Solidworks Step By Step Tutorial Pdf

[Umbelina Baublitz]

Idecided to model a cactus as they have always fascinated me, and they are the only plants I own or can keep alive! So, what am I going to showcase? for this tutorial I will demonstrate the use of the loft feature using the normal to profile constraints. I will also show you how to use component patterns within an assembly to add the spike component onto the cactus. You will need to download the cactus pot and cactus spike parts here

A polygon and circular sketch pattern were used to sketch out the profiles of the cactus loft feature. I created a larger cactus profile above the first and then took the loft feature, when I select the profiles, they loft straight to each other. To get that rounder more organic cactus shape, you need to select start and end constraints and select the start constraint drop down, for this option I chose normal to profile. This creates the curve on the loft all the way around. If I had wanted to, I could increase the direction number to increase to curve to the next profile, but in this case, I kept the direction number at 1.

To create the top of the cactus I used a very simple trick, the dome feature! Selecting the top face of the lofted body and the dome feature, I had to untick continuous dome because of the shape of the lofted face, I increased the height of the dome until it formed a recognizable cactus head. The dome feature can be a very powerful tool to create more body onto complex profiles like this.

Continuing with this way of creating the cactus form, I used similar processes to create the cactus arms. With the arms, when lofting sketch profiles I again used start and end constraints chose normal to profile for both the start constraints and the end constraints to create the bend in the arm. The bend of the arm could be manipulated again using the direction number. The second arm was created using move/copy bodies and was scaled up larger to scale 1:2, it was then also rotated around the temporary axis of the plant pot.

The next step was to create some guide sketches in preparation for placing the cactus spikes within the assembly. I added a converted edge sketch along one of the cacti edges and added a point in preparation for adding a cactus spike for patterning. I also used the 3d sketch to add points onto the arms of the cactus, spacing them apart proportionately to where I wanted to add spikes. Once I was happy with the placement of all my guides I saved the part and inserted it into an assembly.

Once in the assembly, I could insert a spike part into the assembly and mate in coincident onto the first guide point I added onto the curve. The spike part has a point sketch within the revolve of the part to assist in the mating process within the assembly. The spike could then be patterned using the linear component pattern drop down, I selected curve driven component pattern. For the pattern direction, I used the guide sketch from the cactus part and I added 7 instances along the curve at 27mm apart. To have the spikes run tangent along the curve to look like a cactus, I ensured I had the settings on reference point with bounding box center selected, the curve method had offset curve selected and the alignment had tangent to curve selected. This allowed me to place all the spikes almost perpendicular to the curve.

The next pattern feature I used was the circular component pattern feature, for this I used the plant pots temporary axis and selected all 7 of the patterned spikes to pattern, in the tutorial I patterned by 6 instances, but for my renderings I created 12 so that the spikes would be on all 12 outer edges. The final step was to drop in duplicates of the spike part to attach onto each individual point from the 3d sketch. From here I could mate the spikes onto each point with a coincident mate, this mate did not fully define the spike, it just holds it by an anchor point so that I could then manually drag the spikes into a position that looked right. Once happy with the positioning of the spikes I could fix all the parts into place if preferred.

My final cactus modelled was rendered with SOLIDWORKS Visualize. I enabled depth of field within the camera settings for this rendering to focus on parts of the cactus and blur out the background. I also added an orange peel bump texture to the cactus appearance to mimic the skin of the cactus and added a box and complex wall model to add a shelf and wall background too so that I could place the pot onto the shelf, up against the wall backdrop.

SOLIDWORKS 2019 Tutorial is written to assist students, designers, engineers and professionals who are new to SOLIDWORKS. The text provides a step-by-step, project based learning approach. It also contains information and examples on the five categories in the CSWA exam.

The book is divided into four sections. Chapters 1 - 5 explore the SOLIDWORKS User Interface and CommandManager, Document and System properties, simple and complex parts and assemblies, proper design intent, design tables, configurations, multi-sheet, multi-view drawings, BOMs, and Revision tables using basic and advanced features.

In chapter 6 you will create the final robot assembly. The physical components and corresponding Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) curriculum are available from Gears Educational Systems. All assemblies and components for the final robot assembly are provided.

Chapters 7 - 10 prepare you for the Certified Associate - Mechanical Design (CSWA) exam. The certification indicates a foundation in and apprentice knowledge of 3D CAD and engineering practices and principles.

Chapter 11 covers the benefits of additive manufacturing (3D printing), how it differs from subtractive manufacturing, and its features. You will also learn the terms and technology used in low cost 3D printers.

Follow the step-by-step instructions and develop multiple assemblies that combine over 100 extruded machined parts and components. Formulate the skills to create, modify and edit sketches and solid features.

Learn the techniques to reuse features, parts and assemblies through symmetry, patterns, copied components, apply proper design intent, design tables and configurations. Learn by doing, not just by reading.

Today, we are going to take a look at topology optimization in more detail, and I will guide you through the steps in a tutorial. For this tutorial, we are going to use a generic bracket that I have modeled (see Figure 1). I have uploaded the model onto GrabCAD, so you can download it and try it out too.

Now, go to the SOLIDWORKS Add-ins tab at the ribbon at the top of the screen and load up the Simulation add-in. Then, locate the Simulation tab on the ribbon, click the New Study icon, and select New Study from the drop-down menu.

This will open up the study pane on the left-hand side of the screen. In the study pane, find the Design Insight section, and click Topology Study. You can rename your study here if you would like. I have left it as the default name (Topology Study 1). Then, click the green check mark. This will open a new study pane in the left-hand pane under the design tree.

Now that the model is loaded, the type of study has been defined, and a material has been selected for use in the study, you can begin to define the parameters of the study, such as loads, fixtures and design constraints.

Next, you will define the fixtures. These will represent the mounting points where bolts will hold the bracket to a wall. Right-click on Fixtures in the Topology Study pane and select Fixed Geometry from the drop-down menu.

Spin the bracket around to the rear side, and then select the inner faces of the eight bolt holes. Seven holes are selected in the example shown in Figure 3. When you have selected all eight bolt holes, you can click the green check mark in the Fixture panel.

Next, go into the Constraint 1 box and type 55 percent into the text box, as shown in Figure 4. This gives a Final Mass of Part equal to 6.3 kg. This value will act as the mass target while the computer runs its iterations.

If you wanted to, you could also activate a second constraint by selecting the Constraint 2 check box. But for now, just use the single constraint, and click the green check mark to exit the Goals and Constraints pane.

With the Selection box active, you can now go into the main design window and select the faces that you wish to preserve. For this example, select the inner face of each and every hole on the part. This will preserve the regions around the holes. If you look down at the bottom of the Preserved Region pane, you can see an option labeled Preserved Area Depth. By default, this is switched off. But for this example, you want to specify the depth of the face that you will preserve, so activate it with the check box, and select 7mm depth. This will preserve a cylindrical region that extends 7mm from the perimeter of the bolt hole.

And, finally, go to the Specify Symmetry Planes option, and select half symmetry along the longitudinal plane. This will ensure that the optimization process is mirrored on both sides. Without it, the process will produce somewhat random results. As the forces are acting downward, and there is no torque to worry about, you can select this option.

Go to the Simulation tab in the main ribbon at the top of the screen, and click the Run This Study icon. Now, go and make yourself a cup of coffee. This might take a while, depending on your mesh size and the complexity of your model.

Well, you have a few options. You can export it as solid or surface part for further refinement, or you can export it as a graphic for use as an overlay to the original part. In addition, you can export it as a surface and use a third-party plug-in to clean up the optimized mesh and make it all nice.

To export the mesh, right-click the Material Mass1 option in the Topology Study pane, and select Export Smoothed Mesh. This will open up the export pane as shown in Figure 12. You can select to export the mesh as a solid, a surface or a graphic. If you will be exporting the mesh as a solid or a surface, you can convert it to an STL file (or some other file format of your choice) later for use in manufacturing.

3a8082e126