DDi Tech Center

The Thickness Analysis tool may prove helpful to those needing to ensure a plastic part will not have sink marks in thicker areas or assist in the placement of vents and gates within a mold. Knowing where the thin areas of a part are may also assist in machinability issues. As the name implies this tool allows for the evaluation of a parts thickness. The analysis can be set to show regions thicker or thinner than a specified value, the ability to localize analysis for large or complicated parts and the ability to create reports of the analysis results. The report can have the analysis applied to predefined views for design review documentation and clarification for those not able to view the model within SolidWorks.

The Thickness Analysis tool is a part of SolidWorks Utilities. This add-in for SolidWorks Professional and SolidWorks Premium has several utilities that are useful but not often used. Unless you’re the type of user who has all of the add-ins turned on all of the time it’s easy to forget what tools are available when a particular design problem arises. One of the changes in the user interface in SolidWorks 2010 is the addition of buttons for many of these tools on the Evaluate ribbon toolbar. Selecting the button on the toolbar automatically turns the add-in on. Having the tools visible without having to enable the add-in is a great way to remember the tool is there.