Setting up a Static Simulation on SOLIDWORKS Weldments

When working with large assemblies, you may want to run a static simulation on a sub-assembly and you are faced with the error “Load/Restraint cannot be applied to the beam face, edge, or vertex”  as seen in the picture below when applying fixtures & external loads. When setting up a SOLIDWORKS Weldments static simulation there is a step you need to do to make it work. Let’s see how we can get our simulation up and running.

Error: Load/Restraint cannot be applied to beam face, edge, or vertex.

Default Settings for SOLIDWORKS Weldments Static Simulation

Since our assembly contains a weldment, by default it is modeled as a beam. The left side of the picture below illustrates this, but what we want for SOLIDWORKS Weldments Static Simulation is a mesh like the one on the right side of the picture.

Mesh for Beam vs. Solid

Treat each Weldment as a Solid

To get that result, there is one setting we will need to toggle. For each weldment in the simulation, we will need to go to the Simulation tree and select:

• Cut List Folder > (right click) All parts > Treat as Solid (see picture below)

By selecting this option for all weldment parts in the cut list, the geometry of the part will be used for creating the mesh.

Right click on Weldment and select Treat as Solid

And now we are off to the races and can now apply the necessary fixtures & applied loads to the model. When completed, run the simulation to see the results.

Now we can apply external Loads & fixtures

So next time you run into that error, all you need to do is check if your parts are made of weldments and select the “Treat as Solid” option and you will be good to go. If you would like to know more about simulation with weldments, please check out the links below:

• How to Analyze Truss Problems in SOLIDWORKS Simulation
• How to add a Point Load along a Beam in SOLIDWORKS Simulation