Tech Briefs



ADINA STEP Import with Open Cascade

The ADINA System offers a one-system program that provides a complete pre- and post-processing environment and analysis capabilities for structures, fluid flows, heat transfer, electromagnetics, fluid-structure interactions and multiphysics. The user interface includes the ADINA Modeler (ADINA-M) which enables users to perform solid modeling directly. There are two versions of ADINA-M available, the version based on the Parasolid geometry kernel (called ADINA-M/PS) and the version based on the Open Cascade geometry kernel (called ADINA-M/OC).

ADINA-M/PS gives users the possibility to directly connect to CAD systems using Parasolid such as NX, SolidWorks and SolidEdge, while ADINA-M/OC can directly read BREP files from FreeCAD, CAD Exchanger and Datakit. For other CAD systems that do not support the Parasolid or BREP format, the solid geometry can be imported through our IGES interface for ADINA-M.

In addition to the IGES interface, we have also implemented the import of STEP files for ADINA-M/OC, thus strengthening our capabilities in reading geometry from other CAD systems. "STEP", which stands for "Standard for the Exchange of Product model data", is commonly used as an intermediate format for exchange of data between various CAx systems, including CAD, CAM and CAE.

Below, we show two examples of solid parts created from STEP files* with meshes generated in ADINA.




Figure 1  Multicopter motor





Figure 2  Stirling engine


With this new development of our STEP interface in ADINA-M/OC, we continue to enhance the ADINA interface to third-party CAD software, especially to CAD systems such as CATIA and the PTC Creo design software that do not support the direct output of their geometry in the Parasolid or Open Cascade format.


Keywords:
STEP, ADINA-M, interfacing, CAD, Open Cascade, Parasolid, solid geometry, SolidWorks, SolidEdge, FreeCAD, CAD Exchanger, Datakit, CATIA, PTC Creo, IGES



*from Grabcad.com