If you read CAD forums as often as I do, it is not hard to find yourself captivated by the emotion of the users. In this instance, I found myself as annoyed as many users who have invested in a certain CAD suite that comes not only with the base CAD software, but value-added add-ons as well. When those add-ons aren't updated with the main program and you essentially lose that functionality while paying the same annual maintenance fee... well, tempers can get heated.
I'm not going to say that this add-on puts out those raging fires, but it definitely is cool.
Backstory
Alibre Design Expert came with a motion add-on. Not the best, but not bad either. It did what it was advertised to do. Then Alibre updated Alibre Design, and Motion was not compatible. Then Alibre made Alibre Design 64-bit capable, and Motion was not compatible. Then Alibre got acquired by 3D Systems and changed the name to Geomagic Design along with a major release, and still Motion was not compatible.
Simulate for Geomagic Design
So here we are today, or rather a while ago. Motion 2.0 was released, but cleverly disguised as Simulate for Geomagic Design. As far as upgrades go, this wasn't one. No, this was clearly a retirement of the old software and introduction of a completely new software.
Whereas Motion only consisted of movement with contact that allowed for pretty animations, Simulate provides not only motion, but rather a unified environment for motion and FEA. Simulate can calculate contact forces and stresses using the time-step method of dynamic simulation and report stresses, strains, deflections and more.
What I Don't Know
Although I am a keenly interested in kinetic and kinematic simulation, when I think of FEA I tend go a little deeper than that and the documentation publicly available leaves several questions unanswered.
- What engine is used for motion? Can I assume ADAMS?
- Does it automatically handle contact element creation and destruction?
- Is it only motion with linear static analysis at each time step? What about explicit and transient dynamic analysis?
- Does it have non-linear material models?
- What about thermo loads, or more specifically structural loads based on temperature distributions? (I'm not considering steady state heat transfer, but that'd be nice, too.)
- Modal and harmonic vibration analysis? Please tell me this can at least calculate a part's or assembly's natural frequency.
- Cost of the add-on? I do know that it is not included in one of the advanced packages of Geomagic Design like Motion was with Alibre Design Expert. (See why existing customers are miffed?)
Even a neophyte like me could smell something not quite right with the NISA relationship. This package definitely seems much better in terms of integration and future development. But, does it have the breadth of FEA support that an analyst expects from FE software?