Siemens NX

About this release

NX is the heavyweight end of mechanical design software, used where the product is complicated, the tolerances are real and the same model has to carry through analysis and machining without being rebuilt. It sits alongside the other top tier systems in automotive, aerospace and industrial machinery, and the reason it stays there is breadth: design, simulation and manufacturing live in one application rather than three that pass files between them.

Modelling covers both approaches. History based feature modelling gives the familiar parametric tree, and synchronous technology lets you push and pull faces on geometry that has no history at all, including imported models from other systems. That combination is what makes NX comfortable with supplier data, which in practice is where a great deal of engineering time disappears.

Assemblies are built for size. Very large structures load through partial loading and reference sets rather than pulling every component into memory, positioning is driven by constraints or by arrangement, and interference checking runs across the whole structure rather than pair by pair. Drafting produces drawings that update with the model, with the dimensioning and tolerancing standards that a manufacturing group will actually accept.

The manufacturing side takes the same model through to toolpaths. Two and a half axis through five axis milling, turning, wire cutting and probing all program against the design geometry, with post processors producing code for real machines and a simulation stage that runs the machine model to catch collisions before the metal does.

What it does

History and synchronous modelling

Parametric feature trees and direct face editing in the same part, including on imported geometry with no history.

Large assembly handling

Partial loading, reference sets and arrangement based positioning keep very large structures workable.

Integrated simulation

Structural, thermal, motion and flow studies run against the design model rather than an exported copy.

Manufacturing to real machines

Milling, turning, wire and probing programming with post processors and full machine simulation.

Drafting to standard

Associative drawings with dimensioning and tolerancing that manufacturing groups accept.

Broad exchange support

Reads and writes the neutral formats and the native formats of the other major systems.

Changed in this version

• Faster load times on assemblies past fifty thousand components.
• Synchronous editing extended to more feature types on imported bodies.
• Simulation meshing improved on thin walled and swept geometry.
• New five axis strategies for complex surface finishing.
• Drafting view generation noticeably quicker on dense sheets.
• Interface scaling corrected on high density and mixed resolution setups.

System requirements

Install order

1. Unpack the archive to a short path on a fast drive.
2. Run the licensing component before the main application installer.
3. Install the main application and select only the modules you need to keep the footprint down.
4. Start once and let the first launch build its caches before opening a production assembly.

Worth knowing before you start

File details