It is what appear to be simple features like a thread that can bring the overall performance of a Top Level Assembly and its related Drawings to a crawl.Įarlier I stated that when I went to the Allen Bradley website it directed me to 3D Content Central and when I look at the file and that it has been downloaded over 7,500 times you would think that this is a great file to use. You can see that our in our Feature Statistics over 90% of our rebuild time is related to the threads.
With the full Helical Threads this has a higher rebuild time than a similar part from SOLIDWORKS Toolbox.
The reason for this being a dangerous file is a part like this has the potential to be inserted into an series of assemblies hundreds of times. Socket Head Cap Screw – This file comes in at just over 1MB and only has 9 features in the file but of all the files I have example of this is the most dangerous to performance. If we delete the “unwanted features” the file drops down to 0.4MB and if we make a 2nd configuration we go to 1.4MB To make this file so that I can more easily work them and improve my performance with Assemblies and Drawings, I would either delete or suppress the features I do not need and maybe create a configuration of the simplified version. If we look at the Feature Statistics of this model we can see the Pattern and Mirror features are where all of the rebuild time is for this file. The reason for the increased file size is that this is a full feature file meaning that all the SOLIDWORKS features are in this model. Linear Bearing – This file comes in as a single part file with 3 solid bodies and the file size is less than 4MB.
In my opinion this file has just the right amount of detail to get the job done. The part is made up of several Solid Bodies with the Origin and Planes in a reasonable location so there is not anything that I would do to change this file. Motor – This file comes in as a single part file that is less than 1MB. If we take a look at a couple of examples of files I downloaded we can see that each file varies in construction and requires a different action to be taken. Inspecting each file and deleting the unwanted information or creating multiple configurations like Simplified is a good idea. Because this is a purchased part we generally just need overall size, shape, mounting locations, etc… for our assemblies but for our detail drawings we may want more information. We need to look at each file and see how it was built. An example is an assembly file may have been saves as a part so all you get is solid/surface bodies.ĭANGER #3 – Too little or too much information Remember that even if you pick the option for SolidWorks you may or may not get all of the feature data for that file it depends on how the file was created or saved. If you get the option for a SOLIDWORKS file make sure it matches with the version of SOLIDWORKS you have installed.
We also need to look at what type of file we can download some companies will give you only neutral file formats like IGES or STEP while others will give you the option for SOLIDWORKS files.
I found a disclaimer on the McMaster-Carr website that I think sums up how to treat any CAD data that we are downloading from the internet. We need to look at the features and functions of the part to decide if the part is going to fit our specific needs.
Once you find a part to download you need to be aware of how that part was built. Some companies will even direct you from their site to 3D Content Central like, Allen Bradley did for me when looking for samples for this article. If you cannot find it there remember that SolidWorks has 3D Content Central that has both supplier and customer generated files. If I cannot find the files there it may be time to try a supplier like McMaster-Carr. When I need a part I start at the source and that is the manufacturer, so if I need a Allen Bradley motor, Bimba cylinder, or SMC fitting I will start on the manufactures website. There are usually several sources that we can find the parts we need be aware of where and what we are downloading as there can be certain dangers with any part we download. When we need arises to get an existing part where do we go to find those already manufactured components. When we as designers are working on a new design there is rarely a case when we will manufacture all of the components.