What's New for Solid Edge and NX

At the annual PLM Connection user conference, Siemens PLM Software developers introduced Solid Edge 2019 and upcoming continuous-release delivery of NX, as well as a new partnership with HP to enable design for full-color 3D printing.

P&ID enhancements. Updates for 2019 include new modular plant design capabilities. Providing 2D flow diagram and symbol support for P&ID creation, P&ID Design supports strict governing requirements for plant design. Piping Design updates include automated 3D piping design with comprehensive 3D part libraries and fully automated isometric drawing output for plant design.

Simulation. Solid Edge has supported simulation for years, including built-in FEA and CFD. But, Staples said, “Complex design validation just got a lot easier,” thanks to 2019 updates including

• enhanced structural and thermal simulation, such as transient heat analysis over time;
• usability improvements, including mesh tuning for greater accuracy;
• better management of large simulation jobs;
• enhanced electrical CAD support; and
• expanded analysis types, including free surface simulation, lighting, and radiation.

Sheet metal design for cost. Also brand new, this works with functions including bends, cuts, and stamping operations to give total estimated manufacturing costs with breakdowns. Users can modify design features and materials to see the effect on final cost.

Computer-aided manufacturing. Solid Edge CAM Pro — a modular configuration tool for programming CNC machine tools to help confirm parts are manufactured as designed — is now part of the Solid Edge portfolio.

Data management. Solid Edge 2019 adds requirements management to help organize inputs for mechanical design, assess design and requirements changes, and meet compliance and quality standards. Integration has been improved with Siemens PLM Teamcenter (its product lifecycle management solution) for better productivity and usability. Solid Edge users can work offline, then sync updates when back online.

Solid Edge 3D Portal is brand new, free, and on the cloud for access from any device. It supports project-based file management and collaboration using any common CAD data format. Registration is required and includes 5 GB of cloud storage. Users can easily manipulate views, section through assemblies in multiple directions, and do mark-ups as well as some inspection. Security features include password-based access, encryption on upload and download, and control to specify download or view-only file access.

The new Solid Edge 3D Portal supports project-based file management and collaboration.
 

See the Siemens PLM web site for further details about what’s new in Solid Edge 2019.

What’s New with NX

“NX is the largest and most profitable business for Siemens PLM, by a long shot, and it’s growing beyond the pace of traditional competitors,” said Paul Bevans, senior technical product manager for NX — 4% faster, to be precise. That, according to the company, is due to product innovations such as Convergent Modeling, new functionality made possible through acquisitions, the full integration of NX across the product development process, the relatively low cost of switching to NX from other options, and close relationships with customers.

Like Solid Edge, NX is described as a product, but also a platform: It extends to 3D simulation, virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR) development, manufacturing optimization, and more.

Features of NX 12

NX 12 isn’t brand new — it was announced last fall — but many of the latest key features (out of 350 total) were highlighted in sessions for conference attendees and the media. In a nutshell, those include:

Improved assembly load performance. NX users are working with assemblies of 10,000 parts or more, and NX 12 is the fastest version ever at loading assemblies, accourding to Siemens PLM. Faster loading and less memory use saves time and means users can load larger models than ever before and work on them more easily. Assembly geometry displays during the load process so users can begin interacting with the design and model history right away.

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