Simulation Tech Tip: Hidden Gems in 2012
There have been several sneaky enhancements to SolidWorks Flow Simulation in the 2012 release. Even some hidden gems that have appeared in Service Pack 1 and 2, which was just released recently. Enhanced Meshing Technology in SolidWorks Flow Simulation 2012 SP0: New meshing technology improves the CAD geometry representation by the computational mesh. As a [...]
Simulation Tech Tip: Using Color and Deflection Scale to Make Your Point
I’ve often said that post-processing is the single most important step in any analysis. If you can’t effectively interpret your results, or communicate them to others, your entire analysis was a waste of time no matter how clever your setup was! There are a myriad of ways to plot and visualize your results in SolidWorks [...]
Dassault Systèmes Announces North American HQ
Dassault Systèmes North American Headquarters Are Now Located in Waltham, MA It’s official, the DS North American headquarters are now located at the award-winning 27 acre campus in Waltham, MA . The campus showcases sustainable innovation, lifelike 3D experiences and of course, it’s LEED-certified. The campus brings together employees who had previously been split between [...]
Turkey with All the Fixin’s (A Simulation Tech Tip… or 4 or 5)
Almost without fail, in every single Simulation class I teach, someone asks me, “What’s the difference between Fixed and Immoveable?” They’re asking about two options in the Fixture dialog (often referred to as boundary conditions or restraints). It occurred to me this week: Who better to explain fixins than a Thanksgiving Turkey! So, I fired [...]
The Motorcycle Gyrocam Project
*Special Note: The motorcycle rider in the video is Dana Seero!* I enjoy motorcycle riding and try to attend several track days each season. With the availability of many small, light camcorders on the market, it’s now pretty easy to record your sessions for playback and training. However, since they are attached to the bike [...]
SolidWorks Simulation Tech Tip: How to prevent leaks
Have you ever needed to conduct a Flow study on a product assembly that has already been modeled in loving detail, including manufacturing features like clearances, gasketted fits, sheet metal hems and bend reliefs – and the resulting housing leaks in a hundred places? Configuring and editing this model to simplify, idealize, and close off [...]
Sustainable Design with SolidWorks
I recently ran a webcast on Tuesday about SolidWorks Sustainability, which is an incredibly powerful tool inside SolidWorks that enables us to gain insight into our design and its environmental impact. More importantly, it provides us with a very efficient way of evaluating design changes to minimize the impact our design will have on the [...]
SolidWorks Tech Tip: Symmetry vs. Circular Symmetry in Simulation
This question came up on our Tech Support hotline this week and I thought it would make a great quick post, mostly because the title is so fun to say. Many of you already use the Symmetry constraint when running Simulation studies, to cut your rectangular models in halves or quarters and reduce the number [...]
Practical Flow Simulation at Highway Speeds
Ever since I’ve had my Miata convertible, I’ve wondered how much worse gas mileage I get with the top down than with the top up. So I decided to use a few hours this weekend and our favorite Flow Simulation tool to find out. First came making the model. I took two pictures of my [...]
Seeing inside your flow model: It’s possible!
Bench testing the airflow through your prototypes is a tried and true, reliable, necessary step in the design process of many automotive, aerospace and industrial applications. You don’t know what your throughput is until you hook the hose up and hit the green button. But have you ever wondered what’s really going on inside that [...]
