What’s New in SOLIDWORKS – Design and Modeling R2024x FD02

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New SOLIDWORKS CAD enhancements are available now! Did you know you no longer have to wait for an annual release to start using the latest features of SOLIDWORKS, including CAD, collaboration and data management enhancements? That’s right. The latest update of SOLIDWORKS (R2024x functional delivery 02) just dropped in April, and the enhancements are available now!

These enhancements apply to 3DEXPERIENCE SOLIDWORKS, SOLIDWORKS with Cloud Services, and SOLIDWORKS 3D CAD with Collaborative Designer for SOLIDWORKS.

The latest update includes selection accelerators for chamfers to speed up selecting edges, the ability to delete items from below the Rollback bar in the FeatureManager Design Tree, electrical and mechanical design and collaboration enhancements and much more.

Selection Toolbar for Chamfers – boost efficiency and save time when selecting edges.

You all are going to love this one as there is a new Selection toolbar within the Chamfer command that enables you to automate selections for edges with Selection Accelerators. For instance, you can turn on the command to have it only pick outer or inner edges or edges outside of a face, or inner edges on extrusions. As you hover over the icons in the toolbar it will show you all the ways you can select edges, saving you time from manually selecting say thirty edges for example.

This is similar to the capability that already exists when working with fillets. You’ll find it will speed up and simplify your design process, allowing more room for you to design and innovate.

This one is my personal favorite, by the way, and I bet the next one on the list is going to be a favorite for you all as well.

Leverage new Selection Accelerators in the Chamfer command to rapidly select edges.

 

Delete Items Below Rollback Bar – save time and eliminate mouse clicks.

Yes, just as the subhead states, you can now delete items below the Rollback Bar from the FeatureManager Design Tree! You know longer have to roll the bar forward as you can simply scroll down and delete the features you no longer need.

Delete items that have been suppressed below the Rollback Bar in the FeatureManager Design Tree.

 

Turkish Language Support – enable more intuitive and efficient workflows for Turkish speaking users.

This latest update also adds support for the Turkish language enriching language compatibility.

Additional language options include Turkish language support.

 

Select Simulation Add-ins During Installation – get access to analysis tools faster.

Streamline the integration of SOLIDWORKS Simulation and SOLIDWORKS Motion into SOLIDWORKS Connected by selecting these add-ins during installation, bypassing manual activation steps.

This will enhance productivity by automatically installing add-ins, which simplifies license management and ensures immediate access to simulation and motion analysis tools.

Add SOLIDWORKS Simulation and SOLIDWORKS Motion add-ins more quickly.

 

MCAD/ECAD Integration – easily access electrical tools and collaborate more quickly.

There are several enhancements that expand accessibility and collaboration for mechanical and electrical design.

For starters, we’ve extended the use of the CircuitWorks add-in for SOLIDWORKS to those with Standard licenses, which was already available for Professional and Premium licenses. This will enable electrical and mechanical engineers to collaborate on printed circuit boards (PCBs) that fit and function in SOLIDWORKS assemblies.

Those with Standard licenses will now have unrestricted access to CircuitWorks, enabling more flexible circuit board design workflows.

 

We’ve also improved on collaboration between MACD and ECAD design by giving electrical engineers the ability to make a modification on a circuit board model and send it back to the mechanical engineer so they can update it.

In addition, CircuitWorks now processes copper trace data from ECAD to SOLIDWORKS, resulting in an accurate materials stack-up in the printed circuit board. The layers consist of thin copper pathways or traces and holes plated in copper, called vias, on the PCB that act like wires to connect all the components on the top and bottom of the board, which will provide a much more accurate representation of the printed circuit board and how it’s built and how it’s made.

You can access all the copper geometry right in SOLIDWORKS, enabling proper mass, thermal, structural, shock, and electromagnetic analyses.

Unsolved Prefix Displays for Suppressed Mates – understand mate status more quickly.

In the FeatureManager Design Tree, you can quickly see mate status and identify which mates have been suppressed manually by the user, and which mates have been suppressed automatically because the components could not be found or because components have been fixed.

This will provide more insight about mate status, speeding up assembly design and help you diagnose problems sooner.

Understand mate status more easily with the ability to identify why a mate has been suppressed in the FeatureManager Design Tree.

 

Origin Control for New Subassemblies – speed up assembly design by eliminating the need for manual workarounds.

You can now specify the origin for a subassembly. Options include selecting the origin of the parent, the first selected component, or a point or vertex.

Select an origin when creating a subassembly.

 

Maximize Design Clarity for IFC Exports – provide a clearer representation of IFC exports.

Exported IFC models will now be more accurately represented. For example, exported files will display planar faces instead of multiple coplanar facets, and instead of multiple coplanar facets you’ll get a more accurate representation of a cylinder.

This will improve the downstream use of SOLIDWORKS data and eliminate interpretation errors through improved visual display when importing SOLIDWORKS models using IFC.

Get a more accurate representation for IFC exports.

 

3D Sketching with Quick Spline Control – manipulate splines faster and improve routing editing.

You now have more control on splines as you can activate the Sketcher Triad Control by double-clicking on a spline to manipulate it faster.

Create highly stylized designs with organic shapes more quickly with the ability to double click on splines and manipulate them.

 

Select Small Components with Ease In LDR Mode – get a closer look at small components to make selections and add mates.

While working in Large Design Review (LDR) mode, you can more easily make selections on small or obscured components in a complex assembly with the Component Preview capability to focus in on a specific area.

Stay focused on your design and eliminate unnecessary mouse manipulations and frustrating selection errors when mating components.

This feature is currently available in Regular assembly mode, and if you recall LDR mode enables you to open large assemblies faster as it opens just the geometry without all the parametric information.

Get a closer look at small components with the ability to designate it in a larger view in LDR mode.

 

To learn about the collaboration and data management enhancements now available in 3DEXPERIENCE SOLIDWORKS, SOLIDWORKS with Cloud Services, and SOLIDWORKS 3D CAD with Collaborative Designer for SOLIDWORKS see this blog: What’s New in SOLIDWORKS – Collaboration and Data Management R2024x FD02 or watch the video below.

Craig Therrien

Craig Therrien

Craig Therrien is a 3DEXPERIENCE WORKS Senior Portfolio Manager with over 30 years of CAD and industry experience - engineer, consultant, CAD product manager, CAD company co-founder. Currently, serving as Senior Product Manager for SOLIDWORKS and 3D Mold Creator. Craig has a B.S.M.E. from WPI and is a Graduate of General Electric's Manufacturing Development Program.