The connection functionality enables you to import CAD geometries into Mechanical APDL. The connection functionality can import geometries for the following CAD/CAE file formats:
CATIA V5-6R2024 (Windows 10 and Windows 11)
CATIA V4.2.4 (Windows 10, Windows 11, and Linux)
Parasolid 35.1 (Windows 10, Windows 11, and Linux)
Creo Parametric 7.0, 8.0, 9.0, and 10.0 (Windows 10 and Windows 11 Version 21H2 or higher). The following minimum versions are required:
7.0.4.0 on Windows 10
7.0.8.0 on Windows 11
8.0.3.0 on Windows 11
ACIS 2023 (Linux)
ACIS 2024 (Windows 10 and Windows 11)
NX 2312 with support limited to the following:
Windows 10 and 11 Professional and Enterprise versions
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
SuSE Linux Enterprise Server and Desktop 15
NX 2212 and 2306 (support limited to Windows 10 and 11 Professional and Enterprise versions)
You must have the appropriate Geometry Interface license to use the connection functionality.
The connection functionality generally supports prior releases of CAD files (such as ACIS 18.0).
For detailed information about platform support, see the Platform Support section of the Ansys Website.
The following table provides a list of CAD packages, their file types, and the recommended connection functionality to use when importing files.
Table 1.1: CAD Package and Recommended Connection Functionality
| CAD Package | File Type | Connection Functionality to Use |
|---|---|---|
| ACIS | .sat or .sab | ACIS |
| AutoCAD | .sat or .sab | ACIS |
| Autodesk Inventor | .sat or .sab | ACIS |
| CATIA 4.x | .model, .exp, .session, .dlv | CATIA |
| CATIA 5.x | .CATPart or .CATProduct | CATIA Version 5 |
| Creo Elements/Direct Modeling | .sat or .sab | ACIS |
| Creo Parametric | .prt or .asm | Creo Parametric |
| NX | .prt | NX |
| Parasolid | .x_t or .xmt_txt | Parasolid |
| Solid Edge | .x_t or .xmt_txt | Parasolid |
| SOLIDWORKS | .x_t | Parasolid |
Auto Launch Feature
The connection functionality allows you to launch Mechanical APDL from Creo Parametric (for Windows only). This direct launch lets you take advantage of Mechanical APDL analysis features as you design with the CAD software, thus augmenting design and testing processes.
The following connection functionality overview topics are available: