Our world is a highly nonlinear and dynamic 3D domain. To develop products that are of high quality and robust to survive the real-world conditions, it is important to test the product’s behavior and performance prior to manufacturing. Simultaneously, there is the need to accelerate product innovation and cut down the time to market. This is where simulation technology for virtual testing can help you remain ahead of your competition.

Like a lot of people right now, I’ve been working from home and wearing home-made face masks to help slow the spread of COVID-19 whenever I go out on essential errands. I thought it would be interesting to use a tool like SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation to see the difference these kinds of masks can make. Contrary to what you may think, it is surprisingly easy to set up these types of simulations. I hope this article will help remove some of that intimidation and encourage you to experiment as well.

Over the years, TriMech has developed many exclusive courses designed to meet the needs of our clients. Some of these courses extend well beyond CAD training and give our clients the tools they need to be more competitive, efficient and capable engineers. These courses, just like all our other training courses, can be taught in person or with a live in-person instructor via TriMech’s digital training platform. Here are just a few of exclusive courses that TriMech is currently delivering.

Many companies have employees that work remotely either permanently or for a specific period. If you work with SOLIDWORKS PDM Professional at your office, you are connected to the local server, which hosts your files and lets you share information with your company. But did you know you can use PDM to stay connected to your data from anywhere and at different levels of usage, from project work, review/approve to view/print/search? You might have some questions such as: “What are my options?”, "How do I stay current with versions and revisions?” or “What happens when I go back into the office?” In this article, we’ll review the available options and will look at the pros and cons of each method.

Did you know that 3D scanning has been around since Egyptian times? Okay, maybe not so much in the way we think of 3D scanning today, but they developed the early concepts of reverse engineering by creating 3D plaster-cast replicas. Fast forward to today’s scanners, which use laser and structured light technology that can capture highly accurate scans that range from very small, intricate objects to much larger objects in a fraction of the time! It’s easy to appreciate how far this technology has come over the years and the many different industries that 3D scanning is helping revolutionize. In this article, we’re going to cover some of the ways you can get your 3D scanning data into a 3D CAD environment where you can interact, manipulate and make the most of it.

Throughout previous articles in our series, we’ve discussed how 3D printing is beneficial for different education departments such as architecture, fine arts and chemistry. To continue this series, we want to review how 3D printing, along with 3D scanning, is also bringing benefits to the study of archaeology. These technologies are being used in Archeology or Anthropology departments at many universities and quickly replacing traditional methods of replicating and studying historic artifacts and fossils.

For many decades, mold making and casting were the go-to methods to produce realistic prototypes of smaller plastic goods. Often referred to as Room Temperature Vulcanization (RTV) or silicone molding, this is the process of producing a master part and making a flexible mold off that master. Then, the mold is filled with a two-part urethane resin, which cures into the shape of the mold. This produces a part that exactly mimics the original master’s shape and surface finish. This process is extremely versatile and is in use in many industries. Still, it requires a skilled model maker to produce a master and understand the proper molding techniques to achieve the desired result. Today, 3D printing is changing the way RTV molding is approached and no 3D printing technology is better suited for the task than Stratasys’ PolyJet technology. In this article, we will illustrate the process of RTV molding and explore how PolyJet printing can augment the various steps.

Today, with the right setup, working away from the office can be very effective. In a previous article, we showed you how to set up your SOLIDWORKS license if you need to access it remotely. Now that you know how to access SOLIDWORKS, how about we give you some tips on how to manage data and file information remotely?

Having a data management system is crucial for any serious engineering or design firm that needs an organized and smart vault of their work and workflows. SOLIDWORKS PDM is a great tool for this because of how straightforward and flexible it is at maintaining the history of files, including all versions and revisions inside the vault. Depending on your workflow, your Version Control process can be fitted to your exact needs, nothing more and nothing less. In this article, I discuss my recommended top three SOLIDWORKS PDM tools that work in conjunction with version control to make managing these precious files as easy as possible.

We’ve all heard it before – prank, gag, joke, high jinx, whatever you call it, the day for them only comes once a year. You guessed it, April Fools' Day! Commonly celebrated on April 1^st in America, April Fools' Day is an annual custom consisting of silly jokes and funny pranks. Believed to have originated in the 12^th century, this holiday permeates cultures around the world in different ways and is constantly evolving as technology continues to advance. Since the Stratasys J Series of PolyJet 3D printers can produce hyper-realistic parts, we decided to put it to the test and prank a fellow co-worker.

Did you know that every license of SOLIDWORKS includes the SOLIDWORKS FloXpress application? FloXpress is a computational fluid dynamics tool that evaluates the flow of fluid in a single internal cavity within parts and assemblies. Once you run a calculation on the velocity field, problem areas in your design will pop up, and you can improve them before manufacturing any parts. Different from SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation, which is meant for complex fluid analyses, FloXpress is specifically designed to analyze fluid flow in a fully enclosed volume that includes at least one inlet and one outlet.

With every release of SOLIDWORKS, we see the addition of hundreds of new features and enhancements – both big and small. It’s not always the incredible new feature or tool that makes the most significant impact on our daily design experience; sometimes it’s the little improvements that have the biggest impact. SOLIDWORKS 2020 has enhanced the surfacing capabilities, and although it’s a small improvement – it’s one of my personal favorites.