How to convert STEP
to KOMPAS-3D?

STEP or "Standard for the Exchange of Product model data" is also referred as ISO 10303. STEP has been initially designed with the idea to supersede the IGES format (which was the first broadly used vendor-neutral CAD file format). However even today both formats co-exist and data in IGES and STEP represent lion share of all CAD files.

Typically, STEP can be used to exchange data between CAD, CAM, CAE, PDM/enterprise data modeling and other CAx systems. STEP addresses product data from mechanical and electrical design, geometric dimensioning and tolerancing, analysis and manufacturing, as well as additional information specific to various industries such as automotive, aerospace, building construction, ship, oil and gas, process plants and others.

STEP is developed and maintained by the ISO technical committee. There are also various technical groups that define usage conventions and recommended practices to ensure better interoperability between software applications. In CAD world, the most prominent group is www.cax-if.org that unites software vendors and industrial users.

ISO10303 is very extremely large and complex and is structured in multiple layers, for example, from physical file format definition (Part 21) to geometrical/topological definitions (Part 42), up to Application Protocols (AP’s) defining higher-level industry use cases. CAD Exchanger supports AP203, A214 and AP242, which are most commonly used AP's.

KOMPAS-3D is a flexible 3D modeling system that allows creating models by several methods, including the following ones:

Bottom-up modeling using finished components. Top-down modeling by designing components to match specific designs. Modeling based on layout drawings, such as kinematic diagrams. Or any combination of these modeling methods. These approaches allow creating editable associative models easily.

The KOMPAS-3D system has powerful functions for managing projects of thousands of sub-assemblies, parts, and standard library products. It supports all the capabilities of 3D solids and surface modeling that have become the standard among medium-level CAD/CAM programs.