Flow Simulation provides functional and innovative enhancements. 2021 is no different. These are the top enhancements in Flow Simulation 2021. Free Surface – Sliding Mesh combination Free Surface is the ability to analyze two immiscible fluids such as but not limited to air and water, or oil and water. Free Surface helps analyze partially filled tanks, fluid surface interaction with an object. Think hull of a boat and other examples. Sliding Mesh is the ability to rotate geometry in order […]
All the new features I talk about in this article are available in 2021 SOLIDWORKS CAM Standard and Pro. Along with all license packages of CAMWorks 2021 as well. Additional Stock Types Available in Stock Manager Before SOLIDWORKS CAM 2021, there was not an easy way to define stock as a cylindrical shape for programming mill parts. Now in SOLIDWORKS CAM 2021, you can easily define the stock material by the part Bounding Box by a cylindrical shape for mill […]
SOLIDWORKS 2021 introduces a new way to control the “Distance” and “Distance Linkage” Pitch Methods in the Chain Component Pattern command. In the updated PropertyManager, you can define whether you want the spacing between components to be measured along the path or along a straight line connecting the components. These two conditions are referred to as “Distance along path” and “Linear distance,” respectively, as seen in the image below. In past versions of SOLIDWORKS, users lacked the ability to specify […]
If you have read through the What’s New document for SOLIDWORKS 2021, I am sure you noticed the many updates and improvements listed for SOLIDWORKS Simulation. Blog title aside, if you think this is only about terminology changes, think again! I can assure you nomenclature is only a part of what I will describe for SOLIDWORKS Simulation 2021. If you want to know more about this topic, start with my colleague Matt Sherak’s blog Understanding Contact Hierarchy in SOLIDWORKS Simulation. […]
SolidWorks files can be easily opened directly from Window’s Explorer. However, with multiple versions of SolidWorks on a single computer, the file sometimes will not open in the version you want. By restoring file associations within the System Options, this can easily be fixed. Instead of opening the files into a SolidWorks version that is incorrect, it will bring up the “SolidWorks Launcher” which allows you to choose which version of SolidWorks to open. Keep in mind, if you have […]
Corrupted SOLIDWORKS Files Chances are, if you’re reading this blog, you’re dealing with a possible corrupted SOLIDWORKS file and you’re wondering why this happened and what you can do to fix it. First off, lets cover some of the reasons files get corrupted and how you can avoid these in the future. Power Outage While uncommon, a power outage or even power surge can cause all sorts of issues with all software and hardware. SOLIDWORKS is no exception, if you […]
If you are a user of SOLIDWORKS Composer, you know it is great at allowing us to focus the attention to a specific piece of geometry to tell our story. The many tools to control geometry color, transparency, position, camera orientation, and various types of annotations give us tons of flexibility. All this great functionality is covered in detail in our SOLIDWORKS Composer training. Even with training, some of the subtle options are easy to miss. The image below is […]
When creating assemblies in SOLIDWORKS, the Smart Fastener Feature can be a huge help to designers. When the Hole Wizard Feature is used in an assembly, just simply click the Hole feature and Smart Fasteners will populate hardware automatically, including options for a Top and/or Bottom Stack of washers and nuts. The hardware comes from the SOLIDWORKS Toolbox. Toolbox is in SOLIDWORKS Professional and Premium packages. Let’s explore this feature. Here is an assembly with 4 Countersunk holes added as […]
You sure can! It is easy. Understanding the symbol code (<MOD-DIA> = Ø) and Variables (<hw-diam> = Diameter, is the hard part. First, what is a Hole Callout? Hole Callout is information from the Hole Wizard or circular extrude cut. Such as description, diameter size, depth, quantity. You get the gist. I always use the Hole Wizard, even if it is just a hole. That way you do not have to manually enter the quantity. The default format file for […]
It is a very frustrating time when you want to open a file in SolidWorks and the program crashes. Luckily, I believe to have pinpointed why this issue occurs and how to prevent it. It seems to be exclusive to non-native SolidWorks files such as STEP files but could happen to native SolidWorks files as well. The crash seems to occur when files are dragged straight out of Outlook or other programs directly into Window’s Explorer. The reasoning for this […]