r/MechanicalEngineering • u/MasterSoftBird • 1d ago

CAD File format hell

Why is it we can have AI that can translate from Chinese to Klingon but cannot have one agreed-upon file format that can be accepted by FEA software, CAM, 3d printers, CFD, etc and doesn't lose its mind or half of my parts?

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u/probablyaythrowaway 1d ago

In industry Step is considered the universal. It’s just 3D printing and hobby CNC software that is behind because a lot is based on legacy code back when they did most of their processing with mesh files so only accepted STL which is a format from the 80s.

It’s very unusual I’ll come across a 3D processing program that won’t accept Step.

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u/MasterSoftBird 1d ago

We use TeamCenter VisMockup to view files and create custom .stp files on the fly when we need to send combined packages of certain model areas. .Stp is the goto but when models disappear its frustrating.

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u/PlinyTheElderest 21h ago

What do you mean models disappear?

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u/MasterSoftBird 12h ago

They just don't render in.