Capability: NEi FEA is a professional finite element analysis application aimed at engineers involved in product design, development, analysis, and testing, perhaps at smaller companies. Model creation is via parasolids geometry, while solutions are generated by Nastran solvers. The combination of parasolids and Nastran extends the market for professional-level analysis software to smaller businesses and individual engineers, the developer said. Other attributes of the software include: two-dimensional and three-dimensional modeling and meshing, support for composites, surface-to-surface contact capability, nonlinear analysis, shell and solid element creation, and rigid and interpolation element creation. The stand-alone seat includes linear static, modal, and heat-transfer analysis. The network seat also includes advanced dynamics and nonlinear analysis capabilities.

Hardware: PC running Windows XP or NT.

Developer: Noran Engineering Inc., 5555 Garden Grove, Westminster, CA 92683; (877) 627-8726; info@noran-eng.com; www.NeNastran.com.

Cost: From $6,000 for the stand-alone seat to $13,000 for the network seat.

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Excel Plotting

Capability: EZplot for Excel creates and updates many plots in seconds. It includes formulas for 2-D interpolation and 3-D interpolation and polynomials. These can be used like any other Excel formula. Customers may be provided with Excel plots or have them inserted as pictures into PowerPoint using the Insert Pics feature. Plots and calculations are defined with parameter names instead of cell locations so the user doesn't have to remember any commands. The application automatically updates chart changes to the EZplot sheet.

Hardware: PC running Windows 2000 and Office 2000 or higher.

Developer: Office Expander, 2321 Founders Way, Saugus, MA 01906; (978) 758-8599; www.OfficeExpander.com.

Cost: EZPlot is $499 for a single license, $349 apiece for 10 to 20 licenses, and $299 for more than 20 licenses; Multy_Y is $125; Insert Pics is $29.

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Capability: The design program Ceramics Analysis and Reliability Evaluation of Structures, or CARES 8.0, uses probabilistic analysis techniques to optimize the design of components fabricated from brittle materials. These materials include monolithic structural ceramics, glass, graphite, and intermetallics. The application incorporates phenomenological-based as well as fracture mechanics-based models for isotropic brittle materials. The software can predict the probability of failure at the immediate application of loads and supports a number of commercially available finite element analysis programs.

Hardware: PC running Windows 2000 or NT and Ansys version 10.0 or Marc version 2005 revision 3, or Comsol version 3.2b.

Developers: Connecticut Reserve Technologies Inc, 10030 Greenwich Dr., Strongsville, OH 44136; (330) 678-7328; fax (918) 513-6950; www.ceramicreliability.com.

Cost: $1,795, with educational discounts available.

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Mac Sketching

Capability: Google SketchUp is now available for Macintosh users. This noncommercial application is a slimmed-down version of the modeling application SketchUp Pro 5. Features include real-time shadows, sketchy line styles, dimensioning, texturing, and Tourguide views. Users can contribute to and access Google's 3D Warehouse, a searchable reposi-
tory of 3-D objects. There are limitations for this version. Film and stage tools for pre-visualization have been removed, tech support is not free, and animations can't be exported.

Hardware: PC running Macintosh OS 10 or higher.

Developer: Google Inc., 1600 Amphi- theatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043; (650) 253-0000; fax (650) 253-0001.

Cost: Free.

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Drawing Face-Off

Capability: An independent developer has an add-on available for AutoCAD computer-aided design software from Autodesk. The feature, called DWGCompare, lets users compare two CAD drawings. It displays the differences between the two drawings and also generates a report that lists the differences. DWGCompare can be added to server-based systems.

Hardware: PC running AutoCAD or later.

Developer: DotSoft, 3390 Morehead Rd., Flemingsburg, KY 41041; (606) 849-4312; fax (606) 849-3145; www. dotsoft.com.

Cost: $85.

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