This article is a companion to this SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation Tutorial. In it, Free Surfaces are used in combination with time-dependent gravity to simulate water flowing out of a pitcher when rotated 90 degrees. The Transient Explorer is employed in order to view the results of this study, specifically the motion of the water over time.
Design Studies are a tool in SOLIDWORKS Simulation that allows us to evaluate or optimize designs by seeing how they perform when selected parameters are changed. These parameters can be model dimensions, global variables, Simulation or Motion study properties, or materials applied to bodies.
In order to run an internal flow analysis in SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation, we need to be working with an enclosed volume. If our model has openings, then we need to close them by adding bodies called lids. SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation includes a tool called Create Lids that will, as the name suggests, create lids automatically.
In this tutorial, we demonstrate how to add a torsional spring to a SOLIDWORKS Motion study. In order to affect how a hinge assembly responds to the forces of gravity and a motor, we'll add a damper, which dissipates energy, and a torsional spring, which stores it.
In SOLIDWORKS, solar access studies are a kind of motion study used to simulate the motion of the sun as it passes over a model. This type of study is useful for applications like deciding where to place solar panels on a roof.
Breadcrumbs in SOLIDWORKS are a UI tool intended to cut down on mouse travel and, in doing so, streamline workflow. When you left-click on an element in the graphics window, breadcrumbs appear in the upper left corner. They display a hierarchical tree of related elements.
Heat Pipe is a feature available in the SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation Electronic Cooling module that, as its name suggests, simulates heat pipes. Heat pipes efficiently transfer heat from a hotter surface to a colder surface using the principles of phase transition and conductivity.
In SOLIDWORKS, Variable Size Fillets have different radii at different points along the selected edges. The user can specify the radius at the edges' endpoints and at control points along the edges' length. If you've used this feature before, you may have noticed that, while it's possible to set the radius to zero at the end-points of an edge, it isn't possible to specify a zero radius at any of the intermediate control points.
Freezing features in SOLIDWORKS improves performance by excluding them from rebuilds. It also prevents any unwanted changes to the frozen features. To enable the Freeze bar, go to System Options > General and check the box for Enable Freeze bar. Once enabled, the Freeze bar is the horizontal yellow line at the top of the Design Tree.