1 Reply Latest reply on Dec 26, 2014 3:26 AM by Habib Ghalamkari

    Editable "property" that propagates across multiple files (SW Student Ed.)

    Joseph Lopez
    Joseph Lopez Dec 24, 2014 8:27 AM

      Hello All,

       

      I'm a little bit new to solidworks and I'm working on my first big project.  I'm building an assembly composed of laser-cut parts that have pegs and notches that rest into one another to provide mechanical connection between the individual pieces.  All of the pieces will be cut from a single sheet of material, but I want to have flexibility in material choices and be able to pick from materials of different thicknesses.  The problem is, as the material thickness changes, so too will the notch sizes.  IE. the notch height = 1.01 x material thickness

       

      Is there a way where I can specify a variable, "material thickness", in all of my parts, create an assembly, then at a later date change the material thickness and have that propagate into the other parts?  I've seen talk of Solidworks PDM, but I'm not sure I have access to the Enterprise lever features with Student Edition.

       

      Thanks!

        • Re: Editable "property" that propagates across multiple files (SW Student Ed.)
          Habib Ghalamkari
          Habib Ghalamkari Dec 26, 2014 3:26 AM (in response to Joseph Lopez)

          In your assembly, Click Tools menu and select Equations.

          Add an equation (Material Thickness) under Global  Variables and set a value and click OK to close the equation.

           

          Right click Annotations in the Feature tree of your assembly and select Show Feature Dimensions

          Double click One of the Parts' feature in your assembly (like the notch).

          the dimensions will be shown. Double click the dimension you want to change (the height of the notch) and Type
          ="Material Thickness" * 1.01

          Don't forget the quotation marks.

          and click OK

           

          now if you change the value of your Material Thickness in your assembly Equation and rebuild manually

          all your parts will be updated.