I am having an issue with Flow Simulation Analysis. I have a friend who designs parts for me using 3ds Max. He then exports it in the STL format and I use my SolidWorks 2013 Premium edition to convert the file to an STL Graphics. Once I open the file and click on the ‘Flow Simulation Wizard’ button, I get an error message saying

"There has to be at least one component for a Flow Simulation Analysis"

I read about other people having the same problem and came across a post on this forum which mentioned MeshLab.

I tried using MeshLab, but with no real success. As instructed in the video, I opened the STL file in MeshLab, saved it as a DXF file and opened the DXF file in SolidWorks. A big mistake I found, because not only did it take about 12 hours to open the file, but when it did open the file, it was fragmented into 30 different files.

I also read in a post to try to change the STL import options to import the file as an STL Surface Body or an STL Solid Body. I tried both those options with no result. I got error messages saying

“This STL model has too many surfaces. Try opening with the graphics body option..”

I also asked him to export the part in SAT format, and then import it into SolidWorks, but got the same error saying that there needs to be a component to perform a flow analysis.

I am at wits-end now! Does anyone have any other suggestions on how I can open a 3ds Max file with a large number of polygons in SolidWorks and successfully perform a Flow Simulation Analysis?

I would greatly appreciate any help or insight that anyone can offer in this area!

Thank you thank you thank you!!!! A million thank yous!!!!

PS: My computer configurations are –

Windows 7 64-bit

Intel i5 2500k (3.3GHZ) Processor

8GB RAM

SolidWorks 2013 Premium Edition.