How To VERIFIED Download Weldment Profiles In Solidworks
Maybell Goodfriend
SOLIDWORKS Weldments is a powerful tool to create structural framework quickly and effectively. In order to keep download file size as small as possible during installation, SOLIDWORKS initially comes with very few weldment profiles to work with. Fortunately, more complete profile packs are available for download from SOLIDWORKS Content. This guide will go over how to download and set up these weldment profile packs.
Note: The file location can be changed to any preferred location, but it is advised to have only one file location listed for weldment profiles. The reason for this will become apparent later.
Step 4.) Right-click on the .zip file that you downloaded and choose Extract All. Choose to extract to the weldment profile folder location from Step 1.
The reason that SOLIDWORKS have not included all the standards and profiles in the standard installation is due to the size of the installation. That is why SOLIDWORKS provides you with a free download link in case you require other standards or profiles.
To access all of the standard profiles are available in SOLIDWORKS go to the SOLIDWORKS Task Pane and select the Design Library tab. From there expand the SOLIDWORKS Content > Weldments folder as shown below and it lists all the Standards that are available for download.
Run SOLIDWORKS and go to Tools > Options and select the File Location from the System Options tab. In the File location select the Weldment Profiles option from the pull down menu. It also shows the default location of the Weldment profiles.
The SolidWorks Weldments Feature allows you to design a weldment structure as a multibody part that can be driven by 2D or 3D Sketch Entities. You can enable the Weldment Features Tab by Right Mouse Button (RMB) clicking on the existing command tabs while in a part environment:
Best practice is to copy the weldment profiles folder outside of the installation directory and then point to that location. This way they can be maintained across multiple versions and will not be lost if the installation is removed for any reason. This also makes sharing this folder easier.
If performed correctly, you will now see the unarchived standard under your Structural Member feature selection. Notice that the folder names and levels are displayed directly in the weldment profiles dialog. If your files are extracted with too many or too few folder levels your dialog will not be able to see them. If you have multiple paths listed for weldment profiles, duplicate standard names will not merge, only one will be displayed.
In addition, you can create your own custom Standards, Types, and Sizes as long as you create the folder or file in the appropriate folder level. To create your own custom weldment profile, simply create a profile sketch of your choice, select the sketch on the Feature Design Tree and go to File/Save As and change file type to Lib Feat Part (Library Feature Part). This new profile will be found in the directory you selected.
When working with SOLIDWORKS Weldments in previous versions of SOLIDWORKS, users had struggled with the challenge of matching 2 different sized profiles at a mitered corner. When users attempted to work with the trim/extend tool and use the miter joint option, they would be presented with the solution shown in the following image:
This option worked great when the 2 structural profiles were the same size, as SOLIDWORKS would calculate the bisecting angle between the two members, and create a miter at this bisecting angle leaving an equal angle miter cut on each structural member. But when the structural member profiles were of 2 different sizes, this would not be the desired result, as you will need to cut 2 different angles. A true bisecting angle would leave one member too long, and one member too short, as shown in the above image.
Whether you are coming from a 2D environment, are new to Weldments or just looking for some tips and tricks, this article is for you. I will cover managing your weldment profiles, 2D and 3D sketching, cut list properties and customizing weldment profiles, as well as a few extra tips.
To access these profiles, just Ctrl + click on the icon seen in Figure 2 to download the files. As you can see, many standards are there. You will want to create a folder to hold your standards on your local drive or on a shared network location, to share with other users. In this example, I used Weldment Profiles as my folder name and extracted the ANSI Inch folder under that (see Figure 3).
In Figure 3, you will see a complete list of profiles available when the ANSI Inch folder is extracted, but be careful. Typically, when you extract the file, your program will want to automatically create a folder with the same name. Using Windows Explorer, make sure that you do not have duplicate folders. If you do, your Weldment Profiles will not work correctly when you are trying to select your profile criteria. For example, if you see C:\Weldment Profiles\ANSI Inch\ANSI Inch, move the subfolders up to the first ANSI Inch folder.
From experience, I like to lay out my sketches first, especially if I am using a lot of same-size profiles, to cut down on extra procedures, such as trimming later on in the design. This will also keep my FeatureManager design tree smaller (which, in turn, frees up RAM and keeps the computer from slowing down).
Notice in Figure 14 that SOLIDWORKS is automatically trimming weldments as additional groups are added. It is the order of the selection that drives this, so the bodies from Group 1 will automatically trim the body from Group 2.
You can continue to add new groups and select more entities as long as I am continuing to work with the same type and size weldment. This is one advantage of having my complete sketch layout prior to starting the weldment structure: letting SOLIDWORKS do the work of automatically trimming my corners. Since there is one feature in the FeatureManager design tree, I can globally change the size for all of the groups at the same time.
When a group is selected and I click on the Locate Profile button (Figure 16), SOLIDWORKS will zoom in to the original profile and allow me to pick any endpoint or manual point added to the profile to determine where the profile is connected to the sketch entity. In Figure 17, I change the profile location from the center of the profile to the virtual sharp of the profile. This is going to allow me to use my sketch layout as the center, inner dimension (ID) or outer dimensions (OD) of my weldment structure, or I can mix and match as I go.
So what exactly is driving the weldment profile? Basically, this is a simple 2D sketch with a closed sketch profile and additional points that allow me to have more location points (see Figure 18), and a description for a custom property. This will popluate my feature tree with that information as well as my Cut List description (see Figure 19), which I will cover later. You can also add information like Material to these profiles. Note the Library Feature symbol on Sketch1 in the tree in Figure 18.
When a second weldment feature is created with multiple groups (Figure 20), it will still auto-trim, based on group order, just like the first weldment feature. However, manual trimming must be done to clean up the new weldment feature to fit to the first weldment feature that was created. You can see in Figure 21 the interference of the new weldment structures. This is where the Trim command comes into play.
Figure 24 is the end result of my structure. As you can see in Figure 25, the FeatureManager design tree includes all of my weldment features defined by type and size for each. As you expand the Cut list (Figure 26), SOLIDWORKS puts items together that are identical in shape, size and length.
Make sure to check the Cut list item property radio button in Figure 33 and select your desired property from the drop-down menu. You can right click and save the template to re-use for other weldment drawings.
SOLIDWORKS provides a few profiles as part of the install. If the user requires anything other than what is included under type, then this has to be created manually. Alternatively SOLIDWORKS also provides the availability of additional profiles within standards on the task pane under SOLIDWORKS content, as shown in the below image. To include these additional profiles, the user must hold the control button and left click on the relevant standard, then select a location to save the file. This will then need to be extracted to the correct location as described above. Note that these are non-configurable profiles.
SOLIDWORKS 2016 brings with it a great enhancement to the use of weldments. It gives the user the ability to transfer the material properties that have been specified within the weldment profile when using it as a structural member, as seen in the image below. These can be configures too if using configurable weldment profiles. This is a great time saver and can still be edited later if necessary.
Step 1: Make sure while saving custom sketch profile as Lib Feat Part (. sldlfp) for use as weldment profile, custom sketch is must be preselected while saving as Lib Feat Part (. sldlfp). refer below image for more information.
The Structure Systems feature has great potential to replace weldments in most situations. Even small numbers of members are quick to set up and provide more modelling flexibility. So why should you think about using Structure Systems:
The first step is ensuring you have your profiles setup correctly. Structure Systems has a prerequisite that the profiles need to be configured (the profile sizes are stored as configurations rather than separate part files). Since 2019, the weldment profiles provided with SOLIDWORKS are configured. However, if you are still using the profiles from 2018 and before, they will be non-configured. Make sure you have set yourself up with the correct type of profile before starting. See our blog on how to create a configured profile.
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