What has changed?
On August 7, 2017 Autodesk Nastran In-CAD was added to the Product Design and Manufacturing Collection. With this introduction, a few additional changes were announced.
First, all current Autodesk Nastran In-CAD subscription customers (maintenance customers not included) will be fulfilled with the Product Design and Manufacturing Collection (Read which products are included here). Customers should notice this change in their accounts as soon as August/September.
Second, starting with the next release of Autodesk Nastran In-CAD, SOLIDWORKS integration will no longer be supported. 2018.0 and earlier versions of Autodesk Nastran In-CAD will continue to be available as an integrated workflow within SOLIDWORKS.
Why did Autodesk make this change?
One goal of the Product Design and Manufacturing Collection is to provide a tighter, more integrated workflow for CAD, CAM and CAE inside Inventor. This provides a common platform to take customers from design through production more efficiently and with more power than ever.
What are the options moving forward for SOLIDWORKS customers using Autodesk Nastran In-CAD?
Continue using Autodesk Nastran In-CAD with SOLIDWORKS
The 2018.0 and previous releases of Autodesk Nastran In-CAD continue to work within SOLIDWORKS as an integrated workflow. Installing the optional 2018.1 release (and future releases) of Autodesk Nastran In-CAD will disable the add-in for SOLIDWORKS.
Use Autodesk Nastran In-CAD with Inventor
As Autodesk Nastran In-CAD moves into the Product Design and Manufacturing collection, current Autodesk Nastran In-CAD subscription customers (maintenance customers not included) will be fulfilled with the Product Design and Manufacturing Collection. This includes Autodesk Inventor. While previous Autodesk Nastran In-CAD simulation model databases will be stored inside SOLIDWORKS (and inaccessible inside Autodesk Inventor), new simulation models can be opened inside Inventor and utilize the new features going forward.
Can I continue using SOLIDWORKS for modeling and use Inventor/Nastran In-CAD for simulation?
Yes. Inventor 2016 and later versions include an import technology called AnyCAD that allows you to reference SolidWorks parts or assemblies into Inventor. Unlike a traditional translation these references are associative. Whenever the SolidWorks file changes, the updates are accounted for inside Inventor and allow simulations to be re-run within Nastran In-CAD. See this page for more on AnyCAD.
Investigate WaveFEA
Autodesk has partnered with WaveFEA to continue to provide ongoing enhancements to the SOLIDWORKS integrated FEA product. More information about WaveFEA can be found here:
WaveFEA
WaveFEA can be contacted for additional information.
