Use the Shut-off surfaces tool to close open molding areas in a part to cut the tooling block into two pieces. Identify open molding areas in the part. Utilize the Shut-off Surfaces tool to close open molding areas. Understand when shut-off surfaces are required.
Use the Undercut Analysis tool to display regions of a part which are undercut or trapped, and would not be able to be released from a mold in the primary direction of pull. Learn to identify undercut or trapped regions of a part. Display or hide different portions of a part, depending on whether or not they are undercut or trapped.
Determine if proper draft exists in a part to be molded. Without proper draft, the part may fail to successfully eject from the mold. Evaluate draft on a molded part. Examine the different classes of drafted faces.
Create and use hole tables and general tables to display different types of data, such as alternate part configurations, on a drawing. Create a hole table to display hole sizes and locations on a drawing. Use a general table to display any custom data. Resize and edit existing tables.
Create a note with text that is linked to existing dimensions and custom properties. Link a note to a dimension. Edit the title block of a drawing to add notes linked to a model's properties. Add drawing property information to populate a title block.
Create several types of derived drawing views and understand the unique characteristics of each view type. A derived drawing view is created by referencing an existing drawing view. Create a projected view by folding off an existing drawing view. Project a view normal to a selected edge to create an auxiliary view. Show a portion of a view at an enlarged scale using detail views. Create a drawing view relative to planes or planar faces in the model. Focus on a portion of a drawing view by cropping and hiding the unwanted entities. Shorten an existing drawing view using broken views.
A SpeedPak configuration improves performance of large assemblies by simplifying the assembly without losing its file references. Create SpeedPak configurations. Use SpeedPak configurations in higher level assemblies. Understand the benefits and limitations of using a SpeedPak configuration.
Use global variables and equations in assemblies to control dimensions of components or values of mates. Set dimension names. Define global variables. Add equations that link dimension values of one component to values in another component.
Constrain two similar entities (points, edges, faces, etc) to be symmetric about a plane or planar face. A symmetry mate does not force the components to be symmetric, just the entities you select. Understand the acceptable selections for a symmetry mate. Constrain two planar faces to be symmetric about a reference plane.
Use limit mates to restrict the movement of components within a specified range of linear or angular values. Add coincident and limit mates to restrict the degrees of freedom of a component. Set the starting, minimum, and maximum values for a limit mate.
Use multiple mate mode within the Mate command as a shortcut to create many mate relations to one common reference. Create multiple mates to a common reference using multiple mate mode. Toggle alignment of mates. Explore different techniques to edit mate features.
Apply color, material and texture appearances to components, part features, or faces in an assembly. Control how those appearances propagate through the model. Appearances applied at the assembly component level do not affect the individual part file. Apply an appearance to several componets in an assembly. Apply a material appearance and change how it is displayed. Understand the hierarchy of appearance application in an assembly.
Smart Mates can be used to automate mates while adding a component to an assembly as well as for mating existing components. Different mate relations can be created based on the geometry that is specified for the Smart Mate. Automate mates while adding a component to an assembly. Use Smart Mates to mate existing components. Use Smart Mates with circular edges to generate multiple mates simultaneously.
Create display states to control the visibility and display style of components. Display states can be linked to configurations of an assembly. Display states can control hide/show state, display mode, appearance, and transparency of components. Add display states to an assembly. Modify visual properties of components with display states. Explore component selection techniques. Use the display pane. Open an assembly to a specific configuration and display state. Link display states to configurations.
Use the Move Face and Delete Face tools to modify non-parametric, imported geometry. Increase the size of a model by moving faces of the body. Remove and patch filleted faces of a model by deleting the faces. Increase the diameter of a cylindrical boss by offsetting the cylindrical face.
By looking at the transitions between spiral surfaces and adjacent surfaces, you can understand the three types of continuity present in CAD systems. Identify C0 (contact), C1 (tangent), and C2 (curvature) continuity.
SOLIDWORKS includes many tools for evaluating part geometry. By analyzing the curvature of a parts curves and surfaces, you can evaluate the quality of transitions between features and the surfaces themselves. Understand what curvature is. Display Curvature to use colors to evaluate the surfaces of a model. Use Curvature Combs to evaluate sketch curves. Learn how to display the minimum radius and inflection points of a curve. Use zebra stripes to simulate reflections on faces of a model. Understand how to use evaluate tools to recognize tangency and curvature continuous conditions.
When the internal cut features of a model are of most importance in a design, one approach is to create solid features that represent the negative space of a part. Once the negative space is complete, the Combine command can be used to subtract the volume from another solid body. Use solid geometry representing the interior space of a manifold to create the negative space of the part. Create a separate solid body surrounding the geometry as the main body of the manifold. Combine the solid bodies in the part using a subtract operation.
Create exploded views in multibody parts using some of the same tools that you use to create an exploded view in an assembly. Toggle between exploded and collapsed states. Edit the explode steps. Create more than one exploded view per configuration.
When edges of a part are too close to allow for fillets to be created properly, often making use of separate solid bodies can help. Separate features into separate solid bodies. Apply fillets to the individual bodies. Use the Combine command to add the bodies back together. Apply an additional fillet to the part to complete the model.
Learn to use modeling techniques that allow for efficient transition between part design and delivery of the finished castings. Create a motorcycle gear case by designing the production tooling for the part. Start by designing the core, or the negative space, of the gear case. Design the pattern, or outside faces, of the gear case as a separate solid body. Save the tooling bodies as new part files. Combine the solid bodies, subtracting the core from the pattern. Apply machining features to finish the model.
The Indent command will form an impression of a selected tool body in a selected target body of a part. By using the options within the Indent command, a simple cut, thickness, or clearance can be formed around the tool body region. Understand the options within the Indent command. Create an Indent feature to form faces of a part around selected tool bodies. Use the Delete Body command to remove tool bodies from the part.
Wrap a flat sketch around a cylindrical or conical surface. A wrap feature can be an embossing type, which adds material, a debossing type, which removes material, or a scribing type, which splits the faces. Locate the sketch plane for a wrap feature. Define the length of a sketch using an equation. Remove material using the deboss option of the wrap feature.
Create 2D or 3D curves defined by mathematical equations. The curve can be explicit where y is a function of x, or parametric where x, y, and z are functions of t. Create a 3D spline using a parametric mathematical equation. Create a sweep feature using one 3D spline as the path and another as the guide curve.
