CAD software for Turbomachinery
 

Which software do you recommend for creating turbomachinery cad model?

1. I have two recommendeations

a. Catia (But I am told it is complicate software)

b. rhino3d and rhino3d with t-splines

2. They also told me that catia is feature based modeler and rhino is spline based modeller. I dont know what does it mean. Can any body explain whats differce between feature based and spline based modeller?

3. I am also told that Pro-E (creoelements) is the worst choice.

4. What about solid works and solid edge ?

5. Any idea about space-claim?

6. What are your views about ansys designmodeler and its limitations ?

Have a look at ThinkDesign.

It can deal with solids, open solids and surfaces. You can also "parametrize" pure surface models with "Global Shape Modeling" (GSM), which is a real killer feature. ... and it is very easy and intuitive to use.

Hello!!!

Well, I haven't worked with rhino3d but I have worked with Catia for quite some time...
If you choose Catia you have to spend some time to learn how to use it but it's a fantastic software. Think of anything you want to design, no matter how complicated it might be, and you can design it easily in Catia! It's capabilities are innumerable...

BladeGen and CFTurbo
 

Hey Guys,


i think it is pretty difficult to generate Turbomachinery with 3d-freeform surface within a CAD-Modeler like SolidWorks, AutoCad etc. Especially if the machines you design differ from each other. I heard that CATIA is very powerful with complex geometry, but didnt saw any good example. Its possible, but IMO not really straight forward.


My personal Chart:


1. BladeGen

Integrated in Ansys Workbench, pain in the ass at the beginning, but suuuper powerfull when you know what to do. You need a meridional cut and the blade angles as a input. This is great for ALL types of machines. Fans, Blower, Compressors, radial Pumprunners, Hydroturbines etc.



2. CFTurbo
Not only a geometry modeling software, but also a design software. Also really powerfull for a lot of turbomachinery applications.



3. Cases
A parametric geometry modling software for optimization during CFD and FEA analyses. Its more like CATIA or SolidWorks


But no OpenSource software so far, at least that i know.


I hope i could help.

CAD software for Turbomachinery
 

Well, I can give my opinion on your first question and I will recommend to use Rhino3D as compare to CATIA as CATIA is costly.
Thanks