$C:\Users\KURTKU~1\AppData\Local\Temp\SNAGHTML1ddffbe9.PNG$

Flow Simulation: Computational Domain Editing Part 1 – Symmetry

May 14, 2019 by Kurt Kurtin

As with any engineering analysis project, efficiency is very important. If you use SOLIDWORKS Simulation for your structural finite element analyses (FEA) studies, you are probably familiar with the symmetry boundary condition, which greatly reduces the size of the problem and the time to solve it. Flow Simulation has a similar capability, and it is just as important to leverage this functionality because the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method in use with Flow can take a while to solve for […]

$C:\Users\KURTKU~1\AppData\Local\Temp\SNAGHTML6bf544.PNG$

Simulation Verification – How Accurate are My Results?

April 9, 2019 by Kurt Kurtin

Do you need to provide documentation about the accuracy of the Simulation program to support a Quality Assurance (QA) process in your company? Or have you ever asked yourself; “How do I know I’m getting accurate results?” No need to guess or worry, the SOLIDWORKS Simulation team has provided verification problems with comparison to theory to support this need. To access the full list of these problems and open the model files associated with each, navigate within SOLIDWORKS to the […]

$C:\Users\Kurt Kurtin\AppData\Local\TechSmith\SnagIt\DataStore\9A0380DB-E051-43F9-B0F0-0F19F390A6DA.GIF$

Simulation Studies without Solid or Surface Geometry. Wait, what?

March 5, 2019 by Kurt Kurtin

Take a look at the screen shot below. What do you see? If you said “Nothing!” you’d be partially correct. There are no solid or surface geometry features in this SOLIDWORKS part file. The only thing in the feature manager tree is a single sketch. Now, take a closer look at the tabs along the lower edge. Notice that there is a Simulation study tab, so there’s more here than meets the eye! Although a bit confusing at first, the […]

SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation Add-on Module Benefits – HVAC Part 1

January 29, 2019 by Kurt Kurtin

SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation is a powerful computational fluid dynamics (CFD) tool. Two separately purchased add-on modules geared to the electronics and HVAC industries significantly enhance the program’s capabilities through functional and engineering database library additions. The focus of this blog is on one of the many tools added in the HVAC module – the effect of radiation absorption in transparent materials. To demonstrate, here is a room with 3 windows, an overhead HVAC vent and an open door. It is […]

SOLIDWORKS Plastics – Cooling Analysis Basics

December 1, 2018 by Kurt Kurtin

If you are in the business of designing plastic parts, you are probably well aware of the multistep injection molding process. SOLIDWORKS Plastics can simulate this process. Three different offerings (Standard – Professional – Premium) allow increasing levels of functionality. All of them can simulate the plastic injection flow stage; Plastics Professional adds the pack stage, and other capabilities and Plastics Premium includes the calculations related to the cool and warp stages. One thing you might not know about this simulation […]

SOLIDWORKS Motion Joint Forces

November 12, 2018 by Kurt Kurtin

Simulation tools are meant to recreate reality but sometimes this is easier said than done! If you don’t accurately capture real world behavior in your setup, you will likely miss an important part of the solution or get results that are highly inaccurate. This can be the case for SOLIDWORKS Motion joint forces. In construction industry excavators, dual hydraulic actuators are sometimes used to support high loads and distribute them through the main structure, as for the main boom shown […]

SOLIDWORKS 2019 What’s New – Flow Simulation – #SW2019

October 26, 2018 by Kurt Kurtin

For the SOLIDWORKS 2019 release, you’ll find changes in Flow Simulation related to pre- and post-processing functionality that should make analysis of your designs quicker and easier. Let’s see what’s new for Flow! Associate Goals with Boundary Conditions (BCs): We sometimes find it necessary to add a goal associated with a boundary condition to help with solution convergence and allow monitoring the solution progress. This has previously required a separate step but is now available during the boundary condition definition. […]

SOLIDWORKS Simulation: Nonuniform Force and Pressure Loading in Spherical Coordinate Systems

August 14, 2018 by Kurt Kurtin

In previous posts “SOLIDWORKS Simulation – Nonuniform Force and Pressure Loading“, and “SOLIDWORKS Simulation: Nonuniform Force and Pressure Loading in Cylindrical Coordinate Systems” I showed how to apply boundary conditions based on Cartesian and cylindrical coordinate systems (CS). I varied the water pressure with depth on the walls of an aquarium in the first post. In the second, I varied the wind load on a horizontal storage tank. Let’s now look at nonuniform pressure loading using the third option, a […]

SOLIDWOKS Simulation: Nonuniform Force and Pressure Loading in Cylindrical Coordinate Systems

July 3, 2018 by Kurt Kurtin

In a previous post “SOLIDWOKS Simulation – Nonuniform Force and Pressure Loading“, I showed how to apply a nonuniform pressure boundary condition to analyze the integrity of the glass walls of an aquarium. We varied the water pressure with depth by referencing a rectangular coordinate system (CS). Let’s look at nonuniform pressure loading using the second option for nonuniformity, a cylindrical CS. We’ll examine the steel horizontal storage tank shown below (approximately 4 ft. diameter by 12 ft. long) exposed […]

SOLIDWOKS Simulation – Nonuniform Force and Pressure Loading

May 22, 2018 by Kurt Kurtin

In a blog post from February, I enlisted the help of the Bluehead Fairy Wrasse to describe the importance of good meshing practices in SOLIDWORKS Simulation. Now we’ll check the integrity of her new home, a 29-gallon aquarium, using the nonuniform pressure load available in SOLIDWORKS Simulation to make sure the tank can withstand the stress of the water pressure. As you know, fluid pressure varies with depth, so using the default constant pressure would generate an unrealistic load. Figure […]