Geomate Co., San Jose, CA, has released a new version of its ToleranceCalc wizard to help users of popular CAD applications perform tolerance and producability analysis of parts and assemblies with what the company claims is "the same ease as 'spell-checking.'"
Geomate's ToleranceCalc combines a matrix-based geometry with automated Monte Carlo statistical tolerance analysis. Users can execute forward and reverse tolerance analysis to mediate between performance goals and manufacturing process capabilities at any stage of the product development process. The software works directly with 1D and 2D tolerance vector chain geometry imported from any popular CAD application in the DXF standard file format.
Here's an example of using ToleranceCalc: In the CAD application using the CAD sketcher, draw the 1D or 2D vector chain, a series of connected lines representing the tolerance propagation in part or assembly, using sketch, model, or drawing geometry as overlay. Save the vector chain sketched in CAD in the DXF R14 format (which is supported by all popular CAD applications). Launch the ToleranceCalc wizard and load the saved DXF file; the vector chain is displayed in a graphic window ready to perform analysis. Enter tolerances to the contributors in the vector chain, specify the number of iterations and distribution for the Monte Carlo statistical analysis, and click a button to see the results. The experiment settings and results can be saved in CSV standard format that can be read by Excel.
System requirements to run ToleranceCalc are any 32/64 bit computer running Vista, XP, or Windows 7. Disk space required is < 1MB.