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COMSOL Multiphysics® 5.5 Release Highlights

LiveLink™ for AutoCAD® Updates

For users of LiveLink™ for AutoCAD®, COMSOL Multiphysics® version 5.5 brings selections for layers and support for layer states. Read more about these features below.

Selections for Layers

Layer selections, which are generated based on the layer name in the CAD file, are now also available as object selections. For geometry features that are added after the LiveLink™ node in a geometry sequence, these layer selections can be used as input objects in those features.

The geometry of a PCB with a power transistor and other components in the COMSOL Multiphysics UI where everything is gray except for the selected IC body, which is yellow.
The generated layer selections after synchronization can be viewed in the Object Selections section of the settings for LiveLink™ for AutoCAD®.

Support for Layer State

The LiveLink™ interface now keeps track of the layer state of the synchronized CAD file, and the same layer state is used for subsequent synchronizations.

View screenshot

Associative Geometry Import

The CAD file import functionality now supports associative geometry import to retain physics and other settings on the geometry after the file is reimported due to an updated design. The import reads information in the CAD files to identify the geometric entities in the file. This information is usually available when importing CAD files saved in the native format of the software where it was created.

Delete Holes Defeaturing Operation

A new defeaturing operation called Delete Holes finds and deletes cylindrical holes whose radii are smaller than a given number that you can specify. After specifying a maximum radius, a Find Holes button will automatically add the appropriate holes to the selection list.

A gray model geometry with holes identified in blue and the Delete Holes settings shown.
The new Delete Holes defeaturing operation is used to find cylindrical holes.

A gray model geometry without holes and the Delete Holes settings shown.
The geometry resulting from using the Delete Holes operation.

View screenshot

View screenshot

Support for New and Updated CAD File Format Versions

The CAD file export functionality now supports writing 3D geometry to the following file formats:

  • IGES (.igs, .iges): 5.3
  • STEP (.step): AP203

The CAD file import and export functionality has been extended to support new versions for the following file formats:

Read from File
  • ACIS® (.sat, .sab, .asat, .asab): 2019 1.0
  • NX™ (.prt): 1847
  • Parasolid® (.x_t, .xmt_txt, .x_b, .xmt_bin): V32.0
  • PTC Creo Parametric™ (.prt, .asm): 6.0
  • SOLIDWORKS® (.sldprt, .sldasm): 2019
Write to File
  • Parasolid® (.x_t, .xmt_txt, .x_b, .xmt_bin): V32.0
ACIS is a registered trademark of Spatial Corporation. Autodesk, the Autodesk logo, AutoCAD, Inventor, and Revit are registered trademarks or trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., and/or its subsidiaries and/or affiliates in the USA and/or other countries. Parasolid and NX are trademarks or registered trademarks of Siemens Product Lifecycle Management Software Inc. or its subsidiaries in the United States and in other countries. PTC, Creo, and Creo Parametric are trademarks or registered trademarks of PTC Inc. or its subsidiaries in the U.S. and in other countries. SOLIDWORKS is a registered trademark of Dassault Systèmes SolidWorks Corp. COMSOL AB and its subsidiaries and products are not affiliated with, endorsed by, sponsored by, or supported by these third parties.