SolidWorks 2008

SolidWorks® 3D CAD software is intuitive and enables you to develop better products by allowing your design team to work smarter and faster. Like every other release of the software, SolidWorks 2008 delivers leadership innovations and hundreds of customer-requested enhancements, giving your organization a competitive edge.

Design better products through powerful, easy-to-use 3D CAD capabilities. With SolidWorks 2008 software, design data is 100 percent editable, and relationships between parts, assemblies, and drawings always stay up-to-date.

Ease of use and comprehensive search functions

Reduce design steps through dozens of time-saving innovations. Lessen visual clutter with Heads-up User Interaction, a set of intuitive display and control functions. Robust context-sensitive tool bars and customizable shortcut menus keep mouse travel and clicks to a minimum.

2D and 3D data integration and reuse

Edit and maintain DWG files in their native format with DWGeditor®, an editing tool that provides an interface familiar to AutoCAD® users. Take advantage of the best available tools for converting 2D data to 3D, revising 2D geometry, and enabling smooth adoption of 3D CAD technology, including extensive Help documentation for AutoCAD users. Save valuable design time by reusing portions of DWG and DXF™ files or 3D features and sketches to create new designs.

Design automation and manufacturability

Automate repetitive design tasks and generate multiple design variations from existing design data to better meet individual customer needs. Catch expensive manufacturability issues early in the design process.

Unique capabilities

Make use of a full range of built-in tools and innovative functions offered only by SolidWorks 3D CAD software:

• SolidWorks Intelligent Feature Technology (SWIFT™) – Simplify the design process with SWIFT, the first technology that puts expert-level techniques for 3D CAD’s most challenging design operations in the hands of every user. For example, Instant3D – a new SWIFT capability that lets you edit your designs in real-time by selecting model faces, dragging them, and snapping them together using on-screen rulers. SWIFT frees you from many of the complexities of CAD so that you can focus on design.

• Built-in part analysis – Confirm design integrity and lower cost of materials with COSMOSXpress™, a point-and-click stress analysis wizard that lets anyone test part designs quickly and easily.

• Design communication – Share design concepts easily with eDrawings®, the first email-enabled tool that dramatically eases product design communication. Simplify sharing of design concepts beyond engineering and manufacturing workgroups by circulating SolidWorks 3D designs as Adobe® PDF documents.

• Machine design tools – Make use of a full set of weldment design, analysis, and documentation tools. Get best-in-class, fully associative sheet-metal capabilities that allow you to move rapidly from the design phase to final manufacturing drawings.

Save time with a library of machine design features.

• Consumer product and mold design tools – Speed design of consumer products

with enhanced tools for creating and manipulating high-grade surfaces easily. Automate the creation of cores and cavities with built-in mold design capabilities.

• Online access to ready-made components – Save time with 3D ContentCentral®, a web resource that provides CAD files for ready-made components from leading suppliers.

Part and assembly modeling. Reference other parts directly and maintain relationships when creating new parts. Speed part modeling with feature-level control over multiple bodies. Gain unmatched performance for designing large assemblies with tens of thousands of parts. Speed up work on large files with the new QuickView/Selective Open option. Drag and drop parts and features into place.

• Speed assembly design with snap-to-fit SmartMates and reusable Smart Components that size automatically to other design components. Simulate true motion and mechanical interaction between solids with unique Physical Simulation capabilities.

• Simulate belts, chains, racks, pinions, and gear assembly action, and visualize different colors, textures, and other on-screen characteristics easily.

2D drawing

Develop production-ready engineering drawings without drawing a single line or arc. Construct fully associative drawings – drawing views and bills of materials update each time that you modify the part or assembly design. Automatically create multiple views with complete, accurate dimensions.

• Generate bills of materials for an entire project with a single click. Automatically add balloons to every component in a drawing view and align with ease. Add balloons into notes. Easily resize, spell check, and reuse annotations. Produce ready-made standard and user-defined tables. Cut and paste entire drawing sheets.

• Compare drawings easily to highlight differences and see what changes have been made from one version to another. Take advantage of a unique 3D Drawing View function that lets you view parts and assemblies in 3D without leaving the drawing environment.Sketch designs using layout blocks that allow you to quickly design and manipulate multipart mechanisms in 2D before generating 3D assemblies.

Surfacing

Capture and modify design intent with advanced 3D sketching capabilities. Use the Freeform surfacing tool to “push and pull” control points and easily create stylish, continuous surfaces. Generate complex surfaces using lofts and sweeps with guide curves, drag-handles for easy tangency control, and an innovative Fill feature. Trim, extend, fillet, and knit together surfaces intuitively.

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