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    Solidworks Best Practices: by Matt Lombard For Brugs April 6, 2006

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    The document provides best practices for using SolidWorks efficiently. It recommends organizing files with unique, descriptive names and using a PDM system for collaboration. When modeling parts, it suggests using symmetry, making relationships to sketches rather than faces/edges, and placing fillets last in the feature tree. For assemblies, it advises using subassemblies, component patterns, and simplified configurations to improve performance.

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    Solidworks Best Practices: by Matt Lombard For Brugs April 6, 2006

    Uploaded by

    rodriguez.gaytan
    2K views30 pages
    The document provides best practices for using SolidWorks efficiently. It recommends organizing files with unique, descriptive names and using a PDM system for collaboration. When modeling parts, it suggests using symmetry, making relationships to sketches rather than faces/edges, and placing fillets last in the feature tree. For assemblies, it advises using subassemblies, component patterns, and simplified configurations to improve performance.

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    SolidWorks Best Practices

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    The document provides best practices for using SolidWorks efficiently. It recommends organizing files with unique, descriptive names and using a PDM system for collaboration. When modeling parts, it suggests using symmetry, making relationships to sketches rather than faces/edges, and placing fillets last in the feature tree. For assemblies, it advises using subassemblies, component patterns, and simplified configurations to improve performance.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pptx, pdf, or txt
    2K views30 pages

    Solidworks Best Practices: by Matt Lombard For Brugs April 6, 2006

    Uploaded by

    rodriguez.gaytan
    The document provides best practices for using SolidWorks efficiently. It recommends organizing files with unique, descriptive names and using a PDM system for collaboration. When modeling parts, it suggests using symmetry, making relationships to sketches rather than faces/edges, and placing fillets last in the feature tree. For assemblies, it advises using subassemblies, component patterns, and simplified configurations to improve performance.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pptx, pdf, or txt
    of 30

    SolidWorks

    Best Practices

    By Matt Lombard for BRUGS


    April 6, 2006
    • File management
    • Part Modeling
    • Built for speed contents
    • Interface
    • Hardware
    • System Maintenance
    Best Practice lists are never a substitute for using your head.
    These recommendations are for general modeling when specific
    disclaimer
    circumstances don’t require a different method. No one can
    write a formula that applies the best technique for all
    situations, which is why engineers haven’t been replaced by
    computers (yet).

    So, don’t apply these or any other best practice lists blindly. Try
    to understand why it is recommended, and whether or not it
    applies to your situation.
    File Management
    • Guarantee unique names for files
    – Problem: multiple parts named “Base” or “Cover” in an
    assembly can cause you to get unexpected parts in your
    assemblies

    – Make sure you understand the section in Help under “search file
    locations for referenced files”

    – Use a project number or customer name as a prefix or suffix for


    parts

    – Library parts especially need to be unique because they will be


    used by more users in more assemblies, with more potential
    conflicts.
    • Guarantee unique names for files
    File Management
    – Descriptive file names are always tempting, but are very easy to
    duplicate from one project to the next.

    – If you REALLY don’t like working with part numbers as file names,
    consider appending a descriptive name after the part number or vice
    versa.

    – Remember that the file property for Description can be seen from
    outside the SolidWorks software, and inside SolidWorks, you can display
    the Description instead of the file name in assemblies.
    • Don’t use revisions in filenames
    File Management
    – Problem: If you have assemblies with a lot of parts, changing the
    revision level in the filename for parts will cause havoc with external
    references (in-context, mirrored, base parts, split parts, etc.)

    – Possible solution: add revision levels only to obsolete files, current


    revisions have no rev in filename

    – Possible solution: use folders, but be aware that you can also get
    assemblies that reference across folders

    – Best Practice: Use a PDM system


    File Management
    • Sharing Information
    – Problem: Multiple users accessing files across network. Access
    problems, read/write problems

    – Really, use a PDM system. PDMWorks is cheap and works well.


    If you need cheap, also look at DBWorks.

    – Read/Write and access problems are going to be pretty tedious


    to resolve using manual file management.

    – On large assemblies, without PDM, network traffic can become a


    performance problem.

    –
    File Management
    • Sharing Information
    – If you can’t use a PDM system, at least work on files locally on
    your own computer. This increases speed and stability, but may
    cause problems with having different versions of files available
    on the network.

    – If you have to work across a network, don’t double click files


    from Windows Explorer to open them from the network. This
    leaves a journal file in the file location which must constantly be
    written to. Use the Open dialog.

    – Use Custom Properties. If you do drawings or make BOMs, or


    weldments or PDM, custom properties will help you identify,
    find, sort, track your parts, and will also help other downstream
    applications such as MRP
    File Management
    • Toolbox
    – Problem: Screws without proper configurations come in at
    default size, getting descriptions and materials added as custom
    properties is extremely tedious

    – Toolbox 2007 will address “huge screws”

    – The only way to mass populate the descriptions as custom


    properties is to create all Toolbox size configs, then create a
    Design Table, and use Excel to mass populate descriptions.
    Copy sections of the table to make new material fasteners.

    – Best Solution: Make your own library, based on TB, and then
    turn TB off. Things will improve significantly in 2007.
    File Management
    • Journal file should be local
    – Tools > Options > File Locations > SolidWorks Journal File

    • Libraries
    – Model small assemblies as parts (bearings, captive hardware…)
    – Simplify geometry as much as practical (no helical threads)
    – Libraries can be kept in PDM rather than on a network drive (for
    usage and Where Used reporting as well as local file issues)
    – Pre-populate with custom properties and configurations driven
    by Design Tables for ease of change
    • Think about symmetry when you start building your part. Either build ¼, ½
    of the part or build it symmetrically around the origin.
    Part modeling
    • Mirroring bodies is faster than mirroring features, although mirroring bodies
    requires a Combine feature.

    • Make relationships to sketches rather than to faces or edges when possible


    (this is because faces and edges tend to lose references easily)

    • Don’t make relations to edges created by fillets (fillets are often moved,
    deleted or changed, which may upset your relations)
    Part modeling
    • Create fillets as features instead of in the sketch. (some people the
    opposite, but you cannot suppress or reorder sketch fillets, they
    don’t show up in Feature Statistics, and you are very limited by the
    types of things you can do with sketch fillets.)

    • Fillets should be last in the tree. There are many reasons to do


    this, including the ability to apply draft, to avoid relations to fillet
    edges, and so fillet errors don’t cause other types of features to fail.

    • If you find you are drawing sketches with lines that don’t create any
    part faces, you might want to consider using surfaces as reference
    geometry to help you build the correct solid. Remember that each
    extruded sketch entity makes a face whether you use it or not, and
    this can be a big performance hit if you make a lot of unnecessary
    geometry. See my hybrid ppt.
    • Use Verification on Rebuild to check your models ocasionally. Some people
    recommend working with it turned on all the time, but I have found that it
    Part modeling
    can cause a 60% increase in rebuild time (for solid parts with lots of fillets.)
    – Under normal circumstances (with Verification off), SolidWorks checks faces of a
    new feature against only adjacent faces, but with Verification on, it checks each
    face against every other face in the model.
    – I recommend that you ignore this setting for simple parts, but for parts with
    increasing complexity, you may want to check it after “questionable” features, if
    you see things behaving oddly, or before sending the part out of your control
    – Using Verification generally means turning it on, hitting Ctrl-Q, and then turning
    it back off again. (Tools > Options > Performance > Verification on Rebuild)
    • Always fix rebuild errors in parts. This will help eliminate unnecessary time
    for SolidWorks to try to figure things out.
    Part modeling
    • Don’t model things that don’t need to be modeled, for example knurling on
    metal will be applied through a rolling process, and doesn’t require 3D data.
    Put a note and cross hatching on the drawing. (Plastic molded knurled
    surfaces would require the 3D data.)

    • Create simplified configurations for parts where small detail and cosmetic
    fillets are removed. Use a consistant name so the assemblies can
    automatically create simplified configs using the part simplified configs.
    Built for speed
    • Assemblies
    – Use subassemblies to distribute / segment the rebuild time

    – Use of flexible subassemblies will slow things down

    – Use component patterns when possible

    – Don’t mate to in-context features, component pattern instances,


    assembly features

    – Large assemblies should always have a simplified configuration


    which suppresses unnecessary parts and uses simplified
    configurations of necessary parts and subassemblies.
    • Assemblies

    Built for speed


    – See my “Efficient Assemblies” ppt (also called assyperf.ppt)

    – Don’t be afraid of Lightweight or Large Assembly Mode

    – Use other reasonable display settings. The larger / slower the assembly,
    the more drastic settings you should make.

    – Avoid circular references (A references B references A)

    – Keep track of your in-context use


    • Order your parts so references only go up the tree
    • Use skeleton parts or assembly layout sketches
    Built for speed
    • Assemblies
    – If you feel you must remove external references from parts, at
    least use “Lock References” instead of “Break References”. This
    gives you the ability to change your mind later. There is no
    benefit in Breaking References.

    – Build simplified parts which you don’t need detailed 3D


    geometric data to construct, such as helical springs. These are
    more efficiently modeled as a simple cylinder.

    – Use SW Utilities or Advanced Show Hide to help you build


    simplified configurations of parts and assemblies.

    – Turn off Automatic Rebuild (RMB on top level assembly icon in


    Built for speed
    • Assemblies
    – Resolve all feature and mate conflicts / errors

    – Don’t mate to features which are eliminated in a configuration

    – If you use patterns to make holes in a part, use a component


    pattern to put the fasteners in rather than mating them one at a
    time

    – Unless it is causing problems with dynamic assembly motion, do


    not make all 3 mates to fully define hardware such as bolts.

    – Avoid duplicating mates (such as parallel and coincident


    Built for speed
    • Assemblies
    – Combine several components into a pattern to avoid duplicate
    patterns

    – Use Display States instead of configurations for visualization only


    (Display States are much faster)
    • Here is a slide from SWW 06 showing how features affect
    rebuild
    Built for speed
    times
    • Everyone works differently
    interface
    – Windows logons can save different users settings
    – Make a copy of your settings and carry them with you on a thumb drive
    (Copy Settings Wizard) or put them on a website or network location for
    access anywhere
    – In 2006, your hotkeys are copied as part of the Copy Settings Wizard

    – I use a lot of hotkeys because I’m not too good with aiming the mouse,
    and I like a high screen resolution
    – Keep a list of hotkeys in Excel, print it out and stick it on the side of your
    monitor (much easier in 2007)
    interface
    • Save graphics area space
    – Use hotkeys for the most frequently used functions, and remove
    them from your toolbar

    – Use hotkeys for functions burried deep in the menus (View >
    Modify > Section View)

    – Use the Command Manager and flyout toolbars to consolidate


    space (see my “Getting the most of the interface” ppt)

    – Place the Task Pane on the left side of the screen to cover the
    Feature Manager when it is open

    –
    Hardware
    • If you make your living with this stuff, you ought to
    set yourself up for success. Wasting time for a model
    to rebuild is just throwing money down the drain.

    • Get an approved video card. Really.


    – Red is not approved
    – Yellow is not approved
    – Green is approved

    – Get an nVidia FX Quadro 550 or higher


    – ATI Fire GL will work, but is slower than the Quadros
    – SLi is probably overkill
    Hardware
    • Processors
    – I have a desktop with an AMD FX 57 (single core) and a
    laptop with an AMD X2 4800+ (dual core)
    – For some things, the single is faster, for some things the dual
    is faster.
    – Dual core is definitely better for Cosmos, Photoworks,
    Assemblies, etc.
    – Single core seems to excel at individual very complex parts
    – I really believe that AMD is the way to go due to speed,
    power usage and cost
    Hardware
    • Memory
    – These days, you need 1 Gb of memory just to show up

    – 2 Gb is enough for most applications, aside from FEA and


    very large assemblies

    – Once you go past a certain limit, you will need to be using a


    64 bit OS and the 64 bit version of SW in order to make use
    of more than 3 Gb of RAM

    – Increased RAM is the only reason to use 64 bit at this point


    System Maintenance
    • Operating System
    – Windows 2000 will no longer be supported under SolidWorks 2007

    – Officially XP Pro is supported, and XP Home is not, but I use XP


    Home successfully with SolidWorks (differences are shown here:
    http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/home/howtobuy/choosing2.mspx)

    – SW works fine with XP sp2, in fact, sp2 fixes some annoying tool
    tip issues (tool tips show the wrong text)

    – SW does not run on Linux

    – There is some news about Apple being able to run Windows OS


    and Windows applications
    System Maintenance
    • Utilities
    – Defrag your hard drive now and then (once a week) Diskkeeper is
    a good defrag utility

    – Norton Anti Virus seems to cause a lot of problems with


    SolidWorks installation and maintenance. I use Grisoft AVG (free).
    Understanding a little about viruses will help keep you from
    unnecessarily encumbering yourself out of ignorant paranoia ;o)

    – Registry cleaning should be run once a month or if extensive


    changes to installed software have happened. This removes
    unused entries and repairs broken links in the registry.
    System Maintenance
    • Drivers
    – Spaceball drivers should be kept up to date

    – Video card drivers should be the latest approved version on the


    SW site (http://www.solidworks.com/pages/services/VideoCardTesting.html?pid=252)

    – It is not unheard of for things like audio drivers to cause problems


    with the rest of the system
    System Maintenance
    • Temp Areas
    – The temp areas of your computer should be cleaned out
    regularly. Once a week should be ok. (C:\windows\temp, C:\documents and
    settings\<user name>\local settings\temp)

    – Know where SolidWorks puts backup and autorecover files, and


    clean these out when not needed (C:\documents and settings\<user name>\local
    settings\TempSWBackupDirectory)

    – When these areas become too full, Windows delays slightly when
    SolidWorks is trying to read or write to them, and functions can
    time out or crash.
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