Learn SOLIDWORKS 2020: A hands-on guide to becoming an accomplished SOLIDWORKS Associate and Professional

Learn SOLIDWORKS 2020

A hands-on guide to becoming an accomplished SOLIDWORKS Associate and Professional

Tayseer Almattar

BIRMINGHAM - MUMBAI

Learn SOLIDWORKS 2020

Copyright © 2019 Packt Publishing

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embedded in critical articles or reviews.

Every effort has been made in the preparation of this book to ensure the accuracy of the information presented. However, the information contained in this book is sold without warranty, either express or implied. Neither the author, nor Packt Publishing or its dealers and distributors, will be held liable for any damages caused or alleged to have been caused directly or indirectly by this book.

Packt Publishing has endeavored to provide trademark information about all of the companies and products mentioned in this book by the appropriate use of capitals. However, Packt Publishing cannot guarantee the accuracy of this information.

Commissioning Editor: Kunal Chaudhari

Acquisition Editor: Larissa Pinto

Content Development Editor: Aamir Ahmed

Senior Editor: Hayden Edwards

Technical Editor: Jane Dsouza

Copy Editor: Safis Editing

Project Coordinator: Manthan Patel

Proofreader: Safis Editing

Indexer: Pratik Shirodkar

Production Designer: Deepika Naik

First published: November 2019

Production reference: 1291119

Published by Packt Publishing Ltd.

Livery Place

35 Livery Street

Birmingham

B3 2PB, UK.

ISBN 978-1-78980-410-2

www.packt.com

To my parents and siblings for their unbound support, love, and care, which gave me the mental peace I needed to write this book.

– Tayseer Almattar

Packt.com

Subscribe to our online digital library for full access to over 7,000 books and videos, as well as industry leading tools to help you plan your personal development and advance your career. For more information, please visit our website.

Why subscribe?

Spend less time learning and more time coding with practical eBooks and Videos from over 4,000 industry professionals

Improve your learning with Skill Plans built especially for you

Get a free eBook or video every month

Fully searchable for easy access to vital information

Copy and paste, print, and bookmark content

Did you know that Packt offers eBook versions of every book published, with PDF and ePub files available? You can upgrade to the eBook version at www.packt.com and as a print book customer, you are entitled to a discount on the eBook copy. Get in touch with us at [email protected] for more details.

At www.packt.com, you can also read a collection of free technical articles, sign up for a range of free newsletters, and receive exclusive discounts and offers on Packt books and eBooks. 

Contributors

About the author

Tayseer Almattar holds a bachelor's (B.S.) degree in mechanical engineering and a Master of Design (MDes) degree in international design and business management. He has 6 years of experience in corporate training, instructional design, and quality assurance training. He has also been an avid user of SOLIDWORKS for over 10 years and has published multiple online SOLIDWORKS training courses with about 15,000 enrolled students from over 100 countries. With this book, Tayseer has brought together his experience of design and training to produce a unique and practical SOLIDWORKS training experience in writing.

Tayseer aspires to help build a world where modern civilization and the natural environment can thrive together utilizing the power of design. Outside his professional life, Tayseer enjoys backpacking, hiking, playing racket sports and video games, and learning about different cultures.

About the reviewer

Thomas P. McDunn is an automation engineer with experience in machine design, electronics, and software of all kinds. He currently teaches classes and workshops on 3D printing. He practices 3D design for 3D printing with six of his own machines. He also uses 3D design for projects for a Computer Numerical Control (CNC) router. He holds a patent for an industrial automation controller and is passionate about computer control and robotics. He volunteers at the local Maker Space and enjoys helping makers there.

Deepak Gupta graduated in 2000 from Indo Swiss Training Centre (Chandigarh, India).

With over 18 years of rich experience working with various industries, he has been

working in different roles with different product lines. His main area of expertise and

interest has been design and manufacturing processes.

He works as engineering service provider offering wide range of CAD design,

drafting & engineering services. He is passionate about working with SOLIDWORKS.

He enjoys writing tips, tricks, tutorials and news about SOLIDWORKS. In addition to

that he has participated in various SOLIDWORKS World conferences as a press

member.

An important aspect of his life is his family members. He loves to travel and make

friends.

I would like to thank my wife, Swati Gupta, for her love and support she has shown while

I reviewed this book. Furthermore I would also like to thank my parents for their endless

love. Last but not least, I would like to thank Packt Publishing Team for choosing me as

one of the reviewers of this book and helping me out with the reviewing of this book.

Packt is searching for authors like you

If you're interested in becoming an author for Packt, please visit authors.packtpub.com and apply today. We have worked with thousands of developers and tech professionals, just like you, to help them share their insight with the global tech community. You can make a general application, apply for a specific hot topic that we are recruiting an author for, or submit your own idea.

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright and Credits

Learn SOLIDWORKS 2020

Dedication

About Packt

Why subscribe?

Contributors

About the author

About the reviewer

Packt is searching for authors like you

Preface

Who this book is for

What this book covers

To get the most out of this book

Download the example code files

Download the color images

Code in Action

Conventions used

Get in touch

Reviews

Introduction to SOLIDWORKS

Introducing SOLIDWORKS

SOLIDWORKS applications

Core mechanical design

Understanding parametric modeling

Exploring SOLIDWORKS certifications

Associate certifications

Professional certifications

Professional advanced certifications

Expert certification

Summary

Questions

Further reading

Interface and Navigation

Technical requirements

Starting a new part, assembly, or drawing file

What are parts, assemblies, and drawings?

Opening a part, assembly, or drawing file

The main components of the SOLIDWORKS interface

The command bar

The design tree

The canvas

The Task Pane

The document's measurement system

The different measurement systems

Adjusting the document's measurement system

Summary

Questions

SOLIDWORKS 2D Sketching Basics

Technical requirements

Introducing SOLIDWORKS sketching

The position of SOLIDWORKS sketches

Simple sketches versus complex sketches

Sketch planes

Getting started with SOLIDWORKS sketching

Getting into the sketching mode

Defining sketches

Geometrical relations

Sketching lines, rectangles, circles, arcs, and ellipses

The origin

Sketching lines

Sketching rectangles and squares

Sketching circles and arcs

Sketching ellipses and using construction lines

Fillets and chamfers

Under defined, fully defined, and over defined sketches

Under defined sketches

Fully defined sketches

Over defined sketches

Summary

Questions

Special Sketching Commands

Technical requirements

Mirroring and offsetting sketches

Mirroring a sketch 

Defining

Offsetting a sketch 

Deleting an offset

Customization options

Creating sketch patterns

Defining patterns 

Linear sketch patterns

Circular sketch patterns

Trimming in SOLIDWORKS sketching

Understanding trimming 

Using power trimming

Summary

Questions

Basic Primary One-Sketch Features

Technical requirements

Understanding features in SOLIDWORKS

Understanding SOLIDWORKS features and their role in 3D modeling

Simple models versus complex models 

Sketch planes for features

Understanding and applying extruded boss and cut

What are extruded boss and extruded cut? 

Applying extruded boss

Applying extruded cut and building on existing features

Modifying and deleting extruded boss and extruded cut

Editing a feature – changing the height of the cylinder from 50 mm to 100 mm

Deleting a feature – removing the extruded cut feature that goes through the cylinder 

Understanding and applying fillets and chamfers

Understanding fillets and chamfers

Applying fillets

Applying chamfers

Modifying fillets and chamfers

Understanding and applying revolved boss and cut

What are revolved boss and cut?

Applying revolved boss

Applying revolved cut

Modifying revolved boss and revolved cut

Summary

Questions

Basic Secondary Multi-Sketch Features

Technical requirements

Reference geometries – additional planes

Understanding planes, reference geometries, and why we need them

Defining planes in geometry 

Defining a new plane in SOLIDWORKS

Understanding and applying swept boss and swept cut

What are swept boss and swept cut?

Applying swept boss

Swept boss feature options

Applying swept cut

Modifying swept boss and swept cut

Understanding and applying lofted boss and lofted cut

What are lofted boss and lofted cut?

Applying lofted boss 

Lofted boss feature options

Applying lofted cut

Modifying lofted boss and cut

Guide curves 

Summary

Questions

Materials and Mass Properties

Technical requirements

Reference geometries – defining a new coordinate system

What is a reference coordinate system and why are new ones needed?

How to create a new coordinate system

Assigning materials and evaluating and overriding mass properties

Assigning materials to parts

Viewing the mass properties of parts

Viewing mass properties

Finding the mass of the model in grams

Finding the center of mass in relation to the origin in millimeters

Finding the center of mass in relation to the new coordinate system in millimeters

Finding the mass of the model in pounds

Overriding mass properties 

Summary

Questions

Standard Assembly Mates

Technical requirements

Opening assemblies and adding parts

Defining SOLIDWORKS assemblies

Starting a SOLIDWORKS assembly file and adding parts to it

Starting an assembly file

Adding parts to the assembly file

Understanding mates

Understanding and applying non-value-oriented standard mates 

Defining the non-value-oriented standard mates

Applying the coincident and perpendicular mates

Applying the coincident mate

Applying the perpendicular mate

Applying the parallel, tangent, concentric, and lock mates

Applying the parallel mate

Applying the tangent mate

Applying the concentric mate

Applying the lock mate

Under defining, fully defining, and over defining an assembly 

Finding the definition statuses of the parts 

Which assembly definition status is better? 

Viewing and adjusting active mates

Modifying existing mates

Understanding and applying value-driven standard mates 

Defining value-driven standard mates

Applying the distance and angle mates

Applying the distance mate

Applying the angle mate

Utilizing materials and mass properties for assemblies 

Setting a new coordinate system for an assembly

Material edits in assemblies

Assigning materials to parts in the assembly environment

Evaluating mass properties for assemblies

Summary

Questions

Introduction to Engineering Drawing

Understanding engineering drawings

Interpreting engineering drawings

Interpreting lines

Interpreting views

Orthogonal views

Auxiliary view

Section views

Detail views

Break-out section views

Crop views

Axonometric projections

Summary

Questions

Basic SOLIDWORKS Drawing Layout and Annotations

Technical requirements

Opening a SOLIDWORKS drawing file

Generating orthographic and isometric views

Selecting a model to plot

Generating orthographic and isometric views

Parent and child views

Adding views via the View Palette

Deleting views 

Adjusting the drawing scale and the display

Adjusting the scale of our drawing

Changing the drawing scale for the front parent view

Changing the drawing scale of the isometric child view 

Understanding scale ratios

 Different display types

Communicating dimensions and design

Using the smart dimension

The centerlines, notes, and hole callout annotations

Centerlines

Notes 

Hole callout

Utilizing the drawing sheet's information block

Editing the information block

Adding new information to the information block 

Exporting the drawing as a PDF or image

Exporting a drawing as a PDF file 

Exporting the drawing as an image 

Summary

Questions

Bills of Materials

Technical requirements

Understanding BOMs

Understanding a BOM

Generating a standard BOM

Inserting an assembly into a drawing sheet 

Creating a standard BOM

Adjusting information in the BOMs

Adjusting listed information in the BOM

Changing a title in the BOM

Changing a column category 

Sorting information in our BOMs 

Adding new columns

Utilizing equations with BOMs

What are equations in SOLIDWORKS drawings? 

Functions 

Mathematical operations

Inputting equations in a table

Applying a mathematical operation 

Applying an equation function

Utilizing parts callouts 

Summary

Questions

Advanced SOLIDWORKS Mechanical Core Features

Technical requirements

Understanding and applying the draft feature

What are drafts? 

Applying drafts

Understanding and applying the shell feature

What is a shell? 

Applying a shell

Multi-thickness settings

Understanding and utilizing the Hole Wizard

What is the Hole Wizard and why use it? 

Identifying a hole in SOLIDWORKS 

Utilizing the Hole Wizard

Understanding and applying features mirroring

What is mirroring for features? 

Utilizing the Mirror command to mirror features

Understanding and applying the rib feature

Understanding ribs

Applying the Rib command

Understanding and utilizing multi-body parts 

Defining multi-body parts and their advantages

Generating and dealing with a multi-body part

Feature scope applications

Separating different bodies into different parts

Summary

Questions

Equations, Configurations, and Design Tables

Technical requirements

Understanding and applying equations in parts

Understanding equations

Applying equations in parts

Modifying dimensions with equations 

Equations within the equations manager

Design intent with equations

Understanding and utilizing configurations 

What are configurations?

Applying configurations

Understanding and utilizing design tables 

What are design tables?

Setting up a design table

Editing a design table

Editing directly from the design table

Editing the design table by modifying the model 

Summary

Questions

SOLIDWORKS Assemblies and Advanced Mates

Technical requirements

Understanding and using the profile center mate

Defining the profile center advanced mate

Applying the profile center mate

Understanding and using the width and symmetric mates

Defining the width advanced mate

Applying the width advanced mate 

Defining the symmetric advanced mate

Applying the symmetric advanced mate

Understanding and using the distance range and angle range mates

Defining the distance range and angle range

Applying the distance range mate 

Applying the angle range mate

Understanding and using the path mate and linear/linear coupler mates

Defining the path mate

Applying the path mate 

Defining the linear/linear coupler

Applying the linear/linear coupler

Fine-tuning the linear/linear coupler mate

Summary

Questions

Advanced SOLIDWORKS Assemblies Competencies

Technical requirements

Understanding and utilizing the Interference and Collision Detection tools

Interference Detection

Interferences in practice 

Collision Detection

Understanding and applying assembly features

Understanding assembly features

Applying assembly features

Understanding and utilizing configurations and design tables for assemblies

Using manual configurations

Design tables 

Summary

Questions

Assessments

Answers to questions

Chapter 1 – Introduction to SOLIDWORKS

Chapter 2 – Interface and Navigation

Chapter 3 – SOLIDWORKS 2D Sketching Basics

Chapter 4 – Special Sketching Commands

Chapter 5 – Basic Primary One-Sketch Features

Chapter 6 – Basic Secondary Multi-Sketch Features

Chapter 7 – Materials and Mass Properties

Chapter 8 – Standard Assembly Mates

Chapter 9 – Introduction to Engineering Drawing

Chapter 10 – Basic SOLIDWORKS Drawing Layout and Annotations

Chapter 11 – Bills of Materials

Chapter 12 – Advanced SOLIDWORKS Mechanical Core Features

Chapter 13 – Equations, Configurations, and Design Tables

Chapter 14 – SOLIDWORKS Assemblies and Advanced Mates

Chapter 15 – Advanced SOLIDWORKS Assemblies Competencies

Other Packt Products You May Enjoy

Leave a review - let other readers know what you think

Preface

SOLIDWORKS is one of the most used pieces of software for 3D engineering and product design applications. These applications cover areas such as aviation, automobiles, consumer product design, and more. This book takes a practical approach to mastering the software at a professional level. The book starts with the very basics, such as exploring the software interface and opening new files. However, step by step, it progresses through different topics, from sketching and building complex 3D models to generating dynamic and static assemblies. 

This book takes a hands-on approach when it comes to covering different tools in SOLIDWORKS. Whenever a new tool is introduced, we will go through a practical exercise of using it to create sketches, 3D part models, assemblies, or drawings. When required, we will provide you with supporting files that you can download in order to follow up on the concepts and exercises in your own time. If you are a complete beginner in SOLIDWORKS, it will be best to follow the book from start to finish, like a story. However, you can also jump between chapters.

Who this book is for

This book targets individuals who would like to get started with SOLIDWORKS and be able to feel comfortable using the software. They could be aspiring engineers, designers, makers, draftsmen, and hobbyists. This book is also designed for individuals who are interested in becoming Certified SOLIDWORKS Associates (CSWAs) or Certified SOLIDWORKS Professionals (CSWPs). 

The book does not require a specific background in order to follow it, as it starts from the basics of what SOLIDWORKS is and how to use it. However, basic theoretical background knowledge of what 3D modeling is would be helpful.

What this book covers

Chapter 1, Introduction to SOLIDWORKS, covers what SOLIDWORKS is and the applications that utilize the software. It also explores the professional certifications that are offered by SOLIDWORKS. 

Chapter 2, Interface and Navigation, teaches you how to navigate around the SOLIDWORKS interface.  

Chapter 3, SOLIDWORKS 2D Sketching Basics, covers what sketching is in SOLIDWORKS. It also covers how you can sketch basic entities such as lines, circles, rectangles, arcs, and ellipses. 

Chapter 4, Special Sketching Commands, covers commands that enable us to sketch more efficiently. These include the mirror, offset, trip, and pattern commands. 

Chapter 5, Basic Primary One-Sketch Features, explores the most basic features used for generating 3D models from sketches. Each of these features requires you to have one sketch to apply it. The features include extruded boss and cut, revolved boss and cut, fillets, and chamfers. 

Chapter 6, Basic Secondary Multi-Sketch Features, explores another set of basic features that require more than one sketch to apply. They include the swept boss and swept cut and lofted boss and lofted cut. It also explores reference geometries and how to generate new planes. 

Chapter 7, Materials and Mass Properties, explores structural materials for our 3D parts. It also teaches you how to calculate mass properties such as mass, volume, and the center of gravity. 

Chapter 8, Standard Assemblies Mates, explores what assemblies are in SOLIDWORKS. You will learn how to generate simple assemblies using the standard mates: coincident, parallel, perpendicular, tangent, concentric, lock and set distance, and angle. 

Chapter 9, Introduction to Engineering Drawing, explores what engineering drawings are and how to interpret them as per the commonly recognized international standards. 

Chapter 10, Basic SOLIDWORKS Drawing Layout and Annotations, teaches you how to generate basic engineering drawings using SOLIDWORKS drawing tools. 

Chapter 11, Bills of Materials, explores what bills of materials are and how to generate and adjust bills of materials with SOLIDWORKS drawing tools. 

Chapter 12, Advanced SOLIDWORKS Mechanical Core Features, covers the advanced features used to generate more complex 3D models. These include the draft feature, shell feature, Hole Wizard, features mirroring, the rib feature, and multi-body parts. 

Chapter 13, Equations, Configurations, and Design Tables, explains how you can apply equations to link different dimensions within the model. You will also learn how to utilize configurations and design tables to generate multiple variations of a single part within one SOLIDWORKS file. 

Chapter 14, SOLIDWORKS Assemblies and Advanced Mates, covers using advanced mates to generate more dynamic assemblies. These include the profile center, symmetric, width, distance and angle range, path, and linear/linear coupler mates. 

Chapter 15, Advanced SOLIDWORKS Assemblies Competencies, explores additional assembly features to better evaluate and generate more sound and flexible assemblies. These include the Interference and Collision Detection tools, assembly features, and configurations and design tables for assemblies. 

To get the most out of this book

You will need to have access to the SOLIDWORKS software for most of the chapters. Some chapters will also require you to have access to Microsoft Excel on the same machine.

You should practically follow all the steps and examples in this book in SOLIDWORKS as you are reading the book. This is because the book was designed to give you hands-on practical experience. 

There are no prerequisite knowledge or skills required to follow this book. However, having a basic, theoretical understanding of what 3D modeling is would be helpful. 

Download the example code files

You can download the example code files for this book from your account at www.packt.com. If you purchased this book elsewhere, you can visit www.packtpub.com/support and register to have the files emailed directly to you.

You can download the code files by following these steps:

Log in or register at www.packt.com.

Select the Support tab.

Click on Code Downloads.

Enter the name of the book in the Search box and follow the onscreen instructions.

Once the file is downloaded, please make sure that you unzip or extract the folder using the latest version of:

WinRAR/7-Zip for Windows

Zipeg/iZip/UnRarX for Mac

7-Zip/PeaZip for Linux

The code bundle for the book is also hosted on GitHub at https://github.com/PacktPublishing/Hands-On-3D-Modelling-with-SOLIDWORKS-2020. In case there's an update to the code, it will be updated on the existing GitHub repository.

We also have other code bundles from our rich catalog of books and videos available at https://github.com/PacktPublishing/. Check them out!

Download the color images

We also provide a PDF file that has color images of the screenshots/diagrams used in this book. You can download it here: https://static.packt-cdn.com/downloads/9781789804102_ColorImages.pdf.

Code in Action

Visit the following link to check out videos of the code being run:

http://bit.ly/37MKzn1

Conventions used

There are a number of text conventions used throughout this book.

CodeInText: Indicates code words in the text, database table names, folder names, filenames, file extensions, pathnames, dummy URLs, user input, and Twitter handles. Here is an example: Input the Right View and Top View notes the same way.

Bold: Indicates a new term, an important word, or words that you see on screen. For example, words in menus or dialog boxes appear in the text like this. Here is an example: Select Drawing, then click on OK.

Warnings or important notes appear like this.

Tips and tricks appear like this.

Get in touch

Feedback from our readers is always welcome.

General feedback: If you have questions about any aspect of this book, mention the book title in the subject of your message and email us at [email protected].

Errata: Although we have taken every care to ensure the accuracy of our content, mistakes do happen. If you have found a mistake in this book, we would be grateful if you would report this to us. Please visit www.packtpub.com/support/errata, selecting your book, clicking on the Errata Submission Form link, and entering the details.

Piracy: If you come across any illegal copies of our works in any form on the internet, we would be grateful if you would provide us with the location address or website name. Please contact us at [email protected] with a link to the material.

If you are interested in becoming an author: If there is a topic that you have expertise in and you are interested in either writing or contributing to a book, please visit authors.packtpub.com.

Reviews

Please leave a review. Once you have read and used this book, why not leave a review on the site that you purchased it from? Potential readers can then see and use your unbiased opinion to make purchase decisions, we at Packt can understand what you think about our products, and our authors can see your feedback on their book. Thank you!

For more information about Packt, please visit packt.com.

Introduction to SOLIDWORKS

SOLIDWORKS is a Three-Dimensional (3D) design application. This is a Computer-Aided Design (CAD) software that runs on Windows computer systems. It was launched in 1995 and has grown to be one of the most common pieces of software used globally in relation to engineering design.

This book covers fundamental skills for using SOLIDWORKS. It will take you from knowing nothing about the software to acquiring all the basic skills expected of a Certified SOLIDWORKS Professional (CSWP). En route, we will also cover all the skills needed for the more basic Certified SOLIDWORKS Associate (CSWA) level. In addition to knowing what the tools are, you will also need to develop software fluency, which you will gain gradually as you practice using the software for different applications. Both the tools and the fluency are essential to acquiring any official SOLIDWORKS certifications. If you are new to SOLIDWORKS, we recommend that you follow the book like a story, from Chapter 1, Introduction to SOLIDWORKS onward. If you are already familiar with SOLIDWORKS, feel free to jump between chapters.

This chapter will provide you with a brief introduction to what SOLIDWORKS is and the fields it can support. Equipped with this knowledge, we will learn about all the features and capabilities of SOLIDWORKS and will have a clearer idea of what types of certifications or fields you can strive for. Learning about applicable certifications will enable you to plan your personal SOLIDWORKS development. 

The chapter will also explain the governing principle with which SOLIDWORKS functions: parametric modeling. Equipped with a knowledge of SOLIDWORKS' operating principles, we will be able to deepen our understanding of how the software works and what to expect from it. Understanding the software's operating principles will help us to manage the different software commands used when building 3D models. 

The following topics will be covered in this chapter:

Introducing SOLIDWORKS

Understanding parametric modeling

Exploring SOLIDWORKS certifications

Introducing SOLIDWORKS

SOLIDWORKS is a 3D design software, officially capitalized to SOLIDWORKS. It is one of the leading pieces of engineering 3D design software globally. Today, more than two million organizations use SOLIDWORKS to bring in products and innovations, which represent a large proportion of over 3 million SOLIDWORKS users in total. In this section, we will explore the different applications that