Many people have seen or heard about the benefits of simulation software. We know it's a powerful tool for understanding how our designs will behave in the real world, but as with any tool, there are limitations on what is possible. Sometimes we have to make simplifications to get a simulation study to run. Unfortunately, in some cases we can't get it to run at all. I can think of a few examples from past experience...
• Simulating a destructive test where the resulting contact and deformation was just too extreme for the solver to handle.
• Modeling an elastomer with complex material behavior that proved difficult to reproduce.
• Trying to study a high-speed impact with extreme deformation and damage to the components involved.
• Analyzing a very large assembly with many contacts and connections. Even after simplifying, we were still maxing out the computer's resources and waiting several hours for each run.
Do any of these scenarios sound familiar to you? If you've pushed your current simulation tools to the limits, we encourage you to check out SIMULIAworks on the 3DEXPERIENCE platform.
SIMULIAworks is powered by Abaqus technology which offers world-class structural analysis capabilities. It's powerful enough to tackle some of the most challenging simulation problems in the industry, and it's tightly integrated with your existing SOLIDWORKS CAD software. Collaborative Designer for SOLIDWORKS connects your file-based CAD model to the 3DEXPERIENCE platform ensuring full transfer of geometry, existing SOLIDWORKS Simulation studies, and material information. Collaborative Designer also ensures full associativity of your design and simulation data so any changes you make in SOLIDWORKS are reflected in the simulation. Best of all, SIMULIAworks is completely scalable with options to run the calculations on a local computer or leverage the power of cloud computing resources with up to 144 cores for your most challenging models.
With SIMULIAworks, we can now efficiently simulate complex engineering problems involving impact with structural damage, manufacturing processes like deep drawing and blow molding, high-speed dynamic events, and drop tests with liquid-filled containers - just to name a few. The range of applications is truly impressive. SIMULIAworks also provides advanced meshing options, additional element types, material calibration tools, and the ability to easily share your simulation results with the 3DEXPERIENCE platform. If you're looking to expand your simulation capabilities and would like to learn more about what's possible with SIMULIAworks, contact Alignex to schedule a discovery call or custom demo.
Thanks for checking out the Alignex blog! For more information on SOLIDWORKS Simulation, make sure to check out our SOLIDWORKS Simulation Resource Library below!

Written by Tim Spielman
Tim Spielman is an Application Engineer at Alignex, Inc. When Tim isn't teaching a variety of Simulation courses or developing tailored software solutions for customers, he spends his free time working on his truck or flying airplanes.