Cadalyst - November/December 2008 - (Page 36)

cadalystlabsreview or automatically suppressing some components, using levelof-detail configurations, or using lightweight components. SolidWorks 2009 adds its new SpeedPak functionality to this list. As the creator of the engine assembly file, you can convert it to a SpeedPak file that holds the graphical information for the suppressed parts and features and not the technical data, so it is much smaller. Even so, SpeedPak doesn’t lose restraint references as would be the case if you simply suppressed some components. By default, a SpeedPak suppresses everything within an assembly. You can then turn on specific components or even just specified faces within them. In figure 2, for example, everything is suppressed except for the face of the cylindrical feature of the blue part. Interestingly, suppressed items in a SpeedPak are not like vampires — they are still visible in a mirrored surface. The suppressed items in a SpeedPak aren’t available to downstream users. They cannot edit, measure, or select any suppressed items in a SpeedPak, but they can see them. In my example engine, I could suppress everything except the bolt holes in the motor mounts, bell housing mounting face, the exhaust manifold flange, and the coolant connections so the final-assembly team could constrain to them. Downstream users can create 2D working drawings from SpeedPak files, but Dassault Systemes (DS) SolidWorks admits that cross-sections can have problems. Figure 2. Suppressed parts and faces in a new SpeedPak file can be seen but not touched. But Wait! There’s Less! A powerful feature of SpeedPak is that it doesn’t need access to the part files for any suppressed components. If you suppress everything, you can send a SpeedPak of a subassembly to a customer or supplier as a single file without any of the referenced files. In the real world, you would probably want to unsuppress one or two items so downstream users could properly constrain your subassembly into their product. Anyone can revise what is or isn’t suppressed in a SpeedPak as long as he or she has access to the individual component part files. To avoid problems in the real world, 36 www.cadalyst.com cadalyst November/December 2008 http://www.thecadstore.com http://www.thecadstore.com http://www.cadalyst.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Cadalyst - November 2008

Cadalyst - November 2008 Contents Editor's Window CAD Central Tech Trends: Designed after Our Own Image Budget-Conscious Workstations — 64-Bit CAD Power for Less than $2,500 Cadalyst All-Star Awards 2008 SolidWorks 2009 — 3D MCAD Software IES Virtual Environment 5.9 — Building Performance Analysis Software View Point: A Design with Teeth CAD Manager: CAD Manager’s Survey 2008 MCAD Modeling: Ask for What You Want AEC Insight: AEC Software by the Clock CAD Cartoon Issue Indexes Hot Tip Harry: Hot Tips for Cold Days

Cadalyst - November 2008

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