SolidWorks 3D design and COSMOS design analysis

National Oilwell Varco and Andergauge use SolidWorks 3D design and COSMOS design analysis software to speed time to market, reduce errors and cut costs.

National Oilwell Varco and Andergauge are two of the latest global petroleum product design enterprises to deploy SolidWorks software to speed time to market, reduce errors, and cut costs, SolidWorks Corporation announced.

SolidWorks 3D mechanical design and COSMOS design analysis software have set the standard in the offshore oil and oilfield equipment industries for fast, easy-to-use, and dependable product design and analysis, with more than 300 customers worldwide, including such powerhouses as Halliburton, Baker Hughes, Oceaneering, and Kvaerner.

Until recently, the petroleum industry mainly used 2D design software for new product development.

But shrinking deadlines, tighter budgets, higher performance demands, and complexity have forced manufacturers to adopt 3D software to design better products faster.

SolidWorks has quickly become the 3D design software of choice for these manufacturers because of its ease of use, intuitive interface, assembly features, collision detection, and associative design, which automates changes throughout a design.

National Oilwell cuts development time by 30 percent National Oilwell's Scotland and U.S.

design divisions chose to migrate from 2D AutoCAD software to 3D SolidWorks Office Professional software to minimize errors and speed time to market.

The U.S.

division is streamlining design analysis with COSMOSWorks software.

The Scotland-based pipelay division, based in Coatbridge, develops heavy-duty machinery used to lay pipelines weighing up to 270 tons or lifts them 2,000 meters off the ocean floor onto giant powered reels positioned on large ships.

The division also designs and manufactures a host of powerful machinery including: powerful machines to straighten pipelines (which can measure up to 18 inches in diameter and have inch-thick steel walls) as they are uncoiled from the spindles; tensioners to lay and recover the pipe; winches to abandon and recover well heads and pipeline termination assemblies; and the ramp systems onto which this equipment is mounted.

National Oilwell has reduced product development by 30 percent in the year since it began using SolidWorks.

"We don't tend to do a lot of prototyping," said National Oilwell Engineering Manager Alexander Carslaw.

"We go straight from requirement to product, so it must be right the first time".

"SolidWorks lets us try ideas on the screen, and catch part interferences before metal is cut and welded".

"That's a huge time and money saver." Andergauge capitalizes on SolidWorks' stability, physical simulation Aberdeen, Scotland-based Andergauge also reduces development time with SolidWorks' collision detection feature.

One of the industry's earliest pioneers in migrating from 2D to 3D, Andergauge was the first company to successfully develop downhole adjustable gauge stabilizers, which allow exploration companies to effectively control well inclination thousands of feet below the seabed".

""Our design challenge is relatively straightforward".

"We need to develop tools that are capable of drilling longer, further, and more efficiently in increasingly hostile environments," said Andergauge Engineering Manager Alastair Macfarlane".

"After using Autodesk Inventor and Mechanical Desktop, we switched to SolidWorks to achieve a more stable environment that doesn't crash as complexity increases and offers the functionality we require".

"SolidWorks' physical simulation capabilities help us correct part interference and other critical problems before manufacturing begins, saving days of potentially costly rework or scrap".

Both National Oilwell and Andergauge are deploying SolidWorks PDMWorks product data management platform to securely store all of the design data each company generates.

Engineers will be able to ensure version control while working concurrently on product designs, and managers will have access to audit trails on each product's development stages".

""Oil companies can't afford to have something break down 3,000 meters below the ocean's surface, so they need to be sure that the products they're using were designed to meet the strictest durability requirements for the harshest environments," said SolidWorks Marketing Manager for Europe, Simon Booker".

"Andergauge and National Oilwell are two examples of petroleum companies taking advantage of SolidWorks 3D visualization, error reduction, stability, and ease of use to meet increasing demand for better performing products with shorter lead times".

National Oilwell and Andergauge rely on SolidWorks reseller Thom Micro Systems for ongoing software training, implementation, and support.

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