One of the most revolutionary updates is the ability to work with hybrid geometry.
Designers can now combine standard boundary representation (BREP) geometry with mesh facet geometry (such as STL or scanned data).
Hybrid modeling was the undisputed star of the SOLIDWORKS 2022 release. This powerful capability allows you to treat a mesh (like a 3D scan or an imported polygon model) almost like a native SOLIDWORKS solid body. You can now directly add features such as to your mesh geometry without any time-consuming conversion to a SOLID or Surface body. This is transformative for reverse engineering and for incorporating conceptual or scanned data directly into a parametric workflow. It allows designers to combine the speed and flexibility of mesh data with the accuracy and feature-based control of parametric modeling.
Beyond the headline features, SOLIDWORKS 2022 focused heavily on daily usability:
: The Large Design Review mode was significantly upgraded to allow users to open massive assemblies in record time and perform more operations without fully resolving the components.
The hallmark of this release is its focus on reducing friction at every stage of product development. This is achieved through the expansion of existing tools and the introduction of intelligent new features.
This new tool functions similarly to the Hole Wizard but applies external threads to cylindrical bodies.
Core architecture and major features in 2022
