CAD

Years ago, finite element analysis (FEA) was prohibitively expensive, required expert training, and delivered dangerously flawed results. Is simulation more accessible now? In this guest post, Tony Abbey, FRAeS, an engineer and consultant who’s devoted his long career to FEA, answers “Yes,” but with one rather large, important caveat.   The bad old days I started my finite element analysis (FEA) career in the mid-1970s, in the UK aircraft industry. We ran simulations on an IBM mainframe computer, which cost around $30 million in today’s money. It only had 1Mb of memory and pitiful processing speed compared to even the most basic of today’s laptops.   The FEA program annual license cost over $100 thousand dollars a seat. Very few companies could afford that kind of investment, so the use of FEA remained very limited.   To create an FEA mesh, the component drawing was traced at the drawing board. Nodal positions were worked out by hand, and element connectivity d

This is the worksheet corresponding to the blog post Curve Fitting Made Easy.

Hi everyone,   Attached please find a video on selection & mini toolbar similar to the demo I gave this morning in the presentation. It also includes an audio track with some explanations, in case you prefer that. Check out the new customization capabilities and let us know what you like or dislike! Please reply by commenting on this post, so that we can keep it in the same bucket. Also, feel free to ask questions.   Looking forward to your feedback.   Thanks  ...Martin

Workflow for creating and managing combined states to display annotations (dimensions, gtols, datums) for MBD (Model Based Definition) in Creo Parametric 3.0  

Hi ,I was requested to demonstrate how to place shielded cable .... so in attached avi you have a short demo for how to create and route 3 core shielded cable Regards ,Gaby

Here’s one more reason to download Creo 4.0 and try it out: Now you can see your simulation analysis results as a convergence plot and get more information for each step of the design study. Our expert explains:The overhaul of the analysis and the design study experience includes an expanded panel to show the analysis run status and convergence plot.A graphical convergence plot shows analysis results.The convergence plot charts load versus deflection when the process ends.And when running, shows dynamically pertinent information about each pass.We also have a way to filter the diagnostic options to show only the relevant information. By clicking on each diagnostic, you get more information.Note that information for each diagnostic is displayed in the area below the list.These changes streamline the analysis process and modernize the look and feel.To see a demo of these features, check out the video: https://youtu.be/-RilW3zSrF8Finally, if you haven’t already, download Creo 4 here and t

A while ago, we introduced “flexible modeling” into Creo. Flexible modeling adds direct modeling capabilities to our traditionally parametric 3D CAD system, so you can easily make changes to a model (thanks to flexible modeling) while retaining design intent (thanks to parametric modeling).Flexible modeling is especially useful for early concept design work in which models change often, as well as for last-minute changes to existing models.Now, with Creo 4.0, we’ve extended flexible modeling to Sheetmetal Design.  In this post, our expert demonstrates how it works, showing you how to change corner seams on a sample part.In Creo Parametric 4.0 Sheetmetal Design, you can use flexible modeling to edit the corner seams of a sheet metal part independent of how the part was created, even if it was imported from another CAD system.You can change parameters and controls in the mini toolbar or in the ribbon.The mini toolbar opens when a corner seam is selected.Additionally, for fast access

In Creo 4.0, we introduced a number of features to make using model-based definition more seamless in your 3D CAD software. Among the changes: datum feature symbols can now be used as stand-alone annotations. In this post, our expert shows you how to make the most of this new feature.If you create a datum feature symbol as a stand-alone annotation, the system adds it to the annotations group at the top of the model tree.Stand-alone datum feature symbols now also support some functionality that was previously only available if the annotation was part of an annotation feature.These features can have parameters, which you can access by right clicking on the annotation.Right-clicking the datum feature symbol to access its parameters.They can also be designated as a control characteristic which may be accessed from the Options button in the ribbon.They can have multiple semantic references, which may be accessed from the References button in the ribbon.Adding a semantic reference to a stand

Recently, we announced the availability of PTC Mathcad Prime 4.0. It’s the next step in the evolution of your favorite engineering notebook, with even more tools for precise calculations and straightforward documentation.Join us for a live webcast with Luke Westbrook, PTC Mathcad Application Engineer. He’ll cover some of the new features we’ve focused on in recent blog posts, but with more in depth and with practical examples. No infomercials, just content. We promise.What you’ll see:New ways to share your work with complete confidence that sensitive content remains unexposedThe software’s increased interoperability with 3rd party applicationsPerformance enhancements and usability improvements to help you work more efficientlyThe webcast takes place March 15, 2017 at 2pm EST. Save your spot for this detailed rundown of the new capabilities and how they strengthen your collaboration and calculations.If You Wait, You’ll Miss OutBy now, we all know that any good webcast will be available

With Creo 4.0, we’ve dramatically improved the usability of Freestyle, making it even easier to create and modify complex geometry all within a single feature. In this post, our product manager tells you how it works.With Creo parametric 4.0, Freestyle has been enhanced so you can create multiple, disconnected objects in a single Freestyle feature.Here is an example that showcases this capability:Select Freestyle from the ribbon and place a primitive on the screen. You'll notice a new Freestyle tree that includes Shape 1. As you add or create new shapes, they will each be represented in the Freestyle tree.A new shape is added to the Freestyle tree.Now selecting the shape from the Freestyle tree or the graphics window, you can easily manipulate the individual objects.When you select a face you can now use a new shortcut ‘X’ to extrude the face. There are a number of out-of-the-box shortcut introduced in Creo 4.0  for most common capabilities within Freestyle.Pulling the dragger ext

Let’s say that you want to run a Mathcad Prime worksheet at a specific time of day without user intervention. For example you need to generate Excel reports overnight, do some computations with the extracted data, and have the files ready first thing in the morning. Using Windows 7 with Mathcad Prime, you can do it. This article shows you how. - Excerpt from blog post by Iulia Savu‌The VB script mentioned in the article can be downloaded here.

When you need to create complex geometric and non-geometric shapes that vary in dimension along the length of any given path, you can use the trajpar parameter to represent a trajectory path in Creo. Its value ranges from 0 to 1, with 0 representing the beginning of the trajectory, and 1 representing the trajectory end. It is used as the independent variable in a relation.In this post, a PTC expert explains how to build a specific type of spiral geometry using a variable section sweep and the trajpar parameter.In this example, we’ll build a heater coil. As shown below, we already have a number of parameters set up to define and control the number of revolutions and cycles. The trajpar parameter is useful for designing this heater coil.To build the coil, we need to define a curve or edge representing the trajectory that the pipe will follow. In this example, we already have a curve created defining the trajectory for the spiral geometry. Select the icon that allows you to create a Swee

Hi everyoneUse this link to download Creo 4.0 Sneak PeekAnd dont forget the license is embedded and will expire on August 5 2016Enjoy!!!!https://free-dl.ptc.com/spinstall/pim_installmgr_32.exe

How to change the license file in FlexNet Admin License Server 11.10.0 How to reconfigure FlexNet Admin License Server with an updated license file How to reconfigure the license manager with a new license file How to update the license server (lmadmin) to point to a new license file Error "(-12):Invalid returned data from license server system" when executing ptcstatus.bat in Flexnet Admin License Server How to update application with a new license file if license server is FlexNet Admin License Server (lmadmin) The client software does not recognize the new license file. Unable to find ptcsetup.bat to update the new license

This video gives a quick demo on how to configure Mathcad Prime with locked / Standalone license after receiving the license file via e-mail.  

This video gives a quick demo on how to convert legacy Mathcad files (.mcd, .xmcd) to Mathcad Prime format (.mcdx)

How to access PTC Licensing Tool How to retrieve license file How to generate license file How to use Sales Order Number to retrieve license file

Covers point patterns of standard holes and the use of Alternate Origin as a best practice to correctly generate the pattern.  

How to apply a torsional moment load, or torque, to a model using solid elements.  

Explanation of this warning and overview of 2 troubleshooting methods to resolve it.        

Calculating the trajectory of a baseball, with air resistance.

Using PTC Creo Parametric sketch-based features, you can quickly draw and edit geometry. While creating a new sketch-based feature, you can either select a sketch or a sketch plane first, and then open the tool (click Model > Extrude), or you can open the tool and then select a sketch or sketch plane. After specifying the sketch plane, you are immediately entered into the sketching environment without having to specify the section orientation, because the system uses a default orientation constraint. Keep reading to find out how to change this orientation.In this post, a PTC expert shares some tips related to sketch-based features and dimension draggers.To orient the model in Sketch, first, look for datum planes that are normal to the chosen plane or surface as potential horizontal or vertical references. If you cannot find suitable datum planes, pick the default coordinate system for the part by clicking it in the Model Tree. This displays the section reference on the model.Image:

Demonstration of using the Align command to connect a Freestyle control mesh to existing Creo geometry and the warnings that may appear during the process.    

Attached to this blog post is a short presentation on the new text and symbol fonts that we are providing in Creo 4.0. Although I'm listing this enhancement under the 2D Detailing area, it is also available in MBD. Any questions or feedback you have related to the new text and symbol fonts should be provided as comments to the blog post. That will be the easiest way for me to keep track of the comments and also be able to provide timely responses to your questions. If you follow this post, you can be notified of those comments as well and be able to learn from what others are asking. I may also periodically update this post to add some new details or information related to this enhancement.   Also, don't forget to follow the main blog post for 2D Detailing - which will have links to other 2D Detailing-related content 2D Detailing Home: Start Here! or the main blog post for MBD Creo 4.0 MBD Home: Start Here!

  Hi everone,  attached please find a PDF document describing the interoperability extensions between Creo Elements/Direct Modeling and Creo as part of the Creo 4.0 Sneak Peek.  Looking forward to your feedback  Best regards   Berthold