Articles by: Irfan Zardadkhan, PhD, CSWE
Get Ready to COMPARE your designs with SolidWorks Simulation 2014 [VIDEO]
A limitation in SolidWorks Simulation has been that only one configuration could be active at one time. So even though there was a “compare results” tool in SolidWorks 2013, it only allowed you to compare results across studies which were based on the same configuration. In SolidWorks 2014, this limit no longer exists. With the Compare Results tool, you can now compare up to four result plots across studies which can belong to any configuration of the model. This lets you really evaluate the performance of the variations of your design. To access this PropertyManager, click Compare Results (Simulation CommandManager). Under Options, select All studies in all configurations (slower) to compare up to four result plots from studies associated with different configurations. For plots of the same…
Replace Sketch Entity, a Hidden Enhancement for SolidWorks Simulation 2014 [VIDEO]
Watching Alin’s blog post on Replace Sketch Entity got me thinking about how well SolidWorks CAD and SolidWorks Simulation communicate, as far as design changes are concerned. Would the replace sketch entity propagate without any glitch in existing SolidWorks Simulation studies? I ran a simple case study just to see what was going to happen and prepared to be disappointed by the results. As much as Alin was excited about the implication of this new tool in SolidWorks CAD, I was not so optimistic. After the first test, I literally jumped from my seat to call Alin to show him what had just happened. The Replace Sketch Entity was able to update my simulation study setup without any effort on my part! The only way you…
Don’t Settle for Anything Less with Mirrored Results about Planes of Symmetry in SolidWorks Simulation 2014 [VIDEO]
We have all used symmetry to boost our simulation times, whether it be planar or cyclic and were happy to have achieved the results in a short time, only to be told by the manager to run the simulation for the full model so it makes more sense to him and to the customers. Here is a new feature in SolidWorks 2014 which will keep both you and your boss happy. You now have the option to apply the symmetry for the analysis and the software will mirror the results for you and show you the results in the entire model. These new results will actually serve as a double check for the symmetry assumptions that made. In the PropertyManager of the desired result quantity,…
SOLIDWORKS Simulation Convert Toolbox Fasteners to Bolt Connectors
Imagine receiving an assembly from a customer with a few hundred bolt connectors in it. You have to run a simulation on this. Obviously you have to suppress all the bolts in the assembly or exclude the bolts in the simulation study. And then, you…
Top 10 Enhancements in SOLIDWORKS Simulation 2014
A couple of days since the Public Preview release of SolidWorks 2014, I am already thrilled with all the enhancements in this new release. When 2013 was released, I could hardly contain my excitement with all the new features that were introduced in SolidWorks Simulation and now we…
SolidWorks 2013 introduced hundreds of enhancements creating a big stir of excitement in the user community. Most of the enhancements were a “love at first sight”, like conics, varying dimension patterns and intersect. However some of the others were not that well received by the…
Irfan’s Pick of the Day: Compare Configuration Mode – SolidWorks Flow Simulation [VIDEO]
One of the best enhancements in Flow Simulation 2013 is the ability to compare results from various projects. This new feature allows users to compare results plots, goals, point/surface/volume parameters. The comparison can be presented both numerically and graphically, so users could make decisions on most effective design modifications. To access this feature, Right Click on the Results folder in the Flow Simulation analysis tree and click Compare. To see the new feature in action, watch the video below.
SOLIDWORKS Simulation Transient Sensors store transient data from thermal simulations, drop tests, non-linear simulations and dynamics simulation. Due to the nature of simulations which support transient data, this new sensor is supported in SOLIDWORKS Simulation Professional and above. The transient sensor replaces the existing response plots which were previously used. Loading of a transient sensor is much faster than response plots since the data is preloaded into the sensor. After your run the study, you can list and create graph plots of the data stored by the transient sensor.Create a transient study (nonlinear, dynamic, transient thermal, or drop test) In the FeatureManager design tree, right-click Sensors and select Add Sensor. In the PropertyManager: Under Sensor Type tracktype, select Simulation Data. Under Data Quantity, select the…
Reaction moments are only applicable to element with nodes having degrees of freedom in rotation. This is not the case for solids as they only have 3 degrees of freedom per node (3 translations, but no rotation). So how can we get reaction moments on fixed faces of Solid Bodies?