Latest Blog Articles Page 1

With every major release of SOLIDWORKS there’s enhancements both big and small. More often than not, it seems that the best enhancements aren’t epic new tools but rather welcomed improvements to core functionality. This is especially true with SOLIDWORKS 2021. Some of the most outstanding advancements come in the form of what we call modeling delighters – little software upgrades that amount to epic workflow gains.

If you’re looking to get more durable, tear-resistant prototypes that can stand up to repeated flexing, you can’t go wrong with Agilus. 3D-printable Agilus is a superior rubber-like PolyJet photopolymer family ideal for advanced design verification and rapid prototyping that can hit various levels of softness and hardness in the same print job without any assembly or having to swap materials during printing. 

ScanTo3D is an add-in to SOLIDWORKS Standard, Professional and Premium that allows engineers and designers to use concept models, existing OEM parts or anatomical objects and easily convert these into SOLIDWORKS models. Plus, ScanTo3D can recognize analytic shapes, such as machined parts and consumer products, and can decompose and fit analytic or non-analytic surface types to the mesh.

This week's Product Story showcases the Toro Company and the solution they used for rapidly increasing 3D print volume while reducing existing bottlenecks. 

The Toro Company first implemented Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) in 2012 to prototype smaller product components in-house. This soon turned into a full additive manufacturing shop with six 3D printers on site so they could better serve their customers and expand their additive potential. However, with the rapidly increasing print volume there were post-processing bottlenecks that arose, so Toro turned to the PostProcess BASE support removal solution to more efficiently match throughput to demand. 

With SOLIDWORKS 2021 we welcome countless enhancements and additions to the SOLIDWORKS Software Suite. Some have an obvious impact on how you use SOLIDWORKS, whereas others are a bit more subtle. One such enhancement for SOLIDWORKS 2021 is the collapsible command manager (CommandManager) option. This seemingly small tweak to the user interface is truly a change made for the power-users and encourages others to use SOLIDWORKS more efficiently.

Going through school, it seemed your grades were going to determine the kind of job you receive. But what are recruiters really looking for when they are hiring besides grades? Surprisingly, your GPA isn't top of mind for recruiters. Chances are they are more interested in your soft skills. So, what are soft skills exactly and how can you best showcase them? 

When it comes to additive manufacturing there are many different types of technology that can be used. On the spectrum of 3D printing, voxel printing technology is probably as far away from filament strands and vats of goo as you can get. Voxel printing allows users to actually program the product material and its viscosity on a microscopic level. This results in both incredible control over color for visually stunning results and incredible control over material properties allowing for new and exciting composite materials. In this blog, we'll look at what Voxel printing is and how it is currently helping engineers who are embracing this technology.

The best enhancement to SOLIDWORKS in the 2021 version is not a shiny new tool or flashy function you might use a half-dozen times. It is an overhauled foundation of the entire software for improved quality and performance. SOLIDWORKS 2021 is the result of years of R&D investments making this the best version of SOLIDWORKS we’ve ever seen. The 2021 version includes many great additions to the tools and features, but quality and performance make up 60% of the efforts for developing this update and it shows.

Frequently, when producing parts to print on full-color PolyJet 3D printers (like the J55 and J850), we have the need to place logos and icons on our models. When using more traditional means of applying pixel-based graphics or decals on parts can have unpredictable outcomes when exporting for 3D printing. Often, we find it difficult to properly set the resolution of the logo to match the part, which results in logos that have blurry or pixelated edges. In this 3D Printing Video Tech Tip, we talk about how to create sharp-edged logos and icons using SOLIDWORKS.

SOLIDWORKS clients often overlook the importance of having the correct hardware to support their new 3D CAD purchase. A common question we get asked is what should be considered before buying or upgrading equipment, so we thought it would be helpful to compile all the published system requirements along with our Engineering Team's recommendations in one place. Here is the information for this year's version of SOLIDWORKS as compared to last year.

This February, the annual 3DEXPERIENCE World event will look a little different. With an eye on safety during the global pandemic the event will be 100% virtual and conference admission will also be 100% free this year. That's right, you will be able to access three days of General Sessions, over 120 technical breakout sessions and hear from the selected keynote speakers - all virtually and all for free.

With a new year, comes an all new SOLIDWORKS update. As has been the yearly tradition, each new release of SOLIDWORKS provides new innovative enhancements and features with every upgrade of the software. And to continue our yearly tradition here at TriMech, we came up with our top 11 in SOLIDWORKS 2021. Hand-selected by our Application Engineers which we plan to detail in a new video-blog series.