… when imagination becomes reality.
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:
WHAT’S NEW IN INSPIRE 2018?
The latest release of Inspire, ’Inspire 2018’ introduces multiple new enhancements including the ability to:
View the Inspire 2018 recorded webinar and discover the difference in simulation-driven design here. See demonstrations and explore:
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.
Geometry Creation and Simplification | Geometry Creation and Simplification |
Create, modify, and de-feature solid models using Inspire’s modeling tools: | Create, modify, and de-feature solid models using Inspire’s modeling tools: |
Sketch Tools – Build or modify parts by sketching lines, rectangles, circles, and arcs. | |
Geometric constraints such as, mirroring, scaling, revolving, push/pull, tangency and perpendicularity can also be applied: | Geometric constraints such as, mirroring, scaling, revolving, push/pull, tangency and perpendicularity can also be applied. |
Trim/Break – Cut and remove sketch curves at the point of intersection. | |
Boolean Operations – Add, subtract, or intersect solid parts to create more complex geometry. | |
Defeature – Remove imprints, rounds, fillets, holes, and pockets, or plug holes and pockets, or create patches and bridges. | |
Midsurfacing – Midsurfacing tools allow users to find and extract 2D sheets from single thickness thin solid geometry. |
Optimization Options | Optimization Options |
Inspire offers users a number of topology options: | Inspire offers users a number of topology options: |
Optimization Objectives – When running an optimization, Designers can choose to either maximize stiffness or minimize mass. | |
Stress Constraints – A global stress constraint can be applied to limit the maximum stress in the model during optimization. | |
Displacement Constraints – Displacement constraints can be applied to a model to limit deflections in desired locations and directions. | |
Acceleration loads – Angular velocity and acceleration tools allow users to define the speed of rotation of the entire model and the axis about which it rotates | |
g-Loads – g-Loads tool allows users to simulate a model undergoing acceleration, which imparts a force on all parts of the model | |
Displacement Constraints – Displacement constraints can be applied to a model to limit deflections in desired locations and directions. | |
Temperature Loads – Temperature tool allows users to simulate the effects of temperature changes in a model: | Temperature Loads – Temperature tool allows users to simulate the effects of temperature changes in a model. |
Export to OptiStruct – Designers can export OptiStruct input files for advanced simulations. |
Manufacturing and Shape Controls | Manufacturing and Shape Controls |
Generate design concepts that are not only structurally efficient but also manufacturable using Inspire’s shape controls: | Generate design concepts that are not only structurally efficient but also manufacturable using Inspire’s shape controls: |
Symmetry Planes – Force asymmetric design spaces to generate symmetric optimized shapes. | |
Cyclic Repetition – Create cyclically repeating shapes like propellers or wheels. | |
Draw Directions – Generate shapes that can be easily molded or stamped by applying single or split draw directions. | |
Extrusion Shape Control – Generates constant cross-section topologies in a specified direction. |
Analysis |
Investigate linear static and normal modes analysis on a model and visualize displacement, factor of safety, percent of yield, tension and compression, von Mises stress, and major principal stress. |
Customizable Materials Database |
Inspire is packaged with a material library including various aluminum, steel, magnesium, and titanium alloys. Custom materials can also be added. |
Part Instances |
Parent-Child Instances – Individual parts can be copied and pasted as an instance. Whenever one is updated, the other is automatically updated as well. Instancing information can also be imported from CAD files. |
Interactive Results Visualization |
Explore optimized shapes using a simple slider to add or remove material. Users can decide which features are important and then pick the concept design best suited to their needs. |
Assembly Configuration |
Multiple assembly configurations can be created. These configurations can then be used to evaluate various design scenarios and the resulting concepts. |
Multiple Language Formats |
Chinese, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish. |
Shape Controls & Design Constraints |
Min/Max Size |
Draw Direction |
Symmetry |
Pattern Repetition |
Cyclic Repetition |
Stress Constraints |
Frequency Constraints |
Displacement Constraints |
Geometry Import |
ACIS |
Catia (V4 & V5) |
Creo |
IGES |
Inventor |
JT |
Parasolid |
Pro/E |
SolidWorks |
STEP |
STL |
UG NX (Unigraphics) |
Geometry Export |
IGES |
Parasolid |
STEP |
STL |
3D Systems Creates 3D Printed Skateboard Optimized with Inspire
Read more
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
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
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
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 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
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
posted by Shuvom Ghose on June 23, 2015
Since the beginning of the Industrial Age, there have been two main rules when designing parts:
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
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
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