Part 2 – Simulation Technologies to Ideate Robust and Correct Medical Devices and Reducing the Risk of Production
Part of the Accelerate Webinar Series on Simulation as a Competitive Advantage
SOLIDWORKS ASSOCIATIVE INTERFACE Installation and Running Guide
Installing the SOLIDWORKS Associative Interface add-in
The SOLIDWORKS Associative Interface add-in is a plug-in component for SOLIDWORKS. The add-in must be enabled after it is installed.
Before you begin:
You need administrative privileges to install the plug-in. SOLIDWORKS must be installed and licensed on your system before installing the plug-in. If you are installing the SOLIDWORKS Associative Interface on an operating system that uses User Access Control (UAC), such as Windows Vista or Windows 7, you must turn off UAC or select the least secure setting.
1. Obtain the SOLIDWORKS Associative Interface zip file from the assembly.
2. Unzip the SOLIDWORKS Associative Interface zip file and save the contents to a permanent directory; the directory must be accessible to all users of the SOLIDWORKS Associative Interface. The zip file contains the add-in .dll file.
3. Start SOLIDWORKS as a Windows. You must be part of the local administrator group to open SOLIDWORKS as an administrator.
4. Select File->Open from the main menu bar. The Open dialog box appears.
5. In the Files of type field, select Add-Ins (*.dll).
6. Navigate to the directory that contains the add-in file. Select the add-in .dll file, and click Open. SOLIDWORKS installs the SOLIDWORKS Associative Interface add-in.
Enabling the SOLIDWORKS Associative Interface add-in
The following procedure describes how to enable the SOLIDWORKS Associative Interface add-in in SOLIDWORKS after you have installed it.
1. From the SOLIDWORKS main menu, select Tools->Add-Ins. SOLIDWORKS displays the Add-Ins dialog box.
2. In the Add-Ins dialog box, the SOLIDWORKS Associative Interface add-in is listed as Abaqus/CAE
underneath the Other Add-ins heading (see Figure below).
• To enable the SOLIDWORKS Associative Interface add-in in the current SOLIDWORKS session, toggle on the check box in the Active Add-ins column.
• To enable the SOLIDWORKS Associative Interface add-in for future SOLIDWORKS sessions, toggle on the check box in the Start Up column.
The Add-In Dialog Box
3. Click OK. If you toggled on Active Add-ins for the SOLIDWORKS Associative Interface add-in, Abaqus appears in the Tools menu in the SOLIDWORKS main menu bar, and the Export to Abaqus/CAE icon appears in the SOLIDWORKS toolbar.
Importing a part or assembly from SOLIDWORKS to Abaqus/CAE
Associative import through the SOLIDWORKS Associative Interface allows you to transfer model geometry and subsequent design changes from SOLIDWORKS to Abaqus/CAE without losing any analysis features that are defined in Abaqus/CAE.
Follow the instructions below to import an assembly from SOLIDWORKS to Abaqus/CAE using automatic associative import.
1. Start Abaqus/CAE, and enter the Assembly module.
2. From the main menu bar, select Tools->CAD Interfaces->SOLIDWORKS.
3. From the SOLIDWORKS dialog box that appears, choose Auto-assign port and click Enable.
Abaqus/CAE displays the port number that it assigned in the message area. (If desired, you can click Specify port and enter the port number.)
4. Start SOLIDWORKS, a nd load the model to be exported. Abaqus icon appears in the Tools menu in the SOLIDWORKS main menu bar.
5. If the model includes any new or modified parts, save the SOLIDWORKS model. Current SOLIDWORKS part (.SLDPRT) files must exist for each part in the assembly before using the SOLIDWORKS Associative Interface.
6. Select Tools->Abaqus->Export to Abaqus/CAE from the SOLIDWORKS main menu. The Export to Abaqus/CAE options appear in the SOLIDWORKS PropertyManager.
7. In the SOLIDWORKS PropertyManager, specify the following information
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Toggle on Open in Abaqus/CAE (see Figure below).
Use automatic associative import to transfer the model directly to
Abaqus/CAE
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If necessary, change the default number in the Open in Abaqus/CAE field so that it matches the port number displayed by Abaqus/CAE when you enabled the CAD interface.
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The SOLIDWORKS Associative Interface saves necessary files (the assembly file and part geometry files) to a working directory during the import. If necessary, change the path in the Working Directory field to save these files in a different location.
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By default, the SOLIDWORKS Associative Interface automatically saves the current version of the SOLIDWORKS model as part of the export process. To prevent the SOLIDWORKS files from being saved automatically, toggle off Autosave files before export. If you toggle off this option, you must manually save the SOLIDWORKS model before exporting it to Abaqus/CAE.8.
8. Click the green check mark in the SOLIDWORKS PropertyManager. The model appears in the current Abaqus/CAE viewport. If an assembly is open in SOLIDWORKS, the parts are imported into Abaqus/CAE and an assembly of part instances is created automatically. If a single part is open in SOLIDWORKS, only the part is imported into Abaqus/CAE.
9. If you modify the model in SOLIDWORKS, click the Export to Abaqus/CAE icon to update the model in Abaqus/CAE. The modified model is imported immediately into Abaqus/CAE using the settings previously specified in the Export to Abaqus/CAE dialog box. You can also select Tools->Abaqus->Export to Abaqus/CAE from the SOLIDWORKS main menu to change the settings and import the updated model.
