Have you ever received an STL file from a customer or colleague and been asked to work with it in SOLIDWORKS? Or have you ever received data from a 3D scanner? If so, then you have probably been left wondering, "How do I work on this in SOLIDWORKS and why can I not use my regular tools and features?" In today’s article, we are going to look at three different tool sets that can be used to work with mesh data.
With SOLIDWORKS Simulation Professional, one of the many study types available is Topology Optimization. The Topology study is a nonparametric optimization of parts utilizing specific goals, manufacturing constraints and all applied loads and fixtures. These studies provide amazing insight into how forces and other loading conditions are most efficiently supported by their fixtures. They can show how to reduce the mass of a part while maintaining stiffness or fulfilling design requirements, such as keeping displacement below a specified value or keeping factor of safety above a certain level. But when all is said and done, how do you utilize the results obtained?
In recent years, SOLIDWORKS Simulation Professional added a brand new study called Topology. If you have ever taken a look at the Topology study in SOLIDWORKS Simulation Professional, you may have been excited about its ability to create optimized shapes by removing material from a part. This helps reduce weight while maintaining material in critical areas needed to meet design requirements. In this post, we'll cover how the Load Case Manager available for Topology and Static studies in SOLIDWORKS Simulation Professional can allow you to optimize a shape for multiple loading conditions.
Planetary gearing is a compact alternative to standard pinion-and-gear reducers and is used in a wide variety of applications to provide high torque. We are going to go over the setup of a planetary gear assembly in SOLIDWORKS that will allow us to demonstrate the motion of the three drive types of this system.
With each annual release, SOLIDWORKS looks to streamline their tools to make the designer more productive. One of the most commonly used tools is the Measure Tool! We can use it to measure the lengths of edges, determine the distance between planes and surfaces, and even calculate the surface area, among many other applications. Now in SOLIDWORKS 2019, the Measure Tool is available for all SOLIDWORKS for the part, assembly, and drawing files. You can use the tool even while other tools are running.
