Most Trending Mechanical Engineering Design Softwares in 2022

Do you know the first created CAD software? It is Sketchpad. Ivan Sutherland created Sketchpad in the year 1963.  It was created as a part of his thesis, and it is the first software to use a graphical user interface.

 

 

Today we have many mechanical design software used for specific applications. With these softwares, engineers can design, run tests, simulate and analyse without creating the prototype. With the help of 3D printers, we can quickly create a prototype through which we can have a live demonstration. 

It is difficult to identify which design software is best for mechanical engineers among the design software for mechanical engineering. Read ahead to know the top 10 mechanical design software used for most applications. 

 

1. SOLIDWORKS

SOLIDWORKS is one of the most widely used 3D design software. It is one of the best CAD software for mechanical design engineers. You can perform 3D visual analysis with ease using this software. SOLIDWORKS has a command finder through which you can locate the command that you need for designing. This industry-standard software for product development can guide you with design changes. Using SOLIDWORKS, you can create 3D solid models, part designing and assembly modeling. There is also an inbuilt library in SOLIDWORKS from which you can import certain machinery parts. 

The minimum system requirement of SOLIDWORKS is to have 16GB RAM with 2GB free disk space. It is one of the most used mechanical design software in India.

 

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2. AutoCAD

 

 

This software is primarily used for designing and drafting 3D components. It is also one of the most used mechanical design software in India. You can easily find commands in AutoCAD just by typing them, and you need not waste time searching for them. This software is also used by civil engineers for infrastructure designing and floor plans, and electrical engineers use it for PCB designing. It is a simple tool through which you can draw lines, splines, circles, eclipses and polygons.

This AutoCAD software was first developed in December 1982 by Autodesk. AutoCAD needs a disk space of 6GB and a minimum of 4GB RAM to support it.

 

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3. Autodesk Inventor

Autodesk Inventor is parametric based software which is used for creating 2D and 3D precise modelling. Unlike AutoCAD, Autodesk inventor is a parametric based software in which the part designing is object-oriented. Parametric modelling is nothing but designing based on relationships and constraints. This software is used for rendering, simulation and analysis of 3D parts.

Autodesk Inventor was developed by Autodesk in the year 1999. It is a very big software which requires a dist space of 40 GB and 20GB RAM for hassle-free installation and running.

 

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4. Autodesk Moldflow

Autodesk Moldflow is used to analyse the products during the development stage itself. With it, you can drastically reduce the production cost. It is primarily used to simulate and ensure the durability of injection moulded parts and dies. With the help of Autodesk Moldflow, you can quickly check the manufacturing feasibility, and you will be able to manufacture reliable products. Manufacturing feasibility is a factor indicating whether the design created by the design engineer could be manufactured within the allotted budget and available machinery. It is one of the best designing software for mechanical engineers for plastic modeling.

This Autodesk Moldflow software is also a product of Autodesk, developed in 1978. The system must have 8GB RAM and 12 GB free disk space for supporting this software.

 

5. Autodesk Fusion 360

The main advantage of using Fusion 360 is you can collaborate with your team member to create models as this is cloud-based software. You can design organic forms, solid modeling of 3D parts and assemble mechanical components. You can do motion graphics study and render in this 3D design software. 

This Fusion 360 software was released in the year 2013. This software needs a free disk space of 3GB, Integrated graphics with 6 GB and 4 GB RAM.

 

6. CATIA

 

 

CATIA is a popular surface modeling software used primarily on OEMs. CATIA is a Cross-Discipline Development Platform through which you can develop 2D sketching and 3D rendering designs. You can also perform sheet metal designing, automotive seating design, automotive plastic, and automotive lighting design using CATIA. This is also one of the most used mechanical design software in India. You can pursue a Post Graduate Program in Automotive Design using CATIA V5 to understand its applications better.

Dassault System developed this product design software in the year 1982. To support this software, the system must have a free disk space of 10GB and a minimum RAM of 4GB.

 

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7. ProE

ProE is a 3D design software that uses the parametric approach for solid modeling. With ProE, you can design weld modeling, piping design, sheet metal designing and part modeling. ProE could also be used for surfacing and assembly modeling. After designing you could perform thermal simulation, structural simulation and real-time photo rendering using this software. This is the first software that used the parametric feature-based approach for 3D modeling.

ProE was released by PTC in the year 1988. You need a system with a hard disk space of 2 GB and 4 GB RAM for the installation of this software.

 

8. Solid Edge

Solid Edge is a CAE tool used for 3D modeling with the parametric approach. Using Solid Edge, you can create 3D design, 3D printing, Computer-Aided Design (CAM) and perform simulation. Solid Edge allows you to create the electrical design and manage data. This is a cloud-based software through which a team could collaborate and implement different ideas. This is one of the best designing software for mechanical engineers as it has features for designing and analysing individual and assembled parts, and also you could perform CFD analysis. 

Solid Edge was developed in the year 1995 by Siemens Digital Industries Software. This software could be only installed in Windows 10 with a minimum hard disk space of 7.5 GB and 16 GB RAM.

 

9. Simens NX CAD

Siemens NX CAD is one of the most widely used software in the manufacturing sector, which allows you to perform synchronous modeling. In synchronous modeling, you can directly make changes in the solid body without the need for a history tree. This 3D designing software allows you to create 3D models using convergent modeling technology and parametric modeling technology. 

This Siemens NX CAD software was developed in 1973 by Siemens Digital Industries Software. For running this software you would need a system with 4GB RAM, and the size depends upon the version you are going to install. It is good to have a free disk space of 5.5 GB for the latest version and an i5 processor.

 

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10. ANSYS

ANSYS is one of the most used mechanical design software in India. In ANSYS, we can import designs created on other platforms and simulate them here. ANSYS is primarily used for FEA analysis and it uses numerical methods to solve problems. Using ANSYS, you can simulate manufactured parts, fluids and electromagnetics. 

ANSYS was developed in the year 1996 by John Swanson. For installation and running this software, you need a system with 8 GB RAM and a minimum free disk space of 25 GB.

Though all of these softwares are created for CAD modelling and simulation, you will feel the difference between these softwares while using them. The UI varies for different platforms, and each software is used for particular applications. With this mechanical design, software industries reduce the cost of manufacturing and the time required to develop models. Creating a 3D visualisation of products and performing different analyses reduces the chances of manufacturing a failed model. The above listed are top 10 mechanical design software. By learning a few best designing software for mechanical engineers, you could build a career in the core industry. You can learn some of the best CAD software for mechanical design through the Skill-Lync platform along with industry projects.