With vacations over with and some due dates met, I’m finally getting some time now to post more reviews of the new features in SolidWorks 2008.  One of the requested subjects from my earlier post looking for feature review ideas was FilletXpert.  FilletXpert is not itself new in SolidWorks 2008, but there has been some really nice functionality added.

There are two primary enhancement areas when it comes to FilletXpert.  The first one is the new Fillet Selection Context Toolbar that appears when adding or removing model edges in FilletXpert.  Based on your geometry selection, several options are presented through interactive previews that basically allow mass selection of similar edges based on a few criteria.  Those criteria include an examination of the geometry on the right and left side of the edge, start or end vertex of the edge, or adjacent edges that are recognized as similar.  I won’t say that the context toolbar covers every fillet situation you might be looking for, but it does provide quite a variety of choices.  Overall, I think using this function will be a big timesaver on injection molded parts with many ribs or parts with many similar features that need edge selection for filleting.

CLICK HERE for a video demonstrating the FilletXpert Fillet Selection Context Toolbar.

The second primary enhancement is the CornerXpert.  This tool allows you to change how fillets blend at corners where multiple edges meet.  The cool thing about it is that it can be applied to existing fillet corners.  So far in my testing, I have found that this tool is somewhat limited and that conditions must be right in order for the CornerXpert to work.  The “offical” requirement for the feature is:  “Three constant radius corners of mixed convexity that meets at one vertex.”

CLICK HERE for a video demonstrating the CornerXpert functionality.

That’s all for now.  STAY TUNED!  Much more to come!