Welcome to the May 2018 edition of World of CAD, Scan2CAD’s monthly roundup of all the news you need to know from CAD, CNC, and their related fields.
We’ll start this month’s roundup with a story from one of CAD’s major players: Dassault Systèmes. After that, we’ll examine how the GPU market is shaping up in 2018 so far. Finally, we’ll take a look at the newest version of simulation software ANSYS, plus the latest release from CAD firm Maplesoft.
Ready to get the lowdown? Read on!
Dassault Aviation adopts 3DEXPERIENCE
At the heart of Dassault Systèmes’ software strategy is the 3DEXPERIENCE platform. For the uninitiated, 3DEXPERIENCE refers to Dassault’s range of “industry solutions”. Those who use these solutions get industry-tailored packages that combine elements of different Dassault Systèmes software. This allows industry users to get the tools they need without paying for those they won’t use.
It’s clear to see the benefits of this efficient platform—but until now, one of Dassault’s sister companies hadn’t made the switch. That changed this month, as Dassault Aviation became the latest company to adopt the 3DEXPERIENCE platform.
The agreement will see Dassault Aviation replace its current civil and military aircraft software with the 3DEXPERIENCE platform. Dassault Aviation is hoping that the move proves useful as it expands its Falcon range of business jets, as well as further developing its range of military aircraft.
Dassault Systèmes’ CEO, Bernard Charlès, hailed the move as “enabling the integration of products with services… a perfect illustration of the industry of the 21st century”. For his part, Eric Trappier, CEO of Dassault Aviation, said that his company believed that “3DEXPERIENCE is the most advanced solution to support all our businesses”.
Want to know more about Dassault Systemes? This comprehensive article is worth checking out.
NVIDIA still dominates GPU market
Any CAD professional knows the importance of choosing the right graphics card. However, fierce debates rage over exactly which graphics card to choose. For years, the market has been a duopoly, with AMD and NVIDIA as the two key players. NVIDIA has been leading the race for some time—and, as the latest findings from Jon Peddie Research show, they’re maintaining their dominance in 2018.
This month saw the research firm release their Q1 Market Watch Report, which details the current state of the PC GPU market. Though their figures show that NVIDIA is still the clear market leader, there are promising signs for competitor AMD. That’s because NVIDIA’s market share is now 65.1%—down from 66.3% last quarter, and 72.5% last year. Meanwhile, AMD have risen to 34.9%, up from 33.7% last quarter and 27.5% last year.
On the whole, JPR found that the overall GPU market increased by 3.4% year-on-year. The add-in board (AIB) market also went up 6.4% compared to the last quarter, and up by 66.4% year-on-year. These figures are even more impressive when considering that desktop PC sales were down 7.3% year-on-year. For more detailed figures, visit Jon Peddie Research to download the full report.
ANSYS releases latest version of simulation software
Over time, the meaning of CAD has evolved. Where the earliest CAD systems focused almost exclusively on the actual drawing of a design, today’s CAD is far more complex. As such, a CAD professional today will be not only be designing a product or structure, but will also be planning its entire lifecycle. Key to the evolution of CAD is the rise of simulation software, which enables users to test how their designs will react to a wide variety of forces and stresses.
One of the market leaders in simulation software is ANSYS, which aims to enable design engineers to create “optimized, lighter and smarter products”. To achieve this, it offers instant simulation across a range of disciplines, including thermal, electromagnetic, structural and fluid dynamics. This month, the software got its latest upgrade with the release of ANSYS 19.1.
According to ANSYS, 19.1 is the “first comprehensive solution for simulation-based digital twins”, and enables users to build, validate and deploy digital twins within a single workflow. Logically named, the Twin Builder feature integrates with Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) platforms and includes three main stages:
- The building stage, which allows for multiple domains and languages and contains application-specific libraries
- The validation stage, which can help users to optimize performance by up to 25% through rapid prototyping, systems optimization and XiL integration
- And the deployment stage, which connects to IIoT platforms and helps speed up the export and deployment of generated models
Though the Twin Builder feature is garnering the most attention, it’s not the only new arrow in ANSYS’ quiver. Users can also enjoy new metal additive manufacturing solutions, as well as enhanced analysis capabilities in the electromagnetics suite. Visit the ANSYS newsroom for full details.
Maplesoft releases Maple 2018
When seeking out the latest CAD news, it can be all too easy to focus on one or two big players. The reality of CAD, however, is much broader than Dassault Systèmes and Autodesk software. A diverse range of firms are competing to improve the user experience and create some innovative software. One of them is Maplesoft, a Canadian software manufacturer that focuses on making complex mathematical problems easy to solve.
If you’re wondering what exactly this has to do with CAD, then you need only consider the importance of simulation and visualization to the CAD workflow. Maplesoft’s flagship software, Maple, excels at this, offering a truly staggering array of features that apply across the industry.
This month saw Maplesoft push the boundaries further with the release of the latest version of Maple: Maple 2018. Already a program to be reckoned with, Maple 2018 builds on the software’s existing strengths by introducing improvements to a number of features, including advanced mathematics, visualization, and more.
If you’re weary of annual updates to your software of choice, then you could be forgiven for a bit of scepticism towards this new release. Maplesoft stress, however, that this release is vital. Amongst the enhancements in Maple 2018 are:
- A new Context Panel which collates some of the software’s Clickable Math tools
- Enhancements to Maple’s code editor
- Improved conversion tools and deeper integration of units into the mathematics engine
- Encryption tools to enable you to hide your work
- Tools to enable you to streamline application development
To check out what’s new with Maple, visit the Maplesoft guide.