There seems to be a growing need for part and assembly geometry simplification. There are many reasons for this. Many times designers need to simplify a part to prepare it for the meshing process and final analysis. In other cases manufactures are more often now being asked for the 3D models of the products they produce as they may be a component or system used in a larger system. In this case they not only have the need to reduce the actual file size of the data, but also want to protect valuable intellectual property (IP). In other cases perhaps you are on the receiving end of purchased components or systems and just need to have simplified compact representations of the data to reduce overloading your assemblies with unnecessary detail and data. Whatever the case, the need is growing.
One of the best tools to use for this simplification process is direct modeling. There are two key reasons for this. 1) It allows for the direct interaction with the geometry and is not dependant on the original model creation process. 2) As there is no history tree involved it can greatly reduce the size of the data, even before simplification.
Once the simplification process is finished, the models and assemblies can easily be brought into any CAD tool or analysis tool as reference geometry and carried forward as necessary.
