Alibre Design

Alibre Design is a parametric computer-aided design (CAD) software suite developed by Alibre for Microsoft Windows. Alibre is a brand of Alibre, LLC, a company based out of Texas.

About

Founded in 1997, Alibre began working closely with Microsoft in 1998 to develop the first web-based collaborative 3D design environment.^[1] The environment operated on a web-browser and allowed multiple users to work on the same design simultaneously. Following this development, Alibre received a patent for "System and method for solid modeling," protecting their technologies for generating 3D geometries across a high bandwidth, distributed network.^[2] Alibre's purported aim in this development was to give businesses a cost-effective way to geographically distribute teams by enabling networked design environments without incurring large capital expenditures.^[3]

Alibre Design is based on the ACIS modeling kernel from Spatial, and a 2D constraint system from Siemens PLM, among other technologies.^[4] It allows users to create modeled representations of concepts to facilitate design and manufacturing, with 2D and 3D functionality. Parametric solid modeling is driven by intelligent dimensions, meaning that the software automatically recomputes designs to accommodate changes to a single dimension, thereby maintaining the design's dimensional accuracy without necessitating manual adjustment of each dimension.^[5]

Products & Features

Alibre's products fall into two categories intended for different users and applications. Alibre Design Professional has a basic set of features intended for users to get started with CAD, whereas Alibre Design Expert is a 3D and 2D modeling application suitable or intended for professional use.

Design Tools

Some of Alibre's key design tools include:

Part modeling to define the geometry of individual components
Sheet metal modeling to define the geometry of individual components created from sheeted materials, such as sheet metal. Software adheres to the real-world constraints of sheeted goods
Assembly modeling to define relationships between individual components for final assembled designs. Software analyzes the relation of components to assess real-word constraints and conditions, such as tangency or alignment
Surface modeling to create organic surface models
2D drafting to convert previously created 3D designs into 2D engineering drawings for manufacturing, patents and design communication

Technical Support & Training

Alibre includes free training through a built-in help section in the software. Free training is also available via online tutorials and videos.

To get direct technical assistance for Alibre products, customers must buy a software maintenance plan, which gives access to support via telephone or online ticket system. The live chat can be accessed directly from the CAD software interface for direct communication with an Alibre engineer.

Compatibility

Supported Files for Import

STEP AP203/214 (*.stp, *.step, *.ste)
IGES (*.igs)
ACIS (*.sat)
Rhino (*.3dm)
DXF (*.dxf), DWG (*.dwg)
SolidWorks Files (*.sldprt, *.sldasm)
Autodesk Inventor (*.ipt, *.iam)
ProEngineer (*.prt, *.asm, *.xpr, *.xas)
Catia (*.CATPart, *.CATProduct)
Parasolid (*.x_t, *.x_b, *.xmt_txt, *xmt_bin)
Solid Edge (*.par, *.psm, *.asm)
Various image formats (bmp, dib, rle, gif, tif, tiff, png, jpg, jpeg, jfif, emf, wmf)

Supported Files for Export

STEP AP203/214 (*.stp, *.step, *.ste)
IGES (*.igs)
ACIS (*.sat)
Stereolithography (*.stl)
DXF (*.dxf), DWG (*.dwg)
SolidWorks (*.sldprt, *.sldasm)
Parasolid (*.x_t, *.x_b, *.xmt_txt, *xmt_bin)
OBJ (*.obj) - via an add-on in Alibre Design Expert
SketchUp (*.skp) - via an add-on in Alibre Design Expert

References

↑ "Alibre Featured as Microsoft .NET Associate By Microsoft at Forum 2000".
↑ "Alibre Patents Multi-Server Modeling". upFront.eZine.
↑ "Alibre Introduces First Web-based Mechanical Design Service With Commercial Availability of Alibre Design 1.0".
↑ Menezes, Deelip. "Alibre Design Standard for $97".
↑ "Alibre Design PE". TopTenREVIEWS.