Alibre Design V10 Is Unveiled

By DE Editors

September 13, 2007 - The latest version of Alibre, Inc.’s (Richardson, Texas) flagship 3D CAD application, Alibre Design 10.0 (V10), offers improvements to its accessibility and easy-to-use 3D mechanical CAD. Productivity improvements are possible in 3D modeling, parametric sketching, and 2D detailing.

A key addition with Alibre Design 10.0 is the new manufacturing add-on Alibre CAM, a fully integrated NC machining solution supporting 2.5- and 3-axis milling based on proven technology from MecSoft Corporation. Alibre CAM was developed using Alibre Design’s API and runs entirely within the Alibre Design user interface. Like all other elements of Alibre Design, Alibre CAM is fully associative, so when a part is edited a previously defined toolpath will update automatically. In addition, Alibre CAM supports a large selection of postprocessors for popular machine tools as well as the ability to write custom postprocessors for any machine.

Alibre Design 10.0 completes equivalent operations as V9.2 but in half the time with 35 percent less memory consumption. The new Fast Views feature projects 2D views of large or complex models 4 to 10 times faster. In addition, a variety of detailing features are more responsive including inserting dimensions and annotations such as BOM callouts, creating and editing Views, and generating hidden lines and centerlines. Associative updates of drawing views after a corresponding change to the 3D model have also been improved.

V10 includes the new Direct Editing toolset, suited for early-stage conceptual design and working with models imported from other CAD systems. This toolset provides intuitive push-pull modeling as well as the ability to quickly move, add, and remove design elements.

An inferencing engine automates many functions within these new tools, further reducing the time it takes to make complex changes.

The program can be used by people who are not CAD experts. Direct Editing opens up many new uses like a machine shop needing to make a quick change before manufacturing or a structural analyst removing small details like fillets that unnecessarily complicate FEA.

Available worldwide in 15 languages, you can access free trials or demonstrations on Alibre Design 10.0 at Alibre, Inc.

Sources: Press materials received from the company and additional information gleaned from the company’s website.