMOLD Express, it took four hours to generate a mesh and another three hours of manual labour
to correct the mesh. Moldflow's Mesh Generator generated the mesh in about five minutes, but

the mesh didn't look any better than the Mesh Express version. Both products caused significant
frustration and required additional labor to create something half-way decent."

Volumetric shrinkage plot of a Coinco changer

component

Melt front plot of a Coinco changer component

However, using MPI/Fusion, Molenaar generated the mesh in just two minutes and spent just 15
minutes cleaning it up. "MPI/Fusion is a revolutionary product. It is saving Coinco time and money
in more ways than one."
The choice of Moldflow's new state of the art software is in perfect harmony with Coinco's
tradition of being on the leading edge of designing and manufacturing plastic components for it's
end products.
top

8 March 2001

Moldflow launches Plastics Xpert 3.0

Moldflow Corporation has announced that
Moldflow Plastics Xpert (MPX) 3.0 is now shipping.
Moldflow Plastics Xpert 3.0 is enhanced to help
automate the process of injection molding
machine set-up, optimisation, and control. The
new features included in MPX 3.0 help plastics
injection moulders address stringent production
schedules and challenging product quality
requirements.

Plastication (melting phase) Optimisation -- based on user input of material and screw
characteristics. Using this information, MPX 3.0 will generate recommended barrel temperature
profiles, back pressure settings, and screw rotation settings.

Setup Xpert Cooling Time Routine -- specifically optimises and minimises cooling time and overall
cycle time. Also included is a Set-up Xpert undo feature.
Design of Experiments (DOE) Enhancements -- part weight, dimensions and warpage have been
added to the DOE part quality criteria choices and packing time and cooling time have been
added as DOE process variables. In addition, users can undo completed experiments, as well as
opt to input defect feedback after extended periods of time.
Online Process Set-up Sheet -- saves critical process parameters associated with particular
production runs. The automatically generated, HTML-based document saves important data
related to velocity and pressure files, temperature profiles, and back-pressure and screw speed
profiles.

IBM and Dassault launch CATIA V5 R6

27 March, 2001
IBM and Dassault have announced the launch of
Version 5 Release 6 (V5R6) of CATIA, the business
process automation solution for product creation
and product lifecycle management (PLM).

Introduced only four months after V5R5, CATIA V5R6 is available worldwide on 23 March 2001
on both the Windows and UNIX platforms. CATIA V5R6 incorporates major improvements to
existing products, and introduces 17 new products, bringing to 78 the total number of CATIA V5
products.
With its unique specification and knowledge-driven approach, CATIA V5R6 enables easy
integration of multiple engineering disciplines through its expanded process coverage. In V5R6,
users have integrated capabilities to address all product development processes, to improve
product quality, reduce development time and costs, and increase competitiveness.
CATIA V5R6 provides companies of all sizes with a full range of product lifecycle management
solutions to facilitate innovation and continuously increase design productivity across the
collaborative digital enterprise. V5R6 delivers unique functionality in such domains as product
synthesis and analysis, including assessing man-machine interaction in the design process,
validating a design for manufacture, and defining and validating a manufacturing process.
CATIA V5R6 improves significantly every development step of the product, irrespective of the
design methods involved, while simplifying knowledge-sharing between manufacturers and
subcontractors working together in realtime. Users can develop products while taking into
account their specific design environments. CATIA V5R6, with its generative modelling and
controlled associativity capabilities, streamlines the design modification process across the entire
product development cycle.

CATIA's new human modelling capabilities (integrating Safework technology) enable users to
create a digital mannequin for such ergonomic analysis as simulating the driver of a vehicle,
evaluating his field of vision, predicting his comfort and checking accessibility to various controls.
This next generation DMU technology promotes innovation in design and facilitates assessment
of man-machine interaction for maximizing comfort and productivity, and for creating optimal
conditions for manufacture and maintenance.
With CATIA V5R6, IBM and Dassault Systemes deliver the new Component Application
Architecture (CAA), an open architecture which, when combined with extensive Application
Programming Interface (API) libraries, allows users to integrate their own know-how into
specialized CATIA applications.
This tool set enables users and technology partners to expand the CATIA application portfolio by
developing new extensions to existing applications and new applications within the CATIA V5
framework. In CAA V5R6, companies benefit from an unprecedented openness that they can
leverage across their PLM systems to their competitive advantage.
www.dsweb.com

Waving the flag

April 2002
CATIA V5 Release 7 was a watershed
release in V5's short history - it marked the
point where users no longer relied on
Version 4 for sophisticated capability that
was not yet in Version 5. V5 Release 8
confirms this position. There is more
process coverage and more core
functionality in V5 than there ever was in V4
and V4 will not be retrofitted with this
functionality. CATIA Version 5 is very
definitely IBM/Dassault's software platform Create and model aesthetic and ergonomic shapes to highest
for the future of PLM
Class A quality using global surface modelling techniques, like
Shape Modeling, and global feature creation methods, like
Global Flange, on top of the ACA product

CATIA V5.8 is the latest release of IBM/Dassault's flagship product and delivers significant
performance and reliability improvements plus 21 new products that have been developed in
close co-operation with existing customers. These deliver improved time to market and
reduced costs whilst supporting large-scale deployment of what IBM call 'collaborative
relational design'. V5.8 brings significant improvements in process coverage, productivity, and
methodology.
Things like multi-height pads for aerospace machined parts, complex shape fillets, and
tolerant 'all terrain' sweeping for automotive body-in-white. With V5.8, CATIA can be deployed
from concept-to-detailed design, thanks to 'publication' and 'federation' mechanisms, to share
data in a collaborative environment. These tools which enable advanced collaborative design
can be further enhanced by the ENOVIAvpm capabilities to manage and analyse links at the
level of individual features across the product structure.
< CATIA - Knowledge Expert 1 (KE1) allows a customer to
import and use corporate knowledge stored in rule databases
created using CATIA - Knowledge Expert 2 (KE2). Thus,
design compliance is ensured with established standards

Also, the advanced product management and rule-based configuration capabilities within
ENOVIAvpm are extended to support CATIA installations on Windows NT and 2000. This
provides consistent Virtual Product Design Management (VPDM) across mixed environments
of CATIA V4 and V5 on UNIX and Windows. It brings significant benefits to organisations
making the transition from UNIX to Windows or within an extended enterprise where VPDM
exchange is required across supplier and OEM installations. Collaboration across multiple
installations is also significantly enhanced with the VPM multi-site capability for reconciliation
of dynamic product data.

Cutter's choice
Lawnmower manufacturer Hayter looked to VX CAD/CAM
software as the foundation for updating its residential
lawnmowers
To satisfy the British preoccupation with well-tended lawns and
gardens, not just any lawnmower will do. Whether the lawn is a
small back-garden or a sprawling estate, we British insist on
durable, well-designed garden tools.
For more than half a century Hayter has upheld a fine tradition
for manufacturing high quality garden machinery.
The recently redesigned Harrier Model
41 lawnmower

From the original design of a two-stroke engine, a blade and a dustbin lid, Hayter's products
have evolved so successfully that the company is now a market leader. Hayter is renowned
among the gardening industry but has also put professional-grade lawnmowers within the
reach of every British gardener who treasures his turf.
So, when Hayter set out to redesign its residential Harrier Model 41, it faced a number of
challenges: develop a sleek, new design for the residential market; maintain its reputation for
performance and long life; accommodate space for a refitted Briggs & Stratton engine; and
replace the tooling used to make it.

In approaching these challenges, Hayter

turned to the CAD/CAM package it relied on to
produce its award-winning Harrier 48 model,
VX Overdrive from VX Corporation, to achieve
a complex design all the way from design
through manufacturing. "We wanted to
modernise the Harrier 41, but we also wanted
to reinforce Hayter's distinctive 'family'
appearance," said Paul Goodwin, design
engineer for Hayter.
Hayter used VX Overdrive to explore more complex curves,
surfaces and free-form shapes

top
"Most of our residential mowers are wedge-shaped machines with fairly straight lines, but we
decided to take advantage of the opportunity and explore more complex curves and surfaces
and free-form shapes, but do it in such a way that we maintained the integrity of the Hayter
look and feel."
Experimenting with new shapes, but still remaining faithful to Hayter's product identity made it
crucial that Hayter retain as much control of the design in-house as possible.

Solid solutions
Sebastian Conran Associates has a reputation as a
hot product design firm, with a variety of design
successes under its belt including work on display
in the Millennium Dome. Brian Gott investigates the
firm's use of Vellum Solids as its main design tool...

To the gastronome about town the name Conran recalls Bibendum, Quaglino's, Bluebird or any of
the growing number of designer restaurants opened since 1987 in London, Paris, Stockholm and
New York. We oldies, on the other hand, still think of Sir Terence Conran primarily as a designer
and retail entrepreneur, emerging as a leader of the British design revolution in the 1950's,
founding the international Conran Design Group in 1956, launching the Habitat phenomenon in
1964 and Conran Shop in 1973. Conran has dictated much of our lifestyle for the past 40 years,
and still does so in a big way. From their studio at Butlers Wharf at the south end of Tower Bridge,
Conran & Partners Ltd produces thousands of consumer product designs every year.
Designed in 1989 by architects Conran Roche, the 12
acre Butlers Wharf complex encapsulates the whole
Conran experience, with stylish shops, the
Gastrodome restaurants, the Design Museum
supported by the Conran Foundation and the design
consultancy firm of Conran & Partners. 'C&P', as the
email address has it, is the latest manifestation of a
design house tradition that goes way back to the
Conran Design Group founded in 195I.
Conran & Partners was formed in 1999 to amalgamate the interior design interests of the CD
Partnership with the product design and graphics interests of Sebastian (son of Terence)
Conran's own company - Sebastian Conran Associates - a design consultancy that originated 15
years ago as the designer for Mothercare and its products. This amalgamation has gradually
merged into one organisation boasting a total design capability including graphics, interiors and
product design.
In a recent review of mid range CAD systems(1) David Burns summarised the key differences
between mechanical engineering and industrial design: "Mechanical designers tend to design by
numbers and parametrics, whereas industrial designers are likely to tweak, nudge, pull and twist
their designs until they look right". Sebastian Conran Associates have found that Vellum Solids is
the ideal tool for their Computer Aided Industrial Design (CAID) needs, having used Vellum
software since 1993. Sebastian Conran points out, "We design everything on Vellum". With 16
designers, six Vellum workstations and a work profile spanning everything from interior
architecture to room dcor to vending machine graphics to ashtrays to knives and forks, the
software is ideal for a range of applications. The designers' flexible approach to product design
matches the unusually flexible structure of the Vellum product. Historically, Vellum software has
been developed in three phases: intelligent drafting;
3D wire line drawing with automatic surfacing; solid modelling with more advanced surfacing and
visualisation, based on Lightworks' rendering software. Instead of throwing out the more

traditional working methods when investing in software updates Conran has recognised that each
method is suited to different circumstances and different users. Creative designers need to be
comfortable and confident in what they are doing. Several people commented on Vellum in terms
of the 'quality of life' or 'the feeling of security' it had brought to their working experience, even
though their individual working methods differed. A set of kitchen scales might be completely
modelled in Vellum Solids to produce visualisations, geometry for tool-makers and calculation of
mass properties.
The interior design of a retail shop, on the other hand, would
most likely use a wire line drawing from Vellum 3D as the
basis for visualisations where solid modelling may not be
appropriate. Both would be enhanced by the incorporation of
Adobe Photoshop graphics in the final visualisations At
Conran, the balance between pencil and paper designing,
2D CAD drawing, 3D wire line modelling and solid modelling
is a pragmatic decision determined entirely by what is most
efficient and effective at different stages in the process.

All businesses have their mystique and, in the industrial design world, a designer's hand sketches
cut more ice with many clients than a more accurate CAD picture at the conceptual discussion
stage. But this has its dangers if the final product then differs significantly from the client's initial
perception of what was intended. Conran often uses a Vellum 3D wire line or solid model at the
outset as an underlay for hand drawn sketches, ensuring that the sketches are actually an
accurate representation.
Later in the process a solid model becomes essential as a way of visualising the 'real'
appearance of the product and delivering the geometry for STL modelling and tool making. Again
there are no absolutes - some tool makers still want to work from 2D drawings; Vellum's very
easy to use drafting then comes into its own. Sebastian Conran agrees: "In our business
computer solid modelling is a substitute for physical modelling, not a substitute for drawings."
Even so, the company maintains a well-equipped model shop. "Some people still like the handson feel of a 5 axis milling machine." STL is widely used but costly. "There is a great opportunity
for someone to make a desk top STL machine that really works."
So, what else has Vellum done for the success of the business, and what are its pros and cons
technically? As always, time to market is probably the biggest factor. Almost incredibly, a 3D
model of the S-100 thermos flask was delivered to a toolmaker in the Far East on 24 December
and a moulded product prototype was on show at a trade fair before the end of February. Behind
this sort of performance is the way in which the software uniquely integrates advanced surface
modelling with solid modelling and conceptual sketching - in other words, it is optimised for the
industrial designer who is concerned more with free form shapes than with prismatic 'mechanical'
shapes.
The first releases of Vellum Solids had some surfacing limitations but, according to Conran,
Vellum 2000 provides a lot more in the way of surface 'tweaking, nudging, pulling and twisting',
while retaining the all important compatibility with 2D drawing and 3D wire line modes. This
across-the-board versatility is what gives Conran designers the 'quality of life' that translates into
faster designing without any loss of design quality.
The emphasis at Conran is on having a range of tools at the disposal of the designer. The
flexibility to 'mix and match' Vellum's drawing, wire line modelling and solid modelling modes is an

important factor, especially at the concept stage, and it was notable how Conran designers
appear happy to move freely between the different modes of operation. Senior Product Design
Associate Joseph O'Connor looks after the installation and acts as mentor to new users, or
people wanting to explore fresh Vellum capabilities, including new users who have joined the
design team as a result of the recent amalgamation. Ease of use has been an important factor in
welding together the amalgamated teams. One enthusiastic new user, with no previous
knowledge of the software, claimed to have familiarised himself with Vellum and Lightworks
rendering within a week. Sebastian Conran again - "The ability that Vellum gives us to 'pre-sell' a
project is extraordinary." In other words, visualising design concepts and presenting more
concepts, even before the client has agreed to go ahead, increases the proportion of enquiries
that turn into projects.
As for the 'cons', they tend to be in the area of interfaces
between systems rather than Vellum itself. Sebastian Conran
says, "If only we could integrate PhotoShop within Vellum."
But he is enough of a realist to settle for running the two side
by side on the Macintosh for now. This highlights something
that may seem incidental but turns out to be crucial for
industrial designers - most of their graphics tools are Macbased, and Vellum is the only mid range CAID system that is
wholeheartedly supported (indeed developed) on the
Macintosh.
This has real productivity consequences when running a range of tools side by side. The other
classic complaint is the problem of CAD data transfer. Paradoxically, the problem arises because
Ashlar does quite well in keeping its data transfer interfaces up to date with the latest releases of
its competitors' systems
Unfortunately, clients and toolmakers often retain older releases of their systems so Conran and
Partners just has to work around the problem. That attitude is characteristic of their flexible and
creative approach to the use of CAID, the attitude that explains how it is they "do everything on
Vellum".
The company's product design area specialises in restaurant, hotel and modern home
equipment. Sebastian Conran Associates uses Ashlar's Vellum Solids industrial design software
to develop consumer products and get them to market within ever-tighter deadlines. Industrial
design is a tough and competitive business. Clients are continually looking for creative ideas that
will deliver intangible and subjective qualities - 'design quality', 'image' and 'style' - wrapped up in
a highly saleable product that functions well and can be manufactured cheaply. The business is
intensive, and success depends on maintaining a continually high reputation in a shifting market.
Consumer product sales are driven to a great extent by seasonal gift cycles - Christmas and the
wedding season for instance - and product development timing is locked into the corresponding
trade fair dates.
A typical product development cycle nowadays is no more than nine months 'from intention to
warehouse' and the industrial designer often has less time than that. In this business there is no
room for design tools that do not 'fit' effectively into the company's processes and the creative
designer's way of thinking.

Perfect Vision

VX Corporation's VX CAD/CAM software is now in

release 4 and continues the firm's commitment to
hybrid surface, solid and wireframe modelling with a
healthy dose of manufacturing capability thrown in
for good measure. C3's review team investigates the
latest version.
By Colin Mathews

VX Corporation, formerly Varimetrix, has always

been a champion of hybrid surface, solid and
wireframe modelling combined with
manufacturing capabilities, and the latest release
of their flagship VX CAD/CAM product (itself
formerly VX Vision) offers a wide range of
integrated tools.

Amidst the recent flurry of rebranding, the kernel previously called UPG2 for the second
generation of the proprietary Unified Parametric Geometry has also been renamed VX Overdrive.
At the core of the product is a robust modeller capable of extensive engineering design including
sheet metal and assembly modelling as well as drafting. The integration of surface modelling and
visualisation tools provides ample scope for industrial designers to tackle complex aesthetic
forms in the same model as the engineering design. In the full manufacturing version, VX also
integrates full 2 1/2 and three axis CAM capabilities in order to allow the design to be machined
without the need for intermediate translations or the loss of associativity with the model should
the design need to change.
Despite this impressive range of functionality, VX now primarily competes in the mid-range
modelling market with VX CAD/CAM aimed at the desktop, primarily under Windows NT/2000. Of
many possible applications, the development of plastic components and their mould tools is
particularly suitable using integrated split line and draft analysis functions.
As a hybrid modeller VX supports non-manifold, open geometry. The integration of solid and
surface functionality is transparent, so that traditional solid functions such as bosses, cuts, holes
and fillets can be applied to faces and surface models, without the need for the model to be a
closed solid. Conversely, volumes enclosed by a series of faces are by definition solids but can
be modified by advanced surface modelling functions such as trimming, tangent and curvature,
continuous blending and local or global shape modification.
To conduct mass property calculations or ensure reliable manufacture and export to analysis
tools, each part must ultimately be a single manifold solid and the Analyse Part Topology
command can be used to check the active part for abnormal conditions such as gaps between
face edges and coincident vertices.

A report form is displayed and any vertices

and edges that need to be healed are
highlighted in the graphics window. A free
edge display mode can also be used to
highlight all free edges or openings in a
faceset larger than the geometry tolerance.

Whilst this combination of solid and surface capabilities certainly achieves the dual benefits of
speed in modelling prismatic parts using solid feature based tools and complex freeforms with the
surface tools, it needs to be handled with care if the finished model is to be manufactured as a
single solid.
Modelling capabilities are certainly extensive. Within many of the regular commands such as
sweeps and lofts there are modifying options to offer greater control. Sweeps can be variational,
allowing the profile to be defined by an equation driven dimension or external reference that
forces the profile to regenerate as it passes along the sweep path. In addition to lofting between a
series of profiles comprising sketches, wireframe curves, curve lists, or face edges, lofts can also
use a drive curve and options to add scale, twist, profile blending and profile influence.
A common error with sweep and loft operations is self-intersecting geometry. The Tie SelfIntersections command attempts to remove self-intersections and inverted regions on selected
faces as far as is possible. Faces that intersect other faces in the faceset are split.
VX CAD/CAM has an excellent set of fillet tools and supported model cases including constant
and variable radius with options including corner set back, roll along edge and conic arcs.
Variable fillets benefit from being able to assign radius values at any point along an edge rather
than being limited to existing vertices or nodes. Should a solid filleting operation fail, the
successful elements can be displayed as new fillet faces sewn together into a separate shell with
the topology split and/or extended as much as is possible.
Surface detail can now be created using an
external raster image file as a height map to
emboss a face. Other useful surface creation
methods include N-sided patches from three or
more wireframe, sketch, or face edges and
Curve Mesh created by blending through a
mesh of U and V curves that intersect but are
not necessarily coincident at their end points.

In both cases there is an option to force boundary edges to be tangent-continuous with mating
faces. An untrimmed base face can also be readily created that passes through a set of points
read from an ASCII format point file of scanned data. Although the value of these surfaces can be
limited by ripples due to the accuracy of the scanned data, VX provides sufficient surface analysis
and modelling tools to achieve high quality Class A surfaces.
Draft can be added to faces relative to a neutral edge, face, plane or parting line. Parting lines
can be created from silhouettes, plane intersections, face edges and curve projections. A parting
face can also be generated for mould design and machining. Manufacturing planning and CNC
machine routines are an integral part of VX CAD/CAM, ensuring true associativity between

design and manufacturing. Once the procedure has been stepped through to be able to output an
NC program, only gross changes to a part may force the recalculation of an element such as the
machining boundary, otherwise the new tool path can be generated and output directly. Full sheet
metal design tools are also available including tab, corner and deformation tools for features such
as dimples and louvers. When folding a part the stationary face can be specified and bend radii
can be selectively modified.
VX CAD/CAM offers an excellent range of
design and manufacturing tools with the full
manufacturing version costing 10,000 and the
design version including all but the CAM tools a
very reasonable 4,000. Integrated rendering
even includes ray tracing, anti-aliasing and a
reflectance model.

At present the lack of direct integration with third party analysis packages such as finite element
analysis or motion analysis could prove to be a disadvantage for some users. Exporting data for
use in these tools during the design phase can lead to additional revision, control issues or at
least additional work.
The integration of surface and solid capabilities is clearly the best route to efficient creation of the
widest range of parts. This is underlined by the number of competitor products in the mid-range,
design centric market who are adding surface capabilities to their solid modellers. VX has a lead and indeed pedigree - in this area. While other modellers have focused on ease of use through
Windows standard interfaces and increasingly sophisticated interactive tools, VX has continued to
concentrate on the important bit - the functionality.

VX-Rated By Colin Mathews

VX CAD/CAM is VX's competent CAD solution that is
available in two guises - with or without an extensive
range of comprehensive manufacturing tools. Now in
version 5, the software has an improved Windows
interface, full CAM functionality and still maintains
the impressive surface modelling capabilities that
have been a staple of the software since the early
days.

VX Corporation has a vision to deliver design to

manufacture tools at a desktop price running
under Windows NT and 2000. As a result, VX
CAD/CAM, its core solution, is aimed at product
and manufacturing engineers and, given its
complex surface modelling capabilities,
industrial designers.

Plastic component design and their mould tools are particularly suitable applications, being able
to take advantage of integrated split line and draft analysis tools.
The latest version, VX CAD/CAM 5.0 adds a range of modelling tools for complex forms, data
integration and manufacturing enhancements. At the core of the VX products is the proprietary
VX Overdrive kernel offering intelligent sketching, fully integrated hybrid solid and surface
modelling, assemblies, drafting, rendering, sheet metal and 2-1/2 and 3-axis CAM functionality.
The VX strategy is to incorporate broad data translators and healing tools to enable integration of
foreign data into the manufacturing path at any point in the design process. Many existing
functions have been rewritten in this latest release to improve speed and ease of use including
areas such as shading, patches and edge solutions.
User interface
VX has moved further towards standardising on a Windows interface with this release. Familiar
system commands are now all accessed by Windows-standard icons, although some of the
resulting dialogues remain CAD/CAM specific and have therefore not embraced Microsoft
structures so readily. Similarly, the on-screen modelling icons will not be found in the Windows
hand-book - it doesn't have a chapter on CAD/CAM - but are large, colourful and accurately
convey their functions. The addition of elements such as Ctrl+C shortcuts should mean fewer
obstacles for new users who want to get up and running as quickly as possible.
Some elements are 'heads-up' such as the
dynamic feedback of automatically captured
constraints, including parallelism and
perpendicularity, while command prompts
appear on a toolbar together with a command
line input field and command history scrolldown.

The complete modelling history can be stepped through, including all hide and show commands.
The geometry history view is a text list without any graphics to help identify each sketch or feature
type. Curiously, selecting complete features in the graphics area highlights the feature in the
history but selecting a sketch does not.
VX uses levels as application specific environments for parts, sketches, assemblies, CAM data
etc. A system of active session and archive files offers extensive undo capabilities that
encourages experimentation.
Enhanced modelling

Modelling options now include some esoteric variants for completeness. A solid rod suitable for
pipe, tube or cable routes can be created by sweeping a profile along a network of tangent, X, T
or L shaped interconnecting curves. The lip feature enables a rectangular cut to be created along
selected edges based on a setback distance down each face from the edge. Chamfers can also
be specified as two distances or as a distance and angle. The unified command for variable
radius fillets and chamfers allows hundreds of values to be specified in a single command with
each radius of the fillet along the edge shown onscreen, superimposed on the model.
In addition to the standard N sided patch feature where the resultant surface is subdivided into 4sided NURBS faces, a finite element blend surface creates a single surface fitted through points
on the boundary curves, then trimmed along the boundary. Each method will suit particular
applications determined by the topology of the initial boundary.
Most modelling commands such as lofts and
sweeps have an amazing range of command
modifiers offering extensive control. Simple
examples are the options to preview loft path
connection lines to identify any problems and to
manually add a line to correctly match the
profiles and the ability to specify continuity with
mating faces.

Options include either C0 position, C1 tangent, or C2 curvature continuity. Surface extensions

offer not only linear, circular and reflected options but also curvature diminishing where a linear
extension is created with G1 curvature at the point of extension. Whilst these options do offer
excellent modelling control, they push VX into the realms of the Class A specialist - so you need
to know what you're doing.
Data exchange and healing
Although VX offers the full design to CAM functionality, the practicalities of the design process are
still likely to result in data being imported at some point in progress towards manufacture. VX
CAD/CAD 5.0 includes direct import translators from Parasolid-based modellers such as UGS,
Solid Edge, and SolidWorks and options for native Pro/E and CATIA files. Data can also be
translated in and out to IGES, STEP, VDA, DWG and DXF, and output to STL, VRML and HTML.
However the quality of data translated between modellers can often cause problems. In order to
deal with less than perfect data, a range of healing tools is grouped into an import repair toolbar.
The process can be automated with best-fit algorithms applied or worked through manually. This
allows a step-by-step examination of each colour coded problem area for assessment of the
necessary remedial action. Any open edges in a part can be scrolled through and the 'Extend
open faces to close gap' command attempts to sew faces together to fill gaps by extending the
faces to find a curve of intersection that can be used to trim them to. If no intersection is found an
approximation will make the two edges more closely aligned.
In addition to fairing for surfaces, VX now also offers curve fairing. This shape editing aims to
remove imperfections in curves or faces by moving individual control points, thus dealing with
situations such as ogee, where a 180 degree change in curvature or inflection occurs. Similarly, it
will allow the dedicated user to cure flats at points of minimum curvature, buckles or bumps at
maximum curvature, bulges at discontinuous curvature and creases at discontinuous tangent
planes.
Mould and tool making
VX maintains an advisory council of experts in plastic and metal injection moulding in order to

address real world tooling needs. Additional tools available in the Mold Edition of VX CAD/CAM
include automatic and interactive parting line creation and editing, graphical draft angle analysis,
shutoff creation, cooling channels, core and cavity separation and interference checking of part,
cavity and cooling elements.
The Inquire Parting Line Connections command, for instance, checks all parting lines in the active
part and indicates any gaps with white square markers at the end points. Other manufacturing
enhancements include intelligent hole making and improved tool operations. The Peeling Cut
Operation, for example, improves machining efficiency and surface finish by combining 2-1/2 axis
motion in steep areas on the part and 3-axis motion in less steep regions and by clearing resting
materials. Surface engraving operations have also been added.
Sheet metal enhancements include multiple dimples and louvers and consistent support for
imported data with improved folding and unfolding of imprecise data.
Manufacturing planning and CNC machining routines are an integral part of the VX modelling
engine to ensure 100 percent synchronisation between design and manufacturing. Although this
complete integration of CAM is unique in mid-priced CAD/CAM software, there are so far
relatively few third party developers working on design centric analysis tools such as FEA, motion
analysis and CFD that are increasingly implemented before reaching the manufacturing stage.
VX's response is that there is a comprehensive - and free - API for those who want to write such
add-ons and the company is actively seeking development partners. In the meantime, the
extensive range of import, export and repair tools in VX CAD/CAM 5.0 squarely addresses the
interoperability issue.
Conclusion
VX CAD/CAM is certainly a technically competent package. Despite competing in the mid-range
market (the core solution has a list price of 4000, the full suite of mould and tool making tools
will set you back a further 6000), the range of surfacing tools compares with those found in
packages that would cost you considerably more. Indeed the degree of modelling control VX
CAD/CAM offers is probably more than you will require in most situations. But it should be
comforting to know that it's always there for that rainy day

Poetry in Motion By Colin Mathews

Dynamic Designer from Mechanical Dynamics Inc
simulates the function of CAD models and outputs
performance data that would normally be gathered
by physical testing. C3 reviews the Solid
Edge/SolidWorks/Mechanical Desktop add-on that
allows you to better understand the mechanics of
your design.

The long established

ADAMS dynamic analysis
engine is available from
the Design Technologies
Division of Mechanical
Dynamics Inc as a fully
integrated third party
module for SolidWorks,
Solid Edge and
Mechanical Desktop.

In the latest 2001 version the Dynamic Designer product line has been revamped to include
three variants. The base product Simply Motion extends the core CAD assembly modeller
functionality to include animations and dynamic interference checking. Simply Motion is
provided as part of the Solid Edge package.
The middle version, Motion, extends Simply Motion with functionality such as contacts in order
to simulate models containing cams, gears, latches, chains, and belts plus the ability to plot
performance information. The flagship Motion Professional enables results such as reaction
forces and moments to be generated that can be automatically transferred to other structural
analysis applications.
Integration is seamless so for instance the SolidWorks version is a Gold Partner product with a
toolbar and menu item available when Dynamic Designer is installed as an add-in. Motion
specific features are also accessed through the IntelliMotion Browser tab at the bottom of the
Feature Manager pane. Clearly there are significant benefits in avoiding the need to learn a
different interface or the need to export geometry to another package. In itself this encourages
experimentation with multiple design iterations. Once the parts have been modelled the
workflow is essentially adding constraints, applying forces, running the simulation and
analysing the results. In the 2001 release a Motion model can be created with a single click
using native assembly modeller constraints.
As additional components are constrained in the assembly, Dynamic Designer automatically
assigns them as moving or grounded parts. Parts that are to be included in the simulation can
also be defined manually. The top level in the IntelliMotion Browser tab represents assembly
components unassigned to the motion model. These can be dragged and dropped onto the
Moving Parts and Ground Parts branches of the tree.

Space Age
CoCreate's OneSpace offers an
intuitive and simple collaborative
environment for sharing and
marking-up engineering and model
data. Using Internet and intranet
technology, OneSpace overcomes
bandwidth issues by updating users
models with shared commands. C3
gets to grips with a new
collaborative environment
By Charles Clarke
Very rarely do you get the opportunity to use the expressions 'realisation
of a vision' and 'paradigm shift' in the same article, let alone in the same
sentence. Both apply to OneSpace from CoCreate.
When CoCreate 'spun out' of HP in
1996, the rationale behind their
unusual name was the concept of cocreation. At the time most observers
interpreted this as being part and
parcel of the 'collaborative
engineering environment' that was
being trumpeted as the successor to
'concurrent engineering' in the minds
of the buzzword oriented marketing
folks of the day, if not the design
engineering practitioners.
Collaborative engineering tends to imply data sharing, web based 3D
viewing and some kind of video conferencing, with view and mark-up. CoCreation is all of these and more. OneSpace is the realisation of the cocreation vision. It is also a paradigm shift in that it has the capacity to
radically change the way we interact with CAD software or even
undertake the digital design process.
OneSpace is a solution that enables project development teams in
dispersed locations to communicate effectively over the Internet or a
private Intranet. Communication here means the ability to change data,
check-in and check-out to a PDM system, view, spin, modify or assemble.
You can also import and export foreign data, regardless of the kind of
PDM or CAD system being used. This data transmission is achieved via
IGES, STEP, native CATIA, Pro/E, Master Series, UGS, SolidWorks or
generic Parasolid data. It is actual 'live' CAD data - it is not abbreviated
data for viewing purposes or VRML.
Overcoming that lack of Internet bandwidth is the key to OneSpace's
potential. This is achieved using some smart technology from CoCreate.
The initial download is dependent on model size and network speed.
Each participant in the session downloads an instance of the part(s) or
assembly from the server. This instance is stored and manipulated locally
on each remote client. The master version is stored on the server.

Polished Surfaces
PTC's Interactive Surface Design
Extension is a welcome extension
for Pro/E that offers integrated
surfacing using the technology
behind CDRS. Freeform surface
design capabilities make the new
software suite increasingly user
friendly and intuitive, as the C3
review team discovered.
By Charles Clarke
For some considerable time, if you
needed integrated free-form surface
design in a Pro/ENGINEER (Pro/E)
context you had to go to the
(considerable) expense of acquiring
CDRS or Pro/DESIGNER as it used
to be called. CDRS is a complex
surface design tool, so in addition to
the extra expense you needed to
invest considerable time and effort
getting to grips with this surfacing
technology.
Not any more...
As a consequence of the acquisition of ICEM Technologies and the
'borrowing' of some of the algorithms from CDRS, PTC has produced the
new Interactive Surfacing Design Extension (ISDX) for Pro/E.
This is interactive surface design actually within Pro/E. You activate it by
selecting 'Style' from a pull-down menu and the new surface geometry
appears as a single Style feature in the Pro/E Feature Tree. With that, a
CDRS-like environment appears, and you have all the free-form
capabilities you need to create complex curvaceous product designs.
While using ISDX, there is no need to leave the Pro/E environment. That
means all your freeform curves and surfaces can be used in conjunction
with normal Pro/E functionality. Elements such as rounds and fillets, the
Sketcher, and Behavioural Modelling are available with complex freeform
surfacing. You can also convert surfaces into solids for use in
downstream applications, like Pro/MECHANICA or Pro/NC.
You can start very conceptually by
developing geometry from scratch, a
sketch, or other reference data,
gradually developing the concept into
the production model. You can
explore many design alternatives in a
short period of time throughout the
entire product development process,
courtesy of the wider Pro/E