The engineering work in HEP for design, analysis and manufacturing of detectors requires Computer Aided Engineering (CAE) tools. To ensure coherent design the same detector descriptions should be used by physicists, engineers and, eventually, manufacturers. Efficient exchange of data between CAE tools and GEANT becomes crucial.
The CADINT interface allows to export detector models from GEANT to Computer Aided Design (CAD) systems. CADINT outputs detector models in the SET (Standard d'Echange et de Transfert) [1] neutral file format. A detector model is written as an assembly of solid volumes, with respect to a global coordinate system. The geometric representation used is Constructed Solid Geometry (CSG) [2].
A GEANT detector geometry exported through CADINT into a CAD system can be used to check the coherence of the model used in simulation. The CADDFAS service at CERN can be used to convert SET files into IGES (Initial Graphics Exchange Specification, an American standard for exchange of CAD data) [3] format, which is readable by most CAD systems. For more information about the CADDFAS service, send an e-mail to caddfas@cadd.cern.ch with subject: info