Siemens Digital Industries Software has released the 2022 version of Solid Edge software, which brings embedded rules-based design automation, greater capabilities to work with point-cloud, mesh and imported data without the need for translation alongside new tools to for 2.5 axis machining and ultra-efficient upfront fluid flow simulation. Part of Siemens’ Xcelerator portfolio of products, Solid Edge is an intuitive product development platform for accelerating all aspects of product creation, including 3D design, simulation, visualization, manufacturing, and design management. 

Highlights for Solid Edge 2022 include:

The new embedded Solid Edge Design Configurator adds rule-based automation and enables quick customization of products based on design parameters and rules, saving time and enabling the capture and reuse of intellectual property in intelligent models.

CAM Pro 2.5 Axis milling is now included in Solid Edge Classic, Foundation and Premium for customers with active maintenance. Fully integrated, it maintains full associativity with design data and provides automated tool path creation combined with machining simulation to help achieve optimized machining operations.

New CAD Direct capabilities allow insertion of third-party data formats without the need for translation while maintaining associativity. Solid Edge 2022 continues to integrate Siemens’ leading Convergent modeling technology, allowing users to mix b-rep and mesh geometries in the same model, again without conversion, making mesh data more useful and reducing product modelling time. Full-color point cloud data can also now be used for visualization purposes directly within Solid Edge, especially useful when retrofitting factories or plants, allowing the positioning of design equipment in the context of the point clouds.

Solid Edge 2022 is available through Xcelerator as a Service, providing access to Siemens’ next-generation, cloud-based collaboration solution including Xcelerator Share, that brings design-focused capabilities (such as 3D/2D CAD view/markup), augmented reality and secure project-based sharing to the Solid Edge community.

“We have been working with and listening to our customers, and in response Solid Edge 2022 has been engineered to help them grow their businesses,” said John Miller, senior vice president, mainstream engineering, Siemens. “The enhancements to Solid Edge 2022 better support modern product development and manufacturing processes, allowing our community of users to do more with available resources and to enable new ways of working that will foster greater innovation.”

Assembly modelling is a constant focus and the 2022 release of Solid Edge delivers the third straight release of improvement. The new Assembly preview mode reduces the amount of data that is loaded, while multi-body assembly modeling mode is a new environment to model internal components within an assembly file. When it comes to locating those hard-to-find parts, the new component finder puts intuitive search at the fingertips with auto-complete suggestive filters.

Finally, Solid Edge 2022 introduces Simcenter Flomaster for Solid Edge software, which brings easy analysis of fluid and thermal flows in piping systems. System-level models are extracted from 3D models (reducing preparation time by up to 90 percent). Built in wizards guide new users towards successful results, while retaining advanced capabilities, such as simulation of rapid dynamic events and pressure surge, for experienced users.