Change Drawings to Reference New Models.

Here’s a scenario that comes up quite often that should be shared with all. A person is about to try out a design change, they open the part and/or assembly models, and make some good idea changes. The models show us it’s going to work just fine. So update the drawing and get that out to the people who can make it a reality. Then reality sets in, you have an “Original” model(s) and “Original” drawing(s) and they are linked and update smartly. So how can you take this “Original” drawing and get it to reference this “New Idea” model without having to recreate the whole thing from scratch? That’s where this tip comes in.

First, make sure you save you “New Idea” model. That’s real important to get that committed to the disk.

Second, do a File, Open and browse to the “Original” drawing – but don’t open it! This would take you down a dead end and show you the “Original” model. We already know what that looks like so we don’t need to see that right now. However, the File, Open dialog will show a new button “References” once the “Original” drawing file is selected.

You’ll want to pick that “References” button. A window will pop up showing you what the “Original” drawing was about to open, reference and show geometry and dimensions from.

From this window, double click on the model file name. This will bring up a browsing window. Browse to your “New Idea” model and select it. (Note: You must continue, do not stop at this point, nothing is changed yet!)

Now open your “Original” drawing and it will reference/open your “New Idea” model. Dimensions to the same geometry should update. Dimensions and annotations to deleted items will go dangling and new features will need their dimensions imported as desired.

Final step – SAVE AS! If you don’t save or save as, nothing has happened to the drawing file for it to remember the “New Idea” model.

Note: There are other ways to accomplish this task. Even in other tools like SolidWorks Explorer, however the above steps allow a more visual method of seeing and believing.

Also: It’s best to take the “Original” model and do a save as to have a “New Idea” model to work with rather than starting from scratch so that the internal ID’s of the files will match and afford a smoother update of dimensions and replacement with mate reattachment in assemblies.

Enjoy!

Objet 3D printing helps doctors provide medical treatment for children

Join Objet Geometries and Dr. Mike North of Miracle Feet for a webinar discussing how Miracle Feet utilized Objet's Connex 3D printer to help create corrective braces for children with clubfoot. Rapid prototyping with the Connex 3D Printer played a big role in developing the optimal brace design. There are currently 1 million untreated cases of clubfoot in the world -- 175,000 new cases a year -- with limited affordable solutions.

Date and Time
Thursday, June 16, 2011
1:00pm Central Time

>Register for the Webcast

• Learn about challenges of designing a brace that is universally adaptable yet low cost.


• How prototyping helped Dr. North overcome these design challenges leveraging Objet’s Connex 3D Printer


• Hear how past prototype design projects helped Dr. North determine the correct solution for the brace


• Other advancements in prototyping

>Register for the Webcast

 

Jim TeDesco
Marketing
Computer Aided Technology, Inc.

Why choose a workstation for SolidWorks?

From time to time we will see users who come to us with complaints of instability and poor performance. After a little investigation we find that the customers have purchased a non-workstation PC. Some of them will try to remedy this by swapping out the video card and viola! They now have a workstation... no, not quite... I have pulled some information from the Dell website, similar information is likely available through your preferred computer vendor as well. In addition this is just the tip of the iceberg if you want to really start looking into machine differences.

Basic guideline: Below is a link to the workstation adviser. A neat little tool but kind of skimpy on RAM, how much you add is up to you but SolidWorks is recommending 6GB. The interesting part is it tailors to the application by name, so you will know they are on the right path.

 http://advisors.dell.com/advisorweb/Advisor.aspx?advisor=6eb02850-6fea-4d68-b859-bd5fbc70d44a-00d004

 White sheet link on workstation performance:

 http://i.dell.com/sites/content/business/smb/sb360/en/Documents/wp-workstation-productivity.pdf

 

John Van Engen

CATI Tech Support

Sweep Solid vs. Sweep Thin.

Thin sweep features can be a little deceiving.  A swept thin does not behave the same as an extruded thin. With an extruded thin, you can have open contours in the sketch. With a swept thin, the profile must remain closed. 

Note: For all these examples, the “pink” sketch will be used as the path, the “green” as the profile.

This first example might be what you would expect a swept thin to be used for. 

 
With the sketches set up something like so...

 
Unfortunately, this is not the case.

 

 

 

In order to create a sweep like this, the profile must be closed...

 

So what is a swept thin used for?  Basically, it is nothing more than a shell.  It just happens to be built into the sweep feature.

  Solid Sweep...                           Thin Sweep...

 

 

 

Nathan Brunner, CSWP

Technical Analyst

Computer Aided Technology, Inc.

 

 

 

Objet 3D Printing at the RAPID Conference and Tradeshow

Don't miss Objet at this week's RAPID show.  Stop by booth #104 to see the Objet24, Eden260V, and the Connex350 3D printers in action. 

Check out the Objet Blog for more information.
http://www.objetblog.com/2011/05/23/objet-to-demonstrate-unique-multi-material-3d-printing-applications-at-rapid/

RAPID 2011 Conference and Exhibition
Hyatt Regency Minneapolis
Minneapolis MN USA
May 23, 2011 to  May 26, 2011

"The RAPID Conference and Tradeshow is North America's Definitive Additive Manufacturing Event."

 

You sketch like a girl

This past week, CATI participated in a National Movement called "Introduce a Girl to Engineering." For the past 10 years, US universities, commercial companies, and volunteer organizations have, through individual efforts, attempted to introduce engineering concepts to young women in order to educate them regarding a career in our field.

I am proud to say that I took part in bringing 17 seventh and eighth grade young ladies from Jane Addams Junior High in Schaumburg, IL to our corporate office and provided them a hands-on session with SolidWorks. The session was run by Courtney Freeland, a member of the CATI Technical Team, a mechanical engineer from Purdue University, and a member of the Society of Women Engineers.

None of these young ladies had ever touched CAD, but all of them participate in the GEMS (Girls Excelling in Math and Science) at school, and all volunteered to try their hand at creating 3D geometry.

I am proud to say that each student, after a short lesson, was able to sketch a simple shape, extrude it in to a 3D model, and assign materials and textures. They also learned about 3D printing, and each took home a representative model from our Objet 30 printer.

Having never touched SolidWorks myself, I found myself paying attention and even helping the students when they got stuck. It appears that, after 7 years of telling people that SolidWorks is easy to use, I was finally able to verify it personally.

The coolest part of the day was working with my daughter, Morgan, on her model. She stayed behind after the other girls went back to school to catch the last bus and worked on her model further. She created fillets on sharp edges and created a dome feature on one of the faces, then applied a shell and played with the thickness. I was amazed how much she was able to pick up by herself and how easily she understood her mistakes when she asked for help from one of our Tech Support team.

I would like to encourage all of CATI's customers to get involved in this important movement. Feel free to contact me if you require additional information.

How to do an offset cut that crosses multiple faces

 
Rebuild Errors: "The end face cannot terminate the extruded feature"

 

In the extrude boss (adding material) and cut you have two a very powerful “end conditions” (what makes the extrusion stop)  they are “up to surface” and “offset from surface”.  Features go up to a selected face or SURFACE!!! and stop. The limitation is that you can only select one “face” on the model. So how can I make this happen you say? Well my friend it’s not a Redneck Workaround but we will call it one. YOU USE A SURFACE!!!

 
A surface by SolidWorks definition can be multiple faces knitted together. Let’s try to copy all those faces into a single knit surface. Where is the command? It’s actually the offset surface command. Change the offset amount to zero and the command is now the copy surface.

 
 
Download Offset cut

 Now fire up the extrude command change to offset or up to surface, select your surface, and enjoy.

 Bob McGaughey,CSWE

CATI Tech Staff

The Latest and the Greatest offerings in 3DVIA Composer.

3DVIA Composer allows you to dramatically reduce the time it takes to create and update product and manufacturing documentation.  Join this informative webinar to see the latest features and offerings from this revolutionary software package.  We will be focusing on new features in the latest version as well as an overview of the full offering.

When:
May 20th, 2011
2pm Central Time

>Register Today!

Enjoy the webcast.

 

Jim TeDesco
Marketing Coordinator
Computer Aided Technology, Inc

Fixing Floating Command Manager

As you are working at full speed you notice that after the last command you used from the Command Manager, it appears it has become undocked. No problem just like all other toolbars we can just slide it back where it should be and it will just snap into place right? Wrong… SolidWorks Command Manager is often and easily pulled out of position but it may not be obvious how to dock it again. SolidWorks has created a simple method of docking (like the normal method was difficult). It may not be noticeable since most of us will naturally look towards the upper left corner where we expect it to be docked. However that is not where the control is, rather it’s in the middle of each edge of the screen you will see an arrow pointing to the side it will be docking the Command Manager.

 

 

Make sure when dragging the toolbar to move the cursor arrow over this arrow then drop the Command Manager. Presto!

John Van Engen

CATI Tech Support

5 Challenges All Design Teams Face - Webinar

Design teams today are faced with very similar challenges, regardless of what products they make. In this webinar:

• Find out if you have the same challenges as other design teams


• Discover what others are doing to overcome their challenges


• Learn about tools and strategies for managers that help their team succeed

Register for one of the upcoming webinars, and put resources into the hands of those who need them!

Webinar Times:
Thursday May 19 - 11am CT
Tuesday May 24 - 2pm CT

>Register

Enjoy the Webinar!

 

Jim TeDesco
Marketing Coordinator
Computer Aided Technology, Inc.

N!Fuse, SolidWorks Newest Data Management Solution - Webinar

Please join us as we introduce this cloud-based file sharing solution which is completely integrated with SolidWorks software can assist you with managing your files.

When:
May 20th, 2011
1pm Central Time

>Register Here

 

Jim TeDesco
Marketing Coordinator
Computer Aided Technology, Inc.

Objet 3D printing for Moldmaking and Rapid Prototyping

I came across this great article from Moldmaking Technology discussing the application of Objet's 3D printers for rapid prototyping in the Moldmaking industry. Click the link below for the full article and to learn more about how Radio Flyer ultizes Objet 3D printing technology in their designs.

Here is the Link:
http://www.moldmakingtechnology.com/articles/3-d-printing-provides-new-options-for-prototyping-moldmaking

 

Jim TeDesco
Marketing Coordinator
Computer Aided Technology, Inc.

New HVAC SolidWorks Flow Simulation add-on

When designing HVAC systems, knowing thermal values is not really enough.  Come see how the new HVAC module within our Flow Simulation tool can help engineers create an environment where every person can live in thermal comfort. 

Join the SolidWorks technical team for a complimentary webinar introducing the NEW HVAC Flow Simulation Module.

When:
May 20th, 2011
12pm Central Time

> Register Today!

Enjoy the webcast!

 

Jim TeDesco
Marketing Coordinator
Computer Aided Technology, Inc.

Create a SolidWorks Customer Portal Account and Win an iPad

Register for a SolidWorks Customer Portal account by May 22, if you want a chance to win one of 5 iPads and Ar.Drones*.

Register here

The Customer Portal provides you with tremendous value, and gives you 24/7 online access to vital information and resources, including:

• The latest versions of SolidWorks software and Service Pack updates


• The Knowledge Base - a wide range of technical documents and resources


• A complete view of SRs (Service Requests) and SPRs (bugs)


• Enhancement request privileges to help impact future releases


• The ability to participate in a wide range of discussion forums


• Registration of software licenses


• The ability to review license and Subscription Service information


• The capability to edit your Customer Profile

When you have registered for a Customer Portal account, you will also become eligible to participate in our annual customer survey, giving you a voice to provide valuable feedback. We hope that you will be willing to help us better understand your perception of our products and services, as it is very important for us to make sure that we always deliver the best possible service to you.

Register here

*New and existing Customer Portal Account holders are eligible after completing the quiz in our contest, which will be available in the SolidWorks News section of the Customer Portal home page. Look for the note about the contest.

Introducing DraftSight Webinar - Free 2D CAD Tool

Please join the SolidWorks technical team for a complimentary webcast.

Learn about a new FREE 2D CAD product that provides professional CAD users, students and educators with a great  way to create, edit and view DWG files as well as the tools in SolidWorks that help you automate the process of migrating your 2D information into 3D Designs!

When:
Friday May 20th, 2011
11am Central Time

>Register

Enjoy the Webcast!

 

Jim TeDesco
Marketing Coordinator
Computer Aided Technology, Inc.

Try SolidWorks Simulation Free For 30 Days

Here's how it works:
To help demonstrate the value of Simulation Professional, Solidworks will be hosting introductory customer webinars focused on the Value and ROI of Simulation Professional. Sharing examples of how a company can recover their complete investment of Simulation Professional in one use.

Friday, May 13, 2011
10:00 AM - 11:15 AM CDT
Register now

Friday, May 27, 2011
10:00 AM - 11:15 AM CDT
Register now

So what are the requirements to get your Evaluation?

• You must currently use SolidWorks version 2009 or higher.


• Register and attend just one of the webinars.


• After the webinar, you’ll receive an access code to take advantage of your 30 day trial of one of the most comprehensive design analysis tools available.

To enhance your experience even further, you will also be given access to a simulation support portal and live technical support via Q&A webcasts and E-mail throughout the trial.

Register Today - There are only 2 chances to take advantage of this offer!

 

Jim TeDesco
Marketing
Computer Aided Technology, Inc.

Check Your Graphics Driver

      Being on support I would say that somewhere between 75% and 90% of the calls that come in are graphics driver related. Remember that even if you bought a big brand new machine from Dell it is probably loaded with the wrong driver from the factory. Just because it is new does not mean its correct or certified. So to save some time in your busy day go ahead and check this link periodically to make sure you have the correct driver for your system. VIDEO DRIVER

    Remember that the manufacture driver always trumps the video card driver. So fill in the boxes and get the one for your machine.

 

Todd Werginz

Technical Analyst

Computer Aided Technology

Solidworks Sustainability and ISO 14000 certification

ISO 14000 addresses various aspects of environmental management. The standards, ISO 14001:2004 and ISO 14004:2004 deal with environmental management systems (EMS).

ISO 14004:2004 provides guidelines on the elements of an environmental management system and its implementation, and discusses principal issues involved.

ISO 14001:2004 specifies the requirements for such an environmental management system. Fulfilling these requirements demands objective evidence which can be audited to demonstrate that the environmental management system is operating effectively in conformity to the standard.

An EMS meeting the requirements of ISO 14001:2004 is a management tool enabling an organization of any size or type to

-          Identify and control the environmental impact of its activities, products or services, and to

-          Improve its environmental performance continually, and to

-          Implement a systematic approach to setting environmental objectives and targets, to achieving these and to demonstrating that they have been achieved.

How can Solidworks Sustainability help?

SolidWorks Sustainability evaluates the environmental impact of a design throughout the life cycle of a product.  A user can compare results from different designs to ensure a sustainable solution for product and environment.  By integrating Life Cycle Assessment into design process, a user can see how decisions about material, manufacturing and location (where the parts are manufactured and where they are used) influence a design’s environmental impact.  Solidworks Sustainability distills the results into environmental impact factors, which it measures and totals in terms of Carbon Emissions, Energy Consumed, Air Acidification and Water Eutrophication.

The objective behind ISO 14001:2004 is to assure management and stake holders on environmental issues, comply with regulations, support an organizations environmental policy, and actions. Because ISO 14001:2004 does not lay down levels of environmental performance, the standard can be implemented by a wide variety of organizations. SolidWorks Sustainability can provide a framework to demonstrate conformity. SolidWorks Sustainability can help support an organizations claims and communications on their environmental initiatives.

Rajat Trehan

Product Manager – Design Validation

Computer Aided Technology Inc.

Mates and Flexible Sub-Assemblies (MSWP #10)

This article continues our Maximizing SolidWorks Performance series.  If you would like a little background information please refer to the first article in the series Maximizing SolidWorks Performance (Results).

Many SolidWorks users have never been shown the importance of mating methodology when working with large assemblies.  An Assemblies structure can make a significant difference in the performance of an assembly large or small.  These difference in performance is generally much more pronounced in a large assembly due to its shear size. 

The models that we used for our base line had a large number of top level mates and flexible sub-assemblies.  When SolidWorks brings up an assembly it has to solve all the mates that are at the top level.  This includes any mates at the sub-assembly level that are part of a flexible assembly at the top level.  The results of structuring the assembly to reduce the top level mates by creating more sub assemblies and turning off the flexible sub assemblies is impressive.

  
Results: 

• Opens 11% faster saving ~4 1/2 mins


• Rotations 34% faster saving ~ 10 1/2 mins


• Modeling 52% faster saving ~37 1/2 mins


• Closes 18% faster saving ~ 10 mins

As we continue through this series of articles I think you will find that modeling methodology and best practises far out strips hardware improvement for potential performance increases.  Having the best hardware possible does nothing for you if you don't use strong modeling techniques and use them consistently.

Adrian Fanjoy

Technical Services Director

Computer Aided Technology, Inc.

 

Fatigue Analysis of a Landing Gear using SolidWorks Simulation

It is observed that repeated loading and unloading weakens objects over time even when the induced stresses are considerably less than the allowable stress limits. This phenomenon is known as fatigue. Each cycle of stress fluctuation weakens the object to some extent. After a number of cycles, the object becomes so weak that it fails. Fatigue is the prime cause of the failure of many objects, especially those made of metals. Examples of failure due to fatigue include, rotating machinery, bolts, airplane wings, consumer products, offshore platforms, ships, vehicle axles, bridges, and bones.

Linear and nonlinear structural studies do not predict failure due to fatigue. They calculate the response of a design subjected to a specified environment of loads and restraints. If the calculated stresses are within the allowable limits, they conclude the design is safe in this environment regardless of how many times the load is applied.

Failure due to fatigue occurs in three stages:

Stage 1: One or more cracks develop in the material. Cracks can develop anywhere in the material but usually occur on the boundary faces due to higher stress fluctuations. Cracks can occur due to many reasons. Imperfections in microscopic structure of materials and surface scratches caused by tooling or handling are some of them.

Stage 2: Some or all cracks grow as a result of continued loading.

Stage 3: The ability of design to withstand applied loads continue to deteriorate until failure occurs.

Since Fatigue cracks start (typically) on the surface of a material. Strengthening the surfaces of the model increases life of model under fatigue events.

Using SolidWorks Simulation user can study the effect of a single load. In this case we study landing gear mechanism.  Note the wheels are not modeled. A total bearing force of 6000 lbs is applied to the faces that connect the wheel to the axle.

 

S N Curve or Alternating stress versus number of cycles required to cause failure at a given stress ratio is required to define material failure due to fatigue. A SN curve is based on stress ration or mean stress. The software uses linear interpolation to extract data when you define multiple SN curves for a material. A typical SN curve is shown in figure below

 

SolidWorks Simulation enables users to define different types of fatigue events: constant amplitude and variable amplitude.

Constant Amplitude Events

All cycles of a constant amplitude event have the same alternating and mean stresses. A constant amplitude fatigue event is fully defined by an alternating stress, mean stress (or stress ratio), and the number of cycles. A fatigue event can refer to one or more static studies, or to a particular solution step from nonlinear or modal time history dynamic studies. The software calculates the worst alternating stress levels for each event.

Variable Amplitude Events

A variable amplitude fatigue event is a load history record that defines the fluctuation history of load. The time values do not play any role for fatigue studies with a single variable amplitude event. In this case, it is adequate to define the amplitude sequence.

Fatigue results

SolidWorks Simulation gages fatigue on two parameters

 
Damage factor indicate the specified event consumes x% of the life. The maximum damage show 0.016% The damage plot shows that the axle is likely to fail due to fatigue failure after 1/(max damage) = 1 / 1.6 x 10^-4 = 6,238 blocks (repeats) of the specified variable-amplitude loading event. This result is verified by the total life plot as shown in the next procedure.

Based on damage total life of the mechanism can be figured out

 
Rajat Trehan

Product Manager - Design Validation

Computer Aided Technology Inc.

BOMs and Assembly Drawings

With the release of SolidWorks 2010, SolidWorks added some neat features when working with assembly drawings and BOMs.  First off, you will notice that when you select the BOM it now has a big, move icon that is now much easier to grab and move the BOM around.  The best of the bunch is the ability to move the BOM to a second sheet.  They have also added some nice visual cues to it…

When you select a component out of the view, it will highlight in the BOM.

 
Vice versa.  When you select the line item in the BOM, it will highlight the component in the assembly view. 

 

Grabbing the upper left hand move handle, you can drag the BOM to separate sheets (note: the sheet must be created first in order to drop the BOM on the sheet). 

 

And now that you have the part on a different sheet, it may be hard to remember what exactly the part looks like.  If you expand the triple arrow on the left hand side, you can now hover over the line item to see exactly what part it is your working with without having to toggle back over to other sheets.

 

 

Nathan Brunner, CSWP

Technical Analyst

Computer Aided Technology, Inc.

 

 

To Extend or Untrim?????

To Extend or Untrim?????

As a user what little things can I do on a daily basis to improve my short and long term goals? Let’s list them out first.

• Get this project complete.


• Move on to the next project.


• Reduce overhead (Solidworks documents)


• Make myself and others around me more efficient.

Little things make a huge difference in the end as far as your calculation time. Let’s look at the difference between 2 commands with 2 different algorithms- surface extend and surface untrim.

 Without getting too specific as to the intimate details, I like the untrim command if I can get it. What’s not to like? Multi bodies can be selected there by reducing clicks. Percentage based, I like that.  The other thing is the performance. Better than a 75% faster rebuild on this small part for less work!  So if you take a part that has 400 features in it and we can reduce the overhead of rebuilding it by 75% on 1 part, what is this going to do for us when we get a whole group of these parts together in an assembly?

Reduce overhead and improve efficiency. Little things have a cumulative effect over the long haul.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Todd Werginz

Applications Engineer

Computer Aided Technology

The Rapidly Disappearing Chinese Cost Advantage-What does it mean for you?

  With last month, we have now had 21 straight months of manufacturing growth here in the US. This has been a bright spot in our economy while areas such as the housing sector still have not recovered.

It is true employment at manufacturing over the last 40 years has declined but, at the same time, productivity and total output has risen, similiar to the agricultural revolution many years ago.

There has been much talk of losing jobs to China over the years and certainly there will still be new factories built there by US companies. However, we are now seeing a combination of events including rapidly rising labor rates abroad, shipping and material costs, and a bevy of incentives from US states, that may be changing the tide. In many areas, labor rates in China are rising by 15% or more annually. Christian Murck, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in China, is predicting that China's low wage advantage will disappear within 5 years. What about other low-cost locales such as Vietnam, India, etc? Very often those locations do not have the supply base, infrastructure or labor pool to support their needs.

In fact, the Boston Consulting Group is a releasing a study this week that predicts an American manufacturing renaissance over the next 5 years as production increases here.

What does this mean for you and your company? Get ready now to compete and differentiate yourself by investing in technology, training and processes. Saddle up.

 

Is DraftSight the same as DWGEditor

As many of you know already, SolidWorks will be retiring the DWGEditor program.  They have launched their replacement product DraftSight as a free download.

Do customers who download the free version of DraftSight have the exact same capabilities as they had with DWG Editor licenses?

The simple answer is no.  Here are some general differences:

1)      API – DWGeditor had an API that came with the product, but DraftSight has an optional paid for API

2)      Network license – DWGEditor had a 3 to 1 network license option, but DraftSight has an optional paid for network license.  Free DraftSight can be used in any numbers.

3)      3D – DraftSight has no solid or surface modeling, DWGeditor does have some of that

4)      SolidWorks Drawings – you could layout drawings in DWGeditor from SolidWorks automatically, this is not available in DraftSight.

5)      DraftSight does have functionality that DWGeditor did not, like tables and such.  DraftSight has much higher quality and performance overall.

Best of all....It's Free!

I was checking out the SolidWorks Blog site last night and noticed something very near and dear to my heart: They are running a green design contest, and the Grand Prize is a trip to Chaa Creek Eco Lodge in Belize. I spent my honeymoon in Belize, and Chaa Creek is one of the coolest places I have ever stayed.



Yes, eco-friendly design is socially and environmentally responsible...but if nothing else, participate for the chance to win the trip: http://blogs.solidworks.com/solidworksblog/2011/04/announcing-our-green-design-contest.html

CATI Product Development Forum

CATI is hosting a series of events in Midwest area focusing on all stages involved in engineering a product. The event covers how to design, simulate, publish and manage engineering data.  It is a great event to meet fellow engineers in your area, also put face to voices you hear on support team. Our technical staff will be happy to answer questions and be set up to walk you through specific scenarios. Here is a link to register for the event.

I will be hosting 2 sessions at these events

(a)    Design Validation with SolidWorks Simulation

 This one hour session is geared towards management and users. We will address typical concerns an engineering team has in their design process.  Simulating designs can significantly impact a design cycle (concept to production). Any design goes through its fare share of changes before it is approved for production. Identifying design flaws early, reduces prototypes, adds engineering efficiency, and boosts end user confidence in your ability. With current technology and work flow running multiple design scenarios on computer costs a fraction of prototyping a single design.  We will demonstrate your intuition is good enough to get started with analysis tools.

 (b) Simulation beyond SolidWorks Premium

Engineers are curious beings, simply figuring out how a design works is not good enough, we are constantly trying to improve. This session will go beyond testing components for applied load. We will use features in simulation to reduce weight and increase efficiency of a design. From a load case scenario, we will cover not just structural loads (force, torque, friction) but also temperature and fluid pressure.

There are tons of door prizes and quizzes to win. Please make sure you are charged enough…..

Rajat Trehan

Product Manager – Design Validation

Computer Aided Technology Inc.

Hard drive storage options (MSWP #9)

This article continues our Maximizing SolidWorks Performance series.  If you would like a little background information please refer to the first article in the series Maximizing SolidWorks Performance (Results).

When working with large assemblies especially; user try to tweak out every bit pf performance that they can from their hardware.  A significant amount of discussion has been circulating around the use of Solid State Hard Drives and has always be circulated around RAID options.

In our testing we looked at both Solid State and standard drives as well as Single, RAID 0 with 2 hard drives, and RAID 1 with 2 hard drives.  Unfortunately, we did not see the level of improvement that we were expecting or hoping for.  We believe that the lack luster results from the Solid State drive can be attributed to driver issues with the Patriot warp drives that we were using.  The version of the drives that we have had no ability to upgrade firmware (unfortunately we had the only version of their hard drive that could not be upgraded for WIN7) .

 
Results:

• No significant benefit found in either Opens or Saves (unexpected)


• Closes and Modeling showed best on RAID 0 SolidState


• We expected more significant differences

Best Option -- 2 solid state drives at RAID 0:

• Opens 9% faster saving ~4mins


• Rotations 29% faster saving ~ 9mins


• Modeling 44% faster saving ~32mins


• Closes 19% faster saving ~ 10 1/2 mins

Total -- Best Option -- 2 solid state drive at RAID 0:

• 12% faster saving 58 1/2 mins

 12% faster is nothing to be too dejected by but we were expecting something more significant.  We believe with some effort and some better Solid State drives we will be able to show much better results for the solid state RAID 0 option the next time we attempt this experiment.

Adrian Fanjoy

Technical Services Director

Computer Aided Technology, Inc.