Welcome to 3DEXPERIENCE Technical Practices!
In this section, you will explore a use case demonstrating modules and interface for Concept Structure Design.
| In Concept Design Engineering, the Module and Interface command enables designers to manage early-stage product concepts with clarity and flexibility. It simplifies the specification tree, facilitates rapid design swaps between alternatives, and maintains continuity by preserving interface contracts. This modular approach speeds up iterations and prevents costly rework as concepts evolve. |
| The Module and Interface command creates modular concept blocks with defined inputs and outputs. Interfaces act as stable contracts between modules, allowing designers to create alternatives, reuse, rearrange, or replace concept elements without breaking downstream dependencies. |
| The Modules & Interfaces feature is available if you have one of the following Roles: |
Mechanical Designers, Conceptual Designers, Mechanical Surface Designers |
| Know more about Concept Structure Engineering in context of Modules and Interface |
Concept Structure Engineering is a CATIA 3DEXPERIENCE role focused on early-stage structural concept design, where geometry is developed, evaluated, and prepared for analysis before detailed design begins. Modules and Interfaces integrate directly into this workflow, giving concept geometry formal boundaries, defined interface contracts, and structured variant management from the earliest stage of development. Packaging concept geometry into named modules establishes clear boundaries between structural zones (a cross member, a side rail, or a mounting bracket), each with defined input and output interfaces connecting them to surrounding concept geometry. Input interfaces accept driving references such as mounting points, section profiles, or dimensional parameters from the host context. Output interfaces publish the resulting concept surfaces as named connections for downstream modules or analysis tools to consume. Any change to an upstream module propagates automatically through the interface contract to all dependent concept geometry, eliminating manual surface reconnection during iterative concept development. Alternative modules allow multiple structural solutions to coexist under the same parent module during the concept phase—different cross member profiles, different section geometries, or different connectivity strategies—each sharing the same interface contract and switchable in one action. This makes formal design comparison possible within a single managed model rather than across separate files. Output interface surfaces are visually highlighted directly in the model. This gives designers immediate confirmation of what geometry is published and consumed across module boundaries. |
Best Practices for Working with Modules in Concept Structure EngineeringScenario: In a Concept Structure Engineering design process, when developing structural components such as cross members, designers typically explore multiple geometric solutions in separate files with no formal connection between them, making comparison, validation, and handoff for meshing a slow and disconnected process. Here, with the help of Modules and Interfaces in CATIA 3DEXPERIENCE, the cross member design is packaged into named modules with formally defined input and output interfaces. Alternative modules are created for each structural variant, switchable in one action without affecting surrounding geometry. Output interfaces highlight the published surfaces directly in the model, giving immediate visual confirmation of what geometry is passed downstream. |
Play the video to watch how modules are implemented in concept structure engineering. |
To learn more about Modules and Interfaces, you can refer Explore the Mechanical and Shape Engineer Role Learning Module. |
