How to Determine Moment of Inertia Using SOLIDWORKS

Contents

SOLIDWORKS can calculate mass properties for a part or assembly, including moments of inertia. This is useful for rotating parts, structural checks, balancing, simulation preparation, and comparing design changes.

The main tool is Mass Properties. The values you get depend on the active configuration, assigned material or density, selected coordinate system, and whether you are measuring the whole model or selected bodies.

SOLIDWORKS model for moment of inertia calculation — Open and rebuild the model before reading mass properties.

Open Mass Properties

Open the part or assembly.
Assign the correct material if mass-related values matter.
Go to the Evaluate tab.
Click Mass Properties.
Read the moments of inertia values in the report.

Mass Properties tool in SOLIDWORKS — Mass Properties reports moments of inertia along with mass, volume, and center of mass.

Use the right coordinate system

Moment of inertia values depend on the axes used for the calculation. If you need values around a specific design axis, create or select an appropriate coordinate system before reporting the numbers.

Coordinate system for SOLIDWORKS mass properties — Use the coordinate system that matches the engineering question.

Check material and configuration

For a part, confirm the material and active configuration. For an assembly, confirm which components are suppressed, lightweight, or excluded. If density is wrong, mass and inertia values will be wrong even if the geometry looks correct.

Export or copy the results

You can copy values from the Mass Properties window or save the report if you need to document the calculation. Keep the units with the values, because inertia units are easy to misread.

Moment of inertia results in SOLIDWORKS — Record units, coordinate system, and configuration along with the inertia values.

Troubleshooting

The values look wrong: check material density, units, and active configuration.
The axis is wrong: create a coordinate system aligned to the required axis.
Assembly values changed: check suppressed or excluded components.
You need only one body: select the body before running Mass Properties.

For related model checks, see how to find volume in SOLIDWORKS and how to measure in SOLIDWORKS.

Reference: SOLIDWORKS Help documents Mass Properties as the tool for calculating mass, center of mass, volume, and moments of inertia for models.