The HRS Blog – SolidWorks and CAMWorks

As more and more users are beginning to install and use SolidWorks 2013, I think there’s no better time to revisit what was presented during the launch events… as it has probably been long forgotten! In Simulation there were three enhancements that really caught my eye, and many more to make your day-to-day experience easier. Let’s start with my top 3, beginning with a change to shell elements.

You might think that engraving a complex shape or logo on a 3D surface would be a difficult and complex feature to create in CAMWorks, but it’s simple. This blog will walk you through doing this in a way found to be very effective regardless of the complexity of the intended form.

Using SolidWorks Plastics information can be gleaned about flow trajectories, mold pressure, temperature, etc. One particularly useful result is the identification of weld lines and their location. Weld lines are areas in the part when two opposing flow fronts converge. While not always an issue, these converging flow fronts can create visible lines on the part creating unwanted aesthetic defects. More importantly, they can create weakness in a part that contributes to potential failure. One of the easiest ways to modify or eliminate weld lines is to change the gate location. The rapid results provided by the SolidWorks Plastics package make this sort of operation very easy.

It always comes down to cost. How many times have you been deprived of something because it’s just too expensive? On the design side, you always have to keep in mind how much your product is going to set you back, going from computer screen to an actual tangible product. Conversely, if you are on the side that’s going to be manufacturing that design, you probably don’t want to spend your entire day quoting out your clients’ projects, but actually spend some time building the part too!

Whichever side of the equation you fall under, SolidWorks Costing should have something to satisfy everyone. The best part about it is that it updates in real time and is extremely configurable. This means that as a designer, you can add or subtract features and have SolidWorks tell you the impact of your design change on the over-all cost per part; whether it’s a quantity of one, five, or 4000. If you have a cost target in mind, Costing lets you make decisions where you can choose what’s most important to you in your design, and you can nip and tuck until you achieve your goal.