What Free Software Programs do you like? 15

[Christine74]

What free Mechanical Engineering-related software programs have you used? It could be software that you use for a very specific job-related purpose or for a very general one, but it *must* be absolutely free.

Thanks,

-Christine

 

[ctopher]

Acrobat and any macros I think may be useful for SolidWorks, Excel or Word. Others I try to stay away from unless it is suggested from a reliable source.

Chris, Sr. Mechanical Designer, CAD
SolidWorks 05 SP3.1 / PDMWorks 05
ctopher's home site (updated 06-21-05)
FAQ559-1100
FAQ559-716
FAQ1010-1130

 

[IRstuff]

But why *must* it be free?

Almost all of the engineering programs that are of any serious utility cost something, precisely because it's too expensive to develop for freeware.

TTFN

 

[mrMikee]

The following site is interesting to browse through.

http://www.freebyte.com/cad/

This page is part of that site.

http://www.freebyte.com/cad/fea.htm#fea

The FEA page has a program (CADRE) that I had used, although I knew about it before I found the freebyte site. I did eventually buy the full version, so I know at least one of these programs is good quality. The rest, who knows?

-Mike

 

[rmw]

Harvey Katmar, a respected member of this forum, has some good freeware available on his site

http://www.katmarsoftware.com

which I use often, both the turbine steam flow program, and the Uconeer units conversion program as well as the WASP limited use program, too (I guess it is still free).

Graham at

http://www.graham-mfg.com

has a free jet and LRVP sizing software called Vacworks II, which also has some good mollier programs, gas data, and conversions too.

The next one is not freeware in the sense that I can down load it, but it is free in the sense I can use the software, and it is the multi-effect evaporator sizing station at

http://www.sugartech.co.za.

They have recently changed it to allow user selectable "K" values, and that makes it real nice. There are also a couple other handy softwares on this site that I use from time to time.

There is a good turbine sizing tool that I use frequently at

http://www.dresser-rand.com/steam/calc/main.asp

and

http://www.processassociates.com/process/tools.htm

has some real good tools available at this site.

These come to mind right now.

rmw

 

[quark]

There is an excellent pipe pressure drop calculator at

http://www.xs4all.nl/~kostermw/dP/

which I use regularly apart from the excellent conversion tool suggested by rmw.
Fellow member CARF has also got one excellent pipe pressure drop calculator at

http://www.carf-engineering.com/

An steam properties calculator at

http://www.chemicalogic.com/steamtab/downloads.htm

An elaborate cold storage calculation software at

http://www.k-rp.com/calcrite/RTcalc1.htm

Good psychrometric property and refrigerant property calculators at

http://www.pmilligan.net/pmtherm.htm

An excellent tool for R&AC at

http://www.et.dtu.dk/CoolPack/Download/Download.html

A duct sizer at

http://www.mcquay.com/eprise/main/mcquaycom/designsolutions/designtools/MQC_designtools

I use all these tools daily, more or less. But keep in mind the fundamental rule with either free or expensive software. It is always garbage out when garbage in.

 

[scarecrow55]

I have use these gear programs, they seem OK

http://uk.geocities.com/mikebull2001/green.html

 

[mrainey]

I like this one for general machining calculations and more (okay, I wrote it).

http://mrainey.freeservers.com/Downloads/MEConsultant20.zip

Manufacturing Freeware and Shareware

http://mrainey.freeservers.com

 

[drawoh]

Christine74,

What do you mean by "free software"?

http://www.gnu.org

?

Richard Stallman emphasizes his definition of "Free as in Freedom of Speech" as opposed to "Free Beer".

Octave is a MathCAD clone:

http://www.octave.org/

I am running Open Office on Linux at home, and it works fine. The only problem I have had with it so far is importing Microsoft Word files generated from the Calendar wizard.

I would gladly pay for a good Free Software mechanical CAD package. Pro/E is encrypting its files so that you can only access your data through their software. You do not really own your data.

Or did you must mean stuff that does not cost anything?

JHG

 

[fastasleep]

One of the best freeware programs I've ever used, and take everywhere I go, is one called Convert by Joshua Madison.

http://www.joshmadison.com/software/convert/

This is an incredibly simple, tiny and useful program....everytime I use it, I can hardly believe it was free.

 

[katmar]

My favorite free psychrometric calculator is from G&P Engineering at

http://www.gpengineeringsoft.com

 

[Allen]

My favorite unit converter :

http://www.katmarsoftware.com/uconeer.htm

And below is my bookmark collection of Mechanical Eng. softwares:

 

[Allen]

sorry I hit the "enter" accidentally,

http://www.softpedia.com/public/cat/17/

http://www.MITcalc.com

http://www.drsoftware-home.com/

http://people.becon.org/~echoscan/software.htm

http://www.er-online.co.uk/s-analys.htm

http://www.engineering-software.com/index.htm

http://www.engsoftwarecenter.com/

http://www.engcen.com/software.htm

http://www.engineers.com/software/software.htm

http://www.fileheaven.com/003010-rating-1.htm

http://www.accutech2000.com.au/Selector.html

http://www.freebyte.com/cad/

http://www.goldson.free-online.co.uk/programs.htm

http://www.helixtech.com.au/

http://www.hexagon.de/

http://www.engineering-software.com/me/

http://www.mechsoft.com/en/downloads.asp?m=6

http://mechware.me.stevens-tech.edu/

http://www.designofmachinery.com/

http://www.openchannelfoundation.org/discipline/Engineering_Applications/

http://www.pdhonline.org/resources/software.htm

http://www.softech.com/

http://www.simtel.net/category.php

[id]102[SiteID]simtel.net

http://www.softpile.com/Education/Science/

http://www.supercrawler.com/Science/Technology/Mechanical_Engineering/Software/

http://www.directory.net/Science/Technology/Mechanical_Engineering/Software/

http://drn.digitalriver.com/category.php

[id]102[SiteID]softwareoasis

http://www.mecaenterprises.com/

http://www.teamset.com/

http://www.tenlinks.com/CAD/products/industrial.htm

http://www.uts.com/software.asp

 

[mrainey]

Nice list, but mostly not free.

Manufacturing Freeware and Shareware

http://mrainey.freeservers.com

 

[stanier]

If you are designing pipe networks then Epanet is fabulous. It can be used for extended period simulation, power determination and kinetic reactions (chlorine disinfection decay). Haestad methods use the same engine to drive thier Watercad.($15,000 for an unlimited license.)

It is free as it can be downloaded for nothing. However no software is free as you have to invest time and effort in learning & applying the program to real applications. Thats why I use AFT's Fathom because it easier & quicker to learn & apply than Epanet.On top of that I get "silver service" back up when I need it. Small cost to pay in license and support fees .

If you are a student then using the free stuff is good but dangerous. Not necessarily bug free and few have announcements of bug fixes.

 

[corus]

Other than the unit conversion program mentioned previously, the finite element program FEAPPv is very useful when used in conjunction with another free program geompack for creating the mesh.

corus

 

[Eltron]

IntelliCAD is a pretty good free CAD program. You should be able to find it easy enough on the web.

 

[cadcoke5]

IntelliCAD is not free. In the past, they had a fully working timed demo, but I don't know the current status of the timed demo.

Joe Dunfee

 

[smcadman]

MDSolids (Mechanics of Deformable Solids) 1.5 is a great free tool that can be googled, but 3.0 isn't very expensive.

http://www.mdsolids.com/

They have a 30 day demo for 3.0

Flores

 

[bme0319]

Has anyone seen the X-CAD promo? I've heard rumors that maybe Alibre is behind the mysterious marketing campaign. If so, that would be a decent package to receive for free.

Check it out:

http://www.x-cad.net

PP