Flow Simulation: Leakage Through Long, Narrow Gaps
Lots of SolidWorks Simulation tech tips focus on controlling the mesh, and that’s a good thing – the art of all discrete simulation, be it FEA, CFD, EM, etc., is really the art of the mesh. But a very close second-place in importance, is the art of idealizing the CAD model - and I mean [...]
CAD Tips/Tricks for Thermal Analysis
If you are an analyst more so than a designer, and use SolidWorks primarily for stress-and-strain simulation – still, there are a few tools on the CAD modeling side that you are likely to use very often to help set up your studies. For example, INSERT – CURVE – SPLIT LINE is incredibly useful for [...]
Simulating Rubber – On the Cheap
If you have SolidWorks Simulation, but you do not have the Premium-level license, then you do not have access to the Mooney-Rivelin formulation of elements that capture the highly non-linear stress-strain behavior of elastomers. But you can still do quick order-of-magnitude studies using the linear solver, as long as your rubber elements are not going [...]
Hardware and Performance
Back in 2007, we had a popular KAP’s Corner article on what factors affect the size and performance of SolidWorks documents. Computer science has evolved quite a bit since then, and the SolidWorks programmers have continually re-tuned their CAD system to keep up with the changes, so it is time to revisit this important question. [...]
File Size and Performance
One of the most popular CAPUniversity presentations, year over year, has been on reducing SolidWorks file size and increasing performance. It is nigh time to update this article to the 2011 version. Computer science has changed a lot in the last few years. Some of these changes have required a re-think of the SolidWorks data [...]
Imaginary Materials
Originally published in 2009 In the world of FEA, sometimes the answer has to be “Right” – and sometimes it has to be “Right Now”. This month’s topic is about getting answers Right Now. Every example I’m going to cover here is a cheat of some kind. Purists, Beware! In each of these examples, the [...]
Doll-House Techniques
Originally published in 2009 I’ve written prior articles about the power of Envelope Parts in an assembly. And about ways to leverage the ability to build multiple solid Bodies in a part file. But now lets talk about a way that you can combine these two ideas, to work “Outside-In”. That is, to build detailed [...]
Life-long Mates
Originally published in 2007 Mates are the “glue” that hold your assemblies together. One of the great strengths of Solidworks assemblies is that mates are independent objects which can be applied at any time, in any order. This makes assembly design easy for the CAD novice. It also means that a wide variety of mating [...]
Synchronizing the Toolbox Library
Originally published in 2006 Have you ever tried to open a coworker’s assembly, only to find that all of the fasteners in his assembly have defaulted to some huge size? Have you ever taken work home over the weekend, and found that when you open an assembly on your home computer, some of the fasteners [...]
Taking the Magic Out of the Hole Wizard
Originally published in 2006 The Hole Wizard is probably the most popular “Macro Feature” inside SolidWorks. It eliminates a lot of the drudgery of sizing and locating holes: First, by incorporating a library of standards (a la Machinery’s Handbook), and second, by positioning mutliple holes using a Sketch Driven Pattern. However, there are two subtle [...]