So what if you’re not a CAD operator or an analyst dedicated to crunching computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and thermal transfer simulations. Blue Ridge Numerics and CAD newcomer SpaceClaim Corp. are teaming up to enpower engineers to conduct design-driven flow and thermal trade-off studies without having to be CAD operators.
The goal of the partnership is to promote more CFD testing and simulations upfront in the design process in lieu of physical prototyping. Some engineers who know CFD don’t necessarily know CAD and how to create 3D models, which eliminates upfront CFD in the mainstream product design process. SpaceClaim, launched last April, targets engineers and designers not necessarily versed in parametric 3D CAD operations with a host of features and user interface gadgets that can deliver sophisticated modeling capabilities without knowledge of sophisticated commands.
Blue Ridge Numerics’ CFD audience is similar. While traditional CFD requires an extremely high-level skill set (a level of expertise that is rapidly diminishing, company officials say), Blue Ridge Numerics’ focus is putting CFD capabilities into the hands of the guys on the front lines who can make the most impact—typically the garden variety, multi-discipline engineer, says Jim Spann, the company’s vice president of marketing.
Models can be built or imported into SpaceClaim, optimized with the new CFdesign for SpaceClaim, then shared with designers working in other CAD tools, including Autodesk Inventor, Dassault CATIA and PTC Pro/ENGINEER, among others.
Gigabit and PoE are two networking technologies moving ahead in tandem as industrial users power remote Ethernet devices such as IP security cameras at 1,000 Mbps over existing CAT5 cable.
New disc magnet motors fit into the design trend of stepping up to closed loop performance while maintaining the cost advantage of stepper motor technology.
At the Design News webinar on June 27, learn all about aluminum extrusion: designing the right shape so it costs the least, is simplest to manufacture, and best fits the application's structural requirements.
A new battery design, which replaces lithium with abundant and low-cost elemental sulfur, is still in its nascent stages but shows real promise for giving batteries more energy potential.
From Dell / Intel® New Paradigms in Design Work Scott Hamilton, vertical market strategist for Dell Precision workstations, 5/2/2013 5
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For industrial control applications, or even a simple assembly line, that machine can go almost 24/7 without a break. But what happens when the task is a little more complex? That’s where the “smart” machine would come in. The smart machine is one that has some simple (or complex in some cases) processing capability to be able to adapt to changing conditions. Such machines are suited for a host of applications, including automotive, aerospace, defense, medical, computers and electronics, telecommunications, consumer goods, and so on. This radio show will show what’s possible with smart machines, and what tradeoffs need to be made to implement such a solution.
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