SOLIDWORKS Simulation Level 2 — Professional: Shells, Frames, Assemblies and Advanced Studies

Course Overview

SOLIDWORKS Simulation Level 2 — shells, beams, assemblies, contact, bolted joints, thermal stress, buckling and design optimization, every result validated against classical solutions.

Course Description

Level 2 takes you from single parts to the models engineers actually deliver: sheet-metal parts as shells, weldment frames as beams, and assemblies with contact, shrink fits and bolted joints.

You will learn when to idealise a model and when not to, how to set up contact and bolt connectors that behave like the real joint, and how to run thermal stress, linear buckling and design-optimization studies. Each topic is verified with a classical method: Lamé equations for thick cylinders, interference-fit equations for shrink fits, bolt preload and bolt-group calculations, and Euler buckling.

The same course pattern continues: concept, hand calculation, guided SOLIDWORKS demo, and three problems per module. Learners using Simulation Standard get alternative exercises for the three Professional-only modules.

The course ends with a capstone on a gearbox output assembly: shaft, shrink-fit hub, bolted cover and weldment base frame, reported in a two-page validation report.

What You Will Learn

By the end of this course you will be able to:

• Decide when a part should be modelled as a shell, a beam or a solid.
• Create shells from surfaces, sheet metal and solids; set thickness and offsets.
• Analyse thin-wall and thick-wall pressure vessels and verify with classical formulas.
• Plot radial and tangential stress in cylindrical coordinates.
• Use 2D axisymmetric studies for revolved parts.
• Model weldment frames with beam and truss elements; read member force diagrams.
• Set up global and local contact: bonded, no-penetration and shrink fit.
• Verify shrink-fit pressure and hoop stress against interference-fit equations.
• Model bolted joints with preload, and read bolt forces and clamping pressure.
• Combine solids, shells and beams in one mixed-mesh study.
• Apply temperature loads and solve statically indeterminate structures.
• Run linear buckling studies and check Euler validity.
• Run what-if design studies and mass optimization with stress and displacement constraints.
• Present a design-review decision backed by simulation evidence.

Course Learning Outcomes

After completing this course, learners will be able to:

1. Idealise Models Correctly — Choose solid, shell, beam or 2D representations that save time without losing accuracy.
2. Analyse Pressure-Containing Parts — Solve thin- and thick-walled vessels and verify them with membrane and Lamé equations.
3. Analyse Frames and Structures — Model weldment frames and trusses and check members by hand.
4. Simulate Assemblies — Define contact, shrink fits and bolted joints that represent the real interfaces.
5. Evaluate Thermal and Stability Behaviour — Run thermal stress and linear buckling studies and judge whether the results are valid.
6. Optimise Designs — Use design studies to reduce mass while meeting stress and stiffness limits, then round to manufacturable sizes.
7. Validate Every Result — Compare FEA with classical solutions and convergence evidence before accepting it.
8. Communicate Engineering Results — Write validation reports and design-review summaries a lead engineer or customer will accept.

Skills You Will Develop

Who Is This Course For?

• Engineers who have completed Level 1 or already run static studies confidently
• Designers of sheet-metal enclosures, weldment frames and machine bases
• Engineers working on shafts, hubs, bolted joints and pressure-containing parts
• Design teams that want validated simulation in their release process