Simulation Evaluator Video Tech Tip

How frustrating it is to encounter the SOLIDWORKS Simulation error — ‘Unable to create plot..’ after running a finite element analysis!

You can see the result file *.cwr is intact in the folder yet the simulation study is not able to correctly link to the result file.  You may try to move all the simulation results and associated files to another folder, duplicate and re-run the study. While this may work it is not an efficient solution especially when time is a major constraint for all of us.

Simulation error message

Check out this video to see how the Simulation Evaluator tool can be accessed and used to help you efficiently run SOLIDWORKS Simulation for superior product innovation and design.

Simulation Evaluator tool comes to our rescue – a quick and easy option to re-establish the connection between the Simulation study and result data. You can access it by right mouse clicking on the study name of the simulation study tree or from the command manager.

Simulation evaluator tool

Simulation Evaluator in SOLIDWORKS Simulation not just helps you redirect the result data to your analysis, but also lets you review the simulation study’s setup. It lets you determine if the setup is complete for a successful simulation.

The Simulation Evaluator dialog box provides information related to the following conditions:

• File path for the model and the results file.
• Available storage capacity of the results drive.
• Material assignments for all bodies.
• Mesh volume and geometry volume.
• Friction coefficient for contact conditions.
• Material definitions with a Poisson’s ratio larger than 0.5, which is an invalid definition (for linear static studies).

You could also save the content of evaluator to a text file using the Simulation Evaluator dialog box.

Simulation evaluator dialog box