# Comparison of CAD Software for Designing Cellular Structures for Additive Manufacturing
## Discussion
### Benchmarks
#### 3.6.3 Availability  
To effectively test and utilize a software tool, it is crucial to consider its availability. The availability attribute in Table 18 is categorized into the following four stakeholders: students, faculty, trial version, and classroom version, in order to cover a broad range of applications. Apart from these stakeholders, all investigated software tools are widely accessible through their respective developing companies or licensed vendors and distributors. The attribute \"availability\" comprises mostly binary features. For instance, a rating of 10 is assigned when a student version is available, and a rating of 1 is assigned when there is no student version available. The \"OS compatibility\" feature has the following three levels: a rating of 3.3 was assigned to software that is available for only one operating system, 6.6 for two, and 9.9 for three. Furthermore, software accessible via a desktop version was scored at 5, whereas web-based versions were rated at 10 points. This is because the web-based version does not require advanced hardware and does not need to be installed, making life easier for the user.  
Rhino7/Grasshopper(r) software is available as student and faculty versions, but these require a license costing EUR 195 each. A classroom version is also available for EUR 975, which includes 30 licenses. A trial version is available for 90 days. The software is regularly updated and can be used on both Windows(r) 10 and macOS. nTop is available to students and faculty without limitations for at least one year. Upon request, the license can be extended. To do so, an extensive license request form must be completed. A trial version is available for 30 days, but no classroom versions have been identified. Frequent updates are available, but the software is only compatible with Windows(r). Both software products from Altair(r) are available to students and faculty, but classroom versions must be ordered through a distributor. In contrast to InspireTM, which frequently receives software updates, SulisTM is only available in version 1.12, released on 1 December 2022. Both versions are available for Windows(r) and macOS, while a Linux version is available for SulisTM only. Carbon(r)'s Design Studio Pro is accessible through a browser, making it independent of users' hardware and operating systems. However, student and faculty versions may be limited and available upon request. A trial version is typically valid for 30 days. However, after contacting support, the license duration was extended to 6 months.  
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c} \hline \hline
**Feature** & **Rhino7/Grasshopper®** & **nTopology nTop** & **Altair®** & **Sulis** & **Altair®** & **InspireTM** & **Carbon® Design Engine Pro** \\ \hline Stability of program & 6 & 10 & 10 & 7 & 10 \\ Handling of large, complex structures & 6 & 5 & 10 & 10 & 10 \\ \(\sum\limits_{\text{Total possible}}\) & 12 & 15 & 20 & 17 & 20 \\ \hline Total possible & 20 & 20 & 20 & 20 & 20 \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table}
Table 17: Evaluation of the selected features for the reliability benchmarking.  
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c} \hline \hline
**Feature** & **Rhino7/Grasshopper®** & **nTopology nTop** & **Altair®** & **Sulis** & **Altair®** & **InspireTM** & **Carbon® Design Engine Pro** \\ \hline Student version & 2 & 10 & 10 & 10 & 3 \\ Faculty version & 2 & 10 & 10 & 10 & 3 \\ Trial version & 6 & 2 & 2 & 1 & 5 \\ Affordable classroom version & 10 & 5 & 3 & 3 & 1 \\ Updates & 7 & 10 & 3 & 6 & 8 \\ OS® compatibility & 6.66 & 3.33 & 10 & 6.66 & 10 \\ Web-based or desktop-based versions & 5 & 5 & 5 & 5 & 10 \\ \(\sum\limits_{\text{Total possible}}\) & 38.66 & 45.33 & 43 & 41.66 & 40 \\  & 70 & 70 & 70 & 70 & 70 \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}  
* Operating system.  
\end{table}
Table 18: Evaluation of the selected features for the availability benchmarking.