SpaceClaim, provider of the world’s fastest and most innovative 3D direct modeling software, today announced the 5th release of the company’s engineering software, SpaceClaim 2009+. This new version of SpaceClaim is the first in the industry to support Windows 7 and Multi-Touch for 3D direct modeling. Other new 2009+ capabilities are aimed at driving ease of use in preparing models for simulation, and extending SpaceClaim’s leadership in direct modeling for conceptual design.

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“This has been a remarkable year for SpaceClaim, as we have begun to see wider adoption in engineering organizations,” said Chris Randles, SpaceClaim President and CEO. “Our rapid growth this year demonstrates that we are solving real, complex, and costly engineering challenges, such as accelerating the development of concept models, or speeding model preparation for upfront or downstream analysis and simulation. On average, our customers report a halving of the time taken to prepare models for CAE, enabling them to be more productive and accelerating overall time-to-market. With industry-leading partners such as ANSYS, we are now recognized as an innovative solution that is expanding the use of 3D among analysts, engineers, and other non-CAD specialists in modern manufacturing organizations.”

SpaceClaim is enabling manufacturers to accelerate innovation cycles and leverage engineering and product styling as key differentiators. SpaceClaim evolves 3D outside of the traditional detail design environment in CAD, putting straightforward modeling tools in the hands of engineers and CAE analysts. With SpaceClaim, engineers can perform simulation, collaborate, and converge before specifying the design concept to the CAD team for detailing and design-for-manufacture. Additionally, SpaceClaim provides CAE engineers with a solution to easily prepare, edit, and optimize CAD data, with the freedom to explore solutions without relying on CAD operators.

SpaceClaim 2009+ pushes the envelope of Direct Modeling and automates model preparation

The new release features enhanced capabilities for design and analysis engineers that include:

• Direct modeling enhancements:

  • Bodies can be locked to prevent unintentional modification.
  • New round creation techniques allow rounds to be placed in more complicated situations.
  • Curves imprinted on faces can be easily manipulated, facilitating conceptual sketching in 3D.
  • Numerous other enhancements to surfacing, patterning, and construction geometry maintain SpaceClaim’s lead in direct modeling.

• Model preparation for simulation made easier:

  • Conceptual beam elements facilitate structural design.
  • A beam library provides easy beam creation with standard sections.
  • Beam extraction converts imported beams to conceptual beams.
  • Enhanced geometry checking and repair makes it easy to diagnose common geometry problems.
  • De-featuring is faster than ever with new round slicing tools.
  • Several ANSYS add-in enhancements, including ability to transfer beams and pattern count dimensions, making it more convenient to optimize models from within ANSYS Workbench 2.0.

• Multi-touch user interaction

  • Hands-on interactive solid modeling using up to four fingers provides a more immersive user experience.
  • New selection techniques such as four-finger box select and lasso select make the most common 3D interactions faster than possible with a mouse.
  • Multi-touch view rotation and gesture support provide straightforward access to commands that would normally be hidden behind toggle-keys and shortcuts. 

SpaceClaim Expands Partner Relationships and Meets Market Demand

SpaceClaim has experienced strong demand for its products, accelerating sales growth in 2009, despite the global recession. This momentum results from SpaceClaim’s commitment to understanding engineers’ needs and the Company’s ability to address gaps in model design and analysis not filled by traditional CAD. Over the last year, SpaceClaim announced:

• Continuing customer adoptions and successes including K2 Medical, BorgWarner, Ethicon, Emhart Glass, Sharp, Widex A/S, McCormick and Stevenson, Moog, Husqvarna, Fuel Cell Energy, Varian Semiconductor, and Whirlpool.
• A licensing and distribution agreement with ANSYS, Inc. (NASDAQ:ANSS), a global innovator of simulation software and technologies. The agreement provides customers with bi-directional capabilities between SpaceClaim Engineer and ANSYS 12.0 and 11.0 software as well as ANSYS Workbench 2.0. Additionally, it adds the powerful ANSYS sales force to distribute SpaceClaim to CAE customers.
• A major OEM contract with Flow International Corporation (NASDAQ:FLOW), the world leader in ultrahigh-pressure waterjet technology. Flow Waterjet equipment will offer SpaceClaim’s solutions integrated for customers that are machining high volume, short run or prototyping parts.
• The first 3D direct modeler with Windows Touch enabling engineers to create and edit models with their fingers on the screen. SpaceClaim was chosen by Microsoft as one of a few select Independent Software Vendors (ISV’s) in support of the launch of Windows 7.

SpaceClaim enables up-front simulation and leverages investments in existing CAD and CAE tools. SpaceClaim supports standard data exchange formats ACIS, STEP, IGES, ECAD, Rhinoceros, SketchUp, DWG, DXF, STL, OBJ, XAML, VRML, 3D PDF (requires Adobe Acrobat 9 Pro Extended) and includes interactivity with Bunkspeed HyperShot. With add-on modules, SpaceClaim Engineer can import and edit Pro/ENGINEER, Autodesk Inventor, CATIA v4 and v5, VDA, Parasolid, SolidWorks, JT, and NX native files.