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 […]

Result Comparison Tools in SOLIDWORKS Simulation and Flow Simulation

April 10, 2018 by Kurt Kurtin

Do you need an easy way to compare results when running multiple studies in SOLIDWORKS Simulation or multiple projects in SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation? Both programs have great functionality for this. I’ll show you how to access each in this Simulation blog. Let’s look at SOLIDWORKS Simulation first. Introduced in the 2014 release, the “Compare Results” tool allows a side-by-side look at up to four result plots associated with different configurations of the same model. The disk spring shown below is […]

A Tropical Fish and SOLIDWORKS Simulation Meshing – What’s a fish got to do with FEA?

February 20, 2018 by Kurt Kurtin

A Tropical Fish and SOLIDWORKS Simulation Meshing – What’s a fish got to do with FEA? The Bluehead Fairy Wrasse, a tropical fish native to the western Atlantic Ocean, can be found near coral reefs in schools feeding on small organisms, acting as a cleanup crew for the reef. ( ref. Bluehead Wrasse – Wikipedia). I’ve enlisted the wrasse’s help in describing the importance of good meshing practices in SOLIDWORKS Simulation. As you will see, it’s all about the details […]

SOLIDWORKS Simulation Report Generation

February 1, 2018 by Kurt Kurtin

SOLIDWORKS Simulation Report Generation Need to quickly organize and publish results from SOLIDWORKS Simulation? Make use of the program’s report generation functionality, which publishes the information directly to Microsoft Word. First, set up the template to be used for all subsequent reports via the Simulation Options window, accessed via the Simulation pull down menu. There are unique templates for each study type. Sections are selected and edited during the report setup. You can uncheck the boxes that typically aren’t needed […]