Much like SOLIDWORKS 3D CAD software, SOLIDWORKS Simulation is available in three different packages: Standard, Professional, and Premium. Selecting the right simulation package, largely depends on your simulation needs.
What Simulation package do I need?
As you go up the license tier, new functionalities are added to those if the tier prior, delivering more flexible and diverse results with each instance. A standard license is good for modelling under linear conditions with little to no displacement. The professional licence has additional mechanical and assembly functionality. The heavy-duty premium can handle large assemblies and covers dynamic and nonlinear assessments.
In the second installment of our design validation series, our senior applications engineer Angus Hudson further evaluates the key differences for each SOLIDWORKS Simulation product.
Feature Table
| Capability | SOLIDWORKS Simulation Premium | SOLIDWORKS Simulation Professional | SOLIDWORKS Simulation Standard | SOLIDWORKS Premium |
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| Ease of Use/Intuitiveness |  |
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| Linear Static Simulation for Part & Assembly | |
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| Time Based Mechanism Motion Simulation | |
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| Finite Element Analysis | |
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| Contacts and Connectors | |
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| Post Processing | |
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| Communication | |
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| Design Comparison Studies | |
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| Trend Tracker | |
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| Fatigue Simulation | |
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| Detecting Unconstrained Bodies | |
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| Equation Driven Results | |
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| Design Optimization (based on Simulation data) | |
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| Advanced Contacts & Connectors | |
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| Event-Based Motion Simulation | |
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| Frequency Simulation | |
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| Buckling or Collapse Simulation | |
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| Structural Thermal Simulation | |
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| Drop Test Simulation | |
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| Pressure Vessel Design Simulation | |
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| Submodeling Simulation | |
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| 2D Simplification | |
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| Load Case Manager | |
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| Non-Linear Simulation | |
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| Dynamic Simulation | |
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| Composites Components Simulation | |
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| Offloaded Simulation | |
Featured Technology
SOLIDWORKS Simulation 2019
The 2019 edition of SOLIDWORKS Simulation brings advanced functionality to further automate your manufacturing processes. These new features include, but are not limited to:
- The global stiffness matrix only repeating itself if a different loading that changes the matrix is implemented
- Improved user interface to facilitate best practices within the program
- A new array of geometry-based controls for various Simulation products
- Ability to quickly and smoothly transfer from linear to non-linear analysis without losing any information
- You may remember that SOLIDWORKS Simulation 2018 allowed for ten faces per pin connector. This feature is now available in nonlinear analysis, both static and dynamic.
Related resources for SOLIDWORKS 2019: