Siemens NX, formerly known as NX Unigraphics, is an end-to-end engineering software used for product design and manufacturing. The latest release of the software, NX9 offers new and enhanced capabilities for product design, from concept through detailed engineering and documentation. NX 9 introduces new 3D CAD modelling techniques, improved 2D design and drafting, a streamlined user interface, faster access to PLM information, and a robust platform for concurrent engineering of complex products.The popularity of the software can be gauged from the fact that it manages or creates more than 40 percent of the world’s 3D data today.Following are the three distinct features of Siemens NX:
Design and Analysis Integration
NX is CAD and CAE rolled into one. In the past, product design and product analysis have always evolved as two different technologies and processes pertaining to two different departments. Only now the CAD/CAE is getting integrated.
Siemens NX offers a comprehensive system that is fully integrated between NX CAD and NX CAE. This CAD/CAE integration enables engineers to collaborate and share information. This supports innovation, because there are more ideas readily available to implement and try.
Synchronous Technology
Siemens NX was the first product to introduce “synchronous technology”. It is considered one of the inflection points in the CAD industry, next to parametric-feature based modelling introduced by PTC with its Pro/E CAD software.
Simply put, the Synchronous Technology makes implementing new tweaks to designs fast and simple, which ultimately improves workflow. It allows you to edit native or imported CAD geometry in the model without understanding how the geometry was created originally (the model history or model tree).
High Definition PLM
Siemens has recently introduced what it calls High Definition PLM “to give everyone involved in making a product the information they need, when they need it, to make the smartest decision.” The HD approach is about understanding and breaking down customer requirements, and assigning them to specific functional groups that develop a product feature, while maintaining visibility of the product as a whole.