SOLIDWORKS Support Monthly News – June 2020

Hello to all,

Welcome to the new edition of the SOLIDWORKS Support Monthly News!  This monthly news blog is co-authored by members of the SOLIDWORKS Technical Support teams worldwide.

SOLIDWORKS Tips and Tricks “Working with in-context feature and derived configurations”

By Mario Iocco

This problem is a frequent customer reported issue. Usually is reported in different “flavors”. But, in general, it always has a feature in the context on an assembly.  In this particular example, the feature has an in-context relation with another component feature. At other times, the feature has an in-context relation with an assembly sketch. The other common denominator of this problem is the derived configuration. This does not have to be a sheet metal issue, as any derived configuration will produce the same result.

The customer goal is to create two flat pattern drawing views, each showing a separate configuration. Because these are flat pattern drawing views, the configurations will have to be derived flatten configurations. The video shows that to resolve the problem, you must pair a specific assembly configuration with the part derived configuration. This must be done for as many derived configurations as it exist in the part.

How to create a relay card in SOLIDWORKS Electrical

By Javier Ojeda

What to do when you need a group of relays each with their own contacts, but they are all integrated in the same card? The relays and their contacts are therefore really the same component and only one material is required. Follow these steps to create this type of component.

Step 1 – Go to Library > Manufacturer parts manager > Add manufacturer part > create the part for the card, you must add the required circuits, for example:

Important, you must use the Circuit group field to link the coils with the contacts, filling it with the same value for the linked circuits, like this:

Step 2 – Go to a scheme, insert a relay (-K1) and assign to it the part created in the previous step. Then insert a second relay, during the insertion assign it to -K1, you must use the list on the right in the Symbol properties dialogue:

If you have several components, you can use the filters in order to show only components with the same class or base class, or use the search option:

If you do not have the Ask for properties option checked while inserting:

You can right-click the symbol in the scheme > Symbol properties in order to assign the inserted relay to -K1:

So, insert eight relays as -K1 component:

You can see that each relay has its own contact, the Circuit group is added to the mark for identification purpose, and terminal numbers are associated.

Step 3 – Draw the card’s body from Draw > Rectangle:

Step 4 – Insert the power supply pins, also assign them to –K1:

The power supply circuits have no Circuit group so the mark is the main one (-K1). You can customize the power supply pin symbol as you need. In this case, we have done it in this way:

Right-click the 24V pin symbol > Attributes > uncheck Component mark: “-K1” in order to make it invisible:

This way, you only have one main mark for the card.

The contacts are linked with the relays in order of insertion, based on the Circuit group field information.

You can select the contact that you want to use during the insertion, or once the contact is inserted. Go to Symbol properties > Manufacturer part and circuits > select the current circuit:

Drag and drop it to the required one:

You can see that the color changes from blue to green in the used circuit and from green to blue in the free circuit.

Result in the scheme:

Finally, you can create a macro of the card.

Noteworthy Solutions from the SOLIDWORKS Knowledge Base

Is there a SolidPractice on the topic of “Getting Started with the SOLIDWORKS® API”?
For more information, see Solution Id: S-077636.

In the SOLIDWORKS® Electrical software, how do I add the full color description name into the ‘List of wires by line style’ report?
For more information on this, see Solution Id: S-077718.

What database compatibility levels does the SOLIDWORKS® PDM software support when hosting the file vault database on Microsoft® SQL Server® 2014, 2016, 2017, or 2019?
For more information, see Solution Id: S-077807.

For offloaded simulation, what ports do the ‘mpiexec.hydra.exe’, ‘hydra_service.exe’, and ‘pmi_proxy.exe’ files use?
For more information on this, see Solution Id: S-077627.

Does using radiation in a vacuum in the SOLIDWORKS® Flow Simulation application always require meshing of the vacuum region?
For more information, check out Solution Id: S-077547.

That’s it for this month. Thanks for reading this edition of SOLIDWORKS Support News. If you need additional help with these issues or any others, please contact your SOLIDWORKS Value Added Reseller.

Comments and suggestions are always welcome. You can enter them below.