SolidWorks Express

On July 14th SolidWorks Corporation launched SolidWorks® 2005, the world’s leading mainstream 3D design software. Developers have added over 250 new features and enhancements, making the software even more powerful and intuitive. Improvements include increased design automation, more effective reuse of design information, and increasing productivity for machine, mold, and consumer product designers.

With File Explorer, you can access files anywhere on your network from inside of SolidWorks, providing you previews and allowing for easy drag and drop access.

Run SolidWorks 2005 and the first thing you’ll notice are changes to the interface. The program allows you to customize tools and icons to fit your needs – whether it be machine, mold, consumer product or other type of design work. File explorer now lets you view all your design files from within SolidWorks. You can open the files or drag-and-drop them into other folders, without having to leave the program

And an all-new design library stores commonly used parts, assemblies, and 2D annotations and blocks in a central location, so you can drop them into your designs as needed.

Here’s a sampling of what else you can look forward to.

More muscle in machine design
Strength comes from the ability to reuse information. In machine design, SolidWorks 2005 saves you the trouble of having to design popular parts from scratch. Included in the SolidWorks design library are several commonly used machine parts, such as gear splines, bearings, flanges and shafts, that you can conveniently drag-and-drop into your designs via a new task pane.

Machine designs typically consist of multiple cast or fabricated metal parts. In weldments, SolidWorks 2005 puts more grunt into features originally introduced in 2004. Whereas previously weldments had to be linear, now they can contain arc segments. Providing more automation for bent and tubular structures.

Using the flex feature, XP Foresight's Dave Cook demonstrates the shape of a soft handle for a 1,200 watt 48 volt DC output Desktop Lab power supply for customer Intel.

A machine and all its components are delivered to manufacturing as detailed drawings. SolidWorks 2005 speeds drawing creation. A quick snap feature automatically connects a line to a point or to the end point of another line. “It makes me more productive in the drawing environment,” says David Cook, mechanical engineer for power supply maker XP Foresight (www.xp-forsight.com) in Sunnyvale, California. “Before you had to zoom in real close to make sure lines connected. Now they just pop into place.”

Automatic creation of isometric views lets you create additional views of a drawing based on different angles. “In the past I used to have to create my isometric view, and then I’d have to guess at the other three views and place them manually,” says Cook. “Now its basically one button to make all four views.”

A new drag-and-drop explode tool lets users create exploded views of assembly components. Simply drag a component away from the assembly and explode it. The detailed views can then be placed in drawings or used in service manuals. “Sometimes when an assembly is complex, it’s difficult to get a view of all the internal parts,” says Todd Eimen, designer for Ultimate Support Systems in Fort Collins, Colorado. “With this tool, it’s just a matter of dragging the parts to their reoriented position, and you’re done.”

Drafters also will be pleased to learn that SolidWorks 2005 adds the ability to do equations inside its bill of materials software, originally introduced in 2004. You can add up the cost for a quantity of parts or the amount of a material required without having to transfer everything into Microsoft Excel.

Quick analysis checks for molded parts
One of the biggest surprises in SolidWorks 2005 is MoldflowXpress, a seven step wizard-based analysis tool that answers the fundamental question in plastic injection mold design: Is the part fillable? Based on technology from Moldflow Plastics Advisers™, MoldflowXpress simulates the flow of molten plastic for a single cavity mold,. It includes a material library of 20 general plastic materials and the properties necessary for non-Newtonian and non-isothermic flow analysis. The wizard also takes into consideration the location where the plastic is injected and the temperature for processing the mold. Analysis results include cycle time and an indication if the part will fill.

Mold designers will also be pleased to learn that SolidWorks 2005 beefs up mold design and undercut detection tools introduced in 2004, making it easier to design complex molds with intricate parting lines, sliding and lifting surfaces, and cooling channels. Shut-off surfaces that prevent molten material from filling holes in a part are easier to identify and create. Parting surfaces that separate the core and cavity are easier to detect. What’s more, a new core feature assigns surfaces to sliders and lifters to allow more complex mold geometry to slip out of the mold.

SolidWorks 2005 user Casey Kimes uses the new spline offset feature to take a complex b-spline curve and create an offset in a 2D sketch.

Smooth surfaces and more shape for consumer products
Consumer products are loaded with swoopy, curved, and ergonomic surfaces. SolidWorks 2005 makes it easier to design these complicated shapes. A new indent feature allows you to easily form a recess in a thin walled part based on the tool body. If you want to design a charge cradle for an electric razor, for example, the indent feature allows you to set the razor into a shape and then form a recess in that shape to hold the razor. The feature automatically creates off-sets to make the cradle slightly larger so the razor fits in it properly.

And thanks to improvements in the loft feature, SolidWorks 2005 allows you to create curvature continuous loft, or C2 surfaces, where surfaces join together perfectly in a smooth piece of geometry. A new flex tool bends or tapers parts automatically. XP Foresight’s David Cook uses it to generate concept drawings of soft handles for power supplies. He turns on the feature to show a handle in its flex position, and suppresses it to show the handle flat. “It gives the customer a more realistic idea of what they are going to get,” he says.

Other improvements in SolidWorks 2005 make it easier for multiple users to work together. A notification tells you when another user has changed a part. An improvement to the reload feature lets you know if a newer version of a file is on a disk, another user has write access to a file, or if the file needs to be saved.

“This release has everything we’ve all been waiting for,” sums up SolidWorks user Cook.