Through focused development efforts, CAD geometry could be employed directly to automatically create finite element models to assess design feasibility through predictions of product behavior under a range of operating conditions. Companies could employ the surfaces of solids models to calculate and verify numerical control machining operations, eliminating manual programming. Assembly and fabrication could be simulated with solids models to detect fabrication problems such as component interference before the company commits resources to tooling. Success at such efforts to share design information will depend on the availability of common definitions for CAD-generated parts. In the solids modeling environment, applications share common definitions for features such as holes, bosses, ribs or pockets.
Feature definitions can be industry-specific.
For example, critical features in sheet metal design and manufacturing might include louvers, punches, lips, hems and stress reliefs at bends and corners. Plastics designers and mold manufacturers may need to share information regarding draft, ribs, gates and runners. For example, Autodesk targets standard definitions for features and parts with its Industry Foundation Class activities. Intergraph leads the OLE for Design and Modeling initiative to share parts and features important in mechanical design. Autodesk and Solidworks have made their API available so vertical application developers can integrate their software with design geometry.