SOLIDWORKS A Quick Guide

This guide gives a brief introduction to creating parts and assemblies, and most of the tools at your disposal.

How to create a Part file

How to change the measurement units

How to begin a part file

How to use sketch tools

How to use sketch constraints/relationships

How to create a 3D object from a sketch

How to modify a 3D object using Feature tools

How to create an Assembly

How to assemble parts

How to perform a simple collision analysis

To start creating a part, we need to create a “Part” file. If the option for this is not opened automatically, select the blank page icon, “New”, and select “Part.”

Sometimes it is better to use the metric system rather than the imperial system. To change this, you can select the second option from the bottom right and change to either IPS, MMGS, CGS, or MKS.

To get started with creating a part, first you must create a sketch on either the top, front, or right plane.

This decision is normally based on which view of the object tells the most about it or equivalently, contains the most features.

First you must select the sketch tab located in the upper left of the window, then select the “Sketch” tool. It will display the previously mentioned planes. You must select one of them to create a beginning sketch.

After selecting a plane, the view will center on the selected plane.

There are several useful drawing tools at your disposal:

Line

A Line requires two points to be created, this is done by selecting a beginning point and an ending point

Circle

A circle can be created in one of two ways:

1) By selecting a center point then a point on the perimeter 2) Selecting three points on the perimeter

To change between these two ways, you can select the arrow down next to the tool, or change the circle type in the property manager pane on the right side of the window.

Spline – next to the circle tool can be used to create complex curves. Each point you select, the spline will create a curve from the previous point that is tangent to the point you select and so on for each point you select while in the spline tool.

Rectangle – there are four ways Solidworks gives you to create a rectangle and even a way of creating a parallelogram in the rectangle tool.

1) Requires the selection of two opposite corners 2) Requires the selection of the center point then the selection of a corner 3) Requires the selection of three corners 4) Requires the selection of a center point, edge midpoint, and an adjacent corner 5) Requires the selection of three corners

Arc – there are three ways to create an arc in Solidworks

1) Requires the center point and then both end points 2) Requires the selection of a line endpoint and then the arc end point 3) Requires the selection of both end points and then a point on the parimeter

Ellipse – offers four different object creations

1) Ellipse – (similar to circle with and added step) requires the selection of the center point, then the selection of a ellipse axis end point and then the selection of the other ellipse axis midpoint

2) Partial Ellipse – same as above but with the added steps of selecting both end points of the ellipse

3) Parabola – requires the selection of the focus (~center point for parabola) then the selection of the vertex (closest perimeter point to the focus) and the selection of the endpoints

4) Conic – requires the placement of the two asymptotic lines and then their intersection finally it requires the curve midpoint to be selected

Straight Slot – there are two different types of slots and two ways of creating both

1) Straight Slot – requires the selection of the end points of the centerline and then the radius/half width to be selected

2) Center point Straight Slot – similar to Straight Slot except instead of first selecting an endpoint, it first requires the center point

3) 3 Point Arc Slot – similar to the third arc type with the addition of the selected half width being required

4) Center point Arc Slot – similar to the first arc type with the addition of the selected half width being required

Polygon – the polygon tool is configured by adjusting the parameters to fit your

requirements

When creating a polygon, you first select the center point and then

one of the points

Point – the point tool can be used to create a dimensioned reference point in a

sketch.

A point requires the selection of the position

When drawing a part it is important to have a point constrained on the origin.

You can select multiple points and/or lines and/or curves to place different constraints

These include:

Make Horizontal – by selecting a minimum of a line or two points, you will be given the option to make it/them horizontally constrained. This means that they will permanently be constrained to be horizontal

Make Vertical – by selecting a minimum of a line or two points, you will be given the option to make it/them vertically constrained. This means that they will permanently be constrained to be vertical

Coincident

Inferred Second circle sketched coincident to first circle.

Colinear

Added Colinear relation added to the first two horizontal lines.

Concentric

Added

Coradial

Added Coradial relation added to the inner arcs.

Equal

Added Equal relation added to all inner circles. This way, you set the diameter for only one circle.

Equal Slots

Added

Fix

Added Fixed relation added to point.

Fix Slot

Added

Horizontal

Added Horizontal relation added to spline handles.

Intersection

Inferred or added

Relation added at the intersection of the point and two lines. If you sketch the lines and points so they intersect, the relation is inferred.

Merge

Added The endpoint of the line and the point on the rectangle are merged to create one point.

Midpoint

Inferred or added

Construction line sketched from the midpoint of the diagonal line.

Parallel

Inferred Two lines sketched with parallel relation.

Perpendicular

Inferred Second line sketched perpendicular to first line.

Symmetric

Inferred or added

Relations added using the Mirror

Entities orDynami

c Mirror tool.

Tangent

Added Tangent relation added to two splines.

Vertical

Inferred Circle sketched with center inferred to sketch origin

http://help.solidworks.com/2012/English/SolidWorks/sldworks/c_Sketch_Relations_Icons.htm?id=8ebd28a8888341419e092e0edac2564d

Now that you’ve created a two-dimensional profile of your part, you can use it to extrapolate a portion of your part. There are several different tools to accomplish this task and many of them are generally useful. This guide will cover four of these tools and it will also cover the other tools you can use to edit it after defining a three-dimensional object.

Extruded Boss/Base – stretches the 2D profile to a user set distance, has four options to fine-tune use

1) Sketch Plane – (found in the “From” options box), uses the profile on a user-selected plane to define an extrusion.

2) Offset – (found in the “From” options box), is similar to Sketch Plane with the added adjustment of offsetting the extrusion a user-set distance from the sketch.

3) Directions – by default the user is able to define one direction. However, there exists the option to extrude in the opposite direction, by defining the “Direction 2” option, or even extrude in both directions, by defining both.

4) Thin Feature – can be used to only extrude the outline of the profile. Using the one-direction option, the user defines the width of the extrusion outside the profile. Using the mid-plane option, the user defines the width the extrusion around the profile. Using the two-direction option, the user defines both the width the extrusion is outside and inside the profile

Revolved Boss/Base – uses a profile and an axis or line (drawn on the sketch) to rotate the profile around, creating a 3D object. This tool showcases similar options to Extruded Boss/Base, but instead of a user defined distance, it uses a uses defined rotation in degrees.

NOTE: This tool defaults to using Thin Feature (usually not helpful for solid objects)

Swept Boss/Base – is used to extrude a profile along a user defined path. The profile and path should be perpendicular therefore this tools requires at least two sketches (one for the profile and one for the path).

Lofted Boss/Base – is used to seamlessly extrude one profile into another profile. Similarly to the Swept tool, it too requires at least two sketches, but can, more intuitively use more sketches when it is required. In SOLIDWORKS it is important that you select the points that loft to each other when selecting profiles. The consequence of not paying close enough attention to this is a twisted loft that appears as if someone twisted the object.

Now that you’ve created a three-dimensional object, you may find the need to cut it, place a hole somewhere, or round some edges. To cut the object, there is a cut tool counterpart to each of the four tools listed above. To modify edges, you can use the Fillet tool. There is also a mirror tool and a shell tool that this guide will go over.

Fillet/Chamfer – this tool is used to trim edges of the object. Choosing the Fillet tool rounds the selected edges, and choosing the Chamfer tool slices the edge off.

1) Fillet – for this tool you have to select the edge/s you want to round. Then in the “Fillet Parameters” option box, you must define the desired radius of the fillets.

2) Chamfer – for this tool you have to select the edge/s you want to slice. Then in the “Chamfer

Parameters” options box you must define the desired length of the slice and the angle.

Mirror – this tool allows you to mirror selected features across a plane. For this tool you will need a plane (this can be one of the base planes you start with or a user created reference plane) or a surface.

Shell – this tool allows you to make a hollowed out object. This is very useful when creating a part because it can reduce the material required. For this tool you just need a face and a desired thickness.

Now that you’ve created a few three dimensional objects, you’d no doubt like to assemble them to see how they fit together. To do this we must first create an assembly file. We can do this by selecting the blank page or “New” button and selecting the “assembly” option.

Starting with an empty assembly file, you will need to populate this assembly with your previously design parts. SolidWorks offers two ways of doing this.

By default, when you create an assembly file, it will have open the “Begin Assembly” tools. If this is not open, go to the “Assembly” tab and select “Insert Components” to add your parts to the assembly file.

The first, and most convenient, way of adding parts is to keep them open or open a part file in SolidWorks (after saving them). Meaning after you save them, don’t close out of that part when moving on to the next one or opening a part file. This will allow you to be able to select these open part files in the “Part/Assembly to Insert” box.

The second way to add parts is to select the “Browse” button located in the same “Part/Assembly to Insert” box. This will enable you to find your part in your computer and select to add them.

It’s important to note that you can also add assembly files to an assembly file. This enables you to create subassemblies, which saves time in some cases.

When you add a part, it will need you to place it in the assembly. For the most part the location you initially pick is unimportant (where you place the parts may offer additional convenience when constraining, but it’ll be negligible). It’s also important to note that while you may feel compelled to place every part at the beginning, it may sometimes be easier to place and constrain them one or two parts at a time.

Now that you have your parts placed, you need to constrain them together. For that we use the “Mate” tool located in the “Assembly” tab. There are eight standard mates that you can use to constrain the parts together and to the origin (if necessary). Depending on what is selected, SolidWorks will disable certain mates to help you know what mates are available to you. There is a “Mate Alignment

Coincident – constrains surfaces, lines, or vertices in any combination together.

Parallel – constrains lines and surfaces in any combination and makes them parallel

Perpendicular – similar to parallel but makes them perpendicular

Tangent – constrains a line or surface to a rounded surface (arcs, circles, splines, etc.)

Concentric – constrains the midpoints of any two rounded surfaces

Lock – fixes the location of a part in relation to another part

Distance – constrains surfaces, lines, and vertices in any order to be a user defined distance from each other

Angle – similar to distance expect to a user defined angle from each other

Now that you have an assembly you can perform simple collision analysis to ensure that parts do not unintentionally collide when put together. A simple way to do this is to create constraints that allow parts to move how they naturally will when they’re assembled, meaning don’t constrain a wheel to have a fixed rotation or similarly don’t constrain a hinged door to be aligned with a wall. In the door example, you will want to constrain just the edge of the door and the edge of the wall to create a hinge and the top of the door with the top of the door frame to set the y-axis location of the door. These constraints purposefully leave the door to have free rotation around an x-z point. The example in this guide is similar to a door with a hinge.

After setting the appropriate constraints, we will go to the “Move Component” button in the “Assembly” tab. When we select the part we wish to analyze, we can select a surface on the part and it will be highlighted in blue.

There are two basic forms of collision analysis that this guide will explain.

Collision Detection – this tool highlights any colliding surfaces as you move the component

Physical Dynamics – this tool restricts movement as you drag the part when surfaces collide, to illustrate natural movement of the assembly.