CAD Setup and Troubleshooting

The Autodesk Simulation Mechanical software is capable of opening CAD models from a variety of commercial CAD packages. The software can also capture geometry information through a direct program-to-program data transfer for a few specific CAD solid modelers. Specifically, program Add‑Ins are available for direct CAD transfers from the following packages:

Note: Product add-ins marked with an asterisk (*) are NOT installed automatically. You must manually launch a CAD configuration program after the Simulation Mechanical installation has been completed or after one of the associated CAD packages has been added to the Simulation workstation. Locate the following program in the Simulation Mechanical installation folder (by default, the path is C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Simulation 20xx):
SimMechConfig.exe

Double-click this executable file to start the add-ins installation process. A dialog box will appear in which the available CAD add-ins are listed. Use the checkbox next to each add-in to specify whether you want to install it. When a compatible version of the CAD package is not present on the system, the corresponding option is disabled.

Some troubleshooting tips are given below for cases when the automatic processes do not work. Refer to the section for each CAD package and also the General Troubleshooting section.

Note that this information is relevant only to the Windows operating system.

Most, if not all, of these troubleshooting processes require administrative privileges on the computer.

Pro/ENGINEER and Creo Parametric Troubleshooting

When you run SimMechConfig.exe to install the Pro/ENGINEER or Creo Parametric add-in for Simulation Mechanical, there are four pieces of information you must provide:

  1. The Pro/ENGINEER version you are using.
    • For 32-bit versions of Pro/E, V2001 and newer, choose Pro/ENGINEER 2001 (and above).
    • For 64-bit versions of Pro/E (but not Creo Parametric), choose 64-bit Pro/ENGINEER.
    • For Creo Parametric 1.0 or 2.0 choose Creo Parametric 1.0 and 2.0.

      (Creo Parametric 3.0 is not currently supported for the pushing the models into Simulation Mechanical using the native translator. You must pull in Creo Parametric 3.0 files using the File Open dialog in Simulation Mechanical.)

  2. The path of the .bat or .exe file that starts Pro/ENGINEER. Click Browse to locate the required file. It will be located in a bin subfolder within the set of Pro/ENGINEER or Creo Parametric installation folders.
  3. The path of the Pro/ENGINEER messaging executable (pro_comm_msg.exe). Click Browse to locate the required file.
  4. The path of the Pro/ENGINEER installation directory. Click Browse to locate the required file.
Note: Depending upon the version of Pro/ENGINEER or Creo Parametric, the paths for steps 3 and/or 4 might be populated automatically as soon as you specify the path in step 2.

Details concerning the link between Pro/ENGINEER or Creo Parametric and Simulation Mechanical should appear in the auxiliary applications information window:

Go to Tools Utilities Auxiliary Applications Info.

The EXE path: line indicates which dll file is being used for the connection to Simulation Mechanical. The listed .dll filename varies among different versions of Pro/ENGINEER and Creo Parametric. Typical contents of the Information Window are shown below: 

==================================================
Auxiliary application Information
==================================================

Application 0: Autodesk Simulaiton for Creo
Exec path: C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Simulation 20xx\PEMnu81-win-x64.dll
Text path: C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Simulation 20xx
Version 29 - 2009440
Application is running.
Note: Typically, the Autodesk Simulation add-in does not appear in the Auxiliary Applications dialog box. Therefore, you cannot start or stop it from there. The add-in appears within the Information Window accessed by clicking Info within the Auxiliary Application dialog box, if the add-in is running.

Pro/ENGINEER 2000 through Wildfire 5 (also called Creo Elements):

For versions of Pro/ENGINEER up to Wildfire 5, the commands to simplify the current model or transfer it to Simulation Mechanical are located in an Autodesk Simulation pull-down menu. The link between Pro/ENGINEER and Simulation Mechanical exists in the Pro/E file config.pro and the file protk.dat in the text subfolder within the Simulation Mechanical installation folder. If the Autodesk Simulation pull-down menu does not appear, or if it appears for some users but not other users, check that config.pro is correct. (When using Intralink, a common problem is that different config.pro files are copied from the network depending on the user.)

Note: There are likely to be multiple instances of the file config.pro in a typical Pro/ENGINEER installation. The one in the text subfolder within the Pro/ENGINEER installation folder is the one that should contain the data required for connecting to Autodesk Simulation.

The following lines should be included in the config.pro file: 

!BEGIN SETUP
!============================= 
!== Setup == 
!============================= 
PROTKDAT C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Simulation 20xx\text\protk.dat 
!END ALGOR SETUP

where C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Simulation 20xx is the path where Autodesk Simulation Mechanical is installed. Substitute the correct path if different from the default installation path.

If using Intralink and Pro/ENGINEER (64-bit version), then the PATH environment variable needs to include the path to the folder that contains the 64-bit version of the file agsdb_ar.dll (agsdb_ar-win-x64.dll). For current Simulation Mechanical versions, both the i86 (32-bit) and x64 (64-bit) versions of this file are located in the top-level program installation folder. The default path is C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Simulation 20xx. Consult with your IT department for help on setting environment variables.

If no add-in application for Autodesk Simulation appears in the Information Window, try the following procedure:

  1. In Pro/ENGINEER, go to Tools Auxiliary Applications Register.
  2. Navigate to and Open the file protk.dat (typically located in the path C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Simulation 20xx\text).
  3. Highlight the Autodesk Simulation entry in the Application window and click Start.
  4. The Autodesk Simulation menu item should appear at this point, and the connection to Pro/E is established.

If the above steps load the Autodesk Simulation pull-down menu to Pro/ENGINEER, then the wrong config.pro file was being used previously.

If the Autodesk Simulation pull-down menu still does not appear in Pro/ENGINEER, or if errors occur while opening the Pro/E model from Autodesk Simulation Mechanical, then contact Autodesk for technical support.

Creo Parametric 1 and 2:

For Creo Parametric 1 and 2, the commands to simplify the current model or transfer it to Simulation Mechanical are in the following location:

Tools TOOLKIT Tools Autodesk Simulation
Note: Creo Parametric 3.0 is not currently supported for the pushing the models into Simulation Mechanical using the native translator. You must pull in Creo Parametric 3.0 files using the File Open dialog in Simulation Mechanical.

If no add-in application for Autodesk Simulation appears in the Information Window, try the following procedure:

  1. In Creo Parametric, go to Tools Utilities Auxiliary Applications Register.
  2. Navigate to the appropriate protk.dat file and select it
    Note: There are likely multiple versions of the file protk.dat in a typical Creo Parametric installation. The one you are looking for will be in a text subfolder (such as C:\Program Files\PTC\Creo 2.0\Common Files\M110\text). The contents of the protk.dat file should be similar to the following text: 
    NAME Autodesk Simulation for Creo
EXEC_FILE C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Simulation 2017\PEMnu81-win-x64.dll
TEXT_DIR C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Simulation 2017
STARTUP dll
REVISION 81
unicode_encoding false
END
  3. Click Open. If a confirmation dialog box appears, click OK.
  4. In the Auxiliary Applications dialog box, assure that the add-in name is selected and click Start.

If you encounter any of the following problems, contact Autodesk for technical support.

  • The required protk.dat file does not exist.
  • The Autodesk Simulation menu still does not appear in Creo Parametric.
  • Errors occur while opening a Creo model from Autodesk Simulation Mechanical.

Rhinoceros Troubleshooting

When running for the first time after a fresh install and attempting to open any Rhinoceros .3dm file, the model may not open. This occurs because the CAD transfer plugin needs to be activated in Rhinoceros prior to opening a model to be transferred. The solution is easy:

If reopening the .3dm file does not resolve the CAD transfer plugin problem, complete the following procedure with Rhinoceros:

  1. Open the Rhino Options dialog.
  2. Select the Plug-ins option in the Rhino Options list.
  3. Click Install.
  4. Browse to the Simulation Mechanical installation folder (typically C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Simulation 20xx).
  5. Locate the file, AlgRhino4-win-ix86.dll, and select it.
  6. Click Open, then click OK on the Rhino Options dialog to install the plug-in.
Note: The AlgRhino4-win-i86.dll plug-in also works for the 32-bit edition of Rhino 5.

SOLIDWORKS Troubleshooting

If the Autodesk Simulation Mechanical 20xx tab does not appear in the SOLIDWORKS ribbon, check the Options Add-ins dialog box in SOLIDWORKS. The Autodesk Simulation Mechanical Add-in should be activated. If Autodesk Simulation Mechanical Add-in is not listed, then register the files listed in Table 1 (see How to Register a File at the end of this page).

After registering the files, Autodesk Simulation SOLIDWORKS Add-in should be available under the SOLIDWORKS Tools: Add-ins menu.

SpaceClaim Troubleshooting

First, be sure that you have manually run the SimMechConfig.exe program and completed the SpaceClaim setup process. The default path to this CAD application setup utility is C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Simulation 20xx.

If the Autodesk Simulation Mesh tab does not appear in SpaceClaim, check the Add-Ins command under the SpaceClaim Options dialog box (Application menu: SpaceClaim Options). Make sure Autodesk Simulation InCAD for Space Claim is checked and the Status is active. If Autodesk Simulation is not listed, then register the files listed in Table 1 (see How to Register a File at the end of this page).

General Troubleshooting

Within the interface, the CAD plugins are listed on the CAD Import tab of the Options dialog box. On the ribbon, go to the Tools tab Options panel Application Options command to reach this dialog box. If the plugin is not activated, the software will not directly transfer the corresponding CAD files.

The Autodesk Simulation Mechanical software is composed of numerous individual programs (exe's, dll's, ocx's, and so forth). Windows locates these files is by registering them. If you receive a message of the following type, then registering all the Autodesk Simulation programs may fix the problem:

The Simulation Mechanical programs files are registered by running regall.bat as follows. Note that administrator privileges are required before running regall.bat.

  1. Use Windows Explorer, My Computer, or Computer to view the contents of the Simulation Mechanical installation folder (the default path is C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Simulation 20xx)
  2. With Windows XP, double-click the file regall.bat. With Windows 7 or 8, right-click regall.bat and choose Run as administrator.
  3. A DOS Command Prompt window will appear while the registration is occurring. After a short period (approximately one minute) the window will disappear. Run the Simulation Mechanical software to see if the problem has been corrected.

It is also possible to register individual files as described below.

To Register Files:

When the Autodesk Simulation menu or options do not appear in the CAD program, the problem may be due to not having the appropriate files registered. Table 1 lists which files to register for each modeler. Consult with your I.T. department for help on registering files, or use this procedure.

  1. Go to the Windows Start: Run window and clear out the current command.
  2. Type regsvr32 followed by a space.
  3. Open My Computer or Windows Explorer and locate the file to register. Drag it to the Run window. The command will now look like regsvr32 "C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Simulation 20xx\algorsw2.dll" – where 20xx indicates the version of the software. The quotation marks are required because of spaces in the file path, which would otherwise be interpreted as delimiters.
  4. Click OK on the Run window. The file should register successfully.

Table 1: Files Related to CAD Setup

CAD Package/Format Files to Register (see Note 2) Files that do not Need to be Registered
AutoCAD CImpDwg-win-x64.dll N/A
Autodesk Inventor AlgInvnt-win-x64.dll, CImpAInv-win-x64.dll InvtHost.exe
Autodesk Moldflow CImpMoldflow-win-x64.dll N/A
Catia CImpCatia-win-x64.dll N/A
JT CImpJT-win-x64.dll N/A
NX / Unigraphics CImpUGS-win-x64.dll
Parasolid CImpParasolid-win-x64.dll
Pro/ENGINEER CImpProE-win-x64.dll, PEMnu*.dll N/A
Rhinoceros CImpR3dm-win-ix86.dll, CImpR3dm-win-x64.dll, CImpRhino-win-x64.dll N/A
SOLIDWORKS AlgorSW2-win-ix86.dll, AlgorSW2-win-x64.dll, CImpSWrk-win-ix86.dll, CImpSWrk-win-x64.dll N/A
SpaceClaim AlgSC2008*.dll, AlgSC2009*.dll, CImpSpaceClaim-win-x64.dll N/A
  Generic File Formats  
ACIS files (.sat) CImpAcis-win-x64.dll N/A
IGES files (.iges, .igs) CImpIges-win-x64.dll N/A
STEP files (.step, .stp) CImpStep-win-x64.dll N/A

Notes for Table 1:

  1. Unless indicated otherwise, the files in Table 1 are located in the Autodesk Simulation Mechanical installation folder (such as C:\Program Files\Autodesk\Simulation 20xx).
  2. Some of the files in Table 1 are 32-bit versions (-xx86), and some are 64-bit versions (-x64). If the CAD software does not have a 64-bit version, then use the 32-bit version.
  3. Generally speaking, the files have names looking like the CAD package with which they are associated (assume DLL unless otherwise noted). CImp is always related to the Autodesk Simulation side of the transfer process and Alg is always related to the CAD side. Host executables are for those few packages that need some out-of-process assistance for technical reasons.
  4. Some of the DLLs will produce and remove files when registered and un-registered.