By Jonathan Culm, Applications Specialist at CAD MicroSolutions
There might be times when you are asked to run a simulation study to determine specific outcomes but aren’t sure what type of study will work best. Did you know that SolidWorks has a built in “Study Advisor” which will ask questions about what results you are looking for! The challenge with the Advisor is it only asks certain questions that might not always lead you to the correct study for your specific scenario. To keep you from staring at the new study screen trying to pick the right tool for the job, I thought I would give a little summary on the different studies available, and what you might use them for.
| Study |
Results |
| Static |
Stress |
| Strain |
| Displacement |
| Factor of Safety |
| Thermal |
Temperature |
| Thermal Flux |
| Frequency |
Natural Frequency |
| Modal Shapes |
| Buckling |
Buckling Load Factor - factor of safety specific to buckling |
| Drop Test |
Stress |
With time |
| Strain |
| Displacement |
| Fatigue |
Cycles to failure |
| Pressure Vessel |
General Primary Member Stress Intensity |
| Design Study |
Results with varied dimensions |
| Submodeling |
Any part of a larger study in finer detail |
| Nonlinear |
Stress |
For Nonlinear materials |
| Strain |
| Displacement |
| Factor of Safety |
| Linear Dynamic |
Stress |
With time based on: Modal Time History, Harmonic, Random Vibration, and Spectrum Analysis |
| Strain |
| Displacement |
| Factor of Safety |
