It could be done before, but in a couple of steps, adding more weight to the feature tree. The system can remove the fillet form, but then cap the geometry to a specified face or workplane.Īgain, this is a perfect example of something that can now be done in a single operation. This re-trims back the geometry around it, allows the user to work backwards, remove the geometry and reconstruct the radii as needs be.Īnother example is the new capping options when deleting blends. The new command allows the user to delete segments of a fillet piece by piece.
It simply wasn’t possible to edit them all at once.
Directly adapting fillets or complex intersections (think three fillets with different radii running into a corner) by grabbing a radius and trying to edit, traditionally throws the system into a panic. The Siemens NX team has been working on the latter in particular, to bring on stream a set of tools that allow the user to dive in and work with the geometry to get the required results.Ī good solid example of this is the new Delete Partial Blend command. Problems arise, however, when geometry is less than ideal or there are highly complex geometry conditions.įor example, with multiple intersecting features, particularly fillets, the problems are exacerbated greatly. Face manipulation and feature editing will work like a charm. If geometry is clean and simple, then there’ll be no problems. Direct modelling, in whatever flavour from whatever vendor, is a tricky beast. Over the last few releases, there has been a lot of concentration on expanding out the workflows and use cases. The new ‘unite with regions’ command allows the creation of complex intersections of geometry The simple fact is that the workflow fits better because NX users are more used to working with complex geometry and a different set of tools. Synchronous Technology has been the big news around the Siemens PLM camp since its release into NX 6 a few years ago.Īs ever, the Siemens NX implementation differs in that it’s much more cohesive and more integrated into the standard set of tools that in other Siemens products. This can also be set per dialog if there’s always a preference for the advanced options. Now users have a global control over showing less and more as well as favourites to switch off more the advanced options. Some time ago the commands were broken up into blocks so that they can be split out. Moving onto sketching, it’s been expanded to provide users more feedback, specifically in the area of how geometry constraints are displayed as you assign them.Īs with most systems, the sketching environment allows the user to dial in lengths and angles shapes are drawn, but it now also shows any constraints that are inferred or defined on the fly. Users can access a list of most commonly used commands when selecting edges, faces, features etc. Siemens NX has featured right clicks and radial menus for some time, but with this release, it’s now possible to fully customise them down to the feature level. The context sensitive menus have also been enhanced. It removes some of the ambiguity, particularly when working on highly complex assemblies or parts. When working on a feature, other geometry greys out slightly, so users can see exactly what’s being done and the impact of changes. That same effect has now been applied to the partmodelling environment. Many users (of all systems) will be familiar with how when editing a part in the context of an assembly, the other parts turn transparent and greyed out. Tools for simulation injection moulding are now available based on technology from Moldex3D Geometry could still be manipulated in a direct manner, but the process is tracked, traceable and better integrated into the construction history. It took the benefits of direct modelling but, instead of splitting it out, the Siemens NX team took the decision to build it into how the system already works. The introduction of Synchronous Technology brought new tools to the system, but rather than changing the use case as it did in Solid Edge, the NX implementation was more subtle and arguably more powerful. The user interface now looks clean, fresh and understandable, even for the new user. While the underlying power of the two seed systems has been maintained, the last few years have seen it advance. Since the initial release Siemens NX has changed greatly. The high-end system has been on the market for a good while now since the merger of the Unigraphics and I-deas product lines.
The new ‘delete partial blend’ command lets users work their way around deleting (and then rebuilding)complex fillet intersections