EPDM Tech Tip: Pain Free Upgrades
Lately, we here in the CAPINC Enterprise PDM (EPDM) support group have noticed a number of EPDM customers who have upgraded to SolidWorks 2012 without upgrading to EPDM 2012 first. This is not a good idea as the EPDM version must be equal to or greater than the customer’s SolidWorks version. The reason for this [...]
SolidWorks Tech Tip: Imported Sheet Metal Parts
You may have to work with imported sheet metal parts that have problems. Here’s a roughly modeled part made to look like sheet metal. There are no bend reliefs and the bends are all made with sharp corners. SolidWorks is very good at converting parts like these. Using the Insert Bends command almost finishes the [...]
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 [...]
SolidWorks Tech Tip: The Re-Orient Xpress
Welcome aboard! Today’s path features several options for positioning and re-orienting your working models. While the features about to be discovered along this expedition are applicable to either fully-featured models or imported geometry, the main focus is on manipulating imported geometry. There are other, arguably better, methods for repositioning fully-featured geometry. Our journey begins with [...]
EPDM Tech Tip: Hyperlinking to Documents in the Vault
(Note: The links listed are meant to be examples only, and will not work unless you have a vault that mirrors the vault the links were created from.) There are times when you want to use document links. Perhaps you are sending an email to a colleague. Maybe you have a master list of specifications [...]
SolidWorks Tech Tip: Even Better than “Normal To”
Have you ever needed a custom drawing view of an odd shaped part but couldn’t figure out how to orient the model correctly? Here is a fast easy way to use “Normal To” to get the job done. First open the Part/Assembly you want the view of. Here is my part in the Isometric Orientation: [...]
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 [...]
SolidWorks Tech Tip: Showing all assembly mates between 2 parts
It’s easy to see where a single mate is located. Just mouse over an item in the Mates folder, and that mate highlights in the graphics window: What if you’re interested in seeing all the mates between two specific parts? If there are a lot of mates in the folder, the method above is hit-or-miss, [...]
SolidWorks Tech Tip: Hole Patterns Without the Hassle
So one of our recent Essentials training classes finished early because all the students had a lot of CAD experience and were quick learners, and I asked the class what else they’d like to learn beyond the curriculum. One of the questions that came up was “When I make a lot of vent holes in [...]
SolidWorks Tech Tip: Color Assigned to Features
Here’s a common problem that is hard to diagnose, and easy to solve, both for the same reason: It involves a setting in TOOLS > OPTIONS that is so infrequently used, and so little-known, that one tends to invoke it only by accident. Here’s the problem: You have several colors assigned to a part file, [...]
