HydroWorks, New Zealand

HydroWorks designs and manufactures water turbines and pumps up to 35 megawatts. The company collaborates with partners including engineering firms and educational institutions on the development of its products. In 2005, HydroWorks implemented SolidWorks 3D CAD and SolidWorks Simulation FEA software to further enhance the design of its products.

Challenges:

• Being a small business, the cost of high-end CAD systems was prohibitive
• Difficulty collaborating with partners and customers in an common format
• Large computer memory and power required to open and edit assemblies of up to 3,000 parts
• Manual analysis of designs was time consuming

SolidWorks Benefits:

• SolidWorks provides all the functionality of a high-end CAD system at a mid-range cost
• eDrawings created from SolidWorks models allow customers and partners to not only view design concepts, but also to edit models and make further design changes
• Single components of assemblies can be loaded and edited while the rest of the assembly is left in the background
• Use of in-built SolidWorks Simulation (COSMOSWorks) for design analysis reduces analysis time by 20 per cent

“We often need to integrate SolidWorks files with 2D DWG drawings when working with civil engineers, so basing those drawings on SolidWorks 3D models means they are more accurate.”

John Erskine
HydroWorks
www.hydroworks.co.nz