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Model curvature can be plotted onto the model face using colors, as shown in Figure 12.10. The accuracy of this display leaves a bit to be desired, but it does help you identify areas of very tight curvature on your part. Areas of tight curvature can cause features such as fillets and shells to fail.

FIGURE 12.10

Curvature display

Using Deviation Analysis

Deviation Analysis measures how far from tangent the surfaces on either side of a selected edge actually are. For example, the edges shown in Figure 12.11 are found to be fair, but not very good. I prefer deviations of less than 0.5 degrees. Often with some of the advanced surface types such as Fill and Boundary, SolidWorks can achieve edges with less than 0.05-degree maximum deviation.

While Deviation Analysis helps to quantitatively measure how close to tangent the faces on either side of the selected edge are, it does not tell you anything about curvature, so you must still run Zebra Stripes to get the complete picture of the flow between faces. Both tests have to return good results to have an acceptable face transition.

FIGURE 12.11

An example of Deviation Analysis

Using the Tangent Edges as Phantom setting

Using the Tangent Edges as Phantom setting is an easy way to evaluate a large number of edges visually. This function does not do what the Zebra Stripes tool does, but it gives you a good indication of the tangency across a large number of edges very quickly. Again, it only represents tangency, and tells you nothing about curvature continuity. Nor does it give you as detailed information as the Deviation Analysis; it only tells you whether SolidWorks considers the faces to be tangent across the edge. Several releases ago, SolidWorks widened the tolerance of what it considers to be tangent, which is both good and bad news. It's good because features that require tangency will work more frequently, and it's bad because if fractional tangency degrees matter to you, “close” is not close enough. If you use Tangent Edges as Phantom as an analysis technique, you should also follow it up with Deviation Analysis to find out how close you actually are.

I have not seen this function deliver false positives (edges displayed as tangent when in fact they were not), but I have seen many false negatives (edges that display as non-tangent when in fact they were). Figure 12.12 shows a situation where the edges are displayed with solid edges, but Deviation Analysis shows them to have a zero-degree maximum deviation.

FIGURE 12.12

Using the Tangent Edges as Phantom setting

The measure of tangency has some tolerance. Users cannot control the tolerance, nor does the documentation say what it is. If SolidWorks says two faces are not tangent at an edge, you can believe that, but if SolidWorks says that the faces are tangent, you still have to ask how tangent. That is the question that Deviation Analysis can answer.

Using Geometry Analysis

Another tool that is fairly new is the Geometry Analysis tool. You can find it in the Tools menu or the new Evaluate tab in the Command Manager. It is an extremely useful tool for troubleshooting problematic geometry. The PropertyManager, shown in Figure 12.13, allows you to look for several specific items:

• Short edges

• Small faces

• Sliver faces

• Knife edges/vertices

• Discontinuous faces or edges

FIGURE 12.13

Using Geometry Analysis to find typical problem spots

These specific types of geometry typically cause problems with other features, such as shells or fillets. If you are having difficulty with a feature failing for a reason that you can't explain, use the Geometry Analysis tool to point out potential problem spots. This is not a tool that will do your job for you, but it is a tool that gives you useful information to help you do your job better with less guesswork.

Geometry analysis is only available with SolidWorks Professional and higher.

Using Feature Statistics

The Feature Statistics tool has been used previously in this book to measure rebuild times for individual features in parts.