Accelerating the CAD to CAE process
CAE analysts must ensure that geometric data is ideally suited for specialist applications. CAE users constantly face CAD model issues that cause meshing failures and have a significant negative impact on analysis lead times including:
- Overly complex, badly defined, and corrupt geometry
- CAD model features such as fillets, small holes, short edges, small faces, and other modeling artifacts that are valid in CAD but negatively impact and constrain mesh ability
Analysts can customize ITI’s out-of-the-box solutions for different CAD sources and CAE packages. Customization of various functions includes:
- Collapsing of short edges and sliver faces
- Hole and protrusion removal
- Joining of edges, faces and solids
- Fillet and round removal
- Feature detection and removal
- Topology imprinting for mesh consistency
- Surface and solid splitting tools
- Surface and solids meshing

Master model-driven FEA, CFD, EM solutions
With ever-shortening product design cycles, simulation tools that provide timely results are more important than ever. The pressure for these tools dictates FEA, CFD, and EM analysis be driven off the master model CAD data. While CAD provides the geometry, a great deal of time is still spent to prepare it for analysis.
Some possible reasons for lack of interoperability between CAD and CAE include:
- Un-stitched solids
- Invalid geometry representation or mathematical forms
- Surface normal inconsistency
- Complex unwanted features
- Sliver faces, tiny edges, small diameter holes
These are possible causes for delay in establishing a suitable mesh, applying boundary conditions, and getting results. CADfix is uniquely positioned in the CAD-to-CAE data flow with its ability to read and write multiple geometric formats, repair poor quality geometry, and de-feature and simplify complex geometric definitions. In the end, CAE analysts are starting with much more robust geometric definitions for their analytical needs.

CADfix
To learn more, visit the CADfix Product Page.

CAE Pre- and post-processing
CAE modeling technology package
These images show a CAD model that has been imported, de-featured to varying levels, and meshed using a selection of the different mesh styles available within CADfix CAE.

Meshing
CADfix CAE meshing provides mesh generation to create volume, surface, and beam element meshes. These can be quad or triangular meshes for surfaces, or tetrahedral or hexahedral for volumes. The finite difference meshes produce Cartesian grids for wires, surfaces, and volumes. Meshing tools enable the set-up of controls for meshing, whether element size, meshing algorithm or the lattice grading for finite difference meshes. A range of mesh quality checking facilities is provided to ensure mesh integrity.
Results Presentation
CADfix CAE also gives users powerful visualization facilities for analysis results. These include:
- Contour plots
- Animation graphing
- Model probe line plots
- Sections
- Polar plotting – 3D and 2D graphs
Medial Object Technology
ITI's Geometric Reasoning technology is currently in development for selective deployment within controlled and limited customer applications. Geometric Reasoning is accomplished based on the Medial Object of a solid, which is a skeletal representation providing a comprehensive source of information for a variety of applications. Many engineering scenarios require more extensive geometric information than typical CAD or Product Data Interoperability software products can provide. This is the goal of Geometric Reasoning technology.
The Medial Object is constructed by rolling a disc around inside a face, or a sphere inside a volume. The locus of the center of the maximal diameter disc/sphere forms the Medial Object. The Medial Object also carries radius information, and is thus a complete representation of the original object.
Typical applications of CADfix Geometric Reasoning using embedded Medial Object Technology include:
- Mid-surface computation
- Geometry subdivision for finite element meshing
- CFD domain partitioning
- Machine tool cutter path definition
- Feature recognition
- Automatic model de-featuring
- Shelling of a volume model
- New applications still to be determined with customers
For more information, visit the Medial Object Technology Page. DOWNLOAD INFO SHEET