The complete product was shipped to customers on 2nd April 2007.

ICEM Shape Design (ISD) R17 provides a range of highly intuitive tools for the creation, validation and modification of any type of surface, from freeform surfaces to complex mechanical shapes.

Developed by ICEM on the Dassault Systèmes CAA V5 software architecture it integrates seamlessly with CATIA V5 and other CAAV5-based product lifecycle management (PLM) environments.

ISD R17 is available as a ‘collaborative’ installation where access is available to all licensed CATIA V5 products or indeed ‘standalone’ where no CATIA V5 software is required.

ICEM has worked closely with its customers and has developed new and innovative functionalities in geometry creation, modification and quality analysis in addition to over 100 customer-driven enhancements ensuring high quality results and advanced surfacing options.

New Create Gap command allows designers to rapidly explore alternative component Gap conditions.	New multiple light sources and highlight analysis provides advanced surface quality evaluation in real time.

Applications

New split diagnosis and iso-curvature analysis ensures
surface quality and manufacturability.

The advanced surface modeling facilities of ISD deliver solutions ranging from general surface modelling to the specialised surface design and engineering requirements of specific industry sectors, such as automotive body and interior components, aircraft exterior skins, business jet and luxury yacht interiors, consumer durable goods and complex tyre designs.

"The market is facing increasing pressures today on their design and engineering processes and need to consider innovative approaches to help reduce design cycle time and maximize design appeal.

"ISD offers a unique and innovative V5-based styling-to-manufacturing solution that can reduce that cycle time, by providing visibility across the enterprise from the conceptual stage to manufacturing.

"This improves the overall product development maximizing variant evaluation whilst minimising costs due to late changes or manufacturing issues" states Lee Cureton, ICEM’s CEO.

More information on Shape Design are available on the following articles:

• "ICEM Shape Design" by Al Dean - MCAD Online - 10 February 2006
• ISD on ICEM 'roadmap' - Automotive Engineering International MAgazine Online - March 2006

About ICEM Shape Design

ICEM Shape Design software suite offers highly intuitive tools to easily create, validate and modify any type of surfaces, from freeform surfaces to mechanical shapes.

The software, based on Dassault Systèmes' CAA V5 software architecture, is targeted to mechanical designers, shape designers and stylists and enables to handle both Freeform, Aesthetic, Aero and Mechanical Surfaces.

The ICEM Shape Design software suite comprises 3 configurations providing prerequisite bases for a wide range of optional, add-on modules to include advanced surface modelling, reverse engineering and data manipulation, analysis and design visualisation.

Among the add-on software modules are:

• Expert - for global surface model manipulation
• Theme - for preparing 3D wire-frame and surface models from stylists’ 2D sketches
• Form - an intuitive polygon modelling tool for quickly creating, editing or enhancing shape and form from a concept or an existing physical model
• Scan - for handling, trimming, filtering and diagnosing imported 3D scan data
• Quick Surfacer - for the semi-automatic generation of a surface model from imported 3D scan data
• Renderer - for generating high quality rendered and ray-traced photo-realistic images and movies of a digital mock-up
• Realtime Renderer - for the creation of dynamic, photo-realistic images and animations in real time

The ICEM Shape Design software suite is offered both as a standalone application and as fully integrated components of a PLM systems environment based on Dassault Systèmes’ CAA V5 architecture.

About ICEM Ltd.

With its headquarters in the UK, ICEM Ltd. is a leading worldwide developer of advanced surface modelling, design and visualisation software.

The products range includes:

• ICEM Shape Design - surface modelling software based on Dassault Systèmes CAA V5 software architecture and integrated with CATIA V5
• ICEM Surf - Standalone freeform surface modelling software
• ICEM Vis - Standalone, real-time design visualisation software.

ICEM software is a key component of the product lifecycle management (PLM) software environments of many of the world’s automotive and aerospace manufacturers and their suppliers.

With a worldwide network of sales and support offices and specialist distributors, ICEM’s principal market sector is the worldwide automotive industry.

Customers include Ford Motor Company, DaimlerChrysler Group, Volkswagen Audi Group, Porsche, BMW, PSA Peugeot Citroën, Renault and Nissan. 

For more information see www.icem.com.

(Source: ICEM)