The MathWorks recently announced its collaboration with SolidWorks Corporation to deliver the latest version of The MathWorks simulation product SimMechanics 2.1. This new version extends the engineering analysis capabilities of SimMechanics by allowing the importation of SolidWorks CAD assemblies.

SolidWorks models can now be simulated in the Simulink environment to analyse forces and torques in mechanical joints, plot the accelerations and displacements of each part in the system, and visualise motion of the CAD assembly. By simulating the behaviour of mechanical, control, and other dynamic systems, engineers improve the quality of their design and shorten the time required to create a new design and bring that product to market.

SimMechanics now allows SolidWorks users to automatically generate a SimMechanics model from their existing CAD designs. The software provides users with measurable time-savings by eliminating the need to re-create their CAD models in SimMechanics and simulate their CAD designs in Simulink.

For more information contact Rolene Carpel, Opti-Num Solutions, 011 325 6238, rolene@optinum.co.za