For more information, see:
Pro/ENGINEER (*.prt, *.asm)
Pro/ENGINEER Associative Plug-In (*.prt, *.asm)
Pro/ENGINEER (*.prt, *.asm)
Reader
The Pro/ENGINEER Reader supports Pro/ENGINEER as a Reader for releases 16 to Wildfire 5 on the Windows (32- and 64-bit) operating systems.
Updated CAD system on ANSYS Workbench compatibility information is viewable via the ANSYS, Inc. Web site (Support> Services> Technical Support > Platform Support). See ANSYS Platform Support.
This is a standalone reader that does not require an installation of the Pro/ENGINEER CAD program or a Pro/ENGINEER license.
If the Pro/ENGINEER geometry interface was configured and you wish to revert to the Pro/ENGINEER Reader, run the CAD Configuration Manager (Start->Programs->ANSYS 13.0->Utilities->CAD Configuration Manager).
On the CAD Selection tab, choose Workbench and ANSYS Geometry Interfaces and Pro/ENGINEER:
Reader. Click the Next button to go to the CAD Configuration tab. Select the Configure Selected CAD In-terfaces. The output window should indicate success. This requires administrative privileges on the machine.
See CAD Configuration Manager (p. 15) for usage information.
For detailed installation information about the CAD Configuration Manager, see:
Linux:Configuring CAD Products> Using the CAD Configuration Manager Windows:Configuring CAD Products> Using the CAD Configuration Manager
Support
Document import supported by interface: Part (*.prt) and Assembly (*.asm) Table 12 Import Preference Support for interface
Yes Import Solid Bodies
Yes Import Surface Bodies
Yes Import Line Bodies
No Parameter Processing and prefix/suffix key
Support
Yes - Color and Layer import is allowed using this prefer-ence.
Attribute Processing and prefix
Yes - Color and Layer import is allowed using this prefer-ence.
Named Selection Processing and prefix
No Material Processing
Analysis Type 3D - Yes
2D - Yes- Only surface bodies in the xy plane will be impor-ted
No Associativity
Yes Coordinate Systems
Yes Work Points
No Reader Save File
No Instancing
No Smart Update
No Enclosure and Symmetry Processing
No Mixed Import Resolution
Notes
This interface does not support the selective update feature.
The application automatically locks the length unit in the part or assembly to millimeters, which is the unit used internally. No adjustment of length unit is necessary or possible. You can change the unit system for display of the Mechanical application data.
Import Color as Named Selections To import an object's Color as Named Selections in ANSYS Workbench, specify the "Named Selections" option and set the "Named Selections Key" to "Color" or a list of specific Colors delimited by a semicolon (for example: "Color:255.0.0; Color:255.255.0").
Import Layer as Named Selections To import objects that are assigned a Layer as Named Selections in ANSYS Workbench, specify the "Named Selections" option and set the "Named Selections Key" to "Layer" or a list of specific Layers delimited by a semicolon (for example: "Layer:0;Layer:1;Layer:3").
Length Unit The application automatically locks the length unit in the model to millimeters. You can change the unit system for display of the data.
Caveats and Known Issues
No caveats or known issues.
Troubleshooting
See the Pro/ENGINEER Errors Related to CAD Integration (p. 77) section in Troubleshooting (p. 75) for detailed information.
File Format Support
Pro/ENGINEER Associative Plug-In (*.prt, *.asm) Plug-In/Pseudo Reader
Before installing the ANSYS application, please make sure that you have installed Pro/ENGINEER and have run the program at least once under the user login that you will use to install the Mechanical application.
The interface works in both a plug-in and a pseudo-reader mode on Windows, and in reader only mode for Workbench.
The existence of the plug-in is recognized by Pro/ENGINEER based an entry in the configuration file (config.pro) referencing a Pro/Toolkit registry file located in the Workbench installation (WBPlugInPE.dat). This is configured during the installation process whenever the user selects Pro/ENGINEER as a geometry source, but can be modified to enable/disable the Plug-In by using the CAD Configuration Manager. The CAD Configuration Manager can also be used to change the Pro/ENGINEER installation utilized by the Plug-In. If Pro/ENGINEER was not selected in the original installation then the Associative Plug-In will not be available for configuration.
In this case you can run the installer and select Pro/ENGINEER under ANSYS Geometry Interfaces to make the Associative Plug-In available.
See CAD Configuration Manager (p. 15) for usage information.
For detailed installation information about the CAD Configuration Manager, see:
Linux:Configuring CAD Products> Using the CAD Configuration Manager Windows:Configuring CAD Products> Using the CAD Configuration Manager
Support
Updated CAD system on ANSYS Workbench compatibility information is viewable via the ANSYS, Inc. Web site (Support> Services> Technical Support > Platform Support). See ANSYS Platform Support.
The Pro/ENGINEER geometry interface is compatible with Pro/ENGINEER Wildfire 3, Wildfire 4 and Wildfire 5.
Table 13 Import Preference Support for Pro/ENGINEER geometry interface Yes
Import Solids
Yes Import Surfaces
Yes - Datum Curves Import Lines
Yes Parameter Processing and prefix/suffix key
Yes Attribute Processing and prefix
Yes - from ANSYS Named Selection Manager and program-matically created attributes
Named Selection Processing and prefix
Yes Material Processing
Analysis Type 3D - Yes
2D - Yes- Only surface bodies in the xy plane will be impor-ted
No Reader Save File
Yes Instancing
No Smart Update
No Enclosure and Symmetry Processing
Yes - for parts that include both Solid and surface bodies AND the Import Solid and Import Surface preferences are set to Yes
Mixed import Resolution
Notes
The Pro/ENGINEER geometry interface also supports the selective update feature.
Parts that are hidden or suppressed in Pro/ENGINEER are skipped automatically by the geometry interface.
If you switch between the Master and simplified representations of your geometry in Pro/ENGINEER, you must use the Erase Not Displayed option in Pro/ENGINEER to remove the geometry not shown in Pro/ENGINEER's window (but resident in memory) before attaching or refreshing in the Mechanical application.
To improve our associativity with Pro/ENGINEER models, prior to ANSYS Release 11, a modification was made to vertex processing that will yield a "break" in associativity for most vertex loads and boundary conditions upon update. You will be required to reattach/redefine those loads that are lost, but should expect associ-ativity to be maintained from that point forward.
Importing Feature Types as Line Bodies The following feature types can be imported from Pro/ENGINEER into ANSYS Workbench via the Mechanical application as line bodies:
• Datum Curve
Length Unit The length unit specified in the Pro/ENGINEER part or assembly is transferred into Workbench.
Assemblies and their component parts should all be constructed using the same length unit.
When using an assembly's offset as a parameter, a negative value will cause the direction of the offset to flip and the value will be returned with a positive sign.
Caveats and Known Issues
In no particular order, the caveats and known issues are:
Capturing a Solid Body in a Named Selection (p. 48) Surface Body Naming Convention (p. 49)
Updating Instances (p. 49) Material Data (p. 49) File Versions (p. 49) UNC Path (p. 50)
Configuration Considerations (p. 50) Geometry Attach/Refresh (p. 50) DesignModeler Considerations (p. 50) Limitations (p. 51)
File Format Support
key will be included in a group with the same name as the layer. This policy does not apply when the named selection key is left blank.