| Specifically created for mechanical design, SolidWorks has gained wide appeal with engineers and industrial designers as a Windows-based product that communicates design intent impressively and integrates well with a host of partner-developed add-ons. |
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Box-stock SolidWorks 99 consists of three main modules: a 3D part modeler (SLDPRT file), a 3D assembly modeler (SLDASM file) and a 2D drawing production drawing generator (SLDDRW file). Basic SolidWorks functionality continues to increase at an impressive rate. Currently, the base package includes sheet metal, basic surfacing and a 3D sketcher. SolidWorks ships with a license-free 2D/3D viewer that is very fast and allows colleagues and associates to view SolidWorks files. The new package includes an enhanced suite of translation capabilities (DXF, DWG, IGES, STEP AP203/214, ACIS 5.0, UGII, VDAFS, VRML, STL, TIFF, Parasolids and a native Pro/ENGINEER file reader add-in) that enables users of SolidWorks to interact with just about any other CAD/CAM system out there. SolidWorks 99 also comes with Xchangeworks, an add-on utility for AutoCAD and Mechanical Desktop that improves data translation for those of us who use all three CAD products on the same machine. Although it may not be available for a couple of months after introduction, SolidWorks representatives say they plan to include an integrated animation package, written by Immersive Design, at no extra charge. SolidWorks' arsenal of seamlessly integrated add-on products continues to increase. New in this list of offerings is SolidWorks Piping, which answers a number of requests for this functionality. Drawing upon SolidWorks 99's new 3D sketching capabilities, SolidWorks Piping comes with a basic library of pipes and fittings. However, SolidWorks is leaving the creation of a full complement of parts to third-party vendors. FeatureWorks, which debuted with SolidWorks 98Plus, continues to improve, providing a way for SolidWorks users to bring "dumb solids" into SolidWorks and add feature level design intent to the imported solid on the fly, as shown in Figures 1, 2 and 3. PhotoWorks 99, continues to be a very impressive rendering module that works in complete harmony with the SolidWorks environment. New features include moving control of lighting to SolidWorks instead of PhotoWorks, inclusion of new materials such as synthetic textures, rust, pitting and rippled glass. Also new are Fog, Fog Lighting, and Depth cues. The new mesh materials allow shadowing of the mesh.
The Interface SolidWorks 99 makes extensive use of previewing features before committing. This lets users iterate design alternatives on the fly in the context of the work being done. Unique to SolidWorks is Dynamic Assembly Motion. This feature allows you to operate numerous mechanism assemblies, in real time, by simply dragging one of the links on the screen with your mouse. Inclusion of dynamic collision detection enhances this functionality in SolidWorks 99. A part of SolidWorks from the beginning, the FeatureManager is an asset in assessing feature, drawing view and component properties. New to SolidWorks 99 is the PropertyManager, which presents users with easy accessibility to properties of 2D entities during sketching; and SmartMating, which allows collision detection and dynamic assembly motion while working with assemblies. The 2D drawing interface has gotten snappier through the use of "wakeup" inferencing and the ability to turn off solve mode. SolidWorks 99 always looks for ways to apply constraint information so you don't have to; however, this requires a tremendous amount of processing by the CPU. In previous versions, the interface would sometimes appear sluggish and hesitant because of all this overhead. The new No Solve Move option and the "wakeup inferencing" feature allows users to defeat this activity, providing for smoother interaction while operating in 2D.
So What's New? It appears obvious that SolidWorks 99 has focused on making migration to a true 3D production modeling system as painless as possible for traditional 2D users. However, that's not the only focus for this product. Sheet metal, lighting control, printing control and sub-assembly grouping features have all been improved.
Fundamentals Importing models has become more robust. You can diagnose and repair any gaps or bad faces on imported features. Fixing these will allow SolidWorks 99 to create a solid from an imported file that previous versions might not have been able to do, as shown in Figures 5 and 6. DXF/DWG Mapping finally works, as shown in Figures 7 and 8. It is now possible to bidirectionally transfer DWG/DXF files between SolidWorks and 2D CAD systems without having to clean things up. Layers, linetypes, entity colors, all get created flawlessly. Once mapping is set up, the settings can be set as default.
Sketching SolidWorks 99 now includes rectangular and circular arrays of 2D sketch entities. Similar to a number of 2D applications, these entities are not parametric. Regardless, this capability reduces the amount of work required to generate certain types of sketches. The same holds true with the new 2D offset capability. SolidWorks 99 includes a 2D command line emulator for migrating AutoCAD users, as shown in Figure 9. I did not get the official list of supported AutoCAD commands that work with the emulator. However, I did try out L for line, A for arc, OFFSET, MOVE, ORTHO and the usual @6<90 to draw a vertical line that was exactly six-inches long. It worked well. The emulator did not appear to include OSNAP capability, however. Direct Edit enables you to edit an entity directly via the PropertyManager. However, to fully define a sketch entity, you must still add relations or dimensions to the sketch entity. Edits made from the PropertyManager tab do not constrain a sketch entity. A nice feature of the Property Manager is that it gives you ready access to the entities length, xy and Delta xy coordinates and relative positions. Of course, each entity type (arc, circle, ellipse, parabola and spline) has a different list of properties. The PropertyManager also allows you to move groups of entities by typing in the exact value of the move. Included in sketching is SolidWorks 99's powerful new 3D sketching feature. Parametric 3D sketches are started by selecting a point and a plane that will be parallel to your reference coordinate system. You can select another point that is out of plane to your original selection, or toggle your current "sketch plane" using the Tab key. 3D sketch entities can be constrained, controlled and dimensioned like any 2D sketch entity. Valid 3D sketch entities are lines, points, center points, sketch fillets and SplitCurves. In addition to an obvious use for wireframe models, 3D sketches can be used as paths for generating sweeps and lofts.
Working With Parts New Dynamic Editing allows you to see a preview of the resulting feature while editing a sketch that was used to create the feature. Simply select the Move/size Feature's tool prior to editing the sketch, as shown in Figure 10. Variable Radius Fillets used to have to be entered individually leading to potential inconsistencies in curvature control. Not anymore. SolidWorks 99 automatically calculates the most likely value for the intermediate radiuses, relieving the user of this tedium.
Design Tables You can show design tables as tabulated lists in drawings by simply selecting a drawing view and clicking Insert, Design Table. You can add header rows to the design table to display custom label for the parameters and hide the row that includes the actual parameters. Moreover, you can edit a design table in a separate Excel window!
Sheet Metal
Lighting
Assemblies You can dissolve a subassembly into individual components, moving the freed-up components and moving them up one level. You can move selected components up or down within their branch, or laterally to another level. Sound a bit like outlining, only with 3D components? What about mating constraints? In general, SolidWorks 99 handles most everything, but some restrictions exist concerning parts with in-context features. For example, exploded steps get deleted and some equations may not solve.
Smart Mates and Mate References Smart Mates now work on parts being dragged in from the Feature Palette window if you added a Mate Reference to the library part prior to storing. This enhancement was added to facilitate adding pipe fittings from a library into a piping assembly model, but works great with all kinds of library parts.
Collision Detection Coupled with dynamic assembly motion, it is possible to move an assembly through its range of motion and actually measure how far it moves using attached dimensions. And for us kids at heart, SolidWorks 99 developers provided sounds for our collisions.
Drawings The performance of detail view and section view is better in SolidWorks 99, especially for views of assembly documents. Silhouette edges generate only when hovering the pointer over a model face. You can turn off drawing rulers, and Design Tables can be included in drawings and used for tabulation in SolidWorks 99! Custom Symbols are now called Blocks, to alleviate confusion with people migrating from other CAD systems.
Dimensioning and Drawing Views New Inspection dimensions are easily accessed using the right-mouse-button, and Ordinate dimensions are jogged automatically when things get a little crowded. Dimensions to midpoints is new, and overriding ANSI and ISO standards are now available, for those companies that use their own standards, as shown in Figure 14.
Bill of Materials
Layers have been included for the first time. This provides better compatibility with other CAD systems and will provide a way for users to group and color entities. For instance, all dimensions can now be placed on a layer named DIM, and turned off when you don't want dimensions to show on the drawing.
In Conclusion In spite of these shortcomings, SolidWorks 99 remains one of the most advanced solid modeling systems in the industry. It makes serious work fun and provides superior results. I recommend SolidWorks 99 to anyone looking to become more productive with mechanical design. Michelle Pillers, P.E., is a licensed mechanical engineer, product designer and a principal of Evolution Design Engineering, LLC. Send comments to Michelle Pillers by email at mpillers@edeinc.com and visit EDE's Web site at www.edeinc.com.
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