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Article: Outside in: reverse engineering tools are getting easier to afford and to use, and that can make for a better bottom line.
- Article from:
- Mechanical Engineering-CIME
- Article date:
- August 1, 2009
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2009 American Society of Mechanical Engineers. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
When finite element analysis software--once the purview of experts with advanced degrees--made the I jump from mainframe to desktop computer about 20 years ago, it opened up the world of analysis to design engineers and radically changed the way they worked.
Now reverse engineering software is slowly changing the way design engineers do their everyday jobs. With the pervasiveness of computer-aided design packages, reverse engineering technology has become a practical tool to create a 3-D virtual model of an existing physical part. That model is then available to be used in 3-D CAD, computer-aided manufacturing, or other ...