Simple as 1, 2, 3-D : Technology: A Costa Mesa firm’s new software allows engineers to simulate models on a computer screen with greater ease and share their findings with other workstations.

Louis A. Delmonico isn’t an engineer, and not much of a computer junkie either. But he can sit at a computer, click a few buttons and display a 3-D animated image of a part that resembles a doughnut.

Without typing complex commands into a keyboard, he can run an engineering test on the imaginary object to find out where its weakest point would be. In seconds, the mesh-like rendering of the object glows bright red at the weak spots.

Delmonico can do this thanks to a new engineering analysis software product that PDA Engineering Inc. in Costa Mesa spent four years and $30 million to develop.

Like earlier versions of the software, Patran 3 enables engineers to simulate 3-D models of objects on computer workstations and analyze the physical strengths and weaknesses of the objects. The company is introducing the product today.

Built around a series of easy-to-read menus, help indexes and software links that make it compatible with other programs, the new Patran 3 software is aimed at making engineering analysis simpler to understand and use.

“You could say we bring the Macintosh-type graphics ability to the engineering software environment,” said Delmonico, president of PDA. “This is a whole new architecture.”

Delmonico said the product represents the company’s transition from a developer of proprietary, or custom, software to a so-called open systems approach.

That means PDA’s software will now be standardized so it can be used with most other engineering workstations and software, regardless of the manufacturer.

“It’s a significant product for them, and it’s going to be the core of their sales in the 1990s,” said Ian Gilson, technology analyst at L.H. Friend, Weinress & Frankson Inc. in Irvine. “It is the first open system in the industry, and it will give them a strategic advantage.”

Paul Bloom, analyst at Volpe, Welty & Co. in San Francisco, said the product should help PDA compete with larger rivals like Structural Dynamics Research Corp. in Milford, Ohio, and Macneal-Schwendler Corp. in Los Angeles.

“This new product will help create demand for their engineering software because it allows more engineers to use analysis,” Bloom said. “They’re building a window from the design software to analysis software, and that creates demand.”

Engineering analysis software represents a roughly $200-million segment of the multibillion-dollar market for computer-aided design and computer-aided engineering software, Bloom said.

But one competitor says PDA’s software does not represent an industry first. Structural Dynamics also markets a graphic-oriented engineering design software that is compatible with a variety of different manufacturers’ products.

“They aren’t the only ones in the analysis software world with this ability,” said Richard Russell, director of analysis products at Structural Dynamics.

Delmonico said the new product should have a gradual impact on sales as customers change from their old products to the new version.

PDA’s customers are manufacturers in a variety of industries, including General Motors Corp. and Boeing Co. PDA also provides engineering services and training.

The company earned $2.9 million on sales of $36 million for its fiscal year ended June 30, up from earnings of $2.1 million and revenue of $31 million the previous year.

“It’s not a rocket ride, but our goal is to produce revenue increases of 15% to 20% a year,” Delmonico said.

The company is testing the software product now at customers such as Pratt & Whitney, an aircraft engine manufacturer. The product is scheduled for shipment next spring.

Delmonico said the product can help change the way engineers think and work together. For instance, he said the compatibility allows different departments such as design, analysis, testing and manufacturing to use the programs they are familiar with to make changes to a single computer model.

Normally, such cooperation is difficult because each department uses a different piece of custom software and each design must be rebuilt as it is moved among departments.

Since 1987, PDA has formed alliances with 11 software companies to ensure that its Patran software will work with their products, Delmonico said.

More products based on Patran 3 are in the works. “This is just the beginning,” Delmonico said.