Learning Solidworks Simulation

Learning SOLIDWORKS Simulation is not like learning SOLIDWORKS parts, assemblies and drawings.  When modelling with SOLIDWORKS  you can see your part and you know what you are building.   In Simulation you might think you are doing it correctly and your answers are valid but if you don’t understand how Simulation and FEA work you could be getting erroneous results.

We always recommend face to face instructor led training.  You just can’t beat the dedicated time away from work to learn without interruption and being face to face you are able to get help when you get stuck and ask relevant questions to you and your work.

But we know sometimes you can’t attend training. Maybe it’s not available in your location or perhaps you need to start learning now and the course isn’t for some time?  Here are some options you have for learning more about SOLIDWORKS Simulation.

SOLIDWORKS  Simulation tutorials

Tutorials, we all know about the SOLIDWORKS tutorials but did you know about the Simulation tutorials?  They are great because they not only teach you how to use the simulation software but it also touches on finite element analysis fundamentals.  They can be found under Hep-> SOLIDWORKS  Simulation-> tutorials

Under the tutorials you will also see a Validation section consisting of Verification Problems and NAFEMS Benchmarks as well as 2 pdf manuals, Introduction to Simulation and the Theoretical Manual.

Verification Problems compare the results of SOLIDWORKS Simulation studies to known analytical solutions.  They provide the setup information, an example file already setup and the known analytical solution.  This will also give you confidence in the software’s accuracy.

NAFEMS Benchmarks: SOLIDWORKS also ensures the accuracy of the software by comparing its results to the NAFEMS benchmarks.  NAFEMS is the International Association for the Engineering Modelling, Analysis and Simulation Community. For more information on NAFEMS see their website at https://www.nafems.org/

Introduction to Simulation is a great resource that covers engineering concepts and techniques related to FEA and Simulation.  This will help you understand how FEA and Simulation works.

The Theoretical Manual delves deeper into the mathematics and theories behind FEA

MySolidworks

http://my.solidworks.com/ provides lessons, learning paths as well as eCourses.  There are 3 levels of MySolidworks.

• MySolidWorks, free for everyone, 10+ hours of online training content

• MySolidWorks Standard, for subscriptions customers, 30+ hours of online training content. Searching today for 12 available lessons specific to Simulation.

• MySolidWorks Professional, available for purchase, 100+ hours of online training content

Solidprofessor

Solidprofessor is another alternative leaning method for Solidworks and Simulation through videos and exercise.  You can test it out for free by signing up you can get 5 lessons free in every course.  You can sign up at https://www.solidprofessor.com/

MyIntercad

A free add-in to SOLIDWORKS designed by Central Innovations and Intercad to provide our customers with Intercad services such as mySupport, myToolkit and myKnowledgebase where you will find Intercad blogs, technical guides, webcasts and presentations.

For more information or to download myIntercad see https://intercad.com.au/resources/myintercad/

Other

Of course you will find many other publications on the net such as SOLIDWORKS forums, Youtube etc but remember anyone can publish these so be wary of the source.