T-FLEX CAD
Encyclopedia
T-FLEX CAD is a Parasolid
-based parametric CAD software application for 3D
solid modeling
and 2D
design
and drafting
, developed and sold by Russia
-based software company Top Systems.
T-FLEX CAD is written for Microsoft
Windows
2000
, XP
, Vista
, 32-bit
and 64-bit
operating system
s, and is distributed in various languages.
. It provides drafting, modeling and assembly
tools that enable engineers to develop various products, from single parts to assemblies.
T-FLEX CAD was among the first MCAD (mechanical CAD) systems to bring the power of parametric design into a native Windows environment.
T-FLEX CAD supports a unified mode of operations for all types of documents and entities: drawings, assembly drawings, solids, surfaces, parts, parts with multiple solid bodies, assembly models, sheet metal, bill of materials, etc.
T-FLEX CAD provides parametric, adaptive and associative
technology aimed at family-of-parts manufacturers or other design situations that use similar geometry but require many different sizes or permutations. Entities and their parameters in T-FLEX CAD can be related to each other. Variables
can be assigned for component names, visibility, material, any numeric or text attribute of any entity. They can then be processed with algebraic or logical expression to control the behavior of the design.
In addition to parametric 3D modeling T-FLEX CAD supports parametric 2D drawings creation from scratch. Parametric 2D assemblies can be created as well by inserting parametric 2D components. The result can be fully automatic, so that a master parametric drawing does not require editing as changes are required.
T-FLEX Open API
is based on .NET
technology offering possibilities for developing add-on applications.
T-FLEX CAD is interoperable
with other 3D-modeling and 2D-drawing systems via the following file formats: Parasolid
, IGES
, STEP
, Rhino
, DWG
, DXF
, SolidWorks
, Solid Edge
, Autodesk Inventor
, etc.
Parasolid
Parasolid is a geometric modeling kernel originally developed by ShapeData, now owned by Siemens PLM Software , that can be licensed by other companies for use in their 3D computer graphics software products....
-based parametric CAD software application for 3D
3D computer graphics
3D computer graphics are graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data that is stored in the computer for the purposes of performing calculations and rendering 2D images...
solid modeling
Solid modeling
Solid modeling is a consistent set of principles for mathematical and computer modeling of three dimensional solids. Solid modeling is distinguished from related areas of Geometric modeling and Computer graphics by its emphasis on physical fidelity...
and 2D
2D computer graphics
2D computer graphics is the computer-based generation of digital images—mostly from two-dimensional models and by techniques specific to them...
design
Design
Design as a noun informally refers to a plan or convention for the construction of an object or a system while “to design” refers to making this plan...
and drafting
Technical drawing
Technical drawing, also known as drafting or draughting, is the act and discipline of composing plans that visually communicate how something functions or has to be constructed.Drafting is the language of industry....
, developed and sold by Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
-based software company Top Systems.
T-FLEX CAD is written for Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
2000
Windows 2000
Windows 2000 is a line of operating systems produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, business desktops, laptops, and servers. Windows 2000 was released to manufacturing on 15 December 1999 and launched to retail on 17 February 2000. It is the successor to Windows NT 4.0, and is the...
, XP
Windows XP
Windows XP is an operating system produced by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops and media centers. First released to computer manufacturers on August 24, 2001, it is the second most popular version of Windows, based on installed user base...
, Vista
Windows Vista
Windows Vista is an operating system released in several variations developed by Microsoft for use on personal computers, including home and business desktops, laptops, tablet PCs, and media center PCs...
, 32-bit
32-bit
The range of integer values that can be stored in 32 bits is 0 through 4,294,967,295. Hence, a processor with 32-bit memory addresses can directly access 4 GB of byte-addressable memory....
and 64-bit
64-bit
64-bit is a word size that defines certain classes of computer architecture, buses, memory and CPUs, and by extension the software that runs on them. 64-bit CPUs have existed in supercomputers since the 1970s and in RISC-based workstations and servers since the early 1990s...
operating system
Operating system
An operating system is a set of programs that manage computer hardware resources and provide common services for application software. The operating system is the most important type of system software in a computer system...
s, and is distributed in various languages.
Functionality
T-FLEX CAD is a full-featured design solution primarily aimed at mechanical engineeringMechanical engineering
Mechanical engineering is a discipline of engineering that applies the principles of physics and materials science for analysis, design, manufacturing, and maintenance of mechanical systems. It is the branch of engineering that involves the production and usage of heat and mechanical power for the...
. It provides drafting, modeling and assembly
Assembly modelling
Assembly modelling is technology and methods used by computer-aided design and product visualization computer software systems to handle multiple files that represent components within a product. The components within an assembly are represented as solid or surface models.The designer generally has...
tools that enable engineers to develop various products, from single parts to assemblies.
T-FLEX CAD was among the first MCAD (mechanical CAD) systems to bring the power of parametric design into a native Windows environment.
T-FLEX CAD supports a unified mode of operations for all types of documents and entities: drawings, assembly drawings, solids, surfaces, parts, parts with multiple solid bodies, assembly models, sheet metal, bill of materials, etc.
T-FLEX CAD provides parametric, adaptive and associative
Associative engine
An associative engine in CAD/solid modelling software is the component which maintains the associative relationships between the collection of geometric entities. The associative relationships are basically LISP expressions which describe the orientation and placement of two or more geometric...
technology aimed at family-of-parts manufacturers or other design situations that use similar geometry but require many different sizes or permutations. Entities and their parameters in T-FLEX CAD can be related to each other. Variables
Variable (programming)
In computer programming, a variable is a symbolic name given to some known or unknown quantity or information, for the purpose of allowing the name to be used independently of the information it represents...
can be assigned for component names, visibility, material, any numeric or text attribute of any entity. They can then be processed with algebraic or logical expression to control the behavior of the design.
In addition to parametric 3D modeling T-FLEX CAD supports parametric 2D drawings creation from scratch. Parametric 2D assemblies can be created as well by inserting parametric 2D components. The result can be fully automatic, so that a master parametric drawing does not require editing as changes are required.
T-FLEX Open API
Application programming interface
An application programming interface is a source code based specification intended to be used as an interface by software components to communicate with each other...
is based on .NET
.NET Framework
The .NET Framework is a software framework that runs primarily on Microsoft Windows. It includes a large library and supports several programming languages which allows language interoperability...
technology offering possibilities for developing add-on applications.
T-FLEX CAD is interoperable
CAD data exchange
CAD data exchange involves a number of software technologies and methods to translate data from one Computer-aided design system to another CAD file format...
with other 3D-modeling and 2D-drawing systems via the following file formats: Parasolid
Parasolid
Parasolid is a geometric modeling kernel originally developed by ShapeData, now owned by Siemens PLM Software , that can be licensed by other companies for use in their 3D computer graphics software products....
, IGES
IGES
The Initial Graphics Exchange Specification is a file format which defines a vendor neutral data format that allows the digital exchange of information among Computer-aided design systems....
, STEP
ISO 10303
ISO 10303 is an ISO standard for the computer-interpretable representation and exchange of product manufacturing information. Its official title is: Automation systems and integration — Product data representation and exchange...
, Rhino
Rhinoceros 3D
Rhinoceros is a stand-alone, commercial NURBS-based 3-D modeling tool, developed by Robert McNeel & Associates. The software is commonly used for industrial design, architecture, marine design, jewelry design, automotive design, CAD / CAM, rapid prototyping, reverse engineering as well as the...
, DWG
.dwg
DWG is a binary file format used for storing two and three dimensional design data and metadata. It is the native format for several CAD packages including AutoCAD, IntelliCAD and Caddie. In addition, DWG is supported non-natively by many other CAD applications...
, DXF
AutoCAD DXF
AutoCAD DXF is a CAD data file format developed by Autodesk for enabling data interoperability between AutoCAD and other programs....
, SolidWorks
SolidWorks
SolidWorks is a 3D mechanical CAD program that runs on Microsoft Windows and is being developed by Dassault Systèmes SolidWorks Corp., a subsidiary of Dassault Systèmes, S. A. . SolidWorks is currently used by over 1.3 million engineers and designers at more than 130,000 companies worldwide...
, Solid Edge
Solid Edge
Solid Edge is a 3D CAD parametric feature solid modeling software. It runs on Microsoft Windows and provides solid modeling, assembly modelling and drafting functionality for mechanical engineers...
, Autodesk Inventor
Autodesk Inventor
Autodesk Inventor, developed by U.S.-based software company Autodesk, is 3D mechanical solid modeling design software for creating 3D digital prototypes used in the design, visualization and simulation of products...
, etc.
Add-on Products
- T-FLEX CAM – CAMComputer-aided manufacturingComputer-aided manufacturing is the use of computer software to control machine tools and related machinery in the manufacturing of workpieces. This is not the only definition for CAM, but it is the most common; CAM may also refer to the use of a computer to assist in all operations of a...
application. - T-FLEX Analysis – Finite element analysis CAEComputer-aided engineeringComputer-aided engineering is the broad usage of computer software to aid in engineering tasks. It includes computer-aided design , computer-aided analysis , computer-integrated manufacturing , computer-aided manufacturing , material requirements planning , and computer-aided planning .- Overview...
application. - T-FLEX Dynamics - general-purpose motion simulation application for studying the physics-based motion behavior of a CAD design.
- T-FLEX DOCs - SQLSQLSQL is a programming language designed for managing data in relational database management systems ....
based EDMDocument management systemA document management system is a computer system used to track and store electronic documents and/or images of paper documents. It is usually also capable of keeping track of the different versions created by different users . The term has some overlap with the concepts of content management...
/PDMProduct Data ManagementProduct data management is the business function often within product lifecycle management that is responsible for the creation, management and publication of product data...
software.