SOLIDWORKS 2022 What’s New – SOLIDWORKS Plastics Cavity and Runner Layouts

In the 2022 release of SOLIDWORKS Plastics additional flexibility has been introduced related to runner layouts. Specifically, we can now create planar and cyclic symmetric runners based on sketches or solid geometry. The Symmetry boundary condition is available with SOLIDWORKS Plastics Professional and SOLIDWORKS Plastics Premium.

To demonstrate, I’ve created a Plastics project and defined the runner based on sketch entities as shown below.

Now, if I need to simulate the simultaneous filling of two cavities, I can use the new Symmetry boundary condition to mirror the setup about a plane that is coincident with the vertical sketch entity. This is a great way to simulate a family mold that has a right and left hand version.

Similarly, if I want an array of multiple cavities, I can use the new Cyclic boundary condition to create as many copies as I need.

The advantage of this new functionality in SOLIDWORKS Plastics 2022 is that I don’t have the overhead associated with solving the project for the extra cavities. As shown in the animation for the symmetric case below, I can still show the results as if I had solved for both cavities.

As noted above, these boundary conditions can also be applied to runners generated from solid geometry. Note that the solid geometry must first be cut on the symmetry plane(s). With this new functionality introduced in SOLIDWORKS Plastics 2022, injection molding simulations are even quicker while maintaining high accuracy.

I hope this part of the What’s New series gives you a better understanding of the new features and functions of SOLIDWORKS 2022. Please check back to the CATI Blog as the CATI Application Engineers will continue to break down many of the new items in SOLIDWORKS 2022. All these articles will be stored in the category of “SOLIDWORKS What’s New.”

Kurt Kurtin
Sr. Product Manager, Simulation
Computer Aided Technology

What is Design Innovation Month?

DESIGN INNOVATION MONTH 2021 – Webinars, Virtual Showroom, Contests
Design Innovation Month is CATI’s massive “What’s New in 2022” event for SOLIDWORKS, 3DEXPERIENCE, and 3D printing & 3D scanning technology.  That’s six weeks of live and on-demand webinars, demonstrations, in-depth blog posts, and prizes!  Best of all, it’s free of charge!  Check the DI Month Hub for all the details and to sign up for your next event.