Hey everyone.  I am going to be outlining some of the key changes to the simulation tools within SolidWorks 2009 over the next couple blog entries.  This is in no way meant to be a complete list of all the enhancements / changes within 2009 but a discussion of the highlights as well as some necessary information meant to make your transition to ’09 as productive and seamless as possible.  A complete description of changes can be found in the What’s New document which can be found under the Help menu in SolidWorks 2009.  These blog entries will loosely follow the outline of the chapter 10 of this document if you want to refer to it for further clarification.

SolidWorks Simulation?!!!

Let’s jump into the changes.  That’s right folks.    It starts right at the top with a name change.  No more COSMOS.  The name has been changed to SolidWorks Simulation.  Here is a rundown of all the product name changes:

COSMOSWorks                                          →                 SolidWorks Simulation

COSMOSWorks Professional                  →        SolidWorks Simulation Professional

COSMOSWorks Advanced Professional  →             SolidWorks Simulation Premium

COSMOSXpress                                         →                 SolidWorks SimulationXpress

COSMOSFloXpress                                    →                 SolidWorks FloXpress

COSMOSFloWorks                                    →                  SolidWorks Flow Simulation

COSMOSMotion                                        →                  SolidWorks Motion

Keep this in mind because from now on the new naming convention will be utilized in the remainder of this and all subsequent blogs.

“Where’s my COSMOS tab?” – User Interface Changes

I’m sure I will be getting a lot of this one.  SolidWorks Simulation features a significant user interface change.  You will no longer have a COSMOS tab in your feature manager tree.  You will now have a Solidworks Simulation tab at the bottom of you design window, in the same neighborhood that the Motion tab moved in 2008.  You will have a new tab for each Simulation study.  When a Simulation tab is selected, a Simulation tree overlaps the SolidWorks feature manager tree.  You will only be able to see one Simulation setup at a time since they are on different tabs but items can still be drag and dropped to other studies.  To do this, select the items to transfer, and drag and drop them onto the desired Simulation tab.  Studies can now be renamed or duplicated by right clicking on the corresponding tab and selecting either rename or duplicate.

Within the Simulation tree, there has also been changes.  The Loads / Restraints folder is no more.  Restraints are now located under Fixtures.  Loads are located under External Loads and thermal loads are listed under Thermal Loads.  Connector and contact conditions are under Connections.

Here’s one that I am extremely excited about.  It is now possible to add split lines within Simulation.  It is no longer required to switch back to the SolidWorks tab to add your split lines.  A Split tab has been added to the property managers for Fixtures, External Loads, and Connectors.  The user can click on this tab within the property manager, create a sketch of the required split area, apply it to the required faces, and then apply the appropriate loads / restraints etc. within the same property manager.  This one can be a big time saver.

When applying a load / restraint / connector, the symbol will appear on the model as a preview to give you a better idea of what you are doing.  It is now possible to double click a symbol in the design window and bring up the corresponding Property Manager.

These interface changes are significant and will take some time to get used to.  In an attempt to ease the adaptation process, a set of four videos will pop up when Simulation is first added in.  These videos will pop up for viewing everytime Simulation is added in until the user selects a button to turn them off.  I highly recommend viewing them each a couple times to get a grasp of the changes in the interface and the work flow.

This entry was posted on Monday, October 6th, 2008 at 12:43 pm and is filed under 3D CAD, Announcements, COSMOSWorks. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.