Inspire

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Technical Specification

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Inspire
Inspire, the industry’s most powerful and easy-to-use Generative Design/Topology Optimization and rapid simulation solution for design engineers empowers its users by creating and investigating structurally efficient concepts quickly and easily. This can lead to reduced costs, development time, material consumption, and product weight. The software is easy to learn and works with existing CAD tools to help design structural parts right the first time.

Applied at the very beginning of clean-sheet design programs and for design exploration of current production parts, Inspire simulation-driven design software allows designers and engineers to:

  • Rapidly assemble and simulate dynamic mechanical systems to automatically resolve loads on system components for optimization and analysis
  • Generate weight-efficient design proposals unique to specified conventional or additive manufacturing processes with Altair’s industry-leading topology optimization technology
  • Simulate the performance of competing design concepts for static loads, normal modes and buckling
  • Directly export Inspire CAD geometry to 3D printers to produce high-performance, quality parts

WHAT’S NEW IN INSPIRE 2018?
The latest release of Inspire, ’Inspire 2018’ introduces multiple new enhancements including the ability to:

  • Generate optimized lattice and mixed solid – lattice structures, visualize simulation results in 3D, and export lattice designs in a .stl file format for 3D printing.
  • View and interactively assign loads to load cases and import / export design loads in .csv file format with the new Load Cases Table.
  • Design for additive manufacturing with overhang shape controls to help reduce overhangs to create more self-supporting structures.
  • Automatically optimize the fit of PolyNURBS CAD geometry to generative design results with the new PolyNURBS Fit Tool.

View the Inspire 2018 recorded webinar and discover the difference in simulation-driven design here. See demonstrations and explore:

  • Lattice Optimization and Export
  • Overhang Shape Controls
  • PolyNURBS Fit

Try Inspire 2018 and request a free trial here.

Learn how Inspire is currently being used to design for additive manufacturing here.

Explore Inspire case studies.

  • Structurally efficient concept generation and analysis
  • Support for optimization and analysis of parts and assemblies
  • Quickly and easily cleanup and defeature problem areas in the geometry
  • Investigate linear static and normal modes analysis
  • User friendly interface with extremely short learning curve












solidthinking Inspire Case studies:

Wayne State Warrior Racing

3D Systems Creates 3D Printed Skateboard Optimized with Inspire

Read more

More

  • Your Optimization Software Respectfully Suggests a Revision

DE on January 1, 2016 by Kenneth Wong

For years, design engineers used a mix of vocational training, aesthetic preferences and professional know-how to generate early concepts for a product. Then, these ideas were put through digital simulation and physical tests to identify the most promising candidates. But the advent of topology optimization turns this workflow on its head.” Read more – DE

  • Simulate to Shed Weight Sooner

DE on January 1, 2016 by Pamela J. Waterman

”Product optimization begins in the design process but doesn’t stop with geometry: Material choices and manufacturing options are increasingly critical trade-off parameters. In addition, an optimization process should account for the manufacturing approach (mill, cast, stamp, layer) and possible subsystem assembly options (weld, rivet, glue). Making wiser decisions before a part or assembly is ever handed over for refined structural analysis is key to producing improved designs. Check out these recent and upcoming improvements in simulation tools that do just that.” Read more – DE

  • Why Marry 3D Printing with Topology Optimization?

Engineering.com on November 19, 2015

”3D printing gives engineers the freedom to design products that cannot be manufactured any other way. The process of adding material, as opposed to subtracting material, allows for more intricate shapes. This has given engineers an unprecedented chance to design lighter, more organic looking products.” Read more – Engineering.com

  • Develop3D’s Metals 3D Printing Software Guide highlights Inspire

    Develop 3D on October 07, 2015

”3D printing with metals brings up all manner of opportunities to change how things are produced. What software options are available today for those looking to truly take advantage?”  Read more…– Develop 3D

  • Design optimization: Topology and much more

    Design World on July 16, 2015 posted by Paul Heney

    ”Topology optimization and its seductive biomorphic shapes are what many think of when they hear the term “optimization” in engineering design. But topology optimization is just one kind of structural optimization—and that, in turn, is only one of five broad classes of optimization technology available to engineers today. Read more… ” – Design World

  • A Look at solidThinking Inspire 2015

    DE Virtual Desktop on July 15, 2015 posted by Kenneth Wong

    ”If you find simulation intimidating, you might find topology optimization doubly intimidating. The first discipline uses time-tested engineering principles, material science, and algorithms to calculate the effects of heat, stress, pressure, and wind on your product’s geometry. The second goes a step further. Read more… ” – DE Virtual Desktop

  • Why Everything About Design and Manufacturing Will Change in the Next Five Years

    posted by Shuvom Ghose on June 23, 2015

    Since the beginning of the Industrial Age, there have been two main rules when designing parts:

    • Only design shapes that can be manufactured
    • Extra complexity always costs extra time

    But in five years neither of these rules will be true, due to the intersection of two maturing technologies: software-aided shape optimization and 3D printing. Designers who know how to take advantage of these two tools, together, will change everything we know about Design-for-Manufacture (DFM) and create complex, lightweight, shapes that their competitors simply cannot, and thus set the new standard for lightweight, efficient design. Let’s look at each rule separately, and then together. Read more…” – CAPUniversity

  • Improvements to Inspire 2015, the FEA-Based Concept Creation Tool

    posted by Shawn Wasserman on June 17, 2015

    ”Inspire is a CAE tool that creates near optimal design concepts based on FEA, bone algorithms, loads, boundary conditions and packaging space. A differentiating factor of Inspire to other CAE software is its ease of use. As a result, many of the additions to Inspire 2015 build on this usability theme. Read more…” – Engineering.com

  • The Evolution of CAD

    posted by 3DCAD Editor on Monday, June 15, 2015 by Darren Chilton, Program Manager, Product Strategy and Development, solidThinking

    ”Designers seeking a solution for creating products for additive manufacturing, look no further than hybrid modelers. Without the constraints of traditional CAD tools, these programs help you explore product designs and create alternatives all in one place. Read more… ” – 3D CAD World

  • Product data sheet 2016 (pdf)
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