Concept
Parasolid is a geometric modeling kernel originally developed by Shape Data Limited, now owned and developed by Siemens Digital Industries Software. It can be licensed by other companies for use in their 3D computer graphics software products. Parasolid's capabilities include model creation and editing utilities such as Boolean modeling operators, feature modeling support, advanced surfacing, thickening and hollowing, blending and filleting and sheet modeling. It also incorporates modeling with mesh surfaces and lattices. Parasolid also includes tools for direct model editing, including tapering, offsetting, geometry replacement and removal of feature details with automated regeneration of surrounding data. Parasolid also provides wide-ranging graphical and rendering support, including hidden-line, wireframe and drafting, tessellation and model data inquiries. Parasolid parts are normally saved in XT format, which usually has the file extension .X_T. The format is documented and open. There is also a binary version of the format, usually with an .X_B extension, which is somewhat more compact. Both .X_T and .X_B are used for parts files. To use Parasolid effectively, software developers need knowledge of CAD in general, computational geometry and topology. Parasolid is available for Windows (32-bit, 64-bit and ARM64), Linux (64-bit), macOS (Intel and Apple Silicon), iOS, and Android. It is used in many Computer-aided design (CAD), Computer-aided manufacturing (CAM), Computer-aided engineering (CAE), Product visualization, and CAD data exchange packages.