In SOLIDWORKS, materials in multibody parts work similarly to materials in single body parts, except you can assign materials to individual bodies to override the main part material. When you apply a material to the whole part (at the top of the FeatureManager Design Tree, as you would with a single body part), each body automatically inherits the material. This is exactly how single body parts work. You can then specify different materials for specific bodies if desired. This allows you to create your model as simple or as detailed as you want.
In SOLIDWORKS, the default bend order follows the order in which bend features were created. This article explains what the default order is, how to display it in drawings, and how to change it. Let's start with a simple sheet metal part as an example.
If you are looking to integrate your standalone KeyShot license into a 3D modeling software, SOLIDWORKS is a great option, offering a convenient add-in. This blog walks through the steps for downloading the add-in and demonstrates its features directly in SOLIDWORKS for creating and modifying renders.
When using SOLIDWORKS, you may need to export your models as STEP files. This is often done when sharing projects with someone running a different version of SOLIDWORKS or when transferring data to another CAD platform. The two main STEP file options available are STEP AP203 and STEP AP214. In this blog, we will look at the differences between the two options.
In SOLIDWORKS 2023 and older, while the value of a mass property can be calculated and updated, the unit notation is not. This blog describes a workaround for displaying and converting mass properties automatically, with appropriate units displayed. These behaviors will then be codified using SOLIDWORKS Equations into a document template so that it’s easy to use and deploy across multiple documents in the future. Arithmetic conversions of units are accomplished using Equations in the Equations Manager, as a custom property cannot evaluate an arithmetic expression with text at the end.
In SOLIDWORKS, using a multibody part instead of an assembly can be beneficial in specific circumstances, such as increased performance over assemblies, bulk configuration creation, and sheet metal/weldment work. Multibody parts are especially useful when you have a bill of materials but no moving parts. If there are no kinematics to evaluate, the “assembly” can remain a multibody part.
It is often asked how to convert 2D files to 3D SOLIDWORKS models. Whether legacy data from a previous CAD package or new customer data delivered in an inconvenient format, the need to convert it is the same. There are several ways to accomplish this conversion, but the 2D to 3D toolbar is purpose-built for the task. This article walks through how to use this often overlooked set of tools to import the model, transition and align the views, and then use that information to build a 3D model.
Your SOLIDWORKS installation comes with several pre-configured weldment profiles that adhere to the following standards: ANSI, ANSI Inch, AS, BSI, CISC, DIN, GB, iso, and JIS. But what if you wanted a custom weldment profile for your designs? You're in the right place! The world is your oyster, as far as possibilities are concerned.
When editing a note in a SOLIDWORKS drawing, a Formatting toolbar appears above the note that includes options to increase or decrease the indent and to toggle on bullet points or numbering. If you need more control over how your note looks, including spacing between lines and paragraphs, the size of indents, and numbering format, you can find it in the Paragraph Properties.