Customising your user interface is often a balance between minimising clutter and having the right tools accessible when you need them. With the SOLIDWORKS 2021 User Interface, you no longer have to choose.

To complete this part, we need to cut and pattern this sketch. However, the sketch and part colour are similar. Changing these colour settings has always been available, but in SOLIDWORKS 2021 a column of representative colours is shown, making it easy to find the item you’d like to change. Let’s use the colour green to make sketches more visible.

Also new in the SOLIDWORKS 2021 User Interface is the ability to collapse the ‘Command Manager’ allowing you to reclaim as much screen area as possible. Moving the ‘Quick Access Tools’ to the ‘Command Manager’ further reduces extra icons and helps you focus on your design.

All tools are still available using the tabs at the top of the screen, but a faster way to work is to use the s-key keyboard shortcut. However, it doesn’t yet have the pattern command we need…No problem! Simply search for the command, then drag and drop it on the shortcut toolbar.

This is a convenient way to customise any area of the SOLIDWORKS 2021 user interface, including the ‘Heads Up Display’ toolbar. Now that we’ve set up our shortcut bar, finishing our design is quick and simple. Notice how little the mouse moves to create this cut and then sketch and pattern it around the centre hole.

Making a mistake is easy to correct using ‘Undo’ and, now with SOLIDWORKS 2021, ‘Redo’ is more complete, allowing you to redo feature edits. This means that if you accidentally ‘Undo’ a feature, you won’t have to spend extra time re-creating it.

To find out more about the SOLIDWORKS 2021 User Interface,
call us on 01223 200690 or send us a message below.

We hope you found that useful!

Have you seen our blog archive where we have posted plenty of helpful articles? We also have a fantastic video library filled with easy-to-follow videos on a number of topics inspired by other SOLIDWORKS users – take a look. Also, don’t forget to follow Innova Systems on Twitter for bite-size SOLIDWORKS tips, tricks, and videos.

The post What’s new: SOLIDWORKS 2021 User Interface appeared first on Innova Systems.

[Video transcript]

Working with Sheet Metal SOLIDWORKS Parts

When working with sheet metal SOLIDWORKS Parts, we have historically been able to create an edge flange on curved edges like these on the right, but were limited to curved edges originating from planar faces. Now in SOLIDWORKS 2021 edge flanges can be created from curved edges originating from non-planar faces such as those in a bend area.

The preview shows how the edge flange will be created all the way around the part. Familiar flange customisation tools are available to help define the edge flange, such as length, angle, flange length dimensioning method and flange position. This new edge flange looks good and will provide stiffness to the angle bracket. Additionally, this edge flange can be flattened, ready to be detailed or exported to DXF for fabrication.

This edge flange is great for structural integrity, but is also useful for enclosures and guardings such at the cover. The edge flange on the far side needs to support the components of this navigation control unit. Full editing capabilities are available, so that we can change the direction of the flange, as well as the angle to wrap around the internal components to keep them safe. This new edge flange capability along non-linear edges extends the sheet metal capabilities of SOLIDWORKS 2021 for many applications such as adding stiffening ribs and enclosures.

SOLIDWORKS 3MF import/export enhancements

Moving on, This LED light assembly contains parts of various colours, applied textures and transparency and needs to be 3D printed. Now in SOLIDWORKS 2021, support for export and import of 3MF files gets even better. Now, colour, textures, and transparency are supported on export. This information is stored in the 3MF file to be used for manufacturing or other applications.

When opening a 3MF file in SOLIDWORKS 2021, we now support many more appearances. Per-facet and Per-vertex colouring, as well as textures and transparency, can now be visualised when importing 3MF files as graphics bodies. Additive manufacturing continues to rise in capability and popularity, and SOLIDWORKS continues to embrace these technologies in SOLIDWORKS 2021 and beyond.

SOLIDWORKS Parts in a weldment environment

When working in the weldment environment, it’s common to use various sizes of weldment members, the horizontal tubes in this welded frame are 2 x 2 square section, and the vertical sections are 3 x 2 rectangular ones. The weldment ‘Trim/Extend’ tool is used to trim the tubes to each other, with various options for the corner type. The two end butt trims dictate how one tube trims to the other, and the mitred trim bisects the angle between the 2 tubes creating an equal angle mitre trim. Since these tubes are of different profiles, the equal angle mitre does not produce the result we would want. In SOLIDWORKS 2021, there’s a new option for Mitre trims, the Flush Mitre, which does just that. It trims the tubes so they meet flush. The other vertical members are mirrored, so they update as well.

This weldment will need to be painted, so let’s edit the appearance and choose a colour. We have a wide variety of colours to choose from on the colour palette, or we can use the colour spectrum to define a custom colour. Although, sometimes we need to choose specific colours that are dictated by a customer.

Let’s take a look at the Square Robot web page. Here we can learn all about their products, and their initiatives, but we really want is the colour in the banner of this page. Now in SOLIDWORKS 2021, there is an option for easily selecting colours that do not exist on the palette. Just drag the dropper icon over any area on the screen and the colour under the dropper is applied to the selection. For the vertical members of this weldment, we would like to have a different colour. Let’s select several of these bodies, and again drag the dropper to the orange colour in the logo to apply it to the bodies. The new colour picker works on any image displayed on the screen, including colours from popular paint suppliers and colour system websites.

Custom properties

Custom properties are a great way to store information about a document, such as description, creation date, or material. These can be leveraged to automatically populate title blocks, Bills of Materials and SOLIDWORKS PDM. Sometimes it is necessary to calculate a result to define a custom property. Now in SOLIDWORKS 2021, equations are supported in custom properties. Choose ‘equation’ as the property type, and you have access to global variables, functions and other properties. For this weldment, we want to define an estimated cost that is based on the global variable, which is an estimated finished cost and multiply that by the mass of the part. This gives a result of 428.60.

Equations can be used in cut list properties as well. This plate in the cut list is used 4 times, and we would like to know the total length of all the plates together. Again define the property Name, choose ‘Equation’ as the property type and for this calculation, we want to multiply the number of plates by the plate length, which results in a total length of 20.52.

To find out more about Parts in SOLIDWORKS 2021,
call us on 01223 200690 or send us a message below.

We hope you found that useful!

Have you seen our blog archive where we have posted plenty of helpful articles? We also have a fantastic video library filled with easy-to-follow videos on a number of topics inspired by other SOLIDWORKS users – take a look. Also, don’t forget to follow Innova Systems on Twitter for bite-size SOLIDWORKS tips, tricks, and videos.

The post What’s new: SOLIDWORKS Parts updates appeared first on Innova Systems.

[Video Transcript]

When modelling, it’s likely that you may need to use the same feature across several part models in SOLIDWORKS. I’m going to show you a few different techniques that will allow you to do exactly that speeding up your working process in the software.

The first technique is for physically copying features and we can do this when we have two parts open at the same time. I want to copy this hole pattern across both the parts that I have open. The first step in this process is to position both part models alongside one another. We can do this by going to the ‘Window’ menu at the top and choosing the option ‘Tile Vertically’.

In this example, I’m going to copy the series of holes over to the model on the right. We can do this by holding down the ‘Ctrl’ key and dragging the feature over to our model on the right hand side. As you drag over flat faces in your model you will see the feature align with those faces. When you drop the item, you may get a message prompting you to decide what to do about the sketch relations in your model, which referenced the original location. You can either delete them or you leave them dangling to reconnect them to something later. In this example I’m going to delete them.

To complete the process we need to edit our sketch to fully define it. We can do this quite simply with a couple of sketch relations and a few dimensions.

You may find that you’re unable to copy some features between models. The vent on the top of our original design is a good example, because it maintains too many relations back to the original design and won’t allow us to copy between parts. If you find this is the case, you can sometimes work around the issue by copying just the sketch and adding the feature again.

If you’re looking to copy the same feature to numerous models, or if you want to copy a group of features together, you might want to think about saving the feature away into the SOLIDWORKS design library. This is a great way of replicating features, but it does require a little bit of setup. When you drop a library feature into a model it will prompt you for the references it needs to become defined as shown in this example.

You can check out our YouTube channel if you want to see how to set a design library feature up with all of its references. However, If you’d just like to create a simplified design library feature with no references you can do this by Ctrl + copying your feature into another part. I’d recommend a simplified block model for this case. When we drag the item in, choose the ‘Delete References’ option, but this time, do not edit the feature to replace them. This will leave you with a simple feature with little, or no external references. You can then save this item into the design library for use across several SOLIDWORKS designs.

To do this, open the design library tab and pin it open. Once you have done this, you can drag your feature from the tree in SOLIDWORKS, straight into a folders in the library. You’ll then be prompted to give the item a name and save it as a library feature part. You’ll then see the feature available for you to drag into any model and all you’ll need is a flat face to drag it onto.

So there you have it. There are a few techniques you can use to copy a feature across your SOLIDWORKS models.

We hope you found that useful!

Have you seen our blog archive where we have posted plenty of helpful articles? We also have a fantastic video library filled with easy-to-follow videos on a number of topics inspired by other SOLIDWORKS users – take a look. Also, don’t forget to follow Innova Systems on Twitter for bite-size SOLIDWORKS tips, tricks, and videos.

The post How to copy a feature to reuse in SOLIDWORKS appeared first on Innova Systems.

[Video Transcript]

‘Rotating Region’ is a powerful feature that’s used to simulate fluid driving motion in rotating components. Now, in SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation 2021, Rotating Regions can be combined with the ‘Free Surface’ feature. This is ideal for mixing tasks and can be leveraged further to gain more insight into product performance.

For this thruster, we’re solving the torque and power requirements when it interacts with two separate fluids simultaneously. Goals are created to track these outputs, and by going to the history section of the goal plot, their values can be viewed throughout the duration of the study. With SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation 2021, new columns provided in the summary table make it easier than ever to find the maximum value, and when it occurs.

Creating common plots to visualise results is now even more efficient by using the new ‘Create-Plots-From-Scene’ command. You can even create the same plots in multiple projects all at once, just activate the plots to view them. In SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation 2021, if you create one or more plots you want to use in other projects, simply show the desired plots and choose the new ‘Create Scene Template’ option. Now you’re ready to create your various custom plots in any other project with only one command.

Another common application for SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation is heat transfer. This vehicle enclosure has multiple electrical components inside that generate heat. The enclosure itself is designed to act as a heat sink, but how can you determine exactly how the heat is moving from one place to another? The ‘Flux Plot’ provides a graphical interface where you can easily understand where heat is coming from, and where it’s going. A new option in this plot groups all items by type so you can quickly check the energy balance of the simulation and ensure that your study has fully converged.

In SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation 2021, investigating specific areas of the model can be done by creating a cropped region. When you click the automatic plot min and max options, they are now calculated from this cropped region so you can clearly communicate the range of values without further manual modifications. Another improvement with Goals is the ability to calculate the minimum, average, and maximum from a selection of goals. For example, you can easily discover the maximum temperature across all of the batteries and PCBs with minimal setup work.

To further reduce your amount of manual calculations in Flow Simulation 2021, ‘Custom Visualization Parameters’ can now depend on other ‘Custom Visualization Parameters’. The Magnus formula for calculating Dew Point Temperature is a great example of when to use this new functionality. Just set up the items in the Engineering Database once and they’re ready to use for your past, current and future projects.

To find out more about SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation 2021,
call us on 01223 200690 or send us a message below.

We hope you found that useful!

Have you seen our blog archive where we have posted plenty of helpful articles? We also have a fantastic video library filled with easy-to-follow videos on a number of topics inspired by other SOLIDWORKS users – take a look. Also, don’t forget to follow Innova Systems on Twitter for bite-size SOLIDWORKS tips, tricks, and videos.

The post What’s new: SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation 2021 appeared first on Innova Systems.

[Video transcript]

Firstly, you can now view Custom and Configuration-specific properties right inside the eDrawings 2021 viewer.

Commands like Measure have been significantly improved as well. Finding the centre-to-centre distance of two circular or cylindrical objects has always been available but now, with eDrawings 2021, you can choose to view the minimum and maximum distances. You can also measure the normal distance between planar and cylindrical faces.

Sharing your 3D designs without the requirement to install the free eDrawings 2021 viewer, is easy, just save as Web HTML. Any modern web browser will open these files natively, allowing the recipient to pan, rotate and zoom, as well as view configurations, exploded states, section views and more. What’s more, the eDrawings 2021 Web HTML format now supports measurement, directly inside the web browser!

Also new in eDrawings 2021 is the ability to move and rotate bodies, making it easy to interrogate large projects without having to dig through an assembly tree.

To find out more about eDrawings 2021,
call us on 01223 200690 or send us a message below.

We hope you found that useful!

Have you seen our blog archive where we have posted plenty of helpful articles? We also have a fantastic video library filled with easy-to-follow videos on a number of topics inspired by other SOLIDWORKS users – take a look. Also, don’t forget to follow Innova Systems on Twitter for bite-size SOLIDWORKS tips, tricks, and videos.

The post What’s new: Every update to eDrawings 2021 appeared first on Innova Systems.

This guide will show you what to look for whether you’re configuring a new Windows machine from scratch, or buying an off the shelf model from a retailer such as our preferred supplier, Dell. We’ll also recommend our favourite workstations for running SOLIDWORKS taking budget and performance into consideration, so, without further ado…

Memory/RAM

Complex models and drawings in SOLIDWORKS will require more RAM (Random Access Memory) in order to load effectively. This applies mainly to the size of datasets that need to be loaded when using the software. If a machine runs out of memory the load time for files can increase drastically, due to hard drive caching.

Ensuring the amount of RAM in a machine is sufficient for the typical size of datasets is important. Running regular, data-heavy Simulations, for example, increases the need for RAM, because large amounts of data typically needs to be loaded during calculations.

• Minimum amount of RAM recommended by SOLIDWORKS: 16GB
• If running Simulations or working with large datasets, we recommend at least You can go up to 64GB, but if you’re at a point where you need that much, you might want to consider simplifying the simulation study!

Graphics Card/GPU

SOLIDWORKS requires a professional, fully certified graphics card which runs the OpenGL engine in order to function correctly (e.g. Nvidia Quadro and the AMD RadeonPro). SOLIDWORKS has been known to run on “gaming” graphics cards which use DirectX (such as AMD Radeon and the Nvidia Geforce card ranges), however, users may experience frequent graphical glitches and features of the software like Realview Graphics won’t function correctly, if at all.

If working with visually complex models (such as models with large patterns, or lots of textures) SOLIDWORKS will require a graphics card with a large amount of on-board memory. A good graphics card is one of the most important elements for running SOLIDWORKS efficiently, however it’s important to make sure there is an effective balance between Graphics Card and CPU. A high-end graphics card will not be able to run effectively if paired with an entry-level CPU.

It’s also very important to make sure that the Graphics driver software is supported for use with SOLIDWORKS. This can be checked by opening SOLIDWORKS RX in the start menu, and going to the Diagnostics Tab, the Diagnostics results will show if the driver is out of date. A button will allow the download of a supported driver, if available. SOLIDWORKS do their own graphics card testing, not using a certified driver has been known to lead to graphical glitches within the software.

If you’re using SOLIDWORKS Visualize on a regular basis you may also want to consider an Nvidia “Pascal” Series graphics card or newer (look for card models beginning with P/T/GV/GP/RTX). You can then take advantage of the Visualize Denoiser, which can give up to 10X faster performance.

Processor/CPU

We generally try to recommend the latest Intel i7 or Xeon processors to our customers so they can handle a large range of features within SOLIDWORKS. Hyper threading can be turned off in the bios in accordance with the use of the software – this will reduce the number of cores. Turbo boost can also be turned on to improve the performance of one of the cores.

Storage (HDD/SSD)

When it comes to choosing the size of your Hard Disk Drive (HDD) for SOLIDWORKS, we recommend starting with at least 256GB and working your way up to the biggest size you can afford.

For maximum performance we recommend that you opt for a primary Solid State Drive (SSD) or M.2* drive to run SOLIDWORKS (and Windows) and a secondary SSD that’s used for storing everything else. This ensures models, assemblies etc load and save as quickly as possible.

If you can only afford one SSD or M.2 drive, make sure you use it for software installations as this will give you the best bang-for-buck. You can always buy a second mechanical HDD, spinning at 7200RPM (or above) to store your files.

*If you’ve already been doing some research, you may have noticed that some machines are supplied with “M.2” Storage. This is the very latest standard in data storage and the ones labelled NVMe (rather than SATA) use a different way of interfacing with the computer. These Storage devices are a step up again from SSD’s and typically much faster, if budget isn’t an issue and you’re looking for the very best possible performance, you may want to consider one of these.

Our recommended minimum spec for SOLIDWORKS users on a budget

These machines will perform well for general drawing and SOLIDWORKS 3D CAD use. We wouldn’t recommend this spec if you’re looking to work on more than 500 components, however.

 

Laptop: Dell Precision 5550

Intel Core Processor i7-10750H (6 Core, 12MB Cache, 2.60 GHz to 5.00 GHz, 45W)

Windows 10 Pro 64bit

NVIDIA Quadro T1000

16GB, 2X8GB, DDR4 2933Mhz Non-ECC Memory

M.2 256GB PCIe NVMe Class 40 SSD

 

Desktop: Dell Precision 3640 Tower

Intel® Core i7-10700K (8 Core, 16M cache, base 3.8GHz, up to 5.1GHz) DDR4 2933

Windows 10 Pro 64bit

NVIDIA Quadro P1000, 4GB, 4 mDP to DP adapter

16GB, 2x8GB, DDR4 UDIMM non-ECC memory

5” 512GB SATA Class 20 SSD

Our recommended mid-spec PCs for SOLIDWORKS

These machines will perform well with medium-sized datasets with no more than 2000 components. Perfect for general SOLIDWORKS use and some light rendering.

Laptop: Dell Precision 7550 

Intel Core Processor i7-10850H (6 Core, 12MB Cache, 2.70 GHz to 5.10 GHz, 45W, vPro)

Windows 10 Pro 64bit

NVIDIA Quadro RTX 3000 w/6GB GDDR6

16GB, 2X8GB, DDR4 2933Mhz Non-ECC Memory

M.2 256GB PCIe NVMe Class 40 SSD

Desktop: Dell Precision 5820 Tower

Intel Core i9-10900X (3.7GHz, 4.7GHz Turbo, 10C, 19.25MB Cache, HT, (165W), DDR4-2933 Non-ECC)

Windows 10 Pro 64bit

Nvidia Quadro P2200, 5GB, 4 DP (3630)

32GB, 4x8GB, DDR4 UDIMM non-ECC memory

2.5” 512GB SATA Class 20 Solid State Drive

If money’s no object and/or you’re looking for maximum performance, these machines will do it all: Rendering, large SOLIDWORKS assemblies and complicated simulations will all be handled with ease.

 

Laptop: Dell Precision 7750

Intel Core Processor i7-10850H (6 Core, 12MB Cache, 2.70 GHz to 5.10 GHz, 45W, vPro)

Windows 10 Pro 64bit

Nvidia Quadro RTX 4000 w/8GB GDDR6

64GB, 2X32GB,DDR4 2933Mhz Non-ECC Memory

M.2 512GB PCIe NVMe C40 Opal 2.0 SED

 

Desktop: Dell Precision 5820 Tower

Intel® Core i9-10900X 3.7GHz, 4.7GHz Turbo, 10C, 19.25MB Cache, HT, (165W), DDR4-2666 Non-ECC

Windows 10 Pro, 64bit

Nvidia Quadro RTX4000, 8GB

64GB 2x32GB DDR4 2666MHz UDIMM Non-ECC Memory

2.5” 512GB SATA Class 20 Solid State Drive

What about SOLIDWORKS for Apple Mac computers?

SOLIDWORKS isn’t officially supported on Apple Mac, but we’ve developed a robust solution for this, which is now being used by many of our customers. Read more about it here: How to run SOLIDWORKS on Apple Mac

Considering a new SOLIDWORKS Workstation?
Fill in the form or call us on (01223) 200690 for more information.

We hope you found our SOLIDWORKS system requirements article useful!

Have you seen our blog archive where we have posted plenty of helpful articles? We also have a fantastic video library filled with easy-to-follow videos on a number of topics inspired by other SOLIDWORKS users – take a look.

Also, don’t forget to follow us on twitter for daily bite size SOLIDWORKS tips, tricks and videos.

The post Recommended PC workstation configuration for SOLIDWORKS appeared first on Innova Systems.

[Video Transcript]

When importing a new assembly into Composer, it’s recommended to select the appropriate import profile depending on the origin of the CAD data. Now in SOLIDWORKS Composer 2021, the open dialogue gives you even more control with direct access to the configuration information of the part, or the assembly.

There are plenty of great rendering styles built into SOLIDWORKS Composer 2021 to get the right look and feel for your final documentation. Selecting the flat technical display option will be perfect for these illustrations of the Square Robot cleaning head brush assembly.

Before diving into the rest of this project, there are a few document properties worth adjusting. Navigating to the File drop-down menu, SOLIDWORKS Composer 2021 offers additional user settings to the selection and highlight options. You can now allow for hidden edges to be shown, along with modifying the colour intensity. Additionally, just as before, colours can be set for both part and assembly selection and model highlighting. Previous versions of SOLIDWORKS Composer had the ability to modify other document properties, as well.

Common changes include the Viewport Background to remove the gradient and adjust the background colour. The paper space can be set to standard document sizes, or in this case a custom ratio of 16:9. Units can be modified from Metric to English, or vice versa. What’s new in SOLIDWORKS Composer 2021 is the ability to save these document properties. This is extremely helpful when working with other systems, updating previous projects, or standardising on company-wide document settings.

The next step for this replacement part catalogue is creating some views for each different cleaner head options. Composer offers quick ways to hide and show components with the right mouse button menu popup. In this case, hiding all of the unselected components and leaving just the desired cleaning head subassembly.

New in SOLIDWORKS Composer 2021, you will see an updated user interface that allows for extended docking support of tabs and windows. Moving the Configurations tab and docking to the right side is a nice place to access all of the configurations that were brought in during the import process. Now with a new configuration active, it’s easy to create all the additional required views for this final document.

In this view, there are a handful of hidden parts, and when selecting this assembly configuration, you’ll see that only the visible components are highlighted. New in SOLIDWORKS Composer 2021 is the ability to toggle this visibility on and off from the system preference by enabling the option ‘Highlight in the Viewport Invisible Actors Belonging to the Selection’. With this option on, you’ll receive direct visual feedback of hidden and shown components with each of your selections.

Each variation of the cleaning head subassemblies needs their own exploded view, no problem with SOLIDWORKS Composer 2021.  From this view, all of these cleaning blades can be selected from the Advanced Selection tool with a single click. Using the Explode Transform perfectly positions each blade, and finally with predefined styles for callouts, all the part numbers and descriptions are automatically defined and formatted.

Jumping ahead to the completed project, new for SOLIDWORKS Composer 2021 is the ability to host and share the native Composer file directly on the 3DEXPEREINCE Platform. This allows the interactive content to be viewed through any web browser on any device.

To find out more about SOLIDWORKS Composer 2021,
call us on 01223 200690 or send us a message below.

We hope you found that useful!

Have you seen our blog archive where we have posted plenty of helpful articles? We also have a fantastic video library filled with easy-to-follow videos on a number of topics inspired by other SOLIDWORKS users – take a look. Also, don’t forget to follow Innova Systems on Twitter for bite-size SOLIDWORKS tips, tricks and videos.

The post What’s new: SOLIDWORKS Composer 2021 appeared first on Innova Systems.

[Video Transcript]

When you’re looking at a Bill of Materials, being able to see quantities of the items that you’ve used is essential. The quantity is usually worked based on how many times you’ve used that component in your assembly. However, there are some occasions where that is not the value you’re after. In the case of the worktop and plinth within our kitchen assembly, for example, rather than seeing the quantity of how many times we’ve used that item, we’d prefer to see the total length required.

If I show my Bill of Materials you can see that I’ve achieved this. I need a total length of 3900mm for both the worktop and plinth, which is reflected in my quantity column. So, before we have a look at how this is achieved, let’s explore the structure of the assembly: We have 5 instances of the plinth component and each cabinet is referencing a different length configuration.

Let’s open up the plinth component…

In the configuration manager, we can see all the different configurations of the component. If we look at configuration-specific properties, each has a length property associated with it. We want to use that length property as the quantity in the Bill of Materials, but in order to do that we must set the dropdown menu for BOM Quantity as Length. Normally this is set to None. This needs to be done for every configuration.

We also need the BOM to group all the configurations of the plinth that we use in our assembly together as a single item (rather than having each configuration used shown as a separate item). To do this we must switch to our configuration manager and edit the configuration properties. For every configuration, we set part number to be used in the Bill of Materials as the same user-specified value of ‘plinth’.

We’ll now switch back to our main assembly. The chances are when you first bring in your Bill of Materials, each configuration of the plinth will still be shown as separate items. To group them together as a single item, we need to set the part configuration grouping options as ‘Display configurations of the same name as 1 item’. This collates all the plinths to a single entry in our BOM because we set the part number for all configurations as ‘plinth’.

That’s it! Our Bill of Materials is now looking exactly as we would like it to.

To find out more about SOLIDWORKS,
call us on 01223 200690 or send us a message below.

We hope you found that useful!

Have you seen our blog archive where we have posted plenty of helpful articles? We also have a fantastic video library filled with easy-to-follow videos on a number of topics inspired by other SOLIDWORKS users – take a look. Also, don’t forget to follow Innova Systems on Twitter for bite-size SOLIDWORKS tips, tricks, and videos.

The post How to show length as quantity in Bill Of Materials appeared first on Innova Systems.

[Video Transcript]

In the story of next level validation, you’ll see how we’ve expanded your simulation-driven design capabilities and leverage the best of both worlds: Industry-leading design tools from SOLIDWORKS integrating best-in-class analysis tools from SIMULIA, powered by ABAQUS FEA technology.

Discovering product performance issues early in the design phase not only increases your company’s bottom line by avoiding costly rework, but empowers you as a designer, engineer, or analyst, to make a better product. Figuring out the best design takes multiple iterations and the ability to rapidly test various scenarios helps you and your team make more informed decisions faster. Solving design challenges is one thing, manufacturing the product is another and being able to validate how your product is manufactured increases the value of your validation efforts. Let’s follow a designer and a structural analyst to see how they collaborate t0 solve these various scenarios with the BioDapt Moto Knee.

Following Debbie the Designer & Adam the Analyst

Debbie, the designer, is working on updating the mechanics of the Moto Knee, a next-generation prosthetic designed to withstand the high impacts of action sports. From her company’s dashboard, she sees that Adam the Analyst found a mechanical issue with the first revision.

Adam’s simulation results can be viewed right from a web browser and Debbie confirms that the lower bracket definitely needs to be redesigned based on Adam’s findings. The Simulation results tell Debbie where the changes need to be made, and she starts to design a new revision of the bracket.

Proud of her work, she thinks her new design will now be strong enough, but before she sends her new design to Adam she wants to validate it herself. The Simulation apps in her Structural Designer Role can guide her through all of the steps to validate the strength of her new design. The built-in assistant makes it easy for Debbie to add loads and fixtures and then run her analysis and review the results.

Feeling confident in her new design, Debbie updates the Moto Knee assembly as a new revision. Both Adam and Debbie are working from the same dashboard, so Adam can see the new simulation and review it. Adam will also move forward validating the new assembly.

Since both the design and simulation data are stored and connected on the 3DEXPERIENCE® Works platform, Adam is able to easily create a new revision of the simulation he created earlier. After opening the new revision, he simply replaces the old model with the new one to reflect Debbie’s changes. From there, he just needs to modify any fixtures, loads and connections that associate with the new geometry and re-solve the analysis. And, just like Debbie, Adam also uses the Assistant to make sure he doesn’t miss anything before he runs the study.

With the results complete, Adam compares the two studies. He confirms the new Moto Knee lower bracket is now strong enough and no longer suffers from the exercise displacement of the earlier design.

The Assistant helps both designers and analysts run studies fast to evolve their designs quickly based on valuable simulation results. And creating and managing design validation information on the cloud with 3DEXPERIENCE® Works keeps you and your data connected, so your team can stay productive.

Adam was able to validate the strength of the new bracket, but how will this affect the rest of the assembly? Due to the harsh conditions of action sports, the Moto Knee is often subject to harmonic and random vibration loading. Furthermore, BioDapt created the Moto Knee to be adaptable to many different extreme environments so there are multiple different configurations of the design. Each is customised for both the feel for the wearer, and based around the sport they’re competing in, so any time a change is made every configuration needs to be validated for each extreme loading condition.

Similar to the creation of a linear structural validation, Adam is able to create a frequency scenario with the apps provided in his Structural Performance Engineer Role using the assistant to complete all the necessary steps. After solving, Adam is relieved that most of the natural frequencies of this configuration of the Moto Knee are outside the expected operating region.

To better understand the remaining vibration concerns, Adam creates a random vibration scenario using the Structural Mechanics Engineer role. This role expands the types of physics that can be addressed and the types of studies that can be solved. Conveniently, the new scenarios are stored in the same simulation project as the previous results, and he can see that the performance of this configuration is acceptable.

Now that he has both the natural frequency and random vibration studies completed for one configuration, he can easily re-purpose this study and solve additional Moto Knee configurations at another time. For now, he moves on with his next validation task.

Adam now needs to understand how the different configurations of the Moto Knee will perform under different dynamic loading environments. Swapping out the guide plates of the Moto Knee will change the response of the knee under load. So, Adam creates an explicit dynamics study that includes a prescribed rotation and adds sensors to calculate the required torque to achieve the rotation. Adam also needs to understand the force feedback felt by the wearer to ensure comfort and performance. After solving one iteration, Adam makes a quick change to the plates in SOLIDWORKS and updates the model in his study. Only the changed parts need to be re-meshed, which is done automatically by a simple update. Furthermore, Adam continues real-world testing and modifies the spring and damper properties of the shock. The Moto Knee is designed to be configured quickly by each user, and going through this battery of studies ensures that the wearer of the moto knee will be able to adapt their prosthetics “on-the-fly” for maximum performance and flexibility.

The Structural Performance Engineer and Structural Mechanics Engineer Roles on the 3DEXPERIENCE® Works platform enabled Adam to validate various configurations, use cases, and loading environments of the Moto Knee to better understand and communicate its performance in the real world. Without the cost of manufacturing or testing a single prototype, BioDapt has already evolved this design fast, ensuring that physical testing will be a quick and painless step in the engineering design process.

Based on his calculations, Adam determined that a deep drawn steel foot cover would be the least expensive manufacturing method to create a strong cover that will protect the valuable components in BioDapt VF2 Foot. Deep draw manufacturing has a lot of variables and re-tooling a punch or a die can be very expensive, so Adam wants to do everything he can to ensure he gets this design right the first time.

By using Conversations in 3DSwym, Adam asks Debbie to make him a model for the deep draw analysis. She’s already on top of it and tells him where to find the model.

From his Simulation app, Adam can open the model right away and creates a new study. His goal is to discover how close the resultant metal shape will be to the original design, figure out how much thinning will occur in the material, and determine the minimum blank size to achieve the desired shape.

Adam makes quick work of setting up the properties and boundary conditions to simulate the manufacturing operation. Since he’s using the explicit dynamic solver, the complex contacts and material behaviour is solved quickly. Adam discovers that the thickness variation across the deformed shape is nominal, so now he moves on to optimising the size of the blank.

To optimise the amount of material used for each foot cover produced, Adam makes another request to Debbie to make the modification. Debbie uses xDesign, the design app in the 3D Creator role, to make the appropriate modifications. Back in his Simulation app, Adam updates the model and re-runs the study. The results show that he’s determined the best stock size for the manufacturing operation.

As you can see, 3DEXPERIENCE® Works not only delivers powerful technology for advanced simulations but also enables co-workers to thrive in a highly collaborative environment.

SIMULIA makes simulation-driven design more powerful than ever with assisted workflows and sophisticated virtual prototyping capabilities, traditionally reserved for specialists, so you can reduce project risk and increase the chance of launch success.

Video: How BioDapt are changing lives with high-end prosthetics

About the author: Innova Systems Business Development Director, Mike Jones, is an Elite Applications Engineer and has been using SOLIDWORKS since July 2010.

To find out more about SIMULIA on the 3DXPERIENCE Platform,
call us on 01223 200690 or send us a message below.

We hope you found that useful!

Have you seen our blog archive where we have posted plenty of helpful articles? We also have a fantastic video library filled with easy-to-follow videos on a number of topics inspired by other SOLIDWORKS users – take a look. Also, don’t forget to follow Innova Systems on Twitter for bite-size SOLIDWORKS tips, tricks, and videos.

The post What’s new: Next level validation with SIMULIA 2021 appeared first on Innova Systems.

[Video Transcript]

As you may or may not know, it’s possible to create watermarks in a SOLIDWORKS drawing such that you can see whether the document is ready for manufacture. It could, however, be the case that manufacture is done directly from the model, in this case it can be a good idea to create a watermark within your part or assembly files, too. This is how to do it.

How to display watermarks in a SOLIDWORKS model

I’m going to create a custom property called a watermark and set the value to ‘In Progress – Do not Manufacture’ and press ‘OK’. The next thing we have to do is activate the 2D notes area annotation view. Then we insert a note and link it to the watermark property. I’ll also adjust the size and colour of the note, too. As you can see, we can take the note and move it around, and if we reorient our model, you’ll see the note move with it, which is not ideal.

To finish the process, we right-click and toggle the watermark option on.

At this point, we get some additional controls available in the note property manager where we can control whether the note sits on top of. or behind our geometry, and also transparency controls for the note, too. Because the note has been set up as a watermark note, you’ll notice that regardless of the orientation of my model the note occupies the same space on the screen and I cannot move the note around. Also, I can only make changes to the value of the note if I am in the 2D notes area annotation view.  So, let’s activate a different annotation view and you can see it’s not possible to edit the note.

At the point where we are ready to manufacture, we need to change the value of the watermark property to blank. I could go into the file properties to do this, but to speed things up, I’ve created a property tab builder with watermark property inside. This watermark property is based on a list so I can very quickly switch between do not manufacture and empty.

Bonus tip: If you are using SOLIDWORKS PDM you can automate the value of the watermark property based on what workflow state the file is in.

To find out more about SOLIDWORKS,
call us on 01223 200699 or send us a message below.

We hope you found that useful!

Have you seen our blog archive where we have posted plenty of helpful articles? We also have a fantastic video library filled with easy-to-follow videos on a number of topics inspired by other SOLIDWORKS users – take a look. Also, don’t forget to follow Innova Systems on Twitter for bite-size SOLIDWORKS tips, tricks, and videos.

The post How to add watermarks to a SOLIDWORKS Model appeared first on Innova Systems.