solidworks 2010…virtual components
September 8, 2009 2 Comments
The use of virtual components is always an interesting one to have. Should you use them, should you never use them, when should you and when shouldn’t you. Confusing and it seems as though every person feels a different way about it. However you feel though, I think that the enhancement made to virtual components this release make it a very useful tool.
In SolidWorks 2010 you can insert an existing any part into your assembly and make it virtual. This could be very nice if you want to make a quick copy of an existing part. To make an existing part virtual all you need to do is insert it like you normally would but now you will notice a new option in the Insert Component PropertyManager. On the bottom you will see a checkbox that you can select called “Make Virtual”. You can see this in the screenshot below.
You will now see this virtual component in your FeatureManager tree called [Copy of your part name].
Another cool functionality of this is that you can make an existing part in your assembly virtual as well. To do this highlight the part in the FeatureManager tree and RMB click it. You will see an option now that says “Make Virtual” as shown below.
Whenever you make a part virtual you will see a popup that warns you that making a part virtual will break the link to the external file. If you do not want to see this dialog box you can select “Don’t ask me again” to turn it off.
Like in other releases you can RMB select the part from the FeatureManager tree and click Save As External Part. This will allow you to save the part off as a standalone part file.
All in all I think that the updates to the virtual components are really nice. I see huge opportunities for this when inserting design library components and wanting to make a change to one of them or other similar circumstances. This is definitely another tool that I will like to see how it works in a production environment.
Jason, great write-up. I’d like to see this used along with a PDM like Smarteam or maybe PDM Works. We use Smarteam and I’m not sure if it will tolerate a not real part. I think my first testing (when I get running on SW2009 or maybe 2010) will be to use it for a gasket. I currently have a profile of this gasket but it can be shaped into many different locations (paths) and I think this virtual part would do the trick. I really want to see some number on my BOM to make this succesful.
Steve
YES! this is a big deal to me. Has anyone had problems with virtual parts disappearing? We had some big problems with this in 2009, and if it is fixed in 2010 I will be a very happy camper.