TMC Mechanical Engineering Blog

Solidworks 2017 Overview

           The Mechanical Engineering team at TMC installed SolidWorks 2017 earlier this year and one of our favorite new enhancements is the added options for mating cylindrical components! 

            In previous versions of Solidworks distance between cylindrical objects could only be set using the outside surfaces minimum condition.  As you can see below SolidWorks has expanded the distance mate to include: Center, Min & Max along with custom.  This is a time saver as there is no need to create previously needed construction geometry for accomplishing these mates.

            With so many of our Clients and vendors using SolidWorks we would encourage you to take a few minutes to check out the info below and next time you stop by be sure to ask for a demo of this new mate!

Distance Mates to Cylindrical Components

When you add a distance mate between two cylindrical faces, four options are available

for placement of the distance.

The new options are also available when you add a distance mate between a cylindrical

face and an axis, edge, line, vertex, or point.

Initially, the default option is Center to Center. 

                                                                                                                                                            
                                               

Subsequently, the software remembers your last used option from session to session.

Previously, the specified distance was applied at the minimum distance between the cylinders and no other options were available.The distance placement options include the following:

Be sure to visit our blog again soon and we will share more with you in the exciting world of Mechanical Engineering.