Alignex Blog

Learn how to use the compare functionality in SOLIDWORKS to identify the differences in your model from one revision to the next. With SOLIDWORKS Compare tools designers can quickly see updates without having to interpret revision notes.

One of the most efficient methods to resolve an error in your geometry is to rebuild or repair that section of your model. The SOLIDWORKS Check Entity tool can help you find failed geometry and investigate detailed geometry information. This is a valuable tool to use when Import Diagnostics is unable to repair geometry.

Learn how to check for clearance failures between your assembly's components or faces with the Clearance Verification tool. By specifying the minimum acceptable clearance around your components you can pinpoint areas in your assembly that may require extra attention.

Learn how to find problems and errors in your product definitions or assemblies with the Interference Detection tool. It helps you easily see where two parts interfere with each other, and even highlights issues throughout an assembly’s range of motion.

Your best SOLIDWORKS resource is just a click away.

So, you’re using SOLIDWORKS but not taking advantage of MySolidWorks? If so, you’re really missing out on one of the best free resources that SOLIDWORKS has to offer. From free training and online storage to easy access to a full manufacturers network and comprehensive user forum, MySolidWorks can really become one of a designer’s best tools.

For anyone who has struggled to select the correct face of a component while mating, there is a new feature to help. Whether we’re trying to find the face on the assembly or the component to mate, there is a new Component Preview Window in SOLIDWORKS that was noted as one of the top new features in SOLIDWORKS 2016. It can aid in tricky mating situations such as odd angle insertions or just out-of-view geometry. This can be used with any component in an assembly or subassembly.

Sometimes a really great feature (no pun intended) gets lost in the shuffle of hundreds of new things that come out every year, thanks to the hard work of the good folks at SOLIDWORKS. FilletXpert is one of those gems that long time SOLIDWORKS users may have never even known about.   FilletXpert in SOLIDWORKS is just one part of a larger idea called “SWIFT” (SOLIDWORKS Intelligent Feature Technology). Other parts of SWIFT are DraftXpert, SketchXpert, & MateXpert (if any of you reading this would like an intro to those capabilities, please leave a note in the comments section and we will consider doing a future post on them as well).

In SOLIDWORKS 2016, there are some useful new features to help in moving and placing parts. For instance, selecting all identical components at once can help for a configuration change or utilizing automatic transparency for mating. These allow for a more seamless workflow. But what if you want to copy multiple components at once and retain their mates? This year in SOLIDWORKS 2016, they have furthered the copy functionality to include mates between multiple components on copy and paste.

Just a reminder, Windows 10 Home and Windows To Go editions are not supported operating systems for SOLIDWORKS.

One of the challenges that everyone who works with non-prismatic shapes (think odd, free-form organic shapes) faces is trying to determine where exactly the widest part of the geometry is from a given viewing direction.