In this tech tip, we are going to find out how to cancel the check-out of a file from another user on PDM because this permission is no longer exclusive to the default Admin user:
PDM Administrators can now allow users to undo the ‘check-out’ of files checked out by other users! Permission was previously reserved for the default Admin user.
The permission has been added to the Administrative Permissions under Groups — Users:
No more files are stuck in ‘read-only’ when a user leaves for vacation! No need to disconnect from the vault and log in as Admin to PDM.
Even better, if the computer where the files are backed up is available, it is now also possible to archive files from another user profile. No more frustrated users returning from vacation!
To keep control of the possible chaos resulting from power abuse, a line has been added to the history containing all the details of the operation.
Any questions? Need help? Ask one of our experts.
Whether you’re ready to get started or just have a few more questions, you can contact us toll-free:
The Markforged Metal X printing system can produce a variety of metal parts in a growing selection of alloys, but as with any production method, some part geometries will print easier, or better, than others. Design for Manufacture considerations apply for Metal X part production to be the most effective.
However, for parts where casting or machining production methods would otherwise be used, producing through the Metal X printing system can be 50-90% faster and less expensive. In many cases multiple fastened pieces can be printed as 1 part, reducing assembly and maintenance time. Also, when the standard print settings are used, a printed part will often be 20% lighter than the same geometry produced by other methods.
Something to avoid is printing part features that could be easily purchased, such as shafts, threaded rods, pins, and similar mechanical hardware items. Additionally, the Metal X supports are fully solid and do not break or dissolve like plastic or composite printed supports do. There is a ceramic release layer between the support and the finished part geometry, however, it is still preferable to avoid as much support as reasonable. For external features, this is often accomplished by using 45-degree chamfers or tapers. For horizontal hole-type features, a teardrop or diamond shape will avoid the support that would have been used for a circular or square feature.
As with any production process, there are some recommended minimum wall thicknesses and feature size dimensions that apply to Metal X printed parts. For structural soundness, the wall thickness of features should be 1.5 mm or greater, vertical holes can be as small as 1 mm, and grooves can be as thin as 0.5 mm.
It is quite possible, and in many cases recommended, to print the threads of tapped holes rather than tap them after the sintering process. Vertical threads can successfully print as small as M3 or #5-40, angled or horizontal threads should be M10 or 3/8”-16 and larger.
Printed parts can be lightly sanded or smoothed with Scotch-Brite while in the green state condition to improve surface appearance. When using the standard settings, individual feature faces can be post machined 0.5 mm in the X or Y direction and 0.3 mm in Z to achieve specific fit conditions with other parts.
Eiger does have some additional options for adjusting Metal X printing, particularly with regards to supports. However, it is certainly recommended to always use the [Internal View] mode to examine the part slicing in closer detail before sending it to the printer.
With just a little consideration of the Metal X system capabilities, some truly innovative parts can be produced in less time, at a lighter weight, and at a lower cost than might otherwise be possible. Robotic grippers, hydraulic tool components, motor mounts, and power train parts have all been produced with the Markforged Metal X printing system.
Any questions? Need help? Ask one of our experts.
Whether you’re ready to get started or just have a few more questions, you can contact us toll-free:
By Sakineh Orangi – Simulation Application Engineer at SolidXperts
In SOLIDWORKS 2019, the Remote Load/Mass PropertyManager was redesigned to improve the user experience and it introduced distributed coupling. The Remote Loads/Mass PropertyManager allows us to apply remote loads, remote masses, and remote displacements for static, topology, and nonlinear studies. One of the ways to access the Remote Loads/Mass PropertyManager is to right-click on External Loads in the simulation tree of linear static, nonlinear static, or topology.
We select the faces to apply remote loads, remote masses, or remote translations and/or rotations.
We define the coordinate system used for the interpretation of the location and directions of the remote features.
After this step, we enter the coordinates of the reference node location in a local or global coordinate system.
In the case of the definition of remote force or remote distance, we check the Translational Components and enter the values of remote loads or remote translation in the three directions X, Y, and Z.
If there are any remote moments or remote rotations, we check Rotational Components and then enter the data.
Markforged transformed the 3D printing industry back in 2013 with the ability to create functional industrial parts. While this 3D printing powerhouse innovates with metal 3D printing, we want to take a moment to recognize the powerful features offered by the composite printers that keep them at the top of the FDM world. Here are our top seven Markforged composite features:
1. Fiber
This is the go-to innovation for the Markforged printers – the ability to print with Continuous Fiber Filament (CFF) using Fiberglass, Kevlar, and everyone’s favorite, Carbon Fiber.
Impact:
3D printed parts 8x stronger than ABS with comparable traits to 6061 Aluminum unlocks design possibilities. Lighter parts with low cost and fast production can be a valuable proposition for many manufacturers. This feature single-handedly allows 3D printing to be a comprehensive solution rather than a prototyping tool.
2. Expand Thin Features
What exactly does “Expanding Thin Features” do? Enabling this feature will thicken your part geometry to meet the minimum wall thickness requirements of the printer. It will automatically take any layer that is too thin to print and adapt it to meet the minimum requirements. Easily overlooked as it only takes one click to activate, you can see the part salvaged in the slice views below!
Impact:
This feature really excels at taking parts not designed for additive manufacturing and adjusting their geometry to be 3D-pintable. You need to be careful when using this feature as changing the geometry does not maintain the dimensional accuracy of the original CAD model. The major upside is that the majority of legacy parts can be printed on Markforged printers without any major redesign. This level of automation and intelligence is a huge jump in innovation in an otherwise stale industry.
3. Pause & Remove the Print Bed
The print bed itself is fastened by three neodymium magnets, allowing the user to remove the build plate during any layer. This also means that you can replace the print bed and continue the print from where you left off. This process has a repeatability of 10 microns, meaning there are no issues in continuing the print from the new position.
Impact:
Being able to pause and remove the print bed opens up many design options such as embedding hardware or enclosing secondary parts (eg. LED, magnets, or RFID). The repeatability and consistency of the print bed enables many tricks and are well documented in the Markforged blogs.
4. Adaptive Bed Leveling (X7)
The X7 Industrial printer utilizes a built-in laser micrometer to create a contour map of the print bed with 1µm accuracy. While it will alert you to the bed not being leveled correctly, more importantly, the printer will dynamically adjust the extrusion of the first layer to increase the consistency of your print.
Impact:
The application of the laser measuring system eliminates many of the bed leveling issues that occur with standard FDM style printers. Not only are the parts flatter than traditional FDM printers, but the initial compensation means significantly fewer failed prints.
Bonus: Blacksmith
Check out the Blacksmith AI that takes advantage of the same laser micrometer to adjust the physical part based off of inspection results. The end result is a tight feedback loop that makes extremely accurate parts that become more accurate over time.
5. Turbo Print & Turbo Supports [BETA Features]
The Turbo BETA features allow for support and infill to be printed at twice the layer height of the print. By taking advantage of the support structure, Markforged has increased opportunities to save time and material on your prints.
Impact:
The turbo features allow for faster print times and reduces material. Fundamentally, it shows that Markforged is committed to improving and implementing solutions. They are willing to continuously improve their product, and will continue to add BETA features.
6. Eiger Dashboard
With a versatile cloud based software, there many metrics tracked for your convenience. The Eiger Dashboard allows for both management and users to track printer statistics such author and material usage. Not only does the portal include integrated graphics, but the data is also available as a CSV.
Impact:
In traditional manufacturing, material and time management are a huge part of resource management. Using Eiger, it is incredibly easily track material usage, up-time, and other valuable metadata to make your operation more efficient.
7. Eiger Internal View
With the Eiger “slicer”, users can view the internal features of your part in both 2D and 3D. These views also include the thermoplastic structure, infill, use of fiber, and removable supports. Additionally, the slicing view includes a live slider, which reflects print time and material usage by layer. The best feature when using the internal view is the ability to add and adjust fiber layers (blue sections).
Impact:
When enabling fiber usage in Eiger, the standard automation of fiber reinforcement does an exceptional job. However, the ability to control fiber layer placement gives you, the user, the option to add strength to the part without overcompensating with fiber or increasing unnecessary part cost. With clever orientation and fiber layouts, you can create very strong, yet cheap parts! Need bolt holes strengthened to resist shear stress? No problem! Want to take advantage of beam bending theory to reduce cost? Takes only a few clicks. This adaptability and maneuverability in the internal view make this one of the highest impacts features with the Markforged printers.
So there you have it – The key features Markforged composite printers have to offer. Even though FDM style printing is a known quantity, Markforged has managed to innovate on key features that keep the technology fresh.
SOLIDWORKS Electrical Integration for SOLIDWORKS PDM is a free product that will be available to customers using SOLIDWORKS Electrical 2D and SOLIDWORKS PDM Professional.
SOLIDWORKS Electrical Integration for SOLIDWORKS PDM is being released with SOLIDWORKS Electrical 2018
The most important functionalities of this tool are:
• SOLIDWORKS Electrical users will obviously be able to store their projects in SOLIDWORKS PDM from within SOLIDWORKS Electrical.
• Allow the work-sharing between users.
• Variable mapping between both products so that key electrical metadata can be made available in SOLIDWORKS PDM.
• Electrical components libraries will be pushed and synchronized to SOLIDWORKS PDM
• “Where Used” information will be available.
• This product will also manage electrical deliverable files, such as PDF and DWG.
• It will also publish an advanced electrical Bill of Material (BOM) to SOLIDWORKS PDM.
Installation, administration and users guide will be installed in the installation folder of SOLIDWORKS Electrical integration for Professional SOLIDWORKS PDM 2018.
Once SOLIDWORKS Electrical integration for Professional SOLIDWORKS PDM 2018 was installed in SW Electrical, you must define some parameters in the administration of the tool.
You will beforehand have created a folder structure in your PDM vault to host your 2D SW Electrical projects, and logs, as well as a Library folder for synchronization of SW Electrical.
In the tab General Settings:
Choose your Vault and the library folder in your vault.
In the tab Log Settings:
Define the folder of logs inside the vault, as well as its options.
In the tab File Structure:
According to SOLIDWORKS Electrical document types, you can make some Mapping.
To start the collaboration of SOLIDWORKS Electrical integration and SWPDM.
Since you are Project Manager:
Unarchive and open your SW Electrical project
(Files *.tewzip)
Work on your project as usual, when ended.
Make a synchronization of your library towards PDM,
by using Synchronize Libraries.
And make Check-in:
As asked, select the parent file of your project.
A table showing all the files which will be archived will appear, click Add.
Let the process make the creation of all the objects of your project (it can take some time).
Once the process is completed; you will notice that the structure of your project SOLIDWORKS Electrical was duplicated in PDM. by adding a folder BOMS.
and creating a .pdf file of your complete drawing package.
SOLIDWORKS Electrical
Local PDM view
SOLIDWORKS Electrical
Local PDM view
You will also notice the creation of all your drawings in .dwg format.
All the PDM tabs will be accessible. You can even design a specific card for your SOLIDWORKS Electrical projects.
As well as file cards which will inherit some properties of their folder card.
In the folder BOMS; you will find all the bills of material for your project. It will be possible for you to open and export your BOM throw Excel such as any other BOM in PDM.
By choosing a file of a BOM (Click + right button of the mouse) to obtain the options such as: Browse to, allowing to go to the localization of the library parts.
This new tool will allow better collaboration between your electric and mechanical engineering departments. If you have any questions just contact one of our Xperts.
On the same subject, take a look at the video produced by SOLIDWORKS:
Any questions? Need help? Ask one of our experts.
Whether you’re ready to get started or just have a few more questions, you can contact us toll-free:
Conditional notifications can be used during a transition to notify different groups or users according to certain criteria:
– Types of documents
– Data card variables
These notifications can be sent in a predefined or dynamic way.
Here is the methodology for conditions according to SOLIDWORKS document types (file path):
Following the release of SOLIDWORKS, users can now import third-party files as graphical 3D meshes rather than solid or surface bodies. Previous releases were limited to the mesh file types *.stl, *.obj, *.off, *.ply, *.ply2. Changes for 2019 also include the addition of a ‘Graphical Body’ check box from the ‘Open’ dialog.
Importing as a graphics body can be very useful for manual remodeling or taking specific measurements. Additionally, importing as a graphics body utilizes significantly fewer resources when opening large or complex files.
To access this feature, follow the steps below.
Import as a Graphical Body can be accessed with File > Open (Ctrl + O) or Insert > Component > Existing Part/Assembly within an assembly.
Using the file format drop list, select any third-party format such as Autodesk Inventor (*.ipt) or ProE/Creo (*.prt)
Unlike importing mesh files, users are no longer required to enable the Graphics Body through the options menu. SOLIDWORKS now includes an “as Graphical Body” check box below the file explorer. Select the check box and click ‘Open’.
The Inventor Part (*.ipt) is now imported as a Graphical Body. Notice the feature tree displays the part not as a surface body or solid body – but as a Graphic Body.
By Ghyslain Lacombe – Application Specialist at SolidXperts
When creating a toolpath, the result can sometimes not be the one you want. In the following example shown in video and screen captures, there is a steel island in the center of a cutting.
How to correct the default toolpath in order to remove the steel island left by the initial toolpath?
1- Region to be machined:
As you can see, the customer wants to machine this region:
2- Result of the initial toolpath:
The result of the toolpath leaves an undesirable steel island: How to correct this?
3- Edit the function: Z Level:
The operation parameters are as follows:
4- In this case, you must change the method from constant to scallop to be able to eliminate material that cannot be machined with the other process.
5- The result still leaves an unmachined region because it is necessary to increase the precision:
6- It is then necessary to reduce the scallop and the minimum cut amount to be able to remove all the material.
7- The result shows that the machining is now complete:
Therefore, depending on the kind of workpiece, you must determine the machining method to use and adjust the number of passes and the scallop for machining to be complete.
As with video games, there are hidden shortcuts in the SolidWorks software. Today, we reveal some of these different combinations to help with your part, assembly, and drawing creation.
Seamlessly transition from SOLIDWORKS Desktop to 3DEXPERIENCE SOLIDWORKS, and experience a new dimension of design and collaboration. With secure cloud data management, increased collaboration capabilities, and reduced IT administration, 3DEXPERIENCE SOLIDWORKS empowers your team to work smarter and faster.
Option 2: Upgrade to SOLIDWORKS TERM w/Cloud Services
Opt for SOLIDWORKS TERM with Cloud Services, a flexible and convenient option that combines the power of SOLIDWORKS with the benefits of cloud-based solutions. Say goodbye to traditional licensing hassles and welcome easy deployment and automatic updates for a seamless design experience.
Promotion Perks:
This promotion covers both Standalone and Network licenses (SNL), making it suitable for businesses of all sizes.
Take advantage of the promotion price and add as many new licenses (3DEXPERIENCE SOLIDWORKS or SOLIDWORKS TERM w/Cloud Services) as you need on the same Purchase Order, with no limit on extra seats.
Enjoy the promotion discount for 3 years, whether purchased annually or upfront.
Even after the promotion period, you’ll continue to benefit with a 25% discount on successive years.
Option 1: For licenses <1 year expired( Pay 2 Years Forward Upfront )
Get back on track with SOLIDWORKS CAD w/Cloud Services. By paying upfront for the next two years, you not only regain access to the powerful features of SOLIDWORKS but also enjoy cloud services to boost collaboration and efficiency.
Promotion Perks:
No need to worry about backdating and penalties. We’ll waive them for you!
Regain access to your design projects and continue where you left off, without any interruptions.
Option 2: For licenses >1 year expired ( Pay 3 Years Forward Upfront )
If your license has been expired for over a year, we understand the urgency to get back in the game. With this option, you can secure SOLIDWORKS CAD ALC w/Cloud Services.
Promotion Perks:
Our team is here to support your reintegration process, and we’ll waive backdating and penalties for a smooth transition.
Take advantage of the comprehensive SOLIDWORKS suite and unleash your creativity with the latest tools and features.
Once SOLIDWORKS Electrical integration for Professional SOLIDWORKS PDM 2018 was installed in SW Electrical, you must define some parameters in the administration of the tool.
