Released April 2009
Siemens PLM Software announces the latest release of the D-Cubed 2D Dimensional Constraint Manager (2D DCM), a software component that controls 2D parametric sketches in 2D and 3D design environments. Some of the new features specific to version 55.0 are listed below. A full product description can be found A full product description can be found here.
Version 55 of the 2D DCM has seen a significant re-working of its mathematical architecture. One outcome is a new option for applications that implement the Intel® Math Kernel Library (MKL) to take advantage of some of its functions to improve 2D DCM performance in certain cases where very large models are being solved.
Although the 2D DCM’s own algorithm’s have excellent performance in general, some functions for the solving of linear systems of equations in the Intel MKL have been better optimised for those subsets of large models that require certain numerical solving techniques. If an application makes the Intel MKL available to its users, the 2D DCM will now access the relevant functions in those cases where performance improvements can be expected.
An optional thread-safe version of the 2D DCM was made available with version 54 to enable multiple instances of the 2D DCM to run on parallel processors. However, each thread-safe instance of the 2D DCM had slightly worse performance compared with the non-thread-safe version. In this release, the necessary changes have been made to eliminate this performance disadvantage, enabling the thread-safe version to be the standard version.
Furthermore, version 54 only supported thread-safety on PCs running Windows®. This new release is thread-safe on our full range of supported operating systems, including Unix, Linux and Apple platforms.
A range of improvements have been made to the drag function that enables users to move underdefined geometry interactively while satisfying any dimensions and constraints. The improvements mean that dimension values can now be changed during the dragging process, as well as the scale of groups of geometries that otherwise have a fixed shape.
First released in 1990, the 2D DCM is used in most major CAD applications and is widely acknowledged as the leading 2D geometric constraint solving technology. It provides a variational (non-sequential) approach to solving a broad range of dimension and constraint schemes optimised for use in 2D environments. In addition to driving the sketcher in most mechanical CAD products, it is used in the integral design environments of many other applications, such as CAM and CAE systems.
PLM Components are software tools that support innovation and promote interoperability in CAD, CAM, CAE and PLM applications. Siemens PLM Software develops these components, uses them throughout its own applications and licenses them to independent software vendors and end-user organizations. PLM Components include the Parasolid and D-Cubed products, widely used technologies that provide 3D part and assembly modeling, editing and interoperability, 2D/3D parametric sketching, motion simulation, collision detection, clearance measurement and visualization functionality. Applications include mechanical CAD, CAM, CAE, mold design, sheet metal, AEC, GIS, structural, plant and ship design, CMM, reverse engineering and sales configuration. For more information, please visit www.plm.automation.siemens.com/open/.
Jonathon Rimmer
Siemens PLM Software (D-Cubed Components)
Tel: +44-1223-722635
5800 Granite Parkway
Suite 600
Plano, TX
75024
(v): +1 800 498 5351