How to Find Reaction Forces in SOLIDWORKS Simulation

Here’s a quick rundown of how we can help you get the best from SOLIDWORKS Simulation and virtual testing with our Simulation services.

When a force acts on a body, the body responds with a proportionate force of its own. This response is known as a resultant force.

With SOLIDWORKS Simulation, we can calculate resultant forces quickly and easily.

How to list result force to view forces

To help us decide how robust an adjacent part needs to be, we can find out what forces are required to hold a part stationary when subject to an external load.

Helpfully, all simulation studies (except for those run though Simulation Xpress) allow us to do this easily.

Solidworks simulation resultant forces results

Once you’ve meshed and run your simulation, right click on the results folder and select ‘List Result Force…’. You can then select to view a variety of forces:

• Reaction
• Remote load interface
• Free body
• Contact/Friction
• Connector

Remember to be careful when interpreting the results. A customer once pointed out that the sum of their reaction forces did not match the applied force – which is impossible if the structure is in static equilibrium!

The reason was that he had picked two adjacent faces which shared a common edge. This meant that the resultant force was doubled, as the nodal forces along the common edge were combined.

Instead, reading from the table or selecting each face independently gives the correct combined and individual results respectively.

View table results of reaction forces