The top developments for SOLIDWORKS 2020 provide improvements to existing products and innovative new functionality.
1] Assemblies
A) Create and Edit Component Patterns in Large Design Review: You can create and edit linear and circular component patterns, pattern driven and sketch driven component patterns. You can use the following tools when you right-click a pattern feature: Edit Feature, Suppress, Unsuppress, Hide Components, Show Components and Isolate Components.
B) Create Mates to Reference Geometry in Large Design Review: You can create mates to the reference geometry of components. You can see standard planes, Origin, Reference planes, Axes – not temporary axes, Reference points and Coordinate systems.
C) Envelope Publisher: You can use the Envelope Publisher tool to include components from a top-level assembly as envelopes in a subassembly.
D) Flexible Components: You can define a part component as flexible to drive the geometry of flexible components by the assembly geometry.
2] Detailing and Drawings
A) Adding Hole Callouts in Section Views: You can apply hole callouts to cross-sectioned holes and slots. You can apply the callouts to these features: Hole Wizard holes and slots, Advanced Holes, Holes created with Cut-Revolve, Holes and slots created with Cut-Extrude.
B) Detailing Mode: Detailing mode is useful to open large assembly drawings quickly and if you need to make minor edits to drawings of large assemblies or drawings with many sheets, configurations, or resource-intensive views.
3] Model Display
A) Body Compare: You can use Body Compare to compare two groups of bodies that are collocated in the same part or assembly.
4] Parts and Features
A) Creating an Offset Surface Without Failed Faces: The Offset Surface tool identifies faces on a surface it cannot offset, and lets you create an offset surface without them. When the tool starts to create an offset surface and encounters failure, it lists faces it cannot include in the offset surface.
B) Repairing Missing References for Fillets and Chamfers: When you edit fillet or chamfer features that have errors, all missing references display at the top of the Items to Fillet or Items to Chamfer box in the PropertyManager.
C) Decimating a Graphics Mesh Body: The Decimate Mesh tool reduces the facet count in graphics mesh bodies. A lower facet count makes it easier to modify a graphics mesh body.
5] Routing
A) Create Multiple Connection Points: You can create multiple connection points in parts. Select the following parameters to create multiple connection points in parts:
• A sketch that has sketch points. The number of connection points is equal to the number of sketch points in a sketch.
• Multiple circular edges.
• Multiple circular and cylindrical faces.
B) Minimum Bend Radius: You can create a route part if the bend radius of the cable, core, or wire is less than the minimum. Click Tools > Options > System Options > Routing and select Create route part for segments if bend radius is less than the minimum.
6] Sketching
A) Applying Torsion Continuity Relations: You can apply torsion continuity relations to a spline and one of these sketch entities: Spline, Arc, Conic or elliptical arc and Model edges that are linear, circular, conic, parabolic, elliptical, or spline-based.
B) Silhouette Entities: You can create multiple sketch entities by projecting the outline of the bodies in a part or components in an assembly onto a parallel sketch plane. Silhouette entities create parametric sketch constraints on the model.
7] SOLIDWORKS Composer
A) Importing Exploded, Saved, and Named Views from SOLIDWORKS Files: You can import exploded, saved, and named views from SOLIDWORKS files. See Composer Help: Managing (Default) Document Properties > Advanced Properties > Properties > Input – Import.
B) Support of MP4 Format for Animations: You can save videos in FLV, MKV, and MP4 formats as well as AVI. See Composer Help: Working in Workshops > Video Workshop and Working with the Ribbon > File Menu.
8] SOLIDWORKS PDM
A) Bill of Materials Tab in Web2: SOLIDWORKS PDM Web2 lets you see a read-only view of the Bill of Materials. The supported BOM types are: Computed BOMs, Weldment BOMs, Weldment cut lists and SOLIDWORKS BOMs
B) Defining Child Reference State Conditions: You can define conditions on the state of immediate child references to control the parent file transition.
C) Performance Improvements in Browsing: SOLIDWORKS PDM loads the data in the background, which improves the browsing responsiveness. Browsing folders that have a large number of files is faster due to:
• Faster database queries for custom columns.
• Background loading and incremental loading of the data.
D) Search User Interface: You can perform a search with the quick search box in the SOLIDWORKS PDM File. With the quick search box, you can:
• Define your search string using sample text.
• Select a string from a list of the previous five searches when you click in the quick search box.
• Use AND, OR, and NOT operators in the search string.
• Click in the quick search box, type, and select any string from the list of previously matching searches.
E) Using AND, OR, and NOT Operators in Search: You can use these search operators in any search card, Web2 search, the SOLIDWORKS PDM Search tool, and quick search.
9] SOLIDWORKS Simulation
A) Draft and High-Quality Mesh Definition: An improved mesh formulation for linear static studies allows both draft and high-quality solid elements to coexist in a single mesh definition.
B) Distributed Coupling for Pins and Bolts: The introduction of distributed coupling enhances the formulation of pin and bolt connectors.
C) Free Body Forces for Nonlinear Studies: After running a nonlinear static or nonlinear dynamic study, you can list the free body forces on select geometry entities at each solution step. The free body forces can come from contact, external loads, restraints, or connectors.
D) Simulation Evaluator: Simulation Evaluator checks a study’s setup to determine if the setup is optimal for a successful simulation.
E) Thermal Loads for Beams: You can apply thermal loads on beam joints and beam bodies.
10] Structure System
A) Pattern and Mirror Support: You can pattern and mirror structure system members using the Linear Pattern, Circular Pattern, or Mirror tools. In the Pattern PropertyManager, under Bodies, you can specify structure system features or individual members to pattern.
B) Options for Creating Primary Members Based on Points: The specifying Point and Length, you can set a direction for a primary member by selecting a sketch entity as a reference. The member extrudes in its direction. You can also reverse its direction.
C) Split Members: You can split primary and secondary members by specifying references or dimensions. For Reference type, you can select faces, reference planes, or members. For Dimension type, you can specify a dimension for length, direction vector, and the number of split member instances to create.