SolidWorks Best Practices

By Matt Lombard for BRUGS

April 6, 2006

• File management• Part Modeling• Built for speed• Interface• Hardware• System Maintenance

contents

Best Practice lists are never a substitute for using your head. These recommendations are for general modeling when specific circumstances don’t require a different method. No one can write a formula that applies the best technique for all situations, which is why engineers haven’t been replaced by computers (yet).

So, don’t apply these or any other best practice lists blindly. Try to understand why it is recommended, and whether or not it applies to your situation. disclaimer

File Management

• Guarantee unique names for files– Problem: multiple parts named “Base” or “Cover” in an

assembly can cause you to get unexpected parts in your assemblies

– Make sure you understand the section in Help under “search file locations for referenced files”

– Use a project number or customer name as a prefix or suffix for parts

– Library parts especially need to be unique because they will be used by more users in more assemblies, with more potential conflicts.

File Management• Guarantee unique names for files

– Descriptive file names are always tempting, but are very easy to duplicate from one project to the next.

– If you REALLY don’t like working with part numbers as file names, consider appending a descriptive name after the part number or vice versa.

– Remember that the file property for Description can be seen from outside the SolidWorks software, and inside SolidWorks, you can display the Description instead of the file name in assemblies.

File Management• Don’t use revisions in filenames

– Problem: If you have assemblies with a lot of parts, changing the revision level in the filename for parts will cause havoc with external references (in-context, mirrored, base parts, split parts, etc.)

– Possible solution: add revision levels only to obsolete files, current revisions have no rev in filename

– Possible solution: use folders, but be aware that you can also get assemblies that reference across folders

– Best Practice: Use a PDM system

File Management

• Sharing Information– Problem: Multiple users accessing files across network.

Access problems, read/write problems

– Really, use a PDM system. PDMWorks is cheap and works well. If you need cheap, also look at DBWorks.

– Read/Write and access problems are going to be pretty tedious to resolve using manual file management.

– On large assemblies, without PDM, network traffic can become a performance problem.

– When you work across a network, you crash more frequently

File Management

• Sharing Information– If you can’t use a PDM system, at least work on files

locally on your own computer. This increases speed and stability, but may cause problems with having different versions of files available on the network.

– If you have to work across a network, don’t double click files from Windows Explorer to open them from the network. This leaves a journal file in the file location which must constantly be written to. Use the Open dialog.

– Use Custom Properties. If you do drawings or make BOMs, or weldments or PDM, custom properties will help you identify, find, sort, track your parts, and will also help other downstream applications such as MRP

File Management

• Toolbox– Problem: Screws without proper configurations come in

at default size, getting descriptions and materials added as custom properties is extremely tedious

– Toolbox 2007 will address “huge screws”

– The only way to mass populate the descriptions as custom properties is to create all Toolbox size configs, then create a Design Table, and use Excel to mass populate descriptions. Copy sections of the table to make new material fasteners.

– Best Solution: Make your own library, based on TB, and then turn TB off. Things will improve significantly in 2007.

File Management

• Journal file should be local– Tools > Options > File Locations > SolidWorks Journal

File

• Libraries– Model small assemblies as parts (bearings, captive

hardware…)– Simplify geometry as much as practical (no helical

threads)– Libraries can be kept in PDM rather than on a network

drive (for usage and Where Used reporting as well as local file issues)

– Pre-populate with custom properties and configurations driven by Design Tables for ease of change

Part modeling• Think about symmetry when you start building your part. Either build ¼, ½ of the part or build it symmetrically around the origin.

• Mirroring bodies is faster than mirroring features, although mirroring bodies requires a Combine feature.

• Make relationships to sketches rather than to faces or edges when possible (this is because faces and edges tend to lose references easily)

• Don’t make relations to edges created by fillets (fillets are often moved, deleted or changed, which may upset your relations)

Part modeling

• Create fillets as features instead of in the sketch. (some people the opposite, but you cannot suppress or reorder sketch fillets, they don’t show up in Feature Statistics, and you are very limited by the types of things you can do with sketch fillets.)

• Fillets should be last in the tree. There are many reasons to do this, including the ability to apply draft, to avoid relations to fillet edges, and so fillet errors don’t cause other types of features to fail.

• If you find you are drawing sketches with lines that don’t create any part faces, you might want to consider using surfaces as reference geometry to help you build the correct solid. Remember that each extruded sketch entity makes a face whether you use it or not, and this can be a big performance hit if you make a lot of unnecessary geometry. See my hybrid ppt.

Part modeling• Use Verification on Rebuild to check your models ocasionally. Some people recommend working with it turned on all the time, but I have found that it can cause a 60% increase in rebuild time (for solid parts with lots of fillets.)

– Under normal circumstances (with Verification off), SolidWorks checks faces of a new feature against only adjacent faces, but with Verification on, it checks each face against every other face in the model. – I recommend that you ignore this setting for simple parts, but for parts with increasing complexity, you may want to check it after “questionable” features, if you see things behaving oddly, or before sending the part out of your control– Using Verification generally means turning it on, hitting Ctrl-Q, and then turning it back off again. (Tools > Options > Performance > Verification on Rebuild)

Part modeling• Always fix rebuild errors in parts. This will help eliminate unnecessary time for SolidWorks to try to figure things out.

• Don’t model things that don’t need to be modeled, for example knurling on metal will be applied through a rolling process, and doesn’t require 3D data. Put a note and cross hatching on the drawing. (Plastic molded knurled surfaces would require the 3D data.)

• Create simplified configurations for parts where small detail and cosmetic fillets are removed. Use a consistant name so the assemblies can automatically create simplified configs using the part simplified configs.

Built for speed

• Assemblies– Use subassemblies to distribute / segment the rebuild

time

– Use of flexible subassemblies will slow things down

– Use component patterns when possible

– Don’t mate to in-context features, component pattern instances, assembly features

– Large assemblies should always have a simplified configuration which suppresses unnecessary parts and uses simplified configurations of necessary parts and subassemblies.

Built for speed• Assemblies

– See my “Efficient Assemblies” ppt (also called assyperf.ppt)

– Don’t be afraid of Lightweight or Large Assembly Mode

– Use other reasonable display settings. The larger / slower the assembly, the more drastic settings you should make.

– Avoid circular references (A references B references A)

– Keep track of your in-context use • Order your parts so references only go up the tree• Use skeleton parts or assembly layout sketches

Built for speed

• Assemblies– If you feel you must remove external references from

parts, at least use “Lock References” instead of “Break References”. This gives you the ability to change your mind later. There is no benefit in Breaking References.

– Build simplified parts which you don’t need detailed 3D geometric data to construct, such as helical springs. These are more efficiently modeled as a simple cylinder.

– Use SW Utilities or Advanced Show Hide to help you build simplified configurations of parts and assemblies.

– Turn off Automatic Rebuild (RMB on top level assembly icon in Feature Manager)

Built for speed

• Assemblies– Resolve all feature and mate conflicts / errors

– Don’t mate to features which are eliminated in a configuration

– If you use patterns to make holes in a part, use a component pattern to put the fasteners in rather than mating them one at a time

– Unless it is causing problems with dynamic assembly motion, do not make all 3 mates to fully define hardware such as bolts.

– Avoid duplicating mates (such as parallel and coincident between two planar faces)

Built for speed

• Assemblies– Combine several components into a pattern to avoid

duplicate patterns

– Use Display States instead of configurations for visualization only (Display States are much faster)

Built for speed• Here is a slide from SWW 06 showing how features affect rebuild

times

interface• Everyone works differently

– Windows logons can save different users settings – Make a copy of your settings and carry them with you on a thumb drive (Copy Settings Wizard) or put them on a website or network location for access anywhere– In 2006, your hotkeys are copied as part of the Copy Settings Wizard

– I use a lot of hotkeys because I’m not too good with aiming the mouse, and I like a high screen resolution– Keep a list of hotkeys in Excel, print it out and stick it on the side of your monitor (much easier in 2007)

interface

• Save graphics area space– Use hotkeys for the most frequently used functions, and

remove them from your toolbar

– Use hotkeys for functions burried deep in the menus (View > Modify > Section View)

– Use the Command Manager and flyout toolbars to consolidate space (see my “Getting the most of the interface” ppt)

– Place the Task Pane on the left side of the screen to cover the Feature Manager when it is open

– Consider a Spaceball (some people love ‘em, some people hate ‘em)

Hardware

• If you make your living with this stuff, you ought to set yourself up for success. Wasting time for a model to rebuild is just throwing money down the drain.

• Get an approved video card. Really.– Red is not approved– Yellow is not approved– Green is approved

– Get an nVidia FX Quadro 550 or higher– ATI Fire GL will work, but is slower than the Quadros– SLi is probably overkill

Hardware

• Processors– I have a desktop with an AMD FX 57 (single core) and

a laptop with an AMD X2 4800+ (dual core)– For some things, the single is faster, for some things

the dual is faster.– Dual core is definitely better for Cosmos, Photoworks,

Assemblies, etc.– Single core seems to excel at individual very complex

parts– I really believe that AMD is the way to go due to

speed, power usage and cost

Hardware

• Memory– These days, you need 1 Gb of memory just to show up

– 2 Gb is enough for most applications, aside from FEA and very large assemblies

– Once you go past a certain limit, you will need to be using a 64 bit OS and the 64 bit version of SW in order to make use of more than 3 Gb of RAM

– Increased RAM is the only reason to use 64 bit at this point

System Maintenance

• Operating System– Windows 2000 will no longer be supported under

SolidWorks 2007

– Officially XP Pro is supported, and XP Home is not, but I use XP Home successfully with SolidWorks (differences are shown here: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/home/howtobuy/choosing2.mspx)

– SW works fine with XP sp2, in fact, sp2 fixes some annoying tool tip issues (tool tips show the wrong text)

– SW does not run on Linux

– There is some news about Apple being able to run Windows OS and Windows applications

System Maintenance

• Utilities– Defrag your hard drive now and then (once a week)

Diskkeeper is a good defrag utility

– Norton Anti Virus seems to cause a lot of problems with SolidWorks installation and maintenance. I use Grisoft AVG (free). Understanding a little about viruses will help keep you from unnecessarily encumbering yourself out of ignorant paranoia ;o)

– Registry cleaning should be run once a month or if extensive changes to installed software have happened. This removes unused entries and repairs broken links in the registry.

• Drivers– Spaceball drivers should be kept up to date

– Video card drivers should be the latest approved version on the SW site (http://www.solidworks.com/pages/services/VideoCardTesting.html?pid=252)

– It is not unheard of for things like audio drivers to cause problems with the rest of the system

System Maintenance

• Temp Areas– The temp areas of your computer should be cleaned out

regularly. Once a week should be ok. (C:\windows\temp, C:\documents and settings\<user name>\local settings\temp)

– Know where SolidWorks puts backup and autorecover files, and clean these out when not needed (C:\documents and settings\<user name>\local settings\TempSWBackupDirectory)

– When these areas become too full, Windows delays slightly when SolidWorks is trying to read or write to them, and functions can time out or crash.

System Maintenance

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