Have you ever noticed how disorganized all your default SolidWorks files are (document templates, sheet formats, BOM’s, cut lists, custom property templates, etc.)?  After a default installation, they are all randomly crammed into a handful of directories including but not limited to the locations listed below:

• C:\Program Files\SolidWorks\SolidWorks\data\
• C:\Program Files\SolidWorks\SolidWorks\lang\english\
• C:\ProgramData\SolidWorks\SolidWorks\

There’s something extremely dangerous about storing your customized files in directories like the ones listed above.  What happens if you upgrade?  Uninstall?  Reinstall?  Files in your ‘Program Files’ directory are not safe, so why store all your customized templates there?  How are you going to share your customized files with the rest of your co-workers?

SOLUTION:

Download and run:

This executable file will automatically extract a ‘SolidWorks Files’ directory to your C:\ drive with a host of sub-folders that mimic the list of file locations available in your system options (see image below).  I’ve already organized these folders to include all of the default 2012 template file sets.

To finish the setup, a PDF file will automatically open explaining the finishing touches that need to be completed.  Pay attention to the fact that the instructions you need to follow vary depending on whether you’re setting up the files for multiple users or just a single user.

BONUS:

You’ll also notice that I’ve included a handful of bonus files along with the file set:

• Document Templates
• Sheet Formats
• Drafting Standards
• Custom Property Tab Template
• My personal keyboard shortcuts, mouse gestures, and toolbar layout

You can read an explanation of these additional files by clicking here.

If you enjoyed this post, you might also be interested in:

• Default SolidWorks System Options Reviewed
• Mouse Gestures that Save Time

Dynamic Balancing of Machinery
When: February 7, 2-3pm EST
What: Webinar
Rotating imbalance is a common source of vibration. In this webinar you will learn how to simulate this imbalance on rotating components using SolidWorks Motion. This imbalance can be graphed out over time or cycles. Design changes can be implemented using SolidWorks configurations, and the effect of these changes can be studied by duplicating studies.
To register for this free event, Click Here.

An Introduction to the Simulation Suite in SolidWorksWhen: February 17, 10 – 11am EST
What: Webinar
Do you constantly face engineering challenges and product quality issues? Are you fighting a lot of ECOs and warrenty battles? If so, come join us on a one hour introductory presentation on how to leverage functionality within SolidWorks that have helped a lot of companies score in these areas. Learn how much traditional analysis has progressed, and how it is no longer a specialist’s forte, but a tool that every engineer should have and use.
To register for this free event, Click Here.

Surfacing – Advanced Modeling TechniquesWhen: February 21, 9 – 10am
What: Webinar
Have you already mastered the basic SolidWorks modeling tools? Are you looking to take your modeling skills to the next level? Sign up for this webinar to break down the mysterious wall of surfacing modeling and learn practical tricks that you’ll be able to utilize on a daily basis.
To register for this free event, Click Here.

Solving Valve Problems using CFDWhen: February 28, 10 – 11am EST
What: Webinar
Join us for a webinar where we explore how to build a virtual flow bench to monitor the above parameters right inside SolidWorks. Leveraging the power of configurations and easy flow setups, the audience will learn how to determine these critical values in hours without building a single prototype.
To register for this free event, Click Here.

3DVision Technologies is committed to providing engineers, designers and their design teams with the products and solutions needed to design some of the world’s greatest products. For more information on 3DVision Technologies full suite of products and solutions visit us at www.3dvision.com or call us at 1-800-745-3136.

Carrie Patrick
Marketing Manager
3DVision Technologies ]]> http://www.3dvision.com/wordpress/index.php/2012/01/26/3dvision-technologies-february-webinar-series/feed/ 0 http://www.3dvision.com/wordpress/index.php/2012/01/17/assembly-visualization-the-search-for-the-missing-file-properties/ http://www.3dvision.com/wordpress/index.php/2012/01/17/assembly-visualization-the-search-for-the-missing-file-properties/#comments Tue, 17 Jan 2012 16:15:16 +0000 Jeff Sweeney http://www.3dvision.com/wordpress/?p=4105 Releasing your drawings to the machine shop with missing information makes a machinist angrier than a baby boomer looking at a teenager that doesn’t have his pants pulled up all the way.

As we all know, looking through a large assembly, checking file properties can be a tedious task. (At least that is the excuse I always use.) I’ve found Assembly Visualization can be a great tool to quickly skim through your assembly’s components looking for missing information.

Here’s how I could use it to find any parts in my assembly without material specified:

1. Start the Visualization tool (it is either on your assembly or evaluate toolbar by default)

2. Right mouse button click on any of the headers (except “File Name”) and choose “Add Column”, or find any column with a little black arrow pointing to the right.

3. Click on that arrow and choose “More…”

4. Choose the property you want to examine. (Check it out, you could work with formula too!)

5. Now you can sort by this property by clicking on its heading and your parts with missing information will come to the top. You can quickly see I haven’t assigned a material to my “crank-knob”

Thank you for attending “Jeff Sweeney’s SolidWorks tip of the randomly selected interval” please tune in next time, at a time to be determined when I feel like it, to learn more cool SolidWorks tips and tricks.

Here is a simple example where two standard c-channel structural members come together at what could become a welded joint (left side). Notice how Simulation has automatically meshed the structural member with beam elements (right side)! In Simulation 2012, you now have the option to render the beam mesh on the structural member geometry – a welcomed enhancement!

In Simulation, the purple spheres represent the ‘joint’ where the two or more beams are connected. There are also options for each beam’s end condition –rigid connection, hinged connection, etc.

How should you handle the automated power of Simulation with weldments? I say ‘handle with care’! Let’s assume that you have one of these c-channels as a simply supported beam – fixed at one end with a load applied at the other. The standard, cantilever beam that we all know and love from our Engineering studies! Recall that the deflection of the end of the beam is calculated by the following equation:
Deflection = (F * L^3) / (3 * E * I)
Where F is the force acting at the end of the beam, L is the length of the beam, E is Young’s Modulus for the beam material and I is the Moment of Inertia for the cross section of the beam.

This is valid, assuming the beam has a uniform cross section throughout its length. What if there are holes cut through the beam? In this scenario, the cross section of the beam is not uniform throughout the length – which is a critical assumption for the deflection of a simply supported beam. In this scenario, Simulation does not recognize the holes and still meshes the structural member with a Beam element.

In my opinion, you have two options for proceeding with the analysis. The first option is to recognize that using a Bea for the structural member is not an accurate representation of the model, but proceed with the analysis to obtain a baseline result. If this particular structural member does not significantly contribute to the overall strength of the model, you may choose to proceed based on these results. The second option would be to treat the structural member as a solid body. With this method you will obtain more accurate results with your analysis, especially if the structural member contributes to the overall strength of the model.

So the next time you’re reviewing your analysis results, be sure to review the assumptions made by both you and by Simulation. Once you’ve verified that all of the assumptions are valid, or at least that you can accept them, you will be well on your way to making sound decisions based upon your Simulation results. Now go make your products better with SolidWorks Simulation!

What is Section 179?Essentially, Section 179 of the IRS tax code allows businesses to deduct the full purchase of qualifying equipment and/or software purchased of financed during the 2011 tax year. That means if you buy (or lease) a piece of qualifying equipment, you can deduct the full purchase price from your gross income.

What Software Qualifies?
For basic eligibility, software must meet all the following general specifications:
- The software must be financed or purchased outright.
- The software must be used in your business or income-producing activity.
- The software must have a determinable useful life.
- The software must be expected to last more than one year.

Section 179 does come with limits – there are caps to the total amount written off. For more specific details visit www.section179.org

The bottom line is, if you are thinking of purchasing software, now is a great time to take advantage of the tax benefits.

Carrie Patrick
Marketing Manager
3DVision Technologies ]]> http://www.3dvision.com/wordpress/index.php/2011/12/07/section-179-deduction/feed/ 0 http://www.3dvision.com/wordpress/index.php/2011/12/02/4231/ http://www.3dvision.com/wordpress/index.php/2011/12/02/4231/#comments Sat, 03 Dec 2011 02:25:04 +0000 rsimmons http://www.3dvision.com/wordpress/?p=4231 Streaming video for the entire “What’s New in SolidWorks 2012″ is available from our website!!
If you weren’t able to make it to one of our many local live events or you would like to pass it on to your colleagues to review, it is available here:

http://www.3dvision.com/video/solidworks2012/WhatsNewSolidWorks2012.html

Enjoy !

“Wait! Wait!” Everyone in the room will shout…but the damage is done. There is nothing anyone can do but roll their eyes and scowl as everyone waits for Pack and Go to finally respond again.

Ever wonder why it takes so long?

First thing to realize is that a SolidWorks part and assembly files do not know what files reference them. Like father’s day in <city name> no kids know who their daddy is. Since SolidWorks cannot ask the files where their drawings are (or even if any drawings exists), SolidWorks must look at every drawing trying to find one referencing one of the files in your Pack and Go list.

“Is one of these parts your child?” No? “Is one of these parts your child?” and the cycle continues and continues.

Certainly SolidWorks cannot look at every single drawing file in the world, how does it decide where to look?

SolidWorks will look in the following places:

1. Through all directories specified in the Referenced Documents lists in Tools, Options under System Options File Locations
2. In the same directory as the actual component itself
3. In all the directories of any other component in the list you are copying

The order above really isn’t important. If more than one drawing references the part, they are all added to the list. If the drawing is not in one of these places, Pack and Go will not add the drawing to its list.

The longer the list of directories and the more drawings in those directories, the longer it can take Pack and Go to generate your list.

What can you do to speed things up? Limit the number of directories in your File Locations list or copy your files from your PDM system, where the drawings can be looked up in a database. Looking up information in a database is a lot faster than knocking on every door in the neighborhood asking: “Is this your kid?”

Fatigue is the localized structural damage that occurs due to cyclic loading conditions. Fatigue also has cumulative effect on a structure – once damaged, always damaged. If the loads applied to the structure are high enough, microscopic cracks will appear on the surface of the part, eventually leading to a failure. Knowing the loading conditions (and, thus, the stresses that occur in the structure) and the number of expected cycles the product will see during its lifetime allows us to determine if our product is safe for the expected life of the product. If the stresses are high, the number of loading cycles the product can withstand are reduced. If the stresses are low enough, the product will have ‘infinite’ life. This stress level is usually referred to as the fatigue limit or endurance limit – a stress level that can act on the material without causing failure due to cyclic loading.

After conducting a static analysis study on the design, right-click on the Results Folder and select “Define Fatigue Check Plot”. The Fatigue Check Plot will be available if the static analysis used solid elements, shell elements or a mixed mesh with solid and shell elements. The calculations for a Fatigue Check Plot are based on an infinite number of constant amplitude cycles (loading events) acting on the product. Let’s take a look at the typical Fatigue Check Plot setup.

When creating this plot, there are several options. Under ‘Modifying factors’ the first is the loading type. You specify ‘ON/OFF’ loading, where the loads are applied and completely removed or ‘Fully reversed’ loading, where the full load is applied in nominal and reversed polarities. The second option is the Surface Finish Factor – surface finished can positively affect fatigue life (shot peening) or negatively affect fatigue life (electroplating). The third option is Loading Factor where you are specifying the loading type the material is experiencing; axial, bending, torsion, etc. The ‘Material’ section of the Fatigue Check Plot property manager allows for additional control of the results. You can enter values from 1 to 100 for ‘Scale this value’ and values from 1 to 10 for ‘Minimum safety factor’. ‘Scale this value’ multiplies the fatigue strength of the material by the scaling factor entered. ‘Minimum safety factor’ divides the fatigue strength of the material by the factor entered. Finally, what’s really nice is the preview of the results during the setup – for the (finished) plot above, we see the green check mark for the selected options and the caveat that you probably do not need to be concerned about fatigue in this design.

In this second plot, I have modified the loading conditions from ‘ON/OFF’ to ‘Fully reversed’ and obtain a warning that the design may possibly fail due to fatigue. I also receive the suggestion to run a complete Fatigue Analysis study on the design. Areas of concern on the part are shown in red on the finished plot.

So the next time you are wondering if your product will last forever, create a Fatigue Check Plot as a first step in analyzing the fatigue life of your design. If your initial results for a Fully Reversed, As Forged, Torsional Loading with a Minimum Safety Factor of 5 is in the green, take that victory lap and high-five your co-workers! Now go make your products better with SolidWorks Simulation!

Back in the summer of this year, during a SLUG meeting (SolidWorks Louisville User Group - think Louisville Slugger - the wooden bats are still made right here, believe it or not), someone asked how they might quickly transfer a part from one part template to another. So not only do you update the Units settings, for instance, but everything else saved in the desired template as well.

One of the SLUG members, Brandon Bibelhauser, came up with a solution to use ‘Insert Part’ to accomplish this. (click here to see his detailed solution) I tried this on a few sample parts and it works well. If you have experience with this, good or bad, we would love to hear about it.

I’m sharing his solution  because 1) I think it’s great and 2) to encourage you to be a part of your local SWUG chapter – not only can you walk away with swell ideas like this one, but there is always free food and prizes! Look up your local chapter here and get involved.

The “problem” that I want to address in this blog is the inability to do this in a TABLE.
When you are editing a cell in a General Table on a SolidWorks drawing, you only get the “Formatting” toolbar and not the property manager that you need to apply a border around a portion of the note.
So you just can’t do it, right ?

Here is the workaround…
Somewhere else on the drawing make a NOTE, and place the borders as you would like them to look in the table. While you are still editing the note, select all the text, and do a CTRL+C (copy), then to edit a cell of the table and CTRL+V (paste). There you go !!

You can of course go back and delete the note you had to make to get this. The text in the cell of the table IS editable, just don’t delete the portion with the border or you will have to do the note trick over again to get it back.

This is a LOT easier than trying to make a “custom symbol” in your symbol library…