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Solid modeling for AEC and MCAD.
IMSI'S NEW TURBOCAD Professional 11 is more evolutionary than revolutionary-it continues a consolidation of the 2D and 3D tools that started several years ago. But as with many recent CAD software revisions, the sum may be worth more than the parts for many users. The biggest changes are on the mechanical design side and in publishing architectural and mechanical work (figure 1).
Modeling Tools
Mechanical design folks will find a host of useful improvements. This version incorporates the latest ACIS solid modeling engine, revision 14, jumping up from AGIS 11. The new AGIS engine is supposed to be faster, although for typical components the speedup is minor.
The big change is that the models are easier to twist and otherwise deform-a NURBS feature that debuted in a previous version of TurboCAD is easier to use. I had no trouble importing other solids into TurboCAD, except when I deliberately tried to import an imperfectly joined compound shape. The system is supposed to be able to handle self-healing import of IGES and SAT files, but I encountered a problem importing an IGES file. The file was slightly corrupted around an inclusion, but MicroStation and TurboCAD handled it okay. And the new AutoCAD file came in fine. This leads me to believe it could be an ACIS problem.
The Region Extrude feature lets users create complex 3D shapes by sweeping 2D surfaces, and the extruded shapes are easy to edit. As with earlier versions, users can edit, rotate and delete an individual facet on an ACIS solid. The new Imprint command extrudes out or into a solid along a path with totally automatic Boolean join or subtract. Sheetmetal designers will like two new smoothing options, bend and crimp.
2D Constraints
If a user modifies one part and the change has to cascade through the design, a revised 2D constraint engine from D-Cubed readily handles the situation. Users can set priority levels so a change to one part affects other parts minimally or to a greater extent. For really big changes, an incremental evaluation option confirms that constraint changes are made (figure 2). This is quite a feature for a CAD program that costs well under $1,000. Another nice touch is TurboCAD's...