1MAE 455 Computer-Aided Design and Drafting

SolidWorks 2013User Interface

A Dassault Systemes Product

MAE 455 Computer-Aided Design and Drafting

Starting SolidWorks1) On the desktop, double-click or from the start

menu select: All Programs SolidWorks 2013 SolidWorks 2013.

2) Wait for program to start.3) Press ( File New) or (

File Open.4) When creating a new file:

1) Select to create a new part or to create a new assembly and press OK.

2) Press Document Properties (tab) Units and ensure that the correct unit system has been selected.

2

2MAE 455 Computer-Aided Design and Drafting

Selecting an Application Press (down triangle) Add-Ins and ensure

that the application of interest is selected (or Press Office Products (tab) and select application of interest).

SolidWorks Applications: Solid Modeling: Features and Sketch Assembly Modeling: Assembly and Layout Drafting: Drawing Finite Element Analysis Simulation Mechanism Analysis Motion Computational Fluid Dyn. Flow Simulation Many other specialized applications

The application controls what buttons are available.3

MAE 455 Computer-Aided Design and Drafting

Getting Help1. Online tutorials: (down triangle)

SolidWorks Tutorials2. Context-sensitive help: Not available in

SolidWorks(?)3. Online documentation: (down triangle)

SolidWorks Tutorials4. On-line documentation: 5. See instructor.

4

3MAE 455 Computer-Aided Design and Drafting

User Interface Layout

From SolidWorks online documentation.5

MAE 455 Computer-Aided Design and Drafting

Viewing Modes & Control Dynamic View Control:

Rotate: Use middle mouse button to rotate Pan: Use control key & middle mouse button Zoom: Use mouse wheel to zoom Use to fit objects to screen Use 3D mouse: push/pull for zoom, left/right/up/down for pan, twist for rotate

View Orientation: top, front, right, back, isometric,... Use for a variety of controls

Render Style: shaded, wireframe, hidden lines removed Use for a variety of controls

6

4MAE 455 Computer-Aided Design and Drafting

Accessing the Part HistoryPress this tab:

Get this window (the Feature Manager):

Right-click to perform actions on features.7

MAE 455 Computer-Aided Design and Drafting

Using the Mouse Left button click: pick a location, object or button

Multiple objects can be selected. Select an object twice to unselect it. Use right-click Select Other if its not selecting what you want.

Left button hold & drag: drag selection box corner menu/option-control select

Middle button: Viewing control Right button click:

context-sensitive drop-down menu drag for gesture recognition

8

5MAE 455 Computer-Aided Design and Drafting

Actions and Object Selection There are two themes for selecting objects:

1) Pick objects then select action2) Select action then pick objects Most Office software uses (1) CAD software uses combination of (1) & (2)

When multiple objects must be selected, you can go back to a previous step by clicking on the button or box for that step.

9

MAE 455 Computer-Aided Design and Drafting

Selection Filtering Some operations allow you to control what

you are selecting with buttons on the side of the list box.

10

6MAE 455 Computer-Aided Design and Drafting

Controlling Object AppearanceThe visual appearance of objects can be controlled by clicking on .

Can control: Line styles Color Transparency, shininess Surface textures or pictures

11

MAE 455 Computer-Aided Design and Drafting

Using Layers Layers can be used to organize graphical objects into

groups Each layer has a name. All objects in the same layer can be changed at the same

time: Display styles (color, line width) Show or hide

Some companies have standards for how layers need to be used.

12

7MAE 455 Computer-Aided Design and Drafting

Basic Solid Modeling Process1) Create datum planes2) Create a sketch on a plane3) Sketch curves4) Constrain curves5) Perform Sweep6) Repeat 2-5 a few times to get basic shape.7) Shell the basic shape if necessary.8) Add fillets and rounding.

13