Superior CAD Interface & Robust Meshing

Existing native CAD geometry can be used directly with ANSYS mechanical solutions — with no translation, no IGES and no intermediate geometry formats. ANSYS has provided native bidirectional integration with the most popular CAD systems for more than 10 years. Integration directly into the CAD menu bar makes it very simple to launch world-class simulation directly from a CAD system.

Since the ANSYS geometry import mechanism is common to all CAD systems, the user has the flexibility to work within a single common simulation environment while using multiple CAD packages.

Automatic body-by-body meshing, large cell phone assembly for explicit drop test analysis

All HEX mesh of complex automotive brake rotor assembly
Courtesy PTC.

High-quality automatic tetrahedral mesh for complex engine block
Courtesy PTC.

ANSYS supports the following CAD systems: Autodesk® Inventor®, Autodesk® Mechanical Desktop, Autodesk® Inventor® Professional Stress, CATIA® V4 and V5, Pro/ENGINEER®, Solid Edge®, SolidWorks®, Unigraphics®, CoCREATE Modeling™ and SpaceClaim®. The ANSYS Workbench environment also supports neutral format files such as IGES, Parasolid®, ACIS® (SAT) and STEP, which enable the use of any CAD system with the capability to export to any of these formats.

ANSYS provides a wide range of highly robust automated meshing tools — from tetrahedral meshes to pure hexahedral meshes, inflation layers and high-quality shell meshes. Mesh settings like surface or edge sizing, sphere of influence, defeaturing tolerances and more can be set by the user.