Expanded use of the Perpendicular Mate in SOLIDWORKS 2018

Like many enhancements that come along during any SOLIDWORKS release cycle, it seems like the ability to add a SOLIDWORKS perpendicular mate between a complex (Non-analytic) surface and a linear entity, may get overlooked rather easily. UNLESS this is the exact feature you have been waiting for!

A number of years ago I bumped into a designer who was working on a biopsy device to extract bone biopsy samples, and their example (although graphic) came clearly to mind when I was investigating this new feature.

Perpendicular Mate

The customer would regularly have 3D scanned data of the most non-analytical type surfaces there are – us humans!

They were hoping for an easy method to mate the central axis of their designed device, perpendicular to the surface of the bone scan – in preparation for animations and illustrations.

It takes a great number of enhancements to make up each release of SOLIDWORKS, however I’ve found it to be some of the seemingly smallest enhancements that can result in huge time savings for some design teams.

As for action items – stop squirming in your seats and go check-out what the latest release has to offer!