Tips & Tricks
How to Use the Bolt Connector in SolidWorks
If you analyze assemblies of parts that are joined by bolts or screws, you probably know about the “Bolt Connector.” In SolidWorks, Bolt Connectors are a very efficient way of representing the bolt stiffness, and compression due to pre-load, on
... ContinuedEditing the SolidWorks Custom Property Name List
When setting up custom properties in your SolidWorks parts, assemblies and drawings you have no doubt noticed the list of Property Names that are available when adding a new custom property. Where does this list come from? And how can you use it to help manage your SolidWorks file information?
SolidWorks Routing – Putting Power Into Your Designs
SolidWorks has a wealth of tools for designing machines and control systems, but how do we make them go? As a mechanical engineer I always felt a them and us relationship existed between the 'clankies' and the 'sparkies'. We design
... ContinuedGetting the most out of your SolidWorks graphics–with help from NVIDIA
SolidWorks recently held a Technical Training summit for North American resellers. About 75 technical leads from various resellers attended technical training and also learned about new features and offerings for SolidWorks products. NVIDIA was invited to attend and speak for
... ContinuedCustomizing SolidWorks Spell Checker
This article is based on a posting that appears on SolidWorks Legion. SolidWorks has a spell checker? Yup! It’s called Spelling Check and can be invoked on most installs by pressing F7 or by going to Tools>Spelling…. Spelling Check can be
... ContinuedAssembly Visualization – the search for the missing file properties
Releasing your drawings to the machine shop with missing information makes a machinist angrier than a baby boomer looking at a teenager that doesn’t have his pants pulled up all the way. As we all know, looking through a large
... ContinuedDemystifying the Color Settings in SolidWorks Parts and Assemblies
Applying colors to parts and assemblies in SolidWorks is not a difficult task, but one must be aware of the many levels at which color can be applied as well as what feature colors ‘overrule’ one another. Colors can be
... ContinuedMaximize SolidWorks Performance White Paper
Adrian Fanjoy and myself began doing performance testing for SolidWorks four years ago. We have presented those results at SolidWorks World each year as we have continued to refine our tests. This past year we partnered up with BOXX Technologies
... ContinuedDissolving Subassemblies for Indented BOM
The Indented Bill of Materials style will list all subassemblies as an item, along with all components of the subassembly. If you have a subassembly that should only list the parts but keep all other subassemblies as indented, you can dissolve subassemblies
... ContinuedStop mousing around! Mouse settings to improve your personal performance
Have you considered how your mouse settings affect your personal performance, not just in SolidWorks, but also in any application? With mouse speed set to slow, you may be draging your mouse halfway across the desk surface just to access toolbar buttons or pulldown menus. If you are moving your mouse 6 inches…
... ContinuedAssuming Linearity: Linear Static vs. Nonlinear
Background
SolidWorks has several different tools available for analyzing structures. Static analysis (discussed in my previous blog article) is available with the purchase of SolidWorks Simulation (included in SolidWorks Premium). Nonlinear analysis is available with the purchase of SolidWorks Simulation Premium (see Figure 1).
Figure 1 – SolidWorks Simulation study types
When a force is applied to a structure (a pencil, a building, a fixture, etc.) the internal pressure in the structure builds up. We call this internal pressure, stress. As stresses rise, the structure gets longer or shorter. We call this elongation, strain. When we run a Static analysis, we are assuming that the relationship between stress and strain is a simple one; we assume the relationship is linear. By making this assumption, we can potentially make an otherwise difficult or sometimes impossible problem very easy to solve.
However, this assumption isn’t all true. In reality, the relationship between stress and strain is never “perfectly” linear. But this assumption is close enough for many scenarios, and the amount of error it introduces may be negligible.
... ContinuedSolidWorks Defeature: How to Increase the Performance of Imported Parts
One tool that I think gets overlooked for it abilities is the Defeature tool, which was introduced in SolidWorks 2011 and has the ability to remove details from part or assembly files. Where I find this tool especially useful is
... ContinuedClean Up Your SolidWorks Drawings With Auto Arrange Dimensions
One of my favorite enhancements to drawings over the past couple of years has got to be Auto Arrange Dimensions. This might be as close as you get to an ‘easy’ button in drawings…
... ContinuedIncluding Reference Axes in Library Features
Have you ever tried to create a library feature in SolidWorks, but ran into an issue when trying to include a reference axis as part of the feature? Here's how we get that reference geometry included. Create your library feature
... ContinuedMaking Holes at an Angle: The Easy Way
Have you ever needed to make a hole that pierces material at a certain point, but at a compound angle? This can be a little challenging, but there is a method that I use which people seem to like. Instead
... Continued