Dissolving 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…
... ContinuedVideo double feature: SolidWorks makes designing & documenting sheet metal parts simple
SolidWorks Premium has lots of tools and features that give you the control to handle the unique challenges of sheet metal design. You can design from scratch or convert your 3D model to sheet metal. Designs can be automatically flattened
... ContinuedPulling Teeth at the SWUGN Summit – Baton Rouge
User group leaders often tell me that getting their members to present in front of the group is a little like pulling teeth. Well, here’s a real tooth pulling story for you… Bobby Moore (along with Joe Rowsey) started the
... 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
... ContinuedAldebaran Robotics is designing the next generation of robots using SolidWorks
You may recall that Bruno Maisonnier, founder of Aldebaran Robotics, joined us on stage at SolidWorks World 2012 to talk about his company's NAO robot, and the work they are doing with autism patients and the elderly. I also had
... 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…
... ContinuedeDrawings for iPad: new features are available now
We introduced eDrawings for iPad on May 1, and the response has been amazing. However, many of you have let us know about features and capabilities you would like to see, and our development team has been listening. A major
... 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
... ContinuedSketches That Enforce Proportion
Sometimes a sketched feature is not intended to produce a particular dimension, so much as to create a chosen proportion. The most obvious way to enforce proportionality between any two dimensions in SolidWorks is to write an equation. Equations are
... ContinuedLearn something new in our 22-minute webinars
Have you ever wanted to learn about new features in SolidWorks, but just didn't have the time? We're all busy these days, and devoting an hour ot more to a screencast or webinar isn't always possible. So the brain trust
... ContinuedMating Linear and Spherical Components
I was recently contacted by a customer who designs and manufactures a range of optical and crystal monitoring and control systems. Included in their design work is the requirement to position lens components with a high level of precision. This
... ContinuedLooking for a job? SolidWorks customers and resellers are hiring now.
When you're looking for jobs using SolidWorks, where do you go? If your first response is an online job board like Monster.com or Indeed, you're not alone. But have you ever thought to check the SolidWorks forums? A while back,
... Continued