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SolidWorks Premium 2012
21 Sep, 2011 By: Bill FaneFirst Look Review: Latest release adds cost analysis, motion optimization, and faster handling of very large assemblies.
In the current economy, a picture is only worth about 200 words. If you want the full 1,000 words, you must do a lot more than just present a pretty picture.
Manufacturing companies can no longer survive if designers only produce engineering drawings of their ideas; now they also must conduct detailed analyses to ensure they are producing an optimal, manufacturable design.
Today's engineering software market offers full-featured 3D design and analysis packages that allow designers to analyze factors such as stress, flow, mold design, and environmental impact and almost instantly see results of changes to the model.
SolidWorks, a 3D design solution from Dassault Systemès SolidWorks, is one such comprehensive package, and SolidWorks 2012, announced in early September, adds even more features that give manufacturing companies insight into the overall viability of a product design. For this review, I looked at the Premium edition.
What's New for 2012
One of the most important new analysis tools in SolidWorks 2012 is Costing. With it, you can analyze sheet-metal or machined parts to estimate their manufacturing cost. You can experiment with different materials, different processes (for example, water jet vs. laser cutting), and different part configurations. 
SolidWorks 2012 can help you estimate the manufacturing cost of a single sheet-metal or machined part (top, with estimated cost per part enlarged for clarity) or an assembly.
The potential problem here, as with any analysis, is the infamous GIGO (garbage in, garbage out). The results you get are no better than the raw data, specifications, and properties that you put in. SolidWorks 2012 ships with typical values for material properties and the like, but it also lets you populate templates with values that are specific to your situation.
Motion Optimization. A high percentage of assemblies involve relative motions between components. Previous releases of SolidWorks Premium already included motion analysis functionality, but SolidWorks 2012 adds new Motion Optimization tools. This is best explained with an example.
The sample mechanism consists of a V-shaped trough containing a spring and a marble, and a tin can target. The object of the game is to compress and release the spring so the marble lands in the target can with the minimum impact force. You can use a stiffer spring with less compression or a softer spring with a longer stroke. Gravity affects the trajectory, of course.
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