Why are my views backwards!

Have you ever wondered why when you create a projected view
off of another view it seems backwards? Meaning, it should be a right view and it is the left view. What causes this is the type of projection is
set to “First Angle”. First Angle is a
European standard which sets the views opposite to what you would think they
would be.

It is a simple, quick fix to change the document you are
working on. Simply right click on the
drawing sheet and choose “Properties”. This brings up the Sheet Properties dialog box. Under “Type of Projection” change from “First
Angle” to “Third Angle”.

This will change the view back to what you are accustomed to
. The right view projection is indeed
the right view.

This will change the current document but if this happens
with every drawing that you create you will need to change the drawing
template. To change a drawing template
go to File, Open. For Files of Type choose
“Template”. This will take you to the
templates folder and select the drawing template. Follow the same steps listed at the top to
change the template from First Angle to Third Angle and save the template. This will assure that when you create a new
template, the views will come in the way you want them to.

Phil Whitaker

Technical Support

Computer Aided Technology

Modifying Sketches

When moving, scaling, rotating, or flipping sketches people get
into the habit of doing it the old AutoCad way: highlighting everything in the sketch and right mouse
button clicking the sketch to move, rotate, scale, and copy. An easier way of doing this is to use the
Modify Sketch tool. This tool is under
Tools>Sketch Tools>Modify Sketch. 

For instance, to  flip a sketch about an axis, just
place the black origin where you like to flip about and hover over the black
balls on the axis you want to flip about. Once you do that you will see the mouse buttons on the mouse icon. The right button will flip the entire sketch
about the axis. The black origin will
also snap to any location you drag and drop to. The help menu also gives you short videos so
you can pick up tips in a few seconds. To search for the instructions, just open the tool and click on the
Question mark button then click on the title bar of the Modify Sketch
window. This can be done with many of
the SolidWorks functions.

Ketul Patel

Technical Support

CATI

The Dreaded Failed to Save Document Error

I know that everyone has seen the dreaded failed to save document error and it usually comes at the worst time, like doing 4 hours of work without saving and the boss telling you that he needs the project finished before you can go home for the day.

Generally, these errors are due to some kind of minor corruption with the assembly that you are working on, or one of the assemblies parts or subassemblies, and we generally see these errors with users who are saving their files across the network.

Here are a couple of good old Redneck Work Arounds that have worked for all of us on the support line when we get that user who is all too frustrated with SolidWorks and the error messages it is giving them. I have put this in order of simplicity because as you all I know I like to try the simplest and fastest thing first.

1. Does “Save all” work?

2. Try to use Ctrl+Q to perform a force regeneration, it doesn’t look like it does much but it does more than a rebuild.

3. Do you have any configurations? If so, cycle through them, correct any errors that may pop up and try saving again. This has proven successful in more than one instance.

4. Did you just edit a part? If so, then go back to the last edited part(s) since the last save. Look through the tree for rebuild symbols/errors if there are any correct them.

5. Turn off all Add-ins whether they are SolidWorks or a 3^rd party software's, as crazy as this sounds it has actually worked.

6. Resave the assembly with a new name to a new location, if your assembly is out on the network try to save it to your Desktop.

7. Pack and go your entire assembly and all of its associated files to a new location.

8. Insert the part or assembly into a new assembly then save the new assembly. You can then reopen the problem file from within the new file and resave it.

9. Can you save any of the sub parts? (If you can save the sub level parts then the assembly save usually will update to the corrected parts, unless you were adding parts when the error occurred, or you were working on assembly features).

10. SolidWorks backup, in the System Options go in and change the options for backups so that they happen as frequently as possible. Then go into your file that was giving you the error message and make a change that requires a rebuild, such as adding a new cut or assembly feature. Then go back and check in the location specified for the back up and confirm that a new back up was created.

As with any of these suggestions confirm that any data that was recovered through an alternate save method is the most current information before scrapping the file that did not save correctly.

Hopefully after going through these suggestions you were able to save your work and did not lose any of it. If you go through this list and are still having problem as always don’t give up and start over. Call your reseller and see if they have any other tips or tricks for you.

Josh Altergott

CATI Support Team Leader

Also thanks to John Van Engen as he originally posted some of these work arounds back on 6/30/08

 

Motion
….Action….Reaction!

Machine design and mechanisms expect parts to move
with respect to one another. It would be interesting to see how parts go about
swaying, working with one another in tandem. How well they jive will depend
upon part material, what causes the motion and how are the parts connected
(bolts, springs, weld, glued etc.). Depending on how deep down the rabbit hole
you want to go SolidWorks can help with all these functions.

• Assembly
       Motion helps simulate motion of parts in
       assembly environment. Users can add virtual motors to make the parts move.
       This feature does not take into account material definition, or gravity.
       Assembly motion looks at mates defined and graphically represents motion.
       This feature is useful to create animations, test concept designs.



• Physical
       Simulation takes into account assembly mates,
       motors, springs, gravity, impact between parts, and weight of individual
       parts. Animations created here are useful since they take into account physics
       of motion.

• COSMOSMotion is
  for people who take motion seriously. This helps them to account for implied
  force, springs, dampers and friction between components, in addition to inertia,
  gravity acting on the parts. Users can calculate reaction forces, motor power
  required, torques, displacement, velocity, acceleration, x/y/z position, on all
  parts. This information can then be leveraged to check if parts can sustain under
  the motion prescribed. Obviously the solver used is computationally expensive,
  but since a machine is racking its brains users need not worry.

When
to use what?

- Use Assembly Motion to generate
animation explaining concept designs.

- Use Physical Motion to check if parts
can move as expected in Assembly motion.

- Use COSMOSMotion to design components
that make assembly motion possible. Deisgn motors, springs, dampers, size and
shape parts and optimize parts for motion.

Rajat Trehan

Product Manager – Design Validation

Computer Aided Technology Inc.

 

It's the Little Things that Matter Most: Shortcut Bars

It’s the little things that matter most. I have heard that saying many times, and I am
really starting to believe that it is true; especially when it comes to
SolidWorks. When SolidWorks puts out a
new release, there are always many powerful new tools that get added. However, there are also lots of smaller, not
as highly recognized, functionality that gets added too. In my experience with SolidWorks and SolidWorks
users, these are the items that excite users (including me!) the most. Yea sure, it is pretty cool that we can drag
geometry and see the 3D update on the fly with instant 3D - pretty
impressive. But we now have a Center
Rectangle tool! I can’t count the number
of users that I have heard get excited about that, and it is just something so
simple.  It seems strange to me that
these smaller items are some of the favorites and major time savers, but that
they tend to get missed by a majority of the users. I think it is because these tools are not as
noticeable. Regular users tend to get
stuck in a routine and don’t notice the options around them. I mentioned this in my blog last month: Copy
with Mates.  So, I want to introduce another new “smaller”
functionality that was added in 2008, that I think a lot of SolidWorks users
are not aware of – the Shortcut Bars. 

The S key on your keyboard is a hotkey to open the Shortcut Bars which were added in SolidWorks 2008.  (I have always used the S key to start a sketch, so I changed my bars to open through Tools>Customize>Keyboard>Others>Shortcut Bar.)

 

Shortcut Bars are completely customizable toolbars
that appear right next to your cursor any time you hit the S key. The intent of the bars is to minimize mouse
movement. They prevent users from constantly
returning to toolbars far away from where they are working in the graphics area,
just to get a new tool. The Shortcut
Bar is customizable in sketch mode, part mode, assembly mode, and drawing
mode. Here are the default icons you
will find on the bar for those modes respectively:

 

To customize your Shortcut Bars, get into the mode for
which you want to customize it. For
example, if you want to customize it for your sketch tools, get into a
sketch. Then simply hit the S key on
your keyboard, and it will appear next to your cursor. Right click on it and hit Customize. This will open up the Customize box and put
you on the Commands tab. Simply drag in
any icon you would like to have on the toolbar, and drag off any icon you would
like to remove. You can also change the
size of the bar while in the Customize box by dragging on the sides of the
box. 

 

Try these out for a few days. I bet you will start to see how convenient
they can be!

Leslie Lougheed
Regional Technical Manager
Computer Aided Technology, Inc.

So you thought Design Validation was difficult?

May be its
time we put design validation into perspective! How about considering it as a
mainstream tool meant for every designer? Skeptics or Analysts might argue,
assuming everyone is qualified enough, could be a dangerous proposition! Ask
them; what are the tools that a designer relies upon? Three things I believe …

1. Legacy
data available in an organization.

2. Hand
calculations.

3. Design Intuition.

While these
are very effective, is it safe enough to assume all parameters that affect a
design were considered? If the answer was positive, Design Validation as a
field would never have evolved.

Modern day
computer algorithms help us consider multiple design scenarios quickly and
efficiently.  Thus making virtual testing
a great tool, helping us save, time and money. Solid Works Simulation or COSMOS
is one such tool. Tools such as
“Analysis Advisor” guide through the process of testing. It more or less acts
as a GPS, helping us crank the most out of our conceptual designs.  So how do I use this?

 

 

Once you have
a 3D model of your design; click on COSMOS Analysis Manager Tab. Right click on
the name of part or assembly file. From the fly out tree, click on “Advisor”.
On your right hand side you will be greeted by Analysis Advisor Start
button. On the tab, it says “Analysis
Advisor can answer your questions, offer tips, and provide help for a variety
of questions specific to an analysis.

The next tab (“What
would you like to do?”), asks you questions to help guide your design
analysis. Let’s say you need help on the
type of test that needs to be run. Your
final goal is to understand, if this design would deform too much or what would
it take to break it. Go to the next tab, using the arrow keys.

Analysis
Advisor then tells you what type of conditions would lead to such a failure.
You then need to tell the software how is the component loaded? How does it
interact with other components in your design? The last tab asks you to select,
the type of material being used. By answering these questions software knows so
you are interested in.…

1. How much does the component deform?



2. What does it take to break it?



3. What material are you using?

Based on this
the software recommends a static study for your design. You can then start the process all over
again, and take help in setting up the model for a test.

So you see it
doesn’t take an expert to run a test. All you need is an understanding of how a
design interacts with its environment. That’s just common sense!

 

Rajat Trehan

Product
Manager – Design Validation

Computer
Aided Technology Inc.

Can somebody run an analysis on this part for me?

I have been asked this question the last two consecutive days, and I am sure I am not the only one. Several customer's have asked if we will do design analysis for them on a contract basis. The quick answer is no. However, we can give you the link to the SolidWorks Suppliers and Services page.

This link is from the SolidWorks website and gives a list of SolidWorks design groups and manufacturers. It allows you to search categories, areas, and contact members. It also give you the company profile, and reviews. You can even save a list of your suppliers for quick access again to the suppliers you like. You too can get added to the site if you have services to offer. It's a great site check it out.

http://www.suppliersource.com/

Also for more SolidWorks info and partners take a look at the SolidWorks communities pages where the supplier source link appears. On this page you can find info on SW education, CSWPs, SW Partners, 3D Content Central, User blogs, User groups, and Forums.

http://www.solidworks.com/sw/mechanical-engineering-online-resources.htm

Happy surfing!
John Van Engen
Applications Engineer
CSWP, CSWI, CSWST

Let It Flow...

Flow analysis for the better part of the last century was
considered more of an art than science. Aerospace needs paved the way to put
logic into art. They followed the
Olympic motto to go swifter, higher and stronger. Software companies realized
the potential and started developing algorithms that made artists out of design
engineers. The advances in the Aerospace industry are a testimony to success of flow
analysis tools. With development costs in millions, how many designs do you think
Aerospace Engineers go through? My guess is just one!

The commercial world couldn’t stay far behind. Fuel efficient
cars, energy saving light bulbs, super fast computers, gas grills, artificial
heart pumps, swim suits all took a leap forward in being swifter, higher,
stronger.

FloWorks from SolidWorks Corporation offers intelligent,
easy-to-use CFD tools for engineers. Engineers no matter how geeky they may be,
like to follow the KISS principle…..”Keep it Simple”

FloWorks has a wizard
that walks you through all the steps needed to set the problem. This is extremely
useful for expert as well as novice users. Values important to a designer can be
set as engineering goals. These may be tracked as the software is chugging
through numbers. Users can track goals or see a graphical representation of
flow as it is being solved for. Enabling qualitative, as well as quantitative
tracking.

Single window Single interface: Floworks, being a SolidWorks
product, takes advantages of parametric modeling. So any change made to 3D
geometry is reflected in flow tests. Besides, users don’t need to export
geometry to a preprocessor or solver. Pre-Processing (set geometry, boundary conditions) to Post Processing
(results) is done using SolidWorks interface.

Animations: Ability to
set analysis and run them efficiently is only half the battle. Presenting results
in a fashion that makes sense unfolds the big picture. Floworks animations are
the coolest ways to explain complex flow phenomenon.

Fellow flow enthusiasts can solve engineering problems like…

• Incompressible (liquid) and Compressible (gas)



• Ideal and Real Gas



• Subsonic, transonic and supersonic regimes



• Viscous, pure laminar and turbulent flow



• Conjugate heat transfer



• Porous media



• Non Newtonian Fluid



• Solar Radiation



• Rotating Reference Frame



• Moving walls

Rajat Trehan
Product Manager - Design Validation
Computer Aided Technology, Inc.