SolidWorks 2013 Sneak Peek: Reference Center of Mass in Drawings & Assemblies

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SolidWorks 2013 won't be officially unveiled until September 10, but over the next few weeks, we'll be giving you sneak peeks at a few of the new features we'll be shipping this fall. And here's the first.

In SolidWorks 2013, center of mass is a selectable entity in drawings, and you can reference it to create dimensions. In a drawing, you can create reference dimensions between center of mass points and geometric entities, such as points and edges.

You can also add a center of mass point in assemblies. The position of the center of mass point updates when the model's center of mass changes. For example, the position of the center of mass point updates as you add, modify, delete, or suppress components or add or delete assembly features. The center of mass point can be useful when you are designing assemblies requiring balanced mass (for example, to avoid excessive vibration). You can see how it works in the video below.

You can visit our new SolidWorks 2013 website to see all the major updates when it launches on September 10. In the meantime, if you want to learn more about how SolidWorks can help your business, check out the videos in our Demo library.

Matthew West

SolidWorks alumnus. I like plate reverb, Rat pedals, Thai curry, New Weird fiction, my kids, Vespas, Jazzmasters, my wife & Raiders of the Lost Ark. Not necessarily in that order.