SOLIDWORKS 2020 What’s New – Plastics Material Updates Summary and 3D Content Central

October 21, 2019 by Kurt Kurtin

There are several exciting changes to the SOLIDWORKS Plastics program for the 2020 release that will increase ease of use. A couple that I want to highlight are related to the database of polymer materials. First, a couple of vendors, specifically Chevron Phillips and RadiciGroup, have added 29 materials to the installed database. These are shown below. Also, 13 obsolete material grades from EMS-Grivory have been removed from the database. Second, 3D Content Central now has a library of polymer […]

SOLIDWORKS 2020 What’s New – Draft and High Quality Mesh Definition

September 26, 2019 by Kurt Kurtin

In the search for faster and more efficient simulations, SOLIDWORKS Simulation 2020 introduces new meshing functionality for linear static studies that is sure to help. We can now mix draft and high quality solid element meshes in the same study. Individual bodies can be meshed with either formulation to help reduce the total degree of freedom (DOF) count, resulting in quicker solutions. If you aren’t familiar with the concept, here’s a brief overview. Tetrahedral-shaped elements are formed when you mesh […]

SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation: Calculation of Hydrostatic Pressure

September 10, 2019 by Kurt Kurtin

If you are an experienced SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation user, chances are you’ve turned on the “Gravity” setting to account for buoyancy effects that exist when a fluid’s density changes with temperature. This is a very commonly used feature of the program. Buoyancy is an amazing physics principle that allowed the Montgolfier brothers to make the historic first “lighter than air” flight in Paris in 1783. One thing you may not be aware of is that when the gravity feature is […]

Bike Component Design with Remote Loads in SOLIDWORKS Simulation

August 6, 2019 by Kurt Kurtin

Do you perform analyses of assemblies in SOLIDWORKS Simulation that incorporate off-the-shelf components? We can usually exclude such items in the analysis, since they are typically rated for a certain load limit. I love cycling, so I’ll use the design of a bicycle drive system to demonstrate the use of Simulation’s remote load feature. The system consists of a pedal and crank arm on either side of the bike frame’s bottom bracket and one or more chain rings on the […]

Beam Diagrams in SOLIDWORKS Simulation

July 9, 2019 by Kurt Kurtin

Are you aware that you can produce beam shear and bending moment diagrams in SOLIDWORKS Simulation? This useful plot type allows for quick visualization of these results along the entire length of a beam. I’ll show you the functionality using a classic example from any Civil Engineering text on strength of materials, the case of a simply supported beam of length “L” with a centered load “P” applied at the center of the span. In the analytical solution for shear […]

Flow Simulation: Computational Domain Editing Part 2 – Periodicity

June 19, 2019 by Kurt Kurtin

In Part 1 of this blog series, I covered the SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation computational domain symmetry condition setting to reduce the size of the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) problem to be solved. The result is a decreased solution time and required computer memory. This blog will show how another computational domain condition, periodicity, can be used in those situations where you have a pattern of identical components in the flow field. I’ll continue to use the Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk stealth […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]