nTopology 3.23 is here! This release features a new behavior for dependent inputs. These inputs now change their name, depending on the input block. These changes are helpful when using the Periodic Lattice Body block with any Unit Cell block. We updated our CAD libraries and now support imported parts from the latest version of CAD programs, such as Catia, Creo, and Autodesk. Continue reading below to see further updates and bug fixes. As with every release, nTopology’s dedicated support team is ready to answer your questions. Please visit support.ntopology.com to gain access to helpful tutorials and support articles.

• Dependent Input Improvements

• CAD Interoperability Library Update

• Block Updates

• Bug Fixes

Dependent Input Improvements

We released an improvement for blocks with dependent inputs. A dependent input is any input whose value can mean different things based on one of the block’s other inputs. For example, the unit cell parameter inputs in the Periodic Lattice Body block depend on which Unit Cell you provide for input 1. In 3.23, dependent input names will update dynamically. If you’re using the Periodic Lattice Body block and pass in a Graph Unit Cell, the input label “Unit cell parameter 1” will dynamically change to “Thickness.” Note that you must first select your Unit Cell type from the drop-down menu for the label to change.

The Periodic Lattice Body block in 3.23. Unit cell parameter 1 has changed to “Approx. thickness” after selecting a Gyroid in the Walled TPMS Unit Cell block.

CAD Interoperability Library Update

We updated our CAD interoperability library to support the native file formats of your latest CAD software, including CATIA V5-6 R2022, Creo 8.0, Autodesk Inventor 2022, Siemens NX 2007, and Solidworks 2022. Our internal testing shows that the new interoperability libraries may lead to subtle differences during import. For example:

• The Import Part block may result in a different order of Curves for STEP files.
• The Heal CAD option on the Import Part block can exhibit slightly different behavior, particularly with respect to merging split faces.
• Some faces which were previously merged are now split to match the original CAD design for ACIS, Inventor files.

We advise you to inspect the output of your Import Part block to ensure the results are as you expected.

Block Updates

• The Rotational Velocity Load block has been renamed to Rotational Force as it now includes angular acceleration as an input. This update enables adding rotational loads commonly used in rotational machines. Please note that nTopology evaluates acceleration loads on a per-node basis. Other CAE software (i.e., Abaqus) computes acceleration as a body force once per element. Both methods are correct; however, there may be negligible differences between nTopology and other CAE software.

Bug Fixes

• We fixed an issue where you sometimes can’t access the “Create” tab of the Ribbon.
• We fixed an issue where switching to older, deprecated versions of a block would not display the deprecation warning in the information panel.
• We fixed an issue where you cannot click outside the information panel to deselect a block after an overload is changed.
• We fixed an issue where selecting multiple blocks can freeze your nTopology session for several seconds.
• We fixed an issue that was causing nTopology to unexpectedly exit when using the Rib Lattice from Beams block with the rib Height set to 0. The crash only occurred if the output of the block was then used downstream, for example, in the Thicken Body block. Now, if you set the rib Height to 0, the block will not show a Lattice and will not cause a crash.
• We fixed an issue where variably distributed pressure was not exported correctly to an Abaqus (.inp) file. Please note that nTopology evaluates pressure on a per-node basis. Other CAE software (i.e., Abaqus) evaluates pressure at face centroids. Both methods are correct; however, there may be negligible differences between nTopology and other CAE software.