Top Enhancements in SOLIDWORKS Simulation 2022

In the field of design and production, which are the major fields for the new product development in industry, as technology is advancing the process we do should be changing according to the new enhancements, so that we can works faster & smarter.

The major important task in NPD is the product reliability & Performance in the real time conditions, to predict these at the design stage we can do an virtual validation with SOLIDWORKS Simulation, as mentioned previously with advanced technology development in the field of FEA, and implementing them in SOLIDWORKS Simulation. There are few enhancements in the SolidWorks 2022 in Simulation(FEA) they are listed below with detail:

1. Linkage Rod Connector

2. Blended Curvature Based Mesh

3. Parallel Processing

Linkage Rod Connector

   

In an 4 bar linkage mechanism we use an Intermediate link that connects both the links as shown in the Fig: 1, the main purpose of the Intermediate link is to transfer the force exerted on the one link to the other link. This Intermediate link can be defined as an boundary condition so that the mesh size can be reduced  and speed-up the simulation. In SolidWorks Simulation 2022 an new feature called Linkage Rod Connector can be used in the place of the Intermediate link. We can define different types of joint connection between the joints i.e.

a. Rigid Joint:

A rigid joint prevents any rotations or deformations. A linkage rod connector with rigid joints can transfer all moments from one part to another.

b. Pivot Joint:

A pivot joint allows only one rotation about the axis normal to the connector's axis.

c. Spherical Joint:

A spherical joint acts like a ball and socket joint where the ball can rotate inside the socket, but it cannot dislocate from the socket.We can list a linkage rod connector's forces such as shear force, axial force, bending moments, and torque after you run a simulation.

 

Blended Curvature Based Mesh

Meshing is the important task when we are working in the field of FEM or CFD. It is always good to have an automated mesh algorithm to mesh the complex models, so that we can eliminate the errors that are created when meshing. As we know SolidWorks simulation uses automated mesh algorithm, for refinement there is an new enhancement in the SolidWorks 2022 i.e. Blended Curvature Based Mesh, as shown in Fig:2, in this the course mesh can be defined to bodies that are not critical for analysis & can applying the Mesh control to the selected components that are critical, so that the analysis time can be reduced. After creating the mesh, with Mesh summery we can know the element size that is assigned to the individual components.

 Fig:2

 

Blended Curvature-based mesh in 2022

Parallel Processing:

 The major task in the field of FEA is, solving the meshed elements with their respective boundary condition PDE’s, with the technology enhancement we are able to make this process by function-based stiffness data communication replacing file-based processing, which take advantage of extending parallel processing speed-up with the iterative solver to all connectors and most features, the comparison of 2020 & 2021 is shown in the Fig:3

 

THANK YOU FOR READING!