Knowledge Base

http://support.mscsoftware.com/kb/results_kb.cfm?S_ID=1-36274281

Institute of Technology

Technical Support Using Adams with Solidworks, Pro/E and other CAD Programs Knowledge Base
Product Updates Product Feedback User Forums My Requests

Solution#: 1-36274281

Product Line: MSC.ADAMS Product Name(s): ADAMS/View (2005r2) Platform: Intel IA-32 (32-bit compat) Operating System:All Windows

Did you know?

MSC Adams allows users to import part geometry and from CAD (Computer-Aided Design) programs such as CATIA, I-DEAS, Pro/ENGINEER, Unigraphics, AutoCAD, Solid Edge, and SolidWorks. The most popular file format to import into Adams is Parasolid (x_t) however you can also use STEP,STL,IGES, DX formats.

Technical Tip Understand geometry exchange of CAD formats. Compare file geometry of CAD formats. To export data from your CAD package for use with MSC Adams:
1. 2. 3. 4. Create assembly Select export from file menu Choose file format Click OK

To import CAD data into MSC Adams:

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Open Adams Select Import a File radio button Select OK Select the file type that you exported Right-click in the File to Read text field and select Browse Locate file Click Open Click OK

File Formats Available with CAD Packages

The following table provides recommendations for the file formats in which you should export data from a CAD program so you can import it effectively in ADAMS.

For the CAD package:

Unigraphics (UG)

Recommendations in order of preference: Comments:

Export from UG/Mechanism or Scenario for Motion in these file formats in order of preference: Parasolids Stereolithography Or, export from UG in these file formats in order of preference: Parasolids Stereolithography

Exporting from the embedded motion products automates the geometry export/import process. Only three-dimensional solids are transferred. Using Parasolids (without the embedded motion products) is convenient because one file contains all the geometry and ADAMS/Exchange creates a separate part for each solid. Stereolithography is dependable but requires you to output each part separately. It only works on solid bodies.

CATIA

Export using CAT/ADAMS in these file formats in order of preference: Quickshell STEP IGES Or, export from CATIA in these formats in order of preference: Stereolithography STEP IGES

Exporting from the embedded motion product automates the geometry export/import process. It transfers two-dimensional and three-dimensional geometry. IGES and STEP export is time consuming and ADAMS/Exchange can have difficulties reading the resulting files.

1 of 3

10/24/2006 4:48 PM

Knowledge Base

http://support.mscsoftware.com/kb/results_kb.cfm?S_ID=1-36274281

I-DEAS

Export using Mechanism Design or Mechanism Simulation export with shells. Or, export from I-DEAS in these formats in order of preference: Stereolithography IGES

Exporting from the embedded motion product automates the geometry export/import process. IGES geometry transfer is without colors. Stereolithography only works for a part, not an assembly.

Pro/ENGINEER

Export using MECHANISM/Pro in these formats in order of preference: Render Stereolithography Or, export from Pro/ENGINEER in these formats in order of preference: Render Stereolithography IGES

Exporting from the embedded motion product automates the geometry export/import process. Render files contain color, while Stereolithography files do not.

Solidworks

Export using Dynamic Designer with Shells (v2000) Or, export from Solidworks in these formats in order of preference: Parasolid Stereolithography

Exporting from the embedded motion product automates the geometry export/import process. Using Parasolid is convenient because one file contains all the geometry and ADAMS/Exchange creates a separate part for each solid. Stereolithography is dependable but requires you to output each part separately. It only works on solid bodies.

SolidEdge

Export using Dynamic Designer with Shells (v2000). Or, export from SolidEdge in these file formats in order of preference: Parasolids Stereolithography IGES

Exporting from the embedded motion product automates the geometry export/import process. Using Parasolid is convenient because one file contains all the geometry and ADAMS/Exchange creates a separate part for each solid. Stereolithography is dependable but requires you to output each part separately. It only works on solid bodies.

Mechanical Desktop

Export using Dynamic Designer with Shells (v2000). Or, export from Mechanical Desktop in these file formats in order of preference: IGES Stereolithography DXF

Exporting from the embedded motion product automates the geometry export/import process. IGES transfers are complicated but are reasonably dependable. Stereolithography exports are unpredictable because the model has to be in a particular quadrant before exporting. DXF can be used to transfer two-dimensional information.

Microstation

Parasolid

Using Parasolid is convenient because one file contains all the geometry and ADAMS/Exchange creates a separate part for each solid.

back to to
Comparison of CAD File Formats
The following compares the different CAD file formats for importing geometry using ADAMS/Exchange or ADAMS/View.

The file format: IGES

Has the advantage/disadvantage

When exporting geometry from a CAD program, the shapes are represented by triangles and rectangles. You can adjust th tolerance on the approximated shape when importing in ADAMS/View. Volume information is not supported in ADAMS/Exchange if the geometry is imported as a polygon or if the original shape not a solid. Therefore, ADAMS/View cannot calculate the mass properties of the imported shape. You have to define them manually. Color information is retained.

process, approximation will be tried and the imported shape will be represented by polygons. Note that if you import the geometry as a solid, ADAMS/View can calculate mass properties.

Solids instead of Polygons and turn off Consolidat to shells. Also the originals have to be solid to be imported as solid. If something goes wrong during the import
To import shells as solids, be sure to set the options

Render Volume information is supported in ADAMS/Exchange, within the given tolerance in the shape. ADAMS products, therefore can calculate mass properties. Each render file can contain many shapes, but when you import it, ADAMS/Exchange attaches all its geometry to only one part. Color information is retained. Importing your geometry as Stereolithography (STL) or render geometry is more reliable than using other CAD formats, s as IGES or STEP.

2 of 3

10/24/2006 4:48 PM

Knowledge Base

http://support.mscsoftware.com/kb/results_kb.cfm?S_ID=1-36274281

File format is very simple. The files are much larger than IGES and DXF files. Because the surfaces have been represented as polygons, you cannot change the accuracy of the surface representations ADAMS/View. You must specify the accuracy when you create the files in your CAD program. STEP

ADAMS/Exchange supports STEP AP203 and AP214. Note, however, as stated in the ITI PDELIB manual: It is important to realize that AP 214 is still at the "Committee Draft" stage of its development and as such is a continuous changing and evolving beast. While it is our intent to update this subsystem as necessary, no guarantees are expressed or implied. i.e. use at your own risk! ADAMS/Exchange does not support conformance class 5, which contains faceted B-rep shape representation. ITI explains that faceted B-rep shape representation takes up too much memory to exchange, and most vendors do not support it. Volume information is supported in ADAMS/Exchange, within the given tolerance in the shape. ADAMS products, therefore can calculate mass properties. You may find a small difference between the mass properties calculated in Pro/ENGINEER a those calculated in MSC.ADAMS. Each STEP file can contain many shapes, but when you import it, ADAMS/Exchange attaches all its geometry to only one part. Color information is not retained

Stereolithography

When exporting geometry from a CAD program, shapes are represented by triangles. Most CAD programs support the abil to specify a tolerance, and, therefore, the number of triangles. Volume information of solid bodies is supported in ADAMS/View, within the given tolerance in the shape. Using that shape, ADAMS products can calculate mass properties. Volume information of thin-walled bodies is not supported, so no mass properties can be calculated for it. Only one body for each STL file. Color information is not retained.

Parasolid

Currently, ADAMS/Exchange supports Parasolid version 14.0. Using Parasolid files, you can import the whole model while you can only import part by part using STEP, IGES, STL, DWG, and DXF.

back to to
Created on 07/10/06 Modified on 08/07/06
Terms | Privacy | Trademark

3 of 3

10/24/2006 4:48 PM