CAD Software

[hardhgear]

Hello Every body

Which CAD software the best. CATIA , UG , Pro/E or SolidWorks?
I asked my self this question for hundreds of time but i didn't find
An answer. How to compare? And what's the reason behind the choice
Of any company for the CAD Package?

Like fferrari why they choose pro/E.why the others choos CATIA or UG?

[hardhgear]

Actually what I mean by the last question is what's the options that they saw in those package the functionality the Capabilities each company found in the package?

I wiich explained my question with the wright way??

[CAEman]

It is real difficult to say why teams choose the software they are running today. The CAD industry is real complex and its best to talk to old timers to learn a lot about why people used certain CAD packages. Applications like CATIA, UG, Pro/E and Solidworks all perform the same functions, but with different commands, icons, etc. Modern large companies (and I'm assuming F1 teams too) know this and are looking beyond feature and function of modelling. Instead, they usually are looking for integration of all engineering disciplines (concept>design>analysis>manufacturing) to streamline processes to get a racecar built faster. They are also looking for ways of knowledge capture (easy reuse of what engineers learn), product lifecycle management (engineering management aka PLM), and product data management (PDM).

The three big companies that are fighting for dominance are Dassault Systemes (CATIA and Solidworks), PTC (Pro/E) and UGS. CATIA, Pro/E and UG are the three top CAD packages for large companies or teams that want this type of integration. Solidworks is usually known for use in smaller businesses.

It is also good to note that when people speak of CATIA their are two well known versions; V4 and V5. V5 is a complete rewrite of V4 for all platforms (V4 was non-Windows). Many companies still use CATIA V4 and are SLOWLY moving to CATIA V5 (engineers are a pain to move to new software packages!). Somone correct me if I'm wrong but I have heard that Renault is currently using V4 while Toyota seems to be using V5.

Their is no way to really answer your question unless you talk to someone in the CAD industry or on a team. However, you can search through the websites, sometimes the CAD companies will publish articles on why a F1 team is using their software.

This is the best I can do to answer your question... Hope this helps.

[hardhgear]

Actually , Thank you So Mauch
You answer is helpful

[schumiGO]

yep mates you are quite right))

I read that Ferrari use ProE..



But Boing company (i gess you must know this non racing taem )use Catia 4 and started to moving to V5...

Know some place that SW was to easy for guys amd they moved to Ansys..

[ReubenG]

I had a long chat with the PTC sales and training rep when we got ProE at my university. He claimed that Boeing had approx 5000 seats of ProE and were using it because it's easier to manage large projects (i.e. multiple designers, multiple revisions of the same part) in ProE). He did hint that Catia was better(not sure whether he mean an easier interface or capable of handling more complex parametric definitions) at surface designs which is very important to the automotive design industry.

As far as I knew, ANSYS is primarily a continuum mechanics solver/ finite element analysis /dynamic analyis package rather than Solidworks/ProE where the analysis part of the package is secondary to the design/drafting portion.

[CAEman]

Boeing has lots of different CAD packages depending on what facility you go to (there are lots of Boeing facilities in the US). Over the years, the company has merged and bought many other companies, all who use different CAD packages. I know that Boeing management has made a commitment to change the whole company to CATIA V5. Like I said before, it is very tough to change engineers and all of the old CAD data to new software packages. So depending on what facility you go to Boeing may have V5 and UG, V4 and V5, or Pro/E and V5 (or combinations with other packages not mentioned). However, any new projects that start at Boeing are guarenteed to be in V5 (like the 787 dreamliner).

Just as an example on how slow the aerospace company is on changing people and drawings to new packages: I have a friend that works on the C17 project which was originally designed on paper (no CAD). They currently have UG and V5 in their facility. He told me that they are back-logged 5 years on converting the hand drawings to either UG or V5.

I'm sure ANSYS has a pre-processor that will let you build geometry, but if it is anything like Patran or FE/Map, you won't want to. The FEA geometry programs seem like they are about 10 years old compared to current CAD technology.

[Guest]

Don't forget about SolidEdge. This software was created by UGS (the same people who created UniGraphics). It uses the same Parasolid kernel as UG and Solid Works. Solid Works leases the Parasolid kernel from UGS. I have found SolidEdge to be superior to Solid Works in sheetmetal design and overall ease of use.

[hardhgear]

Actually CATIA contains sheet metal for airplanes
and that's make it powerfull for airplane design
but what about the cars industry?.
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about ansys as you mentioned it's an analysys package
so it will never as good as any cad package i think.

[hardhgear]

At the end I found that It's depend on the power of the software
only but I think it depends on the person who ues the software.
I think here Lays the power not only the cad package.
Of course the option, reliability & robustness of the cad pakage
helps but it depends on the human Skills

[Apex]

Sorry for bring this one back but I would like to know a few things about solid edge/works

For a small office environment:

What are the differences between solid edge / works?
Is there a price difference?
How good are the addins that pertain to FEA / CFD?
What does solid works lack in the sheetmetal department?
How stable are these systems?

Please feel free to add anyother comments that could be helpful when deciding which to purchace.

Thanks - sorry for bringing this thread back!

[flynfrog]

I prefer solid works to edge

there are great plugins for it cosmos works has fea and cfd there are also thrid party programs for it

[Sodder]

All I have ever used is Solid works, so I cannot comment on the others. However, works is easy to use and relatively easy to pick up on your own. After your done constructing your object the rendering in Solidworks looks good also.

[hardhgear]

I prefer solid works to edge

there are great plugins for it cosmos works has fea and cfd there are also thrid party programs for it

I'm working with solidworks for more than a year since sw2004 I started with the online tutorial which comes with it. But I worked on solid egde before and i think that solidworks is more easier and reliable than solidegde and I think that the most important advantage in solidworks is Cosmos package Which could let work on any project you will find cfd, motion & structure analysis software. but sw and solidedge are mide range package i don't think u will find a company that works on any large project (Like boeing) and useing solidworks or solidedge
But I've faced a problem with SW It's the conversion to iges or step file. The output file is not god when inserting to other software like Gambit. I've a friend how is CAD/CAM Engineer he told me he fadced the same problem with solidworks file when convert it other file type to prepare it for the cam software
[/quote]

[flynfrog]

I prefer solid works to edge

there are great plugins for it cosmos works has fea and cfd there are also thrid party programs for it

I'm working with solidworks for more than a year since sw2004 I started with the online tutorial which comes with it. But I worked on solid egde before and i think that solidworks is more easier and reliable than solidegde and I think that the most important advantage in solidworks is Cosmos package Which could let work on any project you will find cfd, motion & structure analysis software. but sw and solidedge are mide range package i don't think u will find a company that works on any large project (Like boeing) and useing solidworks or solidedge
But I've faced a problem with SW It's the conversion to iges or step file. The output file is not god when inserting to other software like Gambit. I've a friend how is CAD/CAM Engineer he told me he fadced the same problem with solidworks file when convert it other file type to prepare it for the cam software

[/quote]I have seen some of this with larger files but nothing terrible most of the time i never had a problem


ugs dontaed solid edge to my college and mos tof the proffesors refuse to teach is because its so bad