Large SOLIDWORKS assemblies: 7 best practices for opening them

First of all, if you open an assembly with one of the following items in mind :

• View project

• Navigate the design tree

• Measure

• Find a part

• Create a virtual toolpath

• Take screenshots, etc.

Then there's no need to load all the components. Simply open in "large design management" mode, and the assembly will open very quickly!

On the other hand, once a certain number of components have been assembled in a large assembly, it becomes unnecessary to perform certain resource-intensive actions:

• fully loading all components

• Automatic backups

• Automatic rebuilding, etc.

In fact, all these resource-hungry options can be easily disabled in the system options.

They can also be automatically ticked once a certain number of parts has been assembled (in this case, 150 parts). Under these conditions, each time the large assembly is opened, SOLIDWORKS will calculate the number of parts and activate the "complex assembly" mode from 150 components upwards. As a result, assembly opening times will be faster than normal.

It is also important to check the "Do not load hidden components" box (pictured below), so as not to unnecessarily load hidden components into the complex assembly. In this way, the assembly will open more quickly if components are hidden.

If you use SpeedPak, you can check the "Use SpeedPak" box when opening the large assembly. In this way, if the assembly you're opening contains sub-assemblies with existing SpeedPak configurations, you indicate with this option that you wish to use the SpeedPak configuration. This will replace the last saved configuration for all or part of these sub-assemblies.

Given that a graphics card is capable of displaying a certain number of triangles per second (the more parts you have, the greater the number of triangles), it is possible to save time on opening by lowering the image quality. In fact, you can optimize the assembly display by going to the document properties, then choosing "Image quality", and moving as far away as possible from the red zone of the bar.

Na wydajność otwierania dużego złożenia mają również wpływ pliki ze starszych wersji. Dopóki nie zostaną one przekonwertowane do bieżącej wersji, SOLIDWORKS potrzebuje więcej czasu na ich przetworzenie i otwarcie.

W celu masowej konwersji złożeń, w przypadku których występują problemy z wydajnością, można użyć harmonogramu zadań.

Finally, the "assembly visualization" tool enables you to detect the parts that take the longest to open. Once found and analyzed, this tool will help you "optimize" them for the next opening, saving you precious time!