ADDITIONAL PRODUCT NEWS

UGS Launches NX 5 CAD/CAM/CAE Software 

UGS Corp. announced Version 5 of NX® software – the next-generation of its digital product development software designed to help companies develop innovative products faster and more cost-efficiently. 

NX 5 delivers breakthrough technology innovations to the market, including the highest level of productivity improvements in NX software to date.   

NX 5 incorporates “Greater Powers” breakthrough innovations including:

• More flexibility – NX 5 provides companies with “Design Freedom” to work effectively with all legacy data to maximize reuse without redesign. Benchmark results provided 50 percent greater efficiency than other competing systems.  

• More coordination – NX 5 introduces Active Mockup to the industry to enable engineers to work more efficiently in the context of a total product.  

• More productivity – NX 5 increases workflow productivity through a new user interface and NX “Your Way” customization. Customer benchmark results indicated productivity increases of 20 percent.  

• More strength – NX 5 seamlessly integrates CAD, CAM and CAE into a unified, open environment for increased product and process information efficiency.  Customer benchmark results indicated 50 percent faster analysis workflows compared to a leading competitor. In addition, manufacturing machining time is reduced by 20 percent.  

NX 5 is immediately available.  For online product videos and a complete what’s new guide, visit www.ugs.com/nx5.

Kubotek Releases White Paper on New Super Feature Technology

Kubotek USA, developer of the KeyCreator design and manufacturing software, announced the immediate availability of a free white paper from Collaborative Product Development Associates (CPDA.) The white paper: Kubotek USA Raises the Bar on User Productivity with Super Feature Technology by Ken Versprille, PLM Research Director, CPDA.  It examines the needs manufacturers have for working with designs generated from multiple CAD programs and how new geometry-based feature technology from Kubotek improves productivity for these applications.

In the paper Versprille points out that the benefits of the technology are not just in the editing of models. Because the technology can find pattern and feature relationships between faces all across a model in real-time, it is a valuable tool for exploring a customer’s model. Since complex features or “Super Features” can be defined in real-time on any CAD file, designs can be re-purposed for manufacturing, moldmaking and more.  Versprille provides three examples of American manufacturers already using these new capabilities to save design time in a design through manufacture workflow.  

"This white paper provides details of how new tools using the geometry-based approach are solving interoperability problems," said Robert Bean, Executive Vice President, Kubotek USA. "Kubotek has been committed to meeting these needs and our new technology is a powerful advancement in MCAD technology and demonstrates the leadership Kubotek is providing in this area."

Water Cooled Gate Insert from Incoe 

Using a hot runner system results in an elevated temperature in the gate area of the mold. Heat at processing temperature is transmitted over the contact areas from the hot runner into the mold. If the gate area is not sufficiently cooled, defects and surface quality problems will result. Altering the cycle to attempt remedy yields negative economical conditions or increased rejects. 

Elevated temperature may also cause valve gate pins to stick to the molded part.  During the injection phase the pin is inside the flow channel surrounded by hot plastic material. Intensive cooling of the gate is located as close as possible to parting line. Up to now, such cooling could only be realized with complex gate inserts, which are complicated to install into the mold. The patented cooling insert, developed by INCOE®, combines optimal cooling of the gate with minimum effort for the mold maker. The cooling medium passes through the very front areas of the gate insert and affects turbulent flow thus effecting optimal cooling. The boring details accommodate simple mold installation.   

3D Systems Introduces Accura® 55 Plastic for its SLA® Systems 

3D Systems Corporation, a leading provider of Rapid 3-D Modeling, Prototyping and Manufacturing solutions, introduced tough and versatile Accura® 55 Plastic, a new Stereolithography Material that simulates the look and feel of molded ABS.

Delivering the required accuracy for functional prototypes and master patterns as well as the durability for functional assembly tests, this highly productive plastic is the latest addition to a growing family of versatile and dependable Accura® Materials.

Accura® 55 Plastic produces white ABS-like parts without molding or machining and is ideal for Rapid Prototyping and Manufacturing of automotive interior components, short-run production parts, electronic components, functional testing, concept and marketing models, and master patterns for urethane casting.

Accura® 55 Plastic produces tough, smooth three-dimensional parts within tolerance and faithful to CAD data. With low viscosity, this material is easy to use and exhibits faster build speed, increasing system throughput and minimizing post-processing and finishing labor.