How to increase productivity in Solidworks with formulas, equations & Linked Global Variables
Why hassle trying to fiddle with every single dimension & tolerance one by one. You can now program your dimensions & tolerances using global variables on every element of your part. Now whenever you need to change the dimension of a repeating element within your part or assembly you can now change the value of just the global variable & instantly this would change all programmed elements. We will demonstrate a step by step by guide on the Geomiq icon logo by experimenting with this very useful tool. Please open your part and follow the same steps for you own part / assembly.
Step 1
Open your original sketched part. I have opened our company’s icon logo which I work from.
Step 2
Open the equation manager by right-clicking & selecting on the equation’s icon on the features section on the tree alternatively you can right-click on the part, hovering over hidden tree items & selecting the equation manager. You will be promoted with a new window.
Step 3
Program your different dimensions that you require that need to be duplicated across different elements by assigning different letters to different values that you require. Type in a letter in the global variables section & type the desired value next to the equal sign. For Our case lets put A =50, B=25 & C=10. You can also create a simple function / equation by programming a previously created global variable and putting a mathematical operation in front or after it. In our case we use the addition operation by adding 10 to global variable C. Now press OK to save it.
Hint: You can also use more complex global variable for trigonometric functions e.g. sine & cosine. Another option is adding file properties e.g. Volume & mass.
Step 4
Now when selecting a dimension type in the equal sign & select the global variable that you have create. In this case I will choose the global variable & I will select is on the elements that will have that same dimension which are the outside edges of the Geomiq icon. Now you can do the same with the other global variables on other sides if you like on your part.
Step 5
We can also also explore this feature in 3D. By extruding the boss of the part from the features tab, you can now select the depth of the extruction using a global veriable by again typing in the equal sign & pressing the letter of the global variable that you require. In my case I will pick global variable C. Then press OK.
Step 6
Now let’s say that you need to change the dimensions of the outer whole part in order to scale it up or down. Now you only need to change the value of global variable the rather then changing the dimension values of every single side. Just open the equation manager again & type in your new changed values. I will now change mine from A=70 & C=100.
Step 7
You can also create global variables on the fly by selecting a global variable dimension that you have not yet programmed. Just select a previous untaken latter and press that button that looks like a globe & press yes.
Step 8
In order to create a global variable of a new element that is equal to an existing element for example the depth of the original Geomiq Icon logo here, just press equals and that side, this will automatically create a variable named =”D1@Boss-Extrude10″. This will depend exact feature & letter of your global veriable.
