SolidWorks 2011 Parts Bible - Matt Lombard [179]
Assigning a material in SimulationXpress
Tip
My experience with the early versions of SimulationXpress in SolidWorks 2010 sp0.0 has been that much of the tool did not work properly the first time. It took several tries to get a material to apply, the loads appeared to be applied incorrectly, and the initial screen did not appear when I first started the software.
Running the analysis
Analyzing simple parts on modern computers usually takes a matter of seconds. Because SimulationXpress is limited to single parts, most analyses you run will not take very long. You need to make sure that you have green check marks to the right of Fixtures, Loads, and Material before you can run the analysis. Figure 12.21 shows the analysis of this part in the process of running.
Visualizing the results
SimulationXpress makes three different types of results available to you:
• vonMises stress plot
• Displacement plot
• Factor of Safety (FOS) plot
FIGURE 12.21
Running the analysis
Each of these can be animated. The deformation shown by the model is exaggerated by a deformation scale factor, which is shown as part of the legend on the screen. It is typically around 1000x. Deformation is exaggerated to make it easier to visualize how the structure flexes under load.
Figure 12.22 shows a deformed vonMises stress plot.
FIGURE 12.22
Visualizing the results of the stress analysis
All the values that you enter and faces that you select are stored in the SimulationXpress Study panel, which shows up by default on the bottom in a split PropertyManager, as shown in Figure 12.23. This is saved with the part and is displayed any time you have the SolidWorks SimulationXpress panel open in the Task Pane.
FIGURE 12.23
Accessing the results and inputs for the study in the lower panel of the PropertyManager
Optimizing the design
The final step in the Simulation process, if you choose to use it, is the Optimization. Optimization enables you to vary a dimension of the part and run multiple studies to determine what value for that dimension produces the best result.
Optimization displays another panel at the bottom of the graphics window that enables you to establish a range for the dimension that will be varied during the optimization. This panel is shown in Figure 12.24.
When you run the optimization, SolidWorks will change the model dimension within the range that you specified and run an analysis for each dimension value. For this to be most successful, you must have a robust model where all the features can adapt to the range of dimensions for the feature being changed.
FIGURE 12.24
Entering a range of sizes for the optimized feature
Troubleshooting Errors
You will encounter many types of errors in SolidWorks. Improper installation or even bad computer hygiene can cause errors that might look like bugs in the software. Software bugs can cause errors that look like training issues. Operator errors can cause problems that are very difficult to sort out. In this book, I do not have the space to go into all of the possible errors and how to work around or fix them, but I will focus on feature-related errors that happen in the course of working on models. If you are interested in debugging errors caused by installation, maintenance, or administrative issues, refer to the SolidWorks Administration Bible (Wiley, 2009).
When you get an error in SolidWorks, figuring out what caused the error and how to fix it is the goal of troubleshooting. Error messages appear in several places, including in message boxes in the graphics window, in the Task Bar, in tool tip bubbles next to the PropertyManager, and in small symbols within the FeatureManager window.
Interpreting rebuild errors
Chapter 3 discusses sketch colors and troubleshooting errors in sketches. You can apply much of what you learned from troubleshooting sketches to troubleshooting features in parts. The FeatureManager displays yellow triangles with black exclamation marks that point out some sort of warning. A warning means that there is a problem, but that