Case Study: InSilixa achieves converged nonlinear gasket FEA and faster design insight with SOLIDWORKS Structural Professional Engineer

Insilixa Uses Advanced FEA to Study Real-world Gasket Behavior

InSilixa, a multidisciplinary startup developing CMOS biochip-based molecular diagnostics, needed to understand real-world gasket behavior in a microfluidic device under large compression. The study involved hyperelastic rubber, large strains and frictional contact — a highly nonlinear problem that caused convergence issues when run with SOLIDWORKS Simulation Premium. As part of a SolidWorks lighthouse program, InSilixa tested the new Structural Professional Engineer solution to address this challenge.

Using SolidWorks’ Structural Professional Engineer (via the SOLIDWORKS-to-Structural Professional Engineer Connector), InSilixa imported the Simulation Premium model, refined the hyperelastic material and contact definitions, switched to hexahedral elements, and solved the problem with the high‑end Abaqus solver. Structural Professional Engineer produced a complete nonlinear result in about 40 minutes (where the Simulation Premium run failed to converge), gave detailed pressure/force and deformation insight for gasket and hardware design, and freed the SOLIDWORKS seat so engineers could multitask — improving design guidance and productivity.

InSilixa

Michael T. Taylor

Staff Mechanical Engineer