SOLID MODELING IS THE LATEST APPROACH TO THREE- DIMENSIONAL GEOMETRIC MODELING. EVALUATING AND SELECTING A SOLID-MODELING-BASED MECHANICAL CAE/CAD/CAM SYSTEM REQUIRES KNOWLEDGE OF SOLID MODELING TECHNOLOGY AND ITS APPLICATIONS. THIS PAPER DESCRIBES THE SELECTION PROCESS CONDUCTED BY WESTINGHOUSE ESG FOR ITS NEXT GENERATION INTEGRATED MECHANICAL CAE/CAD/CAM SYSTEM. THE PAPER PROVIDES AN OVERVIEW OF SOLID MODELING AND INCLUDES PRACTICAL EXAMPLES FOR TESTING THE CAPABILITIES OF SOLID-MODELING-BASED SYSTEMS AS A PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT TOOL IN A CONCURRENT ENGINEERING ENVIRONMENT.
