In an assembly with this many components, it’s worth creating a separate configuration just for analysis. The pins and bolts in the assembly will be suppressed and replaced with the appropriate Virtual Connectors, a special type of simplified representation available in SOLIDWORKS Simulation to represent features such as pins, bolts, springs and welds. Insufficient clamping force would cause the halves to separate and the solution would become unstable. Note: for this type of setup, it’s important that the clamping force is sufficiently large that it exceeds the clamp tonnage requirement, which can be estimated as the molding pressure multiplied by the 2D surface area of the cavities. For loadings and restraints: one side of the mold is fixed, a clamping force is applied to the other side and a pressure is applied to the cavity faces exposed to the polymer. Contact significantly increases solve time, so the remaining plates will be assumed to be bonded. Case Study – Mold Base Analysis.Ĭontact interactions (formerly called “no penetration”) will be used sparingly at the interface between the mold halves. In this analysis, the goal is to predict deflections and stresses around the mold cavities when subjected to the injection pressure and clamping forces.įigure 1. It’s important to establish a plan for the level of detail expected in an analysis before beginning study setup. Example 1: Mold Base Solid Mesh AnalysisĬonsider the case of the injection mold in Figure 1 below. This article will examine two case studies and describe techniques relevant for setting up any large assembly analysis, as well as some of the key relevant enhancements in SOLIDWORKS Simulation 2021 and other recent versions that make analyzing large assemblies much easier. The general process of setting up an analysis is the same for parts and assemblies, but as the number of components in an assembly grows, more care must be taken to ensure feasibility of an analysis.

Finite element analysis with SOLIDWORKS Simulation allows analyzing load cases and predicting the resulting stresses and displacements of a model directly within SOLIDWORKS CAD.

Solidworks assemblies