As Fibonacci Day approached this year and I mulled over what to challenge myself to model, I arrived at an interdisciplinary objective: to create a conceptual architectural model inspired by something found in nature - the nautilus seashell. This cross-section of structural design and nature is known as biomimetic architecture, whose formal definition is the practice of designing buildings and structures by imitating processes and forms from nature.
Network drives are a common solution for engineering teams to collaborate. They can be a convenient solution for organizations attempting to centralize their data. Operating from a network drive, however, is about the worst way to access SOLIDWORKS data, and teams using network drives are leaving performance on the table.
2026 is a big year for CAM. We’re seeing not just enhancements to our existing partners, SOLIDWORKS, CAMWorks, and DELMIA, but a recent partner we brought into the fold: SWOOD. Let’s take a look at what's new.
The 3DEXPERIENCE platform offers a powerful way to set up a company-specific dashboard with analytics tools that will bring your engineering, design, and business data together in one place. This blog will walk you through creating a dashboard in 3DEXPERIENCE and integrating analytics, so you can start making data-backed decisions without leaving your collaborative workspace.
What happens when your product (or parts within it) collide with each other, with the ground, with a flying object? It’s a huge deal for quality and safety alike, so virtual testing (i.e., impact finite element analysis (FEA)) is an extremely important step of the engineering process. To do this kind of sophisticated analysis, you need an FEA software tool that matches both your product complexity and your budget. This article will review the spectrum of FEA tools in the SOLIDWORKS ecosystem with a focus on the impact simulation use case, so that you can better understand your options and make the right choice.
Many companies are moving to the 3DEXPERIENCE platform to take advantage of its various benefits. This article reviews Roles within the platform and covers everything from Inviting Members to the Tenant, all the way to assigning Roles by Group.
Derived Outputs on the 3DEXPERIENCE platform are PDFs, DXFs, STEP files, etc., that are manually or automatically created from your CAD files for use downstream. This article explains how to “package” these outputs and export them from the platform to send to someone outside of the company.
In manufacturing, it is rare for parts to turn out perfectly as designed. Engineers and technicians attempt to produce perfect products by designing manufacturing CAD models with compensation built in, controlling the manufacturing process, or fixing the product deformations on the shop floor. 3DEXPERIENCE CATIA allows product designers to create springback- and warp-compensated CAD modes directly from simulation data, scan data, and literal/empirical data. This article will walk you through the process of springback- and warp-compensated CAD model creation on the 3DEXPERIENCE platform.
3DEXPERIENCE users often ask, “How can I release an assembly and all of its parts, sub-assemblies, and related files (especially drawings)?” Releasing all the sub-assemblies and parts (either manually or from a Change Action) is fairly easy, but also including all of the drawings is a bit more challenging. This blog explains an easy way to accomplish this.