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PuGZoR
6th July 2009, 05:32 PM
Hey kids,

I've been playing with Solidworks 2009 a bit lately, and just wanted to know if anyone else has.

I can safely say I could design things like spacers, RCAs, maybe even a flywheel all from billet now. Only pretty simple stuff, but I'm getting there. Even designed a billet card holder today, lol. For the ultimate in office wank factor.

So yeah, anyone else delved? Pics!

dreny...
6th July 2009, 06:39 PM
Ha, i am an industrial designer (for Clipsal) and have been using solidworks for about 6 years and it is my preferred CAD program over UG, Auto CAD, Pro-E etc. Its the bomb. Have fun and if you need any help just ask. I designed a golf cart for my final year project in solidworks with over 70 components with multi linkage capabilities. I will see if i can get any pics up later.

corknose
6th July 2009, 07:56 PM
i just started a toolmaking appecnticeship and im going to start doing CAD i have a programme on my computer at home called turbo CAD not too bad just picking up the basics,

Medwin_3sGTE_AE86
6th July 2009, 08:41 PM
i just started a toolmaking appecnticeship and im going to start doing CAD i have a programme on my computer at home called turbo CAD not too bad just picking up the basics,

:unseen::gah: LOL

As for solidworks, have heard a bit, never done anything with it. I've spent alot of time with AutoCAD, CivilCAD, Microstation and mainly Pro/E, and all I can say is that for solidworks to be better than Pro/E it must be a friggen awesome package! I spend 8-10 hours a day on Pro/E and it is a pleasure! :thumbup:

slide86
6th July 2009, 09:39 PM
what would be the best program for someone starting out who just wants to dibble dabble in designing stuff???

dori_86
6th July 2009, 10:25 PM
what would be the best program for someone starting out who just wants to dibble dabble in designing stuff???

really depends on what application you going to use it for, I'm assuming your wanting to do more engineering type products? if so I'd definately recommend solidworks for technical/mechanical designs etc and pretty easy to pic up



Ha, i am an industrial designer ... I designed a golf cart for my final year project in solidworks with over 70 components with multi linkage capabilities. I will see if i can get any pics up later.

hey dreny you didnt happen to go to UniSA at all? and did the black and red golfcart?

----------------------------------------------------
heres some quick study model renders from solidworks
to show how easy it is to creat decent models quickly

http://img443.imageshack.us/img443/4983/quickrender2.jpg (http://img443.imageshack.us/i/quickrender2.jpg/) http://img443.imageshack.us/img443/quickrender2.jpg/1/w652.png (http://g.imageshack.us/img443/quickrender2.jpg/1/)

http://img443.imageshack.us/img443/5532/bender11copy.jpg (http://img443.imageshack.us/i/bender11copy.jpg/) http://img443.imageshack.us/img443/bender11copy.jpg/1/w666.png (http://g.imageshack.us/img443/bender11copy.jpg/1/)

ke70dave
6th July 2009, 11:59 PM
yer i use solid works at work all the time (mechanical engineer)

im pretty proficient with 2d stuff, workshop drawings and what not. and quite good at simple 3d stuff. just lately been getting into complex assemblies.

we design these huge mixing plants, and the assemblies are quite massive. reallly chug the computers. and lately ive been finding it crashing alot...but i just installed the latest service pack so hopefully its better tomorrow.

cool program though, really easy to design simple things. and very easy to edit the features once its "finished"

Javal
7th July 2009, 12:58 AM
I'm a fan of Autodesk, mainly as i haven't used anything else. Anyone care to enlighten me as far as a comparison is concerned?

Nikkojoe
7th July 2009, 02:10 AM
Used solidworks (haven't used 2009 yet) in previous years, designed a radiator last year (mechatronic/engineering). When I first started on solidworks it didn't seem that popular but recently it seems to be the prefered CAD software.

Just finished a unit on F.E.M. (finite element method) using ANSYS workbench, pretty basic program but effective. Did a small amount of CFD with it, just need a half decent computer :)

PuGZoR
7th July 2009, 10:23 AM
Wow, didn't expect such a decent response, lol. That'd mad guys. Get some renders up dreny!

I think Solidworks is a pretty easy program to pick up, for anyone looking to get into CAD. I've probably messed around with it with 3-4 hours so far with no previous CAD experience. Just getting the processes down and learning how to use the tools is the main thing. It's a pretty comprehensive program, and the options are pretty mind boggling from the perspective of someone who's never dealt with CAD before. The win thing with Solidworks is that it has tutorials built in; they're not the best because for some steps they assume some knowledge (even on the first couple), but after poking around for a bit they're good enough as a start. There are plenty of them available on the net though!

Flanges are one thing I want to try soon... They should be easy enough!

dreny...
7th July 2009, 12:22 PM
really depends on what application you going to use it for, I'm assuming your wanting to do more engineering type products? if so I'd definately recommend solidworks for technical/mechanical designs etc and pretty easy to pic up




hey dreny you didnt happen to go to UniSA at all? and did the black and red golfcart?

----------------------------------------------------
heres some quick study model renders from solidworks
to show how easy it is to creat decent models quickly

http://img443.imageshack.us/img443/4983/quickrender2.jpg (http://img443.imageshack.us/i/quickrender2.jpg/) http://img443.imageshack.us/img443/quickrender2.jpg/1/w652.png (http://g.imageshack.us/img443/quickrender2.jpg/1/)

http://img443.imageshack.us/img443/5532/bender11copy.jpg (http://img443.imageshack.us/i/bender11copy.jpg/) http://img443.imageshack.us/img443/bender11copy.jpg/1/w666.png (http://g.imageshack.us/img443/bender11copy.jpg/1/)

Yeah i went to UniSA. I finished in 06 and i believe the golf cart you are talking about is mine. Are you currently at UniSA. What year?. Say hello to Sandy Walker and Peter Shumacher. There champs. Oh and Pete and Gavin from the model shop.

dreny...
7th July 2009, 12:29 PM
:unseen::gah: LOL

As for solidworks, have heard a bit, never done anything with it. I've spent alot of time with AutoCAD, CivilCAD, Microstation and mainly Pro/E, and all I can say is that for solidworks to be better than Pro/E it must be a friggen awesome package! I spend 8-10 hours a day on Pro/E and it is a pleasure! :thumbup:

Pro-E is not a bad program its just not very intuitive (if your using WF3). I find solidworks gives you more freedom for conceptual ideation where Pro-E is very structured (making the program more robust). There are a few features in Pro-E WF3 that really get on my nerve such as not being able to extrude & draft (at the same time) over 40 degrees. The interface is not really to my liking as well (stupid drop down menu's)!!

PuGZoR
7th July 2009, 01:16 PM
Click me (http://blogs.solidworks.com/teacher/2009/02/12-solidworks-tutorials-for-technicalvocational-instruction.html).

Good set of tutorials I've been working through. Highly recommend anyone looking to get into SW2k9 gives these a go. Design everything from a picture holder (where I got inspiration for my business card holder) to jack stands, even a bearing puller.

Medwin_3sGTE_AE86
7th July 2009, 02:55 PM
I use WF4 at home but work is only on WF2 at the moment, going to 4 in the next few months we're being told. ;) I think we use Pro/E because its the program used through the rest of the corporation (Caterpillar Inc.) all over the world, and I'd say if it (Pro/E) has a more robust operation, thats also a plus. I work on machine assemblies with over 5,000 components and for top down design its quite good, yeah it'll crash every now and again but we do demand a fair amount of the program and pc, and I doubt any program could be any more stable! Yeah the interface can be a pain, but like I said i havent used solidworks so to me i dont really have all that much to compare it to, reckon pro/e is a pain, try civil-cad... on par with turbo-cad for interface standards :oh:

Hen may possibly be a nut
7th July 2009, 08:35 PM
I use Solidworks alot at work. I haven't had too much experience with other programs, but from what I have seen and heard from others I like Solidworks. Fairly intuitive and easy to edit things along the way.

Although I have issues with 2009 crashing/freezing when dealing with large assemblies. Colleagues here who've used older versions feel 2009 is a step backward. Hopefully they'll fix things rather than add more features (used by 0.001% of users) in future versions.

Hen

And shot of the gear I work on:
http://img34.imageshack.us/img34/1517/8002rrigidfwda.jpg

Kid Karola
8th July 2009, 07:11 AM
I used Autodesk Inventor at work for last few years which has been very good package and has been improved in recent years. We used it to make file sharing between depts easier with their Vault capabity. I'm pretty familiar with Solidworks and ProE as I had to worked with some contractors that used them. I got brought up on UniGraphicsNX while at uni (and used Catia while on work experience many years ago at Mitsubishi) so I've sampled a few that are out there. It's much of a muchness these days when it comes to CAD packages (many common features and user interface are quite similar) and usually comes down to your or your companies budget when selecting a package as the software licences are not cheap! but if you check the websites or local distributers they often have trial licences or demo versions you can use.

PuGZoR
13th July 2009, 09:44 AM
What is that thing Hen? Obviously it's a trailer, but what's that thing on the back?

I have been off work sick over the last few days before the weekend, so was messing around with CAD a bit more. Took me ages between sneezing, wiping my nose, etc, lol, but was relaxing. Through tutorials I made a candle holder from sheet metal, a tic tac toe game (naughts and crosses), as well as a bearing puller. Actually going to give making a jack stand today too.

What I found was really freaking cool with Solidworks is that it does material analysis. In the case of my bearing puller, you can actually test it to see how much load it will take, and it can automatically optomise the design to trim the fat. Very cool. The one I've designed below has been tested on the bridge and the legs to withstand 6000N of force, being around 600kg. It makes stress and displacement videos and diagrams too.

Slimer86
13th July 2009, 03:21 PM
I started to self teach myself solidworks 2005 then 2007.
I found it a relatively user friendly program to use.
2007 seemed a little backwards to 2005, but I got used to it, haven't drawn on it for about 12 or so months, but I picked it up pretty quickly using tutorials from the net, and the solidworks bible (2007), inside solidworks 2005 and part of the training manual, Parts and assemblies.

Pretty good program to me with zero cad experience, just hand drawn engineering drawing experience.

Joel-AE86
13th July 2009, 04:13 PM
+1 for SolidWorks.

I used Unigraphics/NX from version 16 and know it very well. Have used SolidWorks however for the last 2 years and really like it. I have also used SolidEdge, Inventor, ANSYS and Pro/E. I hate Pro/E as it has a very very different way of working compared to other CAD software I've used, and has a shit interface with mixed menus and illogical places to find commands!

CAD is all about horses for courses. i.e. what you inted to use it for!

Speaking for Mechanical CAD packages:

Cheaper packages like SolidWorks, Inventor are great for general CAD modelling, assemblies, drafting, renderings animations (General Industrial Design and basic Engineering work)

Higher-end packages like Catia, NX, Pro/E can do what the cheap ones do, but have a lot more capabilites for surface modelling, simulation, CAM integration, large assemblies and mutli-user functioning (For detailed Engineering work)

Then you can get more specific simulation/Engineering CAD programs such as ANSYS, that have specific functions for areas such as: Thermodynamics, fluid mechanics (CFD), dynamic structural, vibrations, electrical, electro-magnetics etc.

I went recently to the launch of the new ANSYS V12 (WB2) and the shit is so insane. You can practically simulate anything!

Joel-AE86
13th July 2009, 04:15 PM
As far as car related stuff, I've designed RCA's, Brake adapters, Engine mount brakets and a few other things.

Great tool to have when modifying a car!

Mr Awsome
13th July 2009, 05:28 PM
im doing mechanical engineering at tafe part time. we use auto CAD coz its eazy to work with and its dirty cheap. havnt used other programs yet.

Hen may possibly be a nut
13th July 2009, 06:50 PM
Joel, given the price of a Solidworks license (even the most basic one), it's scary to think that it is just "one of the cheap ones".

The pic I posted is a bit of equipment to test roads and runways (falling weight deflectometer). Basically drop a big weight on the ground and see how much it moves, then do some witchcraft with the results to see how much maintainence is required.

Hen

Joel-AE86
13th July 2009, 10:05 PM
Sounds very interesting Hen!

Yeh CAD programs can cost an arm and a leg!

I enquired recently about the cost of a basic Solidworks licence: $12,000 initially with $2,000 per additional year for maintenance (roughly from memory).

Inventor basic license I understand is around 6,000 (one of the cheapest 3D CAD programs).

Unigraphics (NX) basic license is around $18,000

For an advanced license for programs such as NX and ANSYS can cost well in excess of $100,000!

Sound like a lot of money, but the amount of money that can be saved by simulating and electronically varifying complex designs before any construction is invaluable. E.g. imagine optimising the flow of air over an aircraft wing and designing for strength based on results? Without simulation and calculation tools, you'd be sure to spend millions of dollars with limited confidence of it working properly and functioning safely.

Hen may possibly be a nut
13th July 2009, 10:34 PM
Exactly, it's big money for me, but if you're designing multi-million or billion dollar bits of kit then it can be well worth it.

I reckon the equipment we make is interesting too... but I've only been here 6 months, so that could well change.

Hen

slide86
13th July 2009, 11:00 PM
oh they are that expensive?

i just downloaded it ;)

Joel-AE86
14th July 2009, 10:31 AM
Bingo.

PuGZoR
14th July 2009, 11:24 AM
One of the biggest things I was looking for before I picked up CAD was CAM integration, as this is ultimately something I want to learn as well. Basically I'd like to take all the labour out of getting my own stuff made, so I just need to hand someone a CAM file and they put it into their schedule. Solidworks has SolidCAM which does this. Not sure on it's usability though; has anyone used it before?

Medwin_3sGTE_AE86
14th July 2009, 03:11 PM
Sadly, depending on the brand and type of CNC, usually the CAM program is specific to that brand machine. (.dxf is not, as it is a fairly generic file used between most CAD pacakges, but only good for 2D piece parts)

I've had 6 months programming and operating a Laser Profile Cutter and a 3D CNC Mill. In my experience on the Mill, it comes down to what tools you have to use and you have to create the program according to the tooling capabilities. (ie the program will not take into account that you have a 6.35mm tool in position 4, you have to program it to suit that tooling selection.)

Its very interesting stuff, CNC is the future of many many manfacturing processes so is definately worth looking into if you're able.

corknose
14th July 2009, 08:57 PM
i know at my work on the okuma's, mazak's and dekels we use autocad to model it and then machining stratgist to write the progams and set tool paths

Joel-AE86
15th July 2009, 10:13 AM
Sadly, depending on the brand and type of CNC, usually the CAM program is specific to that brand machine. (.dxf is not, as it is a fairly generic file used between most CAD pacakges, but only good for 2D piece parts)

I've had 6 months programming and operating a Laser Profile Cutter and a 3D CNC Mill. In my experience on the Mill, it comes down to what tools you have to use and you have to create the program according to the tooling capabilities. (ie the program will not take into account that you have a 6.35mm tool in position 4, you have to program it to suit that tooling selection.)

Its very interesting stuff, CNC is the future of many many manfacturing processes so is definately worth looking into if you're able.

Yeh definitely cool shit!

As a Designer (e.g. designing your own parts) having CAM knowledge is somewhat limited unless you have a CNC machine yourself. As you said Medwin, whoever you go 2 to get parts cut or machined will run their own CAM program to do the tool paths for their specific machine.

You simply need to provide them with a CAD model of a compatible format and they will perform the CAM side of things, load material into the machine and run it! You don't provide them with any CAM data.

Medwin_3sGTE_AE86
15th July 2009, 11:17 AM
Yeh definitely cool shit!

As a Designer (e.g. designing your own parts) having CAM knowledge is somewhat limited unless you have a CNC machine yourself. As you said Medwin, whoever you go 2 to get parts cut or machined will run their own CAM program to do the tool paths for their specific machine.

You simply need to provide them with a CAD model of a compatible format and they will perform the CAM side of things, load material into the machine and run it! You don't provide them with any CAM data.
Im definately lucky in my position I am now, to have had the CAM experience. It definately is a help in knowing what is possible and what is not, and enables me to design according to these capabilities of the CNC.

Providing a design to a manufacturer in 2D is easy, virtually all CAD packages are compatible with .dxf files (for example). However, in my experience, when it comes to 3D (solidworks, pro/e, etc) the file formats for saving models are not interchangable in most cases, clever on the program writer's behalf to force more people into using their program, bad for production people. A smart CAM program will have the capabilities to import many many file formats, but not all.

I guess the best idea if you want to get into designing 3D and having these designs manufactured is to do your homework first, find out what file formats the CNC software at your machinist's office accept, and buy/use a design program that will allow you to save in a format that is of most use to you (ie able to send straight to CAM operator ready to import.)

Joel-AE86
15th July 2009, 02:48 PM
^^^Fosure.

I've delt with a number of manufacturing/CNC businesses that accept parasolid or STEP file formats (for 3D) and DXF for 2D.

Any CAD/CAM program worth its weight these days should have no issues with importing these file formats.

Hen may possibly be a nut
16th July 2009, 02:15 AM
Im definately lucky in my position I am now, to have had the CAM experience. It definately is a help in knowing what is possible and what is not, and enables me to design according to these capabilities of the CNC.
So true. Just because you can draw it in a CAD program doesn't mean you can make it or it is easy to make.

I think practical machining experience is hugely important for anyone designing parts.

Hen

GOT-20V
10th October 2009, 09:35 PM
Hey, i do a bit on solidworks but i'm still learning alot!

Here is one of my better ones, i prefer to render in solidworks at the moment as well.

http://www.ae86drivingclub.com.au/dcimages/2/3/1/7/25341.jpg

PuGZoR
12th October 2009, 10:09 AM
Ooo, forgot about this thread, haha. I've kept potting away with my designs too. I spent ages working on getting a model done for the next generation Razorback. Did about 4 different cases before I started working on getting an exact copy of the USDM AE86 4AGE case, as it's damn small compared to most other Toyota ECU cases. Anyway, a bit of talking with a machinist and I got a model prototyped up out of aluminium. Very very similar physically, but a bit different on the inside. Has some outputs too for a hand controller and USB programming, etc. Looks tops too, very happy with how it turned out, fair bit of work went into it.

Victim
4th November 2009, 12:55 AM
Anyone here use Rhino?

I was always a bigger fan of knocking up really simple ideas in Rhino, to get a feel for how things will work / look / interact in 3D.

Although, that's pretty much where Rhino\s usefullness ends haha...

Kid Karola
4th November 2009, 01:07 AM
Yeah I like Rhino for free form 3D as surfaces are easier to manipulate.

Victim
4th November 2009, 01:11 AM
Hells yeah, my point exactly.

Rhino is nowhere near as strict as SolidWorks, it doesn't mind if you pull that, adjust that, chop that... So as you say, you can manipulate your curves so much faster. But that's also it's downfall... Rhino falls flat when you're trying to determine if anything you make will actually work haha.

Kid Karola
4th November 2009, 01:25 AM
It's more illustrative design tool rather then used for mechanical design or engineering. It also doesn't export files well into other applications, so the models are basically chunks use useless data. Alias 3D is much more better but also much more expensive.

PuGZoR
30th December 2009, 03:23 PM
I know this thread is kinda old, but... is there anyone here that would be willing to give me a few pointers in terms of analyzing a design? I've mocked up a crankshaft, and I'd really like to put it through some kind of test to get it balanced. I've upgraded to SW2k10 SP0.0, but it's not that much different from 2k9. I'd settle for someone balancing it for me, but I'd prefer to be taught how to fish instead of being given a fish. Even a point to a good tutorial would be awesome.