NX, formerly known as "unigraphics", is an advanced high-end

CAD Computer-aided design (CAD) is the use of computers (or ) to aid in the creation, modification, analysis, or optimization of a design. This software is used to increase the productivity of the designer, improve the quality of design, improve co ...

/ CAM/ CAE, which has been owned since 2007 by Siemens Digital Industries Software. In 2000, Unigraphics purchased SDRC I-DEAS and began an effort to integrate aspects of both software packages into a single product which became Unigraphics NX or NX. It is used, among other tasks, for: *

Design A design is a plan or specification for the construction of an object or system or for the implementation of an activity or process or the result of that plan or specification in the form of a prototype, product, or process. The verb ''to design'' ...

(parametric and direct solid/surface modelling) *

Engineering analysis Engineering analysis involves the application of scientific/mathematical analytic principles and processes to reveal the properties and state of a system, device or mechanism under study. Engineering analysis is decompositional: it proceeds by se ...

(static; dynamic; electro-magnetic; thermal, using the finite element method; and fluid, using the finite volume method). *

Manufacturing Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer to a r ...

finished design by using included machining modules. NX is a direct competitor to CATIA, Creo, Autodesk Inventor.

History

1972: United Computing, Inc. releases UNIAPT, one of the world's first end-user CAM products. 1973: The company purchases the Automated Drafting and Machining (ADAM) software code from

MCS Music * Motion City Soundtrack, a pop punk / rock band from Minneapolis, Minnesota Science and technology * Matrix cable system, submarine communications cable connecting Indonesia and Singapore * Megawatt Charging System, electric vehicle cha ...

in 1973. The code became a foundation for a product called UNI-GRAPHICS, later sold commercially as Unigraphics in 1975. 1976

McDonnell Douglas Corporation McDonnell Douglas was a major American aerospace manufacturing corporation and defense contractor, formed by the merger of McDonnell Aircraft and the Douglas Aircraft Company in 1967. Between then and its own merger with Boeing in 1997, it produ ...

buys United Computing. 1983: UniSolids V1.0 is released, marking the industry's first true interactive Solid Modeling software offering. 1991: During a period of financial difficulties

McDonnell Douglas Automation Company The McDonnell Aircraft Corporation was an American aerospace manufacturer based in St. Louis, Missouri. The company was founded on July 6, 1939, by James Smith McDonnell, and was best known for its military fighters, including the F-4 Phantom II ...

(McAuto) sells its commercial services organization, including the Unigraphics organization and product, to EDS which at that time is owned by GM. Unigraphics becomes GM's corporate CAD system. 1992: Over 21,000 seats of Unigraphics are being used worldwide. 1996: Unigraphics V11.0 is released with enhancements in Industrial Design and Modeling including Bridge Surface, Curvature Analysis for Curve and Surfaces, Face Blends, Variable Offset Surface, etc. In the area of Assembly Modeling the new capabilities include Component Filters, Faceted Representations, and Clearance Analysis between multiple Components. A fully integrated Spreadsheet linked to Feature-Based Modeling is also included.. 2002 First release of the new "Next Generation" version of Unigraphics and

I-DEAS I-DEAS (''Integrated Design and Engineering Analysis Software''), a computer-aided design software package. It was originally produced by SDRC in 1982. I-DEAS was used primarily in the automotive industry, most notably by Ford Motor Company (who ...

, called NX, beginning the transition to bring the functionality and capabilities of both Unigraphics and I-DEAS together into a single consolidated product. 2007 Introduction of Synchronous Technology in NX 5. 2011 Release of NX8 on October 17-2011 2013 Release of NX9 (x64 only) on October 14-2013

Release history

Key functions

Computer-aided design Computer-aided design (CAD) is the use of computers (or ) to aid in the creation, modification, analysis, or optimization of a design. This software is used to increase the productivity of the designer, improve the quality of design, improve c ...

(CAD) (

) **Parametric solid modeling (feature-based and direct modeling) ** Freeform surface modelling,

class A surfaces In automotive design, a class A surface is any of a set of freeform surfaces of high efficiency and quality. Although, strictly, it is nothing more than saying the surfaces have curvature and tangency alignment – to ideal aesthetical reflection ...

. **

Reverse engineering Reverse engineering (also known as backwards engineering or back engineering) is a process or method through which one attempts to understand through deductive reasoning how a previously made device, process, system, or piece of software accompli ...

** Styling and

computer-aided industrial design Computer Aided Industrial Design (CAID) is a subset of computer-aided design (CAD) software that can assist in creating the look-and-feel or industrial design aspects of a product in development. CAID programs tend to provide designers with impro ...

Product and manufacturing information Product and manufacturing information, also abbreviated PMI, conveys non-geometric attributes in 3D computer-aided design (CAD) and Collaborative Product Development systems necessary for manufacturing product components and assemblies. PMI may in ...

(PMI) **Reporting and analytics,

verification and validation Verification and validation (also abbreviated as V&V) are independent procedures that are used together for checking that a product, service, or system meets requirements and specifications and that it fulfills its intended purpose. These are ...

**Knowledge reuse, including

knowledge-based engineering Knowledge-based engineering (KBE) is the application of knowledge-based systems technology to the domain of manufacturing design and production. The design process is inherently a knowledge-intensive activity, so a great deal of the emphasis for K ...

Sheet metal Sheet metal is metal formed into thin, flat pieces, usually by an industrial process. Sheet metal is one of the fundamental forms used in metalworking, and it can be cut and bent into a variety of shapes. Thicknesses can vary significantly; ex ...

design **

Assembly modelling Assembly modeling is a technology and method used by computer-aided design and product visualization computer software systems to handle multiple files that represent components within a product. The components within an assembly are represented a ...

and digital mockup **

Routing Routing is the process of selecting a path for traffic in a network or between or across multiple networks. Broadly, routing is performed in many types of networks, including circuit-switched networks, such as the public switched telephone netw ...

for

electrical wiring Electrical wiring is an electrical installation of cabling and associated devices such as switches, distribution boards, sockets, and light fittings in a structure. Wiring is subject to safety standards for design and installation. Allowable ...

and mechanical piping * Computer-aided engineering (CAE) (

Simulation A simulation is the imitation of the operation of a real-world process or system over time. Simulations require the use of Conceptual model, models; the model represents the key characteristics or behaviors of the selected system or proc ...

) ** Stress analysis / finite element method (FEM) **

Kinematics Kinematics is a subfield of physics, developed in classical mechanics, that describes the Motion (physics), motion of points, Physical object, bodies (objects), and systems of bodies (groups of objects) without considering the forces that cause ...

Computational fluid dynamics Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is a branch of fluid mechanics that uses numerical analysis and data structures to analyze and solve problems that involve fluid flows. Computers are used to perform the calculations required to simulate th ...

(CFD) and

thermal analysis Thermal analysis is a branch of materials science where the properties of materials are studied as they change with temperature. Several methods are commonly used – these are distinguished from one another by the property which is measured: * D ...

* Computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) (

) **

Numerical control Numerical control (also computer numerical control, and commonly called CNC) is the automated control of machining tools (such as drills, lathes, mills, grinders, routers and 3D printers) by means of a computer. A CNC machine processes a pi ...

(NC) programming

Supported operating systems and platforms

NX runs on

Linux Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, which ...

Microsoft Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...

and Mac OS. Starting with version 1847, support for Windows versions prior to

Windows 10 Windows 10 is a major release of Microsoft's Windows NT operating system. It is the direct successor to Windows 8.1, which was released nearly two years earlier. It was released to manufacturing on July 15, 2015, and later to retail on J ...

as well as for macOS was completely removed, and the

GUI The GUI ( "UI" by itself is still usually pronounced . or ), graphical user interface, is a form of user interface that allows users to interact with electronic devices through graphical icons and audio indicator such as primary notation, inste ...

was removed from the Linux version.

Architecture

NX uses Parasolid for its Geometric modeling kernel and D-Cubed as

Associative engine In mathematics, the associative property is a property of some binary operations, which means that rearranging the parentheses in an expression will not change the result. In propositional logic, associativity is a valid rule of replacement f ...

for sketcher and assembly constraints as well as using JT (visualization format) for lightweight data and Multi-CAD.

References

Gallery

File:Cad crank.jpg, Cad crank File:Ugs-nx-5-engine-airflow-simulation.jpg, engine airflow simulation * :Screenshots of NX (Unigraphics)

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nx (Unigraphics) Computer-aided design software Computer-aided manufacturing software Computer-aided engineering software Product lifecycle management Computer-aided design software for Linux Siemens software products Computer-aided manufacturing software for Linux Computer-aided engineering software for Linux Proprietary commercial software for Linux