One common problem with assembly design is trying to understand how parts are going to fit together and if there are going to be interferences. Luckily, SOLIDWORKS has a great tool to check for any sort of overlaps called Interference Detection.

You can easily calculate interferences for the entire assembly, or specify exact components you want to test interference between. You’ll also see that the software can calculate the exact overlapping volume, as well as see what areas of the model interfere with each other. This can be a huge benefit if you do any sort of form fit and function analysis, as it can all be done before the design is completed.

One other great function of the interference detection tool is when it comes to hardware. Typically, bolts and other types of hardware are designed with either press-fit or overlaps for threads, and the software can tell us if you’re actually using the proper hardware in the correct holes. Another great aspect to this is that you can test to see if the bolt heads are usable, because you will clearly see interference on the bolt heads even if the clearance between threads is ignored.

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