Fundamentals of 3d Design and Simulation

FUNDAMENTALS OF
3D DESIGN AND SIMULATION

SOLIDWORKS EDUCATION EDITION 2018-2019
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SOLIDWORKS
Education Edition
2018-2019
Fundamentals of 3D Design and

Simulation
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Contents
Introduction
To the Teacher. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
SOLIDWORKS Tutorials. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
My SOLIDWORKS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Certification Exams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Training Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Educator Resources link . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Prerequisites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Course Design Philosophy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Conventions Used in this Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Windows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Use of Color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Graphics and Graphics Cards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Color Schemes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
i
Contents SOLIDWORKS 2018 - 2019
Lesson 1:
SOLIDWORKS Basics and the User Interface
What is the SOLIDWORKS Software? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Design Intent. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Examples of Design Intent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
How Features Affect Design Intent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
File References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Object Linking and Embedding (OLE) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
File Reference Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Opening Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Computer Memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
The SOLIDWORKS User Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Welcome Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Pull-down Menus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Using the Command Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Adding and Removing CommandManager Tabs . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
FeatureManager Design Tree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
PropertyManager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Full Path Name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Selection Breadcrumbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Task Pane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Opening Labs with the File Explorer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Heads-up View Toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Unselectable Icons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Mouse Buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Keyboard Shortcuts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Multiple Monitor Displays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
System Feedback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Search . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Lesson 2:
Introduction to Sketching
2D Sketching. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Stages in the Process. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Saving Files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Save. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Save As . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Save As Copy to Disk. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Save As Copy and Open . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
What are We Going to Sketch?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Sketching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Default Planes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Sketch Entities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Sketch Geometry. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
ii
SOLIDWORKS 2018 - 2019 Contents
Basic Sketching. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
The Mechanics of Sketching. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Inference Lines (Automatic Relations). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Sketch Feedback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Status of a Sketch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Rules That Govern Sketches. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Design Intent. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
What Controls Design Intent?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Desired Design Intent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Sketch Relations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Automatic Sketch Relations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Added Sketch Relations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Examples of Sketch Relations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Selecting Multiple Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Dimensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Dimensioning: Selection and Preview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Angular Dimensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Instant 2D . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Extrude . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Sketching Guidelines† . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Exercise 1: Sketch and Extrude 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Lesson 3:
Basic Part Modeling
Basic Modeling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Stages in the Process. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Feature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Plane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Extrusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Sketch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Boss. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Cut. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Fillets and Rounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Design Intent. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Choosing the Best Profile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Choosing the Sketch Plane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Planes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Placement of the Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
iii
Details of the Part . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

Standard Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Main Bosses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Best Profile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Sketch Plane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Design Intent. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Sketching the First Feature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Extrude Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Renaming Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Boss Feature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Sketching on a Planar Face . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Sketching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Tangent Arc Intent Zones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Autotransitioning Between Lines and Arcs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Cut Feature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
View Selector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Using the Hole Wizard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Creating a Standard Hole . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Counterbore Hole . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Filleting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
Filleting Rules. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
Editing Tools. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Editing a Sketch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Selecting Multiple Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Editing Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Fillet Propagation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Rollback Bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Detailing Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Settings Used in the Template . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
CommandManager Tabs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
New Drawing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Drawing Views . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Tangent Edges. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Moving Views. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
Center Marks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Dimensioning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Driving Dimensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Driven Dimensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Manipulating Dimensions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Associativity Between the Model and the Drawing . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Changing Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Rebuilding the Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
Exercise 7: Plate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Exercise 8: Cuts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
Exercise 9: Basic-Changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
Exercise 10: Base Bracket . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
Exercise 11: Part Drawings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
iv
Lesson 4:
Patterning
Why Use Patterns? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Pattern Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
Linear Pattern . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
Flyout FeatureManager Design Tree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
Skipping Instances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
Geometry Patterns. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
Performance Evaluation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
Circular Patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
Reference Geometry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
Axes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
Planes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 130
Mirror Patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
Patterning a Solid Body . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
Using Pattern Seed Only. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
Up To Reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
Sketch Driven Patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
Automatic Dimensioning of Sketches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
Exercise 12: Linear Patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
Exercise 13: Sketch Driven Patterns. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
Exercise 14: Skipping Instances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
Exercise 15: Linear and Mirror Patterns. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
Exercise 16: Circular Patterns. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
Exercise 17: Axes and Multiple Patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
Lesson 5:
Revolved Features
Case Study: Handwheel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
Stages in the Process. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
Design Intent. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
Revolved Features. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
Sketch Geometry of the Revolved Feature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
Rules Governing Sketches of Revolved Features. . . . . . . . . . . . 159
Special Dimensioning Techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
Diameter Dimensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
Creating the Revolved Feature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
Building the Rim. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
Slots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
Multibody Solids. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
Building the Spoke . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
Edge Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
Chamfers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
RealView Graphics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
Edit Material . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
v
Mass Properties. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179

Mass Properties as Custom Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
File Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
Classes of File Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180
Creating File Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
Uses of File Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
SOLIDWORKS SimulationXpress. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
Overview. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
Mesh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
Using SOLIDWORKS SimulationXpress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184
The SimulationXpress Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
Phase 1: Fixtures. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
Phase 2: Loads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
Phase 3: Material . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
Phase 4: Run . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
Phase 5: Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
Phase 6: Optimize . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189
Updating the Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
Results, Reports and eDrawings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
Exercise 18: Flange. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
Exercise 19: Wheel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194
Exercise 20: Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
Exercise 21: Ellipse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
Exercise 22: Sweeps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202
Slide Stop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202
Cotter Pin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202
Paper Clip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
Mitered Sweep . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
Exercise 23: SimulationXpress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
vi
Lesson 6:
Bottom-Up Assembly Modeling
Case Study: Universal Joint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208
Bottom-Up Assembly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208
The Assembly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
Creating a New Assembly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
Position of the First Component . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211
FeatureManager Design Tree and Symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212
Degrees of Freedom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212
Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212
Component Name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212
State of the component . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
Adding Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
Insert Component . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
Moving and Rotating Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216
Mating Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
Mate Types and Alignment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218
Mating Concentric and Coincident . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
Width Mate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225
Rotating Inserted Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228
Using the Component Preview Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
Parallel Mate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230
Dynamic Assembly Motion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231
Displaying Part Configurations in an Assembly. . . . . . . . . . . . . 231
The Pin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232
Using Part Configurations in Assemblies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232
The Second Pin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234
Opening a Component . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234
Creating Copies of Instances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236
Component Hiding and Transparency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237
Component Properties. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239
Sub-assemblies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240
Smart Mates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241
Inserting Sub-assemblies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243
Mating Sub-assemblies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244
Distance Mates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245
Unit System. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245
Pack and Go . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247
Exercise 24: Mates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248
Exercise 25: Gripe Grinder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250
Exercise 26: Using Hide and Show Component. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252
Exercise 27: Part Configurations in an Assembly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254
Exercise 28: U-Joint Changes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256
vii
Lesson 7:
The Analysis Process
Objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259
The Analysis Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260
Case Study: Stress in a Plate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260
Project Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261
SOLIDWORKS Simulation Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262
SOLIDWORKS Simulation Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264
Plot Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265
Preprocessing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267
New Study. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267
Assigning Material Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268
Fixtures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270
Fixture Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270
Display/Hide Symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272
External Loads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 273
Size and Color of Symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276
Preprocessing Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277
Meshing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278
Standard Mesh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278
Curvature Based Mesh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278
Blended Curvature Based Mesh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278
Mesh Density . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279
Element Sizes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279
Minimum Number of Elements in a Circle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279
Ratio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280
Mesh Quality. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281
Processing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282
Postprocessing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283
Result Plots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283
Editing Plots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 284
Nodal vs. Element Stresses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285
Show as Tensor Plot Option . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286
Modifying Result Plots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287
Other Plot Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289
Other Plots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296
viii
Multiple Studies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299

Creating New Studies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299
Copy Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299
Check Convergence and Accuracy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302
Results Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303
Comparison with Analytical Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 304
Reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307
References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307
Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307
Exercise 29: Bracket . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309
Exercise 30: Compressive Spring Stiffness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 319
Exercise 31: Container Handle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 322
Lesson 8:
Introduction to Motion Simulation and Forces
Objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 323
Basic Motion Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 324
Case Study: Car Jack Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 324
Problem Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 324
Driving Motion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 328
Gravity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 330
Forces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331
Understanding Forces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331
Applied Forces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331
Force Definition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 331
Force Direction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 332
Case 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 332
Case 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 332
Case 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333
Results. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 335
Plot Categories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 335
Sub-Categories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 335
Resizing Plots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 335
Exercise 32: 3D Fourbar Linkage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 343
ix
Lesson 9:
Creating a SOLIDWORKS Flow Simulation Project
Objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347
Case Study: Manifold Assembly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 348
Problem Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 348
Model Preparation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 349
Internal Flow Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 349
External Flow Analysis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 349
Manifold Analysis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 350
Lids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 350
Lid Thickness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 351
Manual Lid Creation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 351
Adding a Lid to a Part File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 351
Adding a Lid to an Assembly File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 352
Checking the Geometry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 354
Internal Fluid Volume. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 355
Invalid Contacts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 355
Project Wizard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 360
Reference Axis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 363
Exclude Cavities Without Flow Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 363
Adiabatic Wall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 364
Roughness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 364
Computational Domain. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 366
Mesh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 372
Load Results Option . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 372
Monitoring the Solver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 373
Goal Plot Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 374
Warning Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 374
Post-processing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 377
Scaling the Limits of the Legend . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 379
Changing Legend Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 379
Orientation of the Legend, Logarithmic Scale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 379
Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 391
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 391
x
Introduction
1
Introduction SOLIDWORKS 2018 - 2019
To the Teacher The SOLIDWORKS Education Edition - Fundamentals of 3D Design

and Simulation manual is designed to assist you in teaching
SOLIDWORKS and SOLIDWORKS Simulation in an academic
setting. This guide offers a competency-based approach to teaching 3D
design concepts, analysis and techniques.
Qualified schools on subscription have access to the eBook at no cost
to students. Contact your SOLIDWORKS Value Added Reseller to
obtain access.
SOLIDWORKS The SOLIDWORKS Education Edition
Tutorials - Fundamentals of 3D Design and
Simulation manual also supplements
the SOLIDWORKS Tutorials.
Accessing the To start the SOLIDWORKS Tutorials, click Help, SOLIDWORKS

SOLIDWORKS Tutorials. The SOLIDWORKS window is resized and a second
Tutorials window appears next to it with a list of the available tutorials. There are
over 40 lessons in the SOLIDWORKS Tutorials. As you move the
pointer over the links, an illustration of the tutorial will appear at the
bottom of the window. Click the desired link to start that tutorial.
TIP: When you use SOLIDWORKS Simulation to perform analysis,

click Help, SOLIDWORKS Simulation, Tutorials to access
over 50 lessons and over 80 verification problems. Click
Tools, Add-ins to activate SOLIDWORKS Simulation,
SOLIDWORKS Motion, and SOLIDWORKS Flow
Simulation.
2
SOLIDWORKS 2018 - 2019 Introduction
Conventions Set your screen resolution to 1280x1024 for optimal viewing of the
tutorials.
The following icons appear in the tutorials:
Moves to the next screen in the tutorial.
Represents a note or tip. It is not a link; the information is below
the icon. Notes and tips provide time-saving steps and helpful hints.
You can click most buttons that appear in the lessons to flash the
corresponding SOLIDWORKS button.
Open File or Set this option automatically opens the file or sets
the option.
A closer look at... links to more information about a topic.
Although not required to complete the tutorial, it offers more detail on
the subject.
Why did I... links to more information about a procedure, and
the reasons for the method given. This information is not required to
complete the tutorial.
Show me... demonstrates with a video.
Printing the If you like, you can print the SOLIDWORKS Tutorials by following
SOLIDWORKS this procedure:
Tutorials
1. On the tutorial navigation toolbar, click Show.
This displays the table of contents for the SOLIDWORKS
Tutorials.
2. Right-click the book representing the lesson you wish to print and
select Print... from the shortcut menu.
The Print Topics dialog box appears.
3. Select Print the selected heading and all subtopics, and click
OK.
4. Repeat this process for each lesson that you want to print.
3
My SOLIDWORKS My.SolidWorks.com is a community website to share, connect, and

learn everything about SOLIDWORKS. My SOLIDWORKS learning
contains additional video lessons and individual learning paths for your
students.
Certification The Certified SOLIDWORKS Associate(CSWA) - Academic program
Exams provides free certification exams for you or your students in a
proctored setting. Achieving CSWA proves the fundamentals of
engineering design competency. Employers verify students job ready
credentials through our online virtual tester. Schools that provide two
or more courses in SOLIDWORKS-based instruction can also apply to
be a Certified SOLIDWORKS Professional(CSWP) - Academic
Provider.
More information and to apply can be found at
www.solidworks.com/cswa-academic.
Training Files A complete set of the various files used throughout the course can be
downloaded from the following website:
www.solidworks.com/EDU_Fundamentals3DDesignSim
The files are organized by lesson number. The Case Study folder
within each lesson contains the files you need when presenting the
lessons. The Exercises folder contains any files that are required for
doing the laboratory exercises.
Educator The Instructors Curriculum link on the SOLIDWORKS Resources
Resources link tab of the Task Pane includes substantial supporting materials to aid
in your course presentation. Accessing this page requires a login
account for the SOLIDWORKS Customer Portal. These supporting
materials afford you flexibility in scope, depth, and presentation.
1. Start SOLIDWORKS.
Using the Start menu, start the SOLIDWORKS application.
2. SOLIDWORKS Content.
Click SOLIDWORKS Resources to
open the SOLIDWORKS Resources Task
Pane.
Click on the Instructors Curriculum link
which will take you to the
SOLIDWORKS Customer Portal web
page.
4
SOLIDWORKS 2018 - 2019 Introduction
Prerequisites Students attending this course are expected to have the following:
■ Mechanical design experience.
■ Experience with the Windows® operating system.
■ Completed the online tutorials that are integrated in the
SOLIDWORKS software. You can access the online tutorials by
clicking Help, Online Tutorial.
Course Design This course is designed around a process- or task-based approach to
Philosophy training. A process-based training course emphasizes the processes and
procedures you follow to complete a particular task. By utilizing case
studies to illustrate these processes, you learn the necessary commands,
options and menus in the context of completing a task.
A Note About The drawings and dimensions given in the lab exercises are not intended
Dimensions to reflect any particular drafting standard. In fact, sometimes dimensions
are given in a fashion that would never be considered acceptable in
industry. The reason for this is the labs are designed to encourage you to
apply the information covered in class and to employ and reinforce
certain techniques in modeling. As a result, the drawings and dimensions
in the exercises are done in a way that complements this objective.
Conventions Used This manual uses the following typographic conventions:
in this Book
Convention Meaning
Bold Sans Serif SOLIDWORKS commands and options
appear in this style. For example, Features >
Extruded Cut means click the Extruded
Cut icon on the Features tab of the
CommandManager.
Typewriter Feature names and file names appear in this
style. For example, Sketch1.
Double lines precede and follow sections of
17 Do this step the procedures. This provides separation
between the steps of the procedure and large
blocks of explanatory text. The steps
themselves are numbered in sans serif bold.
Windows The screen shots in this manual were made using the SOLIDWORKS
software running a mixture of Windows® 7 and Windows 10. You may
notice slight differences in the appearance of the menus and windows.
These differences do not affect the performance of the software.
5
Use of Color The SOLIDWORKS user interface makes extensive use of color to
highlight selected geometry and to provide you with visual feedback.
This greatly increases the intuitiveness and ease of use of the
SOLIDWORKS software. To take maximum advantage of this, the
training manuals are printed in full color.
Also, in many cases, we have used
additional color in the illustrations to
communicate concepts, identify
features, and otherwise convey
important information. For example,
we might show the result of a filleting
operation with the fillets in a different
color even though, by default, the
SOLIDWORKS software would not display the results in that way.
Graphics and The SOLIDWORKS software sets a new
Graphics Cards standard with best-in-class graphics. The
combination of a highly reflective
material and the realism of RealView
Graphics is an effective tool for
evaluating the quality of advanced part
models and surfaces.
RealView Graphics is hardware
(graphics card) support of advanced
shading in real time. For example, if you
rotate a part, it retains its rendered appearance throughout the rotation.
Color Schemes Out of the box, the SOLIDWORKS software provides several
predefined color schemes that control, among other things, the colors
used for highlighted items, selected items, sketch relation symbols, and
shaded previews of features.
We have not used the same color scheme for every case study and
exercise because some colors are more visible and clear than others
when used with different colored parts.
In addition, we have changed the viewport background to plain white
so that the illustrations reproduce better on white paper.
As a result, because the color settings on your computer may be
different than the ones used by the authors of this book, the images you
see on your screen may not exactly match those in the book.
User Interface Throughout the development of the software, there have been some
Appearance cosmetic User Interface changes, intended to improve visibility, that do
not affect the function of the software. As a policy, dialog images in the
manuals which exhibit no functional change from the previous version
are not replaced. As such, you may see a mixture of current and “old”
UI dialogs and color schemes.
6
Lesson 1
SOLIDWORKS Basics and the
User Interface
Upon successful completion of this lesson, you will be able to:

■ Describe the key characteristics of a feature-based, parametric solid
modeler.
■ Distinguish between sketched and applied features.
■ Identify the principal components of the SOLIDWORKS user
interface.
■ Explain how different dimensioning methodologies convey
different design intents.
7
Lesson 1 SOLIDWORKS 2018 - 2019
What is the SOLIDWORKS mechanical design automation software is a feature-

SOLIDWORKS based, parametric solid modeling design tool which takes advantage of
Software? the easy to learn Windows graphical user interface. You can create fully
associative 3D solid models with or without constraints while utilizing
automatic or user defined relations to capture design intent.
The italicized terms in the previous paragraph mean:
■ Feature-based
Just as an assembly is made up of a number of individual piece parts, a
SOLIDWORKS model is also made up of individual constituent
elements. These elements are called features.
When you create a model using the SOLIDWORKS software, you
work with intelligent, easy to understand geometric features such as
bosses, cuts, holes, ribs, fillets, chamfers, and drafts. As the features are
created they are applied directly to the work piece.
Features can be classified as either sketched or applied.
■ Sketched Features: Based upon a 2D sketch. Generally that sketch
is transformed into a solid by extrusion, rotation, sweeping or
lofting.
■ Applied Features: Created directly on the solid model. Fillets and
chamfers are examples of this type of feature.
The SOLIDWORKS software graphically shows you the feature-based
structure of your model in a special window called the
FeatureManager® design tree. The FeatureManager design tree not only
shows you the sequence in which the features were created, it gives you
easy access to all the underlying associated information. You will learn
more about the FeatureManager design tree throughout this course.
To illustrate the concept of feature-
based modeling, consider the part
shown at the right:
This part can be visualized as a

collection of several different
features – some of which add
material, like the cylindrical boss,
and some which remove material,
like the blind hole.
8
SOLIDWORKS 2018 - 2019 Lesson 1
If we were to map the individual features to their corresponding listing

in the FeatureManager design tree, it would look like this:
■ Parametric
The dimensions and relations used to create a feature are captured and
stored in the model. This not only enables you to capture your design
intent, it also enables you to quickly and easily make changes to the
model.
■ Driving Dimensions: These are the dimensions used when creating
a feature. They include the dimensions associated with the sketch
geometry, as well as those associated with the feature itself. A
simple example of this would be a feature like a cylindrical boss.
The diameter of the boss is controlled by the diameter of the
sketched circle. The height of the boss is controlled by the depth to
which that circle was extruded when the feature was made.
■ Relations: These include such information as parallelism, tangency,
and concentricity. Historically, this type of information has been
communicated on drawings via feature control symbols. By
capturing this in the sketch, SOLIDWORKS enables you to fully
capture your design intent up front, in the model.
■ Solid Modeling
A solid model is the most complete type of geometric model used in
CAD systems. It contains all the wire frame and surface geometry
necessary to fully describe the edges and faces of the model. In addition
to the geometric information, it has the information called topology that
relates the geometry together. An example of topology would be which
faces (surfaces) meet at which edge (curve). This intelligence makes
operations such a filleting as easy as selecting an edge and specifying a
radius.
9
■ Fully Associative
A SOLIDWORKS model is fully associative to the drawings and
assemblies that reference it. Changes to the model are automatically
reflected in the associated drawings and assemblies. Likewise, you can
make changes in the context of the drawing or assembly and know that
those changes will be reflected back in the model.
■ Constraints
Geometric relationships such as parallel, perpendicular, horizontal,
vertical, concentric, and coincident are just some of the constraints
supported in SOLIDWORKS. In addition, equations can be used to
establish mathematical relationships among parameters. By using
constraints and equations, you can guarantee that design concepts such
as through holes or equal radii are captured and maintained.
■ Design Intent
The final italicized term is design intent. This subject is worthy of its
own section, as follows.
Design Intent In order to use a parametric modeler like SOLIDWORKS efficiently,
you must consider the design intent before modeling. Design intent is
your plan as to how the model should behave when it is changed. The
way in which the model is created governs how it will be changed.
Several factors contribute to how you capture design intent:
■ Automatic (sketch) Relations
Based on how geometry is sketched, these relations can provide
common geometric relationships between objects such as parallel,
perpendicular, horizontal, and vertical.
■ Equations
Used to relate dimensions algebraically, they provide an external way
to force changes.
■ Added Relations
Added to the model as it is created, relations provide another way to
connect related geometry. Some common relations are concentric,
tangent, coincident, and collinear.
■ Dimensioning
Consider your design intent when applying dimensions to a sketch.
What are the dimensions that should drive the design? What values are
known? Which are important for the production of the model? The way
dimensions are applied to the model will determine how the geometry
will change if modifications are made.
Consider the design intent in the following examples.
10
Examples of The design intent of each sketch below is slightly different. How will
Design Intent the geometry be affected if the overall plate width, 100mm, is
changed?
A sketch dimensioned like this will keep
the holes 20mm from each end regardless
of the width of the plate.
Baseline dimensions like this will keep the

holes positioned relative to the left edge of
the plate. The positions of the holes are not
affected by changes in the overall width of
the plate.
Dimensioning from the edge and from

center to center will maintain the distance
between the hole centers and allow it to be
changed that way.
How Features Design intent is affected by more than just

Affect Design how a sketch is dimensioned. The choice of
Intent features and the modeling methodology are
also important. For example, consider the
case of a simple stepped shaft as shown at
the right. There are several ways a part like
this could be built and each way creates a
part that is geometrically identical.
The “Layer Cake” The layer cake approach builds the part one piece at a time, adding each
Approach layer, or feature, onto the previous one, like this:
Changing the thickness of one layer has a ripple effect, changing the
position of all the other layers that were created after it.
11
The “Potter’s The potter’s wheel approach builds the part as

Wheel” Approach a single, revolved feature. A single sketch
representing the cross section includes all the
information and dimensions necessary to make
the part as one feature. While this approach
may seem very efficient, having all the design
information contained within a single feature
limits flexibility and can make changes awkward.
The Manufacturing The manufacturing approach to modeling mimics the way the part
Approach would be manufactured. For example, if this stepped shaft was turned
on a lathe, you would start with a piece of bar stock and remove
material using a series of cuts.
There is not really a right or wrong answer when trying to determine

which approach to use. SOLIDWORKS allows for great flexibility and
making changes to models is relatively easy. But creating models with
design intent in mind will result in well built documents that are easily
modifiable and well suited for re-use, making your job easier.
File References SOLIDWORKS creates files that are compound documents that
contain elements from other files. File references are created by linking
files rather than duplicating information in multiple files.
Referenced files do not have to be stored with the document that
references them. In most practical applications, the referenced
documents are stored in multiple locations on the computer or network.
SOLIDWORKS provides several tools to determine the references that
exist and their location.
Object Linking and In the Windows environment, information sharing between files can be
Embedding (OLE) handled either by linking or embedding the information.
The main differences between linked objects and embedded objects are
where the data is stored and how you update the data after you place it
in the destination file.
12
Linked Objects When an object is linked, information is updated only if the source file
is modified. Linked data is stored in the source file. The destination file
stores only the location of the source file (an external reference), and it
displays a representation of the linked data.
Linking is also useful when you want to include information that is
maintained independently, such as data collected by a different
department.
Embedded Objects When you embed an object, information in the destination file doesn't
change if you modify the source file. Embedded objects become part of
the destination file and, once inserted, are no longer part of the source
file.
File Reference The many different types of external references created by
Example SOLIDWORKS are shown in the following graphic. Some of the
references can be linked or embedded.
Drawing
Fi
le
ce Re
ren fe
f e re
e Re nc
e
Fil
Design
Table
Part
In-Context Reference Assembly
F il
ce
eR
er
ren
ind
efe
n B efe
sig
re
De
eR
nc
e
Fil
Split Part Derived Part Mirror Part
Library Feature Insert Part
13
Opening Files SOLIDWORKS is a RAM-resident CAD system. Whenever a file is

opened, it is copied from its storage location to the computer’s Random
Access Memory or RAM. All changes to the file are made to the copy
in RAM and only written back to the original files during a Save
operation.
Open
RAM
Fixed Disk
Save
Computer Memory To better understand where files are stored and which copy of the file
we are working on, it is important to differentiate between the two main
types of computer memory.
Random Access Random Access Memory (RAM) is the volatile memory of the
Memory computer. This memory only stores information when the computer is
operating. When the computer is turned off, any information in RAM is
lost.
Fixed Memory Fixed memory is all the non-volatile memory. This includes computer
hard drives, flash drives and CD/DVD drives. Fixed memory holds its
information even when the computer is not running.
14
The The SOLIDWORKS user interface is a native Windows interface, and

SOLIDWORKS as such behaves in the same manner as other Windows applications.
User Interface Some of the more important aspects of the interface are identified
below.
Menu Bar Menu Bar pull-downs CommandManager Tabs
FeatureManager
design tree Heads-up
View Toolbar
Graphics Area
Task Pane
Status Bar
Document Window Reference Triad
Welcome Dialog The Welcome dialog box opens with SOLIDWORKS to provide
Box convenient ways to create new documents, open existing documents,
and access SOLIDWORKS resources and news.
Note This dialog box can also be set to Do not show on startup.
15
Pull-down Menus The Pull-down menus provide access to many of the commands that
the SOLIDWORKS software offers. Float over the right facing arrow
to access the menus. Click the pushpin to keep the menus open.
When a menu item has a right-pointing

arrow like this: , it
means that there is a sub-menu associated
with that choice.
When a menu item is followed by ellipses
like this: , it means
that the option opens a dialog box with
additional choices or information.
Customizing When the Customize Menu item is selected, each

Pull-down Menus item appears with a check box. Clearing the check
box removes the associated item from the menu.
Using the The CommandManager is a set of icons divided into tabs that are
Command geared towards specific tasks. For example, the part version has several
Manager tabs to access commands related to features, sketches, and so on.
Note The CommandManager can be displayed with or without text on the

buttons. These images show the Use Large Buttons with Text option.
16
Adding and The default settings display multiple

Removing CommandManager tabs for a part file.
CommandManager Others can be added or removed by
Tabs right-clicking on any tab and clicking or
clearing the tab by name.
There are different sets of tabs for part,
assembly and drawing files.
FeatureManager The FeatureManager design FeatureManager Design Tree

Design Tree tree is a unique part of the PropertyManager
ConfigurationManager
SOLIDWORKS software DimXpertManager
that visually displays all the DisplayManager
features in a part or
assembly. As features are
created they are added to the
FeatureManager design tree. Hide/
Show
As a result, the Display
FeatureManager design tree Pane
represents the chronological
sequence of modeling Hide/
operations. The Show
FM
FeatureManager design tree
also allows access to the
editing of the features
(objects) that it contains.
17
Show and Hide Many FeatureManager items (icons and folders) are hidden by default.
FeatureManager In the image above, only the History, Sensors and Annotations
Items folders are shown.
Click Tools, Options, System Options, and FeatureManager to
control their visibility using one of the three settings explained below.
■ Automatic - Hide the item when it is empty.

■ Hide - Hide the item at all times.
■ Show - Show the item at all times.
Tip The CommandManager or PropertyManager can be dragged and

docked on the top, side or outside of the SOLIDWORKS window or to
a different monitor.
18
PropertyManager Many SOLIDWORKS commands are executed through the

PropertyManager. The PropertyManager occupies the same screen
position as the FeatureManager design tree and replaces it when it is in
use.
The top row buttons contain the OK
standard OK and Cancel buttons. Cancel
Below the top row of buttons are

one or more Group Boxes that
contain related options. They can
be opened (expanded) or closed Open and
(collapsed) and in many cases Close icon
made active or inactive.
Group Box
Open and active
Group Box
Closed and inactive
Full Path Name The full path name of the document can be
seen as a tool tip when floating the cursor over
the file name.
Selection Selection Breadcrumbs show the

Breadcrumbs hierarchy of objects based on a selected
piece of geometry. For example, selecting
a face can lead to a series of objects
including the feature, sold body, component, subassembly, and finally
to the top level assembly.
It also leads to the sketch of the feature and the mates attached to that
component.
These visual objects can also be used for access. Right-clicking on the
boss feature offers several editing tools including Edit Feature and
Hide.
Note These objects and tools will be discussed in later lessons.
19
Task Pane The Task Pane window contains the SOLIDWORKS Forum ,
SOLIDWORKS Resources , Design Library , File Explorer
, View Palette , Appearances, Scenes, and Decals and
Custom Properties options. The window appears on the right by
default but it can be moved and resized. It can be opened/closed, tacked
or moved from its default position on the right side of the interface.
20
Opening Labs with You can open parts and assemblies

the File Explorer required for lab exercises using the File
Explorer.
■ Open the Task Pane.
■ Click File Explorer .
■ Expand the Essentials folder used
for the class files. It should be found
under the SOLIDWORKS Training
Files folder.
■ Expand the lesson folder
(Lesson01 for example) followed
by either the Case Study or
Exercises folder.
■ Double-click a part or assembly file
to open it.
Heads-up View The Heads-up View toolbar is a

Toolbar transparent toolbar that contains
many common view manipulation
commands. Many of the icons
(such as the Hide/Show Items
icon shown) are Flyout Tool
buttons that contain other options.
These flyouts contain a small
down arrow to access the other
commands.
Unselectable Icons At times you will notice commands, icons, and menu options that are
grayed out and unselectable. This is because you may not be working in
the proper environment to access those options. For example, if you are
working in a sketch (Edit Sketch mode), you have full access to all the
sketch tools. However, you cannot select the icons such as fillet or
chamfer on the Features tab of the CommandManager. This design
helps the inexperienced user by limiting the choices to only those that
are appropriate.
To Preselect or Not? As a rule, the SOLIDWORKS software does not require you to
preselect objects before opening a menu or dialog box. For example, if
you want to add some fillets to the edges of your model, you have
complete freedom – you can select the edges first and then click the
Fillet tool or you can click the Fillet tool and then select the edges. The
choice is yours.
21
Mouse Buttons The left, right and middle mouse buttons have distinct meanings in
SOLIDWORKS.
■ Left
Select objects such as geometry, menus buttons, and objects in the
FeatureManager design tree.
■ Right
Activates a context sensitive shortcut menu. The contents of the menu
differ depending on what object the cursor is over. These menus also
represent shortcuts to frequently used commands.
Shortcut Menu At the top of the Shortcut Menu is the
Context Toolbar. It contains some of the most
commonly used commands in icon form.
Below it is the pull-down menu. It contains
other commands that are available in the
context of the selection, in this example a face.
Note The Context toolbar will also become available as you make selections
with the left mouse button. It provides quick access to common
commands.
■ Middle
Dynamically rotates, pans or zooms a part or assembly. Pans a drawing.
Keyboard Some menu items indicate a keyboard shortcut like this:
Shortcuts
SOLIDWORKS conforms to standard Windows conventions for such
shortcuts as Ctrl+O for File, Open; Ctrl+S for File, Save; Ctrl+Z for
Edit, Undo and so on. In addition, you can customize SOLIDWORKS
by creating your own shortcuts.
22
Multiple Monitor SOLIDWORKS can take advantage of multiple monitor displays to

Displays span monitors and to move document windows or menus to a different
monitor.
Spanning Monitors Click Span Displays on the top bar of the SOLIDWORKS window
to stretch the display across both monitors.
Fitting to a Monitor Click either Click to Tile Left or Click to Tile Right on the top bar
of a document to fit it to the left or right monitor.
System Feedback Feedback is provided by a symbol attached to the

Vertex
cursor arrow indicating what you are selecting or
what the system is expecting you to select. As the
cursor floats across the model, feedback will come in Edge
the form of symbols, riding next to the cursor. The
illustration at the right shows some of the symbols: Face
vertex, edge, face and dimension.
Dimension
23
Options Located on the Tools menu, the Options dialog box enables you to
customize the SOLIDWORKS software to reflect such things as your
company’s drafting standards as well as your individual preferences
and work environment.
Tip Use the search bar in the upper right of the Options dialog box to find
system options and document properties. Type the label of the check
box, radio button, or other option to locate the page where the option
resides.
24
Customization You have several levels of customization. They are:

■ System options
The options grouped under the heading System Options are saved on
your system and affect every document you open in your
SOLIDWORKS session. System settings allow you to control and
customize your work environment. For example, you might like
working with colored viewport background. I don’t. Since this is a
system setting, parts or assemblies opened on your system would have
a colored viewport. The same files opened on my system would not.
■ Document properties
These settings are applied to the individual document. For example,
units, drafting standards, and material properties (density) are all
document settings. They are saved with the document and do not
change, regardless of whose system the document is opened on.
■ Document templates
Document templates are pre-defined documents that were set up with
certain specific settings. For example, you might want two different
templates for parts. One with English settings such as ANSI drafting
standards and inch units, and one with metric settings such as
millimeters units and ISO drafting standards. You can set up as many
different document templates as you need. They can be organized into
different folders for easy access when opening new documents. You
can create document templates for parts, assemblies, and drawings.
■ Object
Many times the properties of an individual object can be changed or
edited. For example, you can change the default display of a dimension
to suppress one or both extension lines, or you can change the color of a
feature.
Search The Search option can be used to find information from
SOLIDWORKS Help, Commands, Files and Models on your system
by searching for any part of the name (requires Windows Desktop
Search engine), or MySolidWorks information. Search using this
procedure:
■ Choose which type of search you would like to do.
■ Type a name or partial name into the Search
box and click the search icon .
■ For my.solidworks.com searches, click
MySolidWorks and one or more sub options.
25
26
Lesson 2
Upon successful completion of this lesson, you will be able to:

■ Create a new part.
■ Insert a new sketch.
■ Add sketch geometry.
■ Establish sketch relations between pieces of geometry.
■ Understand the state of the sketch.
■ Extrude the sketch into a solid.
27
2D Sketching This lesson introduces 2D sketching, the basis of modeling in

SOLIDWORKS.
Sketches are used for all sketched features in SOLIDWORKS

including:
■ Extrusions ■ Revolves
■ Sweeps ■ Lofts
The illustration below shows how a given sketch can form the basis of
several different types of features.
Extrude Revolve Sweep Loft
In this lesson, only extruded features will be covered. The others will
be covered in detail in later lessons or courses.
Stages in the Every sketch has several characteristics that contribute to its shape, size
Process and orientation.
■ New part
New parts can be created in inch, millimeter or other units. Parts are
used to create and hold the solid model.
■ Sketches
Sketches are collections of 2D geometry that are used to create solid
features.
■ Sketch geometry
Types of 2D geometry such as lines, circles and rectangles that make up
the sketch.
■ Sketch relations
Geometric relationships such as horizontal and vertical are applied to
the sketch geometry. The relations restrict the movement of the entities.
28
■ State of the sketch

Each sketch has a status that determines whether it is ready to be used
or not. The state can be fully-, under- or over defined.
■ Sketch tools
Tools can be used to modify the sketch geometry that has been created.
This often involves trimming or extending entities.
■ Extruding the sketch
Extruding uses the 2D sketch to create a 3D solid feature.
Procedure The process in this lesson includes sketching and extrusions. To begin
with, a new part file is created.
Introducing: The New tool creates a new SOLIDWORKS document from a
New Part selection of part, assembly or drawing templates. There are several
training templates in addition to the default ones.
Where to Find It ■ Menu Bar: New

■ Menu: File, New
■ Keyboard Shortcut: Ctrl+N
1 New part.
Click New and click the Part_MM template from the Training
Templates tab on the New SOLIDWORKS Document dialog box, and
click OK.
The part is created with the settings of the template including the units.
This part template uses millimeters as the units. You can create and
save any number of different templates, all with different settings.
29
Saving Files Saving files writes the file information in RAM to a location on a fixed
disk. SOLIDWORKS provides three options for saving files. Each has
a different effect on file references.
Save Copy the file in RAM to the fixed disk, leaving the copy in RAM open.
If this file is being referenced by any open SOLIDWORKS files, there
are no changes to the reference.
Where to Find It ■ Menu Bar: Save

■ Menu: File, Save
■ Keyboard Shortcut: Ctrl+S
Save As Copy the file in RAM to the fixed disk under a new name or file type,
replacing the file in RAM with the new file. The old file in RAM is
closed without saving. If this file is being referenced by any open
SOLIDWORKS files, you should update the references to this new file.
Save As Copy to Copy the file in RAM to the fixed disk under a new name or file type,
Disk leaving the original in RAM open. If this file is being referenced by any
open SOLIDWORKS files, you should not update the references to this
new file.
Save As Copy and Copy the file in RAM to the fixed disk under a new name or file type,
Open leaving both the copy and the original open.
2 Filing a part.
Click Save and file the part under the name Plate. The extension,
*.sldprt, is added automatically. Click Save.
30
What are We The first feature of a part will be created in this section. That initial
Going to feature is just the first of many features needed to complete the part.
Sketch?
Sketching Sketching is the act of creating a 2D profile comprised of wireframe

geometry. Typical geometry types are lines, arcs, circles and ellipses.
Sketching is dynamic, with feedback from the cursor to make it easier.
Default Planes To create a sketch, you must choose a plane on which to sketch. The
system provides three initial planes by default. They are Front Plane,
Top Plane, and Right Plane.
Introducing: Sketch When creating a new sketch, the Sketch tool opens the sketcher on the
currently selected plane or planar face. You also use the Sketch tool to
edit an existing sketch.
If you have not preselected a face or plane before activating the Sketch
tool, the cursor appears indicating that you should select a face or
plane.
Where to Find It ■ CommandManager: Sketch > Sketch
■ Menu: Insert, Sketch
■ Shortcut Menu: Right-click a plane or planar face and click
Sketch
31
3 Open a new sketch.

Click . This will show all
three default planes for
selection in a Trimetric
orientation. A Trimetric
orientation is a pictorial view
that is oriented so the three
mutually perpendicular planes
appear unequally
foreshortened.
From the screen, choose the
Front Plane. The plane will highlight and rotate.
Note The Reference Triad (lower left corner) shows the orientation of
the model coordinate axes (red-X, green-Y and blue-Z) at all
times. It can help show how the view orientation has been
changed relative to the Front Plane.
4 Sketch active.
The selected Front Plane
rotates so it is parallel to the
screen.
The symbol represents
the sketch origin. It is
displayed in the color red,
indicating that it is active.
Introducing: When many SOLIDWORKS commands are active, a symbol or a set of

Confirmation Corner symbols appears in the upper right corner of the graphics area. This
area is called the Confirmation Corner.
Sketch Indicator When a sketch is active, or open, the Confirmation Corner
displays two symbols. One looks like a sketch. The other is a
red X. These symbols provide a visual reminder that you are
active in a sketch. Clicking the sketch symbol exits the sketch and saves
any changes. Clicking the red X exits the sketch and discards any
changes.
When other commands are active, the confirmation corner
displays a check mark and an X. The check mark executes the
current command. The X cancels the command.
Press the D key to move the confirmation corner to the pointer
location.
32
Sketch Entities SOLIDWORKS offers a rich variety of sketch tools for creating profile
geometry. In this lesson, only one of the most basic shapes will be used:
Lines.
Sketch Geometry The following chart lists some of the sketch entities that are available:
Sketch Entity Button Geometry Example

Line
Circle
Perimeter Circle
Centerpoint Arc
Tangent Arc
3 Point Arc
Ellipse
Partial Ellipse
Parabola
Spline
Straight Slot
Centerpoint
Straight Slot
3 Point Arc Slot
Centerpoint Arc
Slot
Polygon
33
Sketch Entity Button Geometry Example

Corner Rectangle
Center Rectangle
(Construction
geometry can be
added to any type)
3 Point Corner
Rectangle
3 Point Center
Rectangle
Parallelogram
Point
Centerline
Basic Sketching The best way to begin sketching is by using the most fundamental
shape, the Line.
The Mechanics of To sketch geometry, there are two techniques that can be used:
Sketching ■ Click-Click
Position the cursor where you want the line to start. Click (press
and release) the left mouse button. Move the cursor to where you
want the line to end. A preview of the sketch entity will follow the
cursor like a rubber band. Click the left mouse button a second
time. Additional clicks create a series of connected lines.
■ Click-Drag
Position the cursor where you want the line to start. Press and hold
the left mouse button. Drag the cursor to where you want the sketch
entity to end. A preview of the sketch entity will follow the cursor
like a rubber band. Release the left mouse button.
34
Introducing: The Line tool creates single line segments in a sketch. Horizontal and
Insert Line vertical lines can be created while sketching by watching for the
feedback symbols on the cursor.
Where to Find It ■ CommandManager: Sketch > Line

■ Menu: Tools, Sketch Entities, Line
■ Shortcut Menu: Right-click in the graphics area and click
Sketch Entities, Line
Introducing: Sketch Sketch Relations are used to force a behavior on a sketch element
Relations thereby capturing design intent. They will be discussed in detail in
Sketch Relations on page 41.
5 Sketch a line.
Click Line and sketch a horizontal line
from the origin. The symbol appears at
the cursor, indicating that a Horizontal
relation will be automatically added to the
line. The number indicates the length of the line. Click again to end the
line.
Important! Do not be too concerned with making the line the exact length.
SOLIDWORKS software is dimension driven – the dimensions control
the size of the geometry, not the other way around. Make the sketch
approximately the right size and shape and then use dimensions to
make it exact.
6 Line at angle.
Starting at the end of the first line,
sketch a line at an angle.
Inference Lines In addition to the and symbols, dashed inference lines will also
(Automatic appear to help you “line up” with existing geometry. These lines
Relations) include existing line vectors, normals, horizontals, verticals, tangents
and centers.
35
Note that some lines capture actual

geometric relations, while others
simply act as a guide or reference
when sketching. A difference in the
color of the inference lines will
distinguish them. In the picture at the
right, the lines labeled “A” are
B A
yellow, and if the sketch line snaps to
them, a tangent or perpendicular
relationship will be captured.
The line labeled “B” is blue. It only provides a reference, in this case
vertical, to the other endpoint. If the sketch line is ended at this point,
no vertical relation will be captured.
Note The display of Sketch Relations that appears automatically can be

toggled on and off using View, Hide/Show, Sketch Relations. It will
remain on during the initial phase of sketching.
7 Inference lines.
Create a line moving in a direction per-
pendicular to the previous line. This
causes inference lines to be displayed
while sketching. A Perpendicular rela-
tion is created between this line and the
last one.
The cursor symbol indicates that you
are capturing a perpendicular relation.
8 Perpendicular.
Create another perpendicular line from
the last endpoint, again capturing a
perpendicular relation.
9 Reference.
Create a horizontal line from the last
endpoint. Blue inferences are strictly for
reference and do not create relations.
They are displayed in blue. This
reference is used to align the endpoint
vertically with the origin.
36
10 Close.
Close the sketch with a final line
connected to the starting point of the
first line.
A closed contour is confirmed with
shading.
Note Click Shaded Sketch Contours from the Sketch

CommandManager to toggle the shading on and off.
Sketch Feedback The sketcher has many

feedback features. The
cursor will change to
show what type of entity
is being created. It will
also indicate what selections on the existing geometry, such as end,
coincident (on) or midpoint, are available using an orange dot when the
cursor is on it.
Three of the most common feedback symbols are:
Symbol Icon Description

Endpoint Yellow concentric circles appear at the Endpoint
when the cursor is over it.
Midpoint The Midpoint appears as a yellow square. It changes
to orange when the cursor hovers over the line.
Coincident The quadrant points of the circle appear with a

(On Edge) concentric circle over the centerpoint.
Turning Off Tools Turn off the active tool using one of these techniques:
■ Menu Bar: Select

■ CommandManager: Click the active tool to toggle the tool off
■ Keyboard Shortcut: Esc
11 Turn off the tool.

Press the Esc key on the keyboard to turn off the line tool.
37
Status of a Sketch Sketches can be in one of five definition states at any time. The status
of a sketch depends on geometric relations between geometry and the
dimensions that define it. The three most common states are:
Under Defined The sketch is inadequately defined, but the sketch can still be used to
create features. This is good because many times in the early stages of
the design process, there isn’t sufficient information to fully define the
sketch. When more information becomes available, the remaining
definition can be added at a later time. Under defined sketch geometry
is blue (by default).
Fully Defined The sketch has all the information necessary to fully describe the
geometry. Fully defined geometry is black (by default). As a general
rule, when a part is released to manufacturing, the sketches within it
should be fully defined.
Over Defined The sketch has duplicate dimensions or conflicting relations and it
should not be used until repaired. Extraneous dimensions and relations
should be deleted. Over defined geometry is red (by default).
Note The two other states are No Solution Found and Invalid Solution
Found. They both indicate that there are errors that must be repaired.
Rules That Different types of sketches will yield different results. Several different
Govern types are summarized in the table below. It is important to note that
Sketches some of the techniques shown in the table below are advanced
techniques that are covered either later in this course, or in other
advanced courses.
Sketch Type Description Special Considerations

A typical “standard” None required.
sketch that is a neatly
closed contour.
Multiple nested None required.

contours creates a boss
with an internal cut.
Open contour creates a None required.

thin feature with
constant thickness.
38
Corners are not neatly Use the Contour Select Tool.

closed. They should be. Although this sketch will work, it
represents poor technique and sloppy
work habits. Do not do it.
Sketch contains a self- Use the Contour Select Tool. If both con-
intersecting contour. tours are selected, this type of sketch will
create a Multibody Solid. See Multibody
Solids in the Advanced Part Modeling
course.
Although this will work, multibodies are
an advanced modeling technique that you
should not use until you have more
experience.
The sketch contains This type of sketch can create a Multibody
disjoint contours. Solid. See Multibody Solids in the
Advanced Part Modeling course.
Although this will work, multibodies are
an advanced modeling technique that you
should not use until you have more
experience.
12 Current sketch status.

The sketch is Under Defined
because some of the geometry is
blue. Note that endpoints of a line
can be a different color and
different state than the line itself.
For example, the vertical line at
the origin is black because it is (a)
vertical, and (b) attached to the
origin. However, the uppermost
endpoint is blue because the
length of the line is under defined.
39
13 Dragging.
Under defined geometry (blue) can be
dragged to new locations. Fully defined
geometry cannot. Drag the uppermost
endpoint to change the shape of the
sketch. The dragged endpoint appears
as a blue dot.
14 Undo the change.
Undo the last command by clicking the
Undo option. You can see (and
select from) a list of the last few commands by clicking the down arrow
menu. The keyboard shortcut for Undo is Ctrl+Z.
Tip You can also Redo a change, which reverts it back to the state prior
to undo. The shortcut for redo is Ctrl+Y.
Design Intent The design intent, as discussed earlier, governs how the part is built and
how it will change. In this example, the sketch shape must be allowed
to change in these ways:
What Controls Design intent in a sketch is captured and controlled by a combination of

Design Intent? two things:
■ Sketch relations
Create geometric relationships such as parallel, collinear,
perpendicular, or coincident between sketch elements.
■ Dimensions
Dimensions are used to define the size and location of the sketch
geometry. Linear, radial, diameter and angular dimensions can be
added.
To fully define a sketch and capture the desired design intent requires
understanding and applying a combination of relations and dimensions.
Tip The relations are visible because View, Hide/Show, Sketch Relations
is toggled on. If it is turned off, clicking the geometry will show the
relations and open the PropertyManager.
The relations will be toggled off at this point, but they will still appear
on selected geometry.
40
Desired Design In order for the sketch to change properly, the correct relations and
Intent dimensions are required. The required design intent is listed below:
Horizontal and vertical

lines
Angle value
Parallel Distance value
Right-angle corners, or
perpendicular lines
Overall length value
Note The shading has been removed from table images for clarity.
Sketch Sketch Relations are used to force a behavior on a sketch element
Relations thereby capturing design intent. Some are automatic, others can be
added as needed. In this example, we will look at the relations on one
of the lines and examine how they affect the design intent of the sketch.
Automatic Sketch Automatic relations are added as geometry is sketched. We saw this as
Relations we sketched the outline in the previous steps. Sketch feedback tells you
when automatic relations are being created.
Added Sketch For those relations that cannot be added automatically, tools exist to
Relations create relations based on selected geometry.
41
Introducing: Display/Delete Relations shows the relations in a sketch. It also

Display/Delete enables you to remove relations.
Relations
Where to Find It ■ CommandManager: Sketch > Display/Delete Relations

■ Menu: Tools, Relations, Display/Delete
■ Properties PropertyManager: Add Relations
15 Display the relations associated with a line.

Click the uppermost angled line and the
PropertyManager opens. The Existing Relations
box in the PropertyManager lists the geometric
relations that are associated with the selected line.
16 Remove the relation.

Remove the uppermost relation by clicking the
relation, either the symbol or in the
PropertyManager, and pressing the Delete key.
If the symbol is selected, it changes color and
displays the entities it controls.
17 Drag the endpoint.

Because the line is no longer constrained to be
perpendicular, the sketch will behave
differently when you drag it. Compare this to
how the sketch behaved when you dragged it in
step 13.
42
Examples of There are many types of Sketch Relations. Which ones are valid
Sketch Relations depends on the combination of geometry that you select. Selections can
be the entity itself, endpoints or a combination. Depending on the
selection, a limited set of options is made available. The following
chart shows some examples of sketch relations. This is not a complete
list of all geometric relations. Additional examples will be introduced
throughout this course.
Relation Before After
Coincident between
a line and an
endpoint.
Merge between two

endpoints.
Parallel between
two or more lines.
Perpendicular
between two lines.
Collinear between
two or more lines.
43
Horizontal applied
to one or more lines.
Horizontal between
two or more
endpoints.
Vertical applied to
one or more lines.
Vertical between
two or more
endpoints.
Equal between two

or more lines.
44
Equal between two

or more arcs or
circles.
Midpoint between a
line and an endpoint.
Tangent between a
line and an arc/circle
or two arc/circles.
Tangent between a
line and an arc using
the common
endpoint.
Introducing: Add Add Relations is used to create a geometric relationship such as

Relations parallel or collinear between sketch elements.
Where to Find It ■ CommandManager: Sketch > Display/Delete Relations >

Add Relation
■ Menu: Tools, Relations, Add
■ Shortcut Menu: Select one or more sketch objects and click a
relation
Selecting Multiple As you learned in a previous lesson, you select objects with the left
Objects mouse button. What about when you need to select more than one
object at a time? When selecting multiple objects, SOLIDWORKS
follows standard Microsoft® Windows conventions: hold down the Ctrl
key while selecting the objects.
45
18 Add a relation.
Hold down Ctrl and click the two lines. The con-
text menu shows only those relations that are
valid for the geometry selected.
Click Make Perpendicular.
19 Drag the sketch.

Drag the sketch back into approximately
its original shape.
Dimensions Dimensions are another way to define geometry and capture design
intent in the SOLIDWORKS system. The advantage of using a
dimension is that it is used to both display the current value and change
it.
Introducing: The Smart Dimension tool determines the proper type of dimension
Smart Dimensions based on the geometry chosen, previewing the dimension before
creating it. For example, if you pick an arc the system will create a
radial dimension. If you pick a circle, you will get a diameter
dimension, while selecting two parallel lines will create a linear
dimension between them. In cases where the Smart Dimension tool
isn’t quite smart enough, you have the option of selecting endpoints
and moving the dimension to different measurement positions.
Where to Find It ■ CommandManager: Sketch > Smart Dimension

■ Menu: Tools, Dimensions, Smart
■ Shortcut Menu: Right-click in the graphics area and click
Smart Dimension
46
Dimensioning: As you select sketch geometry with the dimension tool, the system
Selection and creates a preview of the dimension. The preview enables you to see all
Preview the possible options by simply moving the mouse after making the
selections. Clicking the left mouse button places the dimension in its
current position and orientation. Clicking the right mouse button
locks only the orientation, allowing you to move the text before final
placement by clicking the left mouse button.
With the dimension tool and two endpoints selected, below are three
possible orientations for a linear dimension. The value is derived from
the initial point to point distance and may change based on the
orientation selected.
Endpoints
Note Another option is to select the geometry that is to be dimensioned and

click Auto Insert Dimension .
20 Adding a linear dimension.

Click Smart Dimension and
click the line shown and right-click
to lock in the orientation. Click
again to place the text as shown. The
dimension appears with a Modify
tool displaying the current length of
the line. The thumbwheel is used to
incrementally increase/decrease the
value using the middle mouse
button. Or with the text highlighted, you can type a new value to
change it directly.
47
Note A midpoint location can be inadvertently selected

instead of the geometry itself. To avoid this, select the
geometry slightly off center.
The Modify Tool The modify tool that appears when you create or
edit a dimension (parameter) has several
options. The options available to you are:
Dial the value up or down.
Save the current value and exit the dialog box.

Restore the original value and exit the dialog box.
Rebuild the model with the current value.
Reverse the sense of the dimension.
Change the thumbwheel increment value.
Mark the dimension for drawing import.
Note The dimension name can be changed in the upper section of the dialog
box.
Units in the Modify Units different from the part units can be
Tool selected for the input. When typing the
value, select the Units > menu and select
input units.
Note Unit abbreviations and fractions can also be typed into the value field
after the numeric value (for instance 0.375in or 3/8”).
48
21 Set the value.

Change the value to 20 and click the
Save option. The dimension
forces the length of the line to be
20mm.
Tip Pressing Enter has the same effect as clicking the Save button.
22 Linear dimensions.
Add additional linear dimensions
to the sketch as shown.
Dimensioning Tip When you dimension a sketch,
start with the smallest dimension
first, and work your way to the
largest.
49
Angular Angular dimensions can be created using the same dimension tool used
Dimensions to create linear, diameter and radial dimensions. Select either two lines
that are both non-collinear and non-parallel, or select three non-
collinear endpoints.
Depending on where you place the angular dimension, you can get the
interior or exterior angle, the acute angle, or the oblique angle. Possible
placement options:
23 Angular dimension.
Using the dimension tool, create
the angular dimension shown and
set the value to 125°.
The sketch is fully defined. See
Fully Defined on page 38.
50
Instant 2D Instant 2D can be used to manipulate sketch dimensions, dynamically

changing the values using a graphic Ruler.
Note The ruler is displayed to guide the drag. Moving closer to the ruler
gradients allows you to snap to them.
Where to Find It ■ CommandManager: Sketch > Instant 2D
24 Select dimension.
The Instant 2D tool is on by default. Select the 125° dimension.
Click and hold the round ball handle at the tip of the arrow.
The value of the dimension, and the geometry, changes dynamically as
the handle is dragged.
Drag the value to 135° using the ruler.
Extrude Once the sketch is completed, it can be extruded to create the first
feature. There are many options for extruding a sketch including the
start and end conditions, draft and depth of extrusion, which will be
discussed in more detail in later lessons. Typically, extrusions take
place in a direction normal to the sketch plane, in this case the Front
plane.
Where to Find It ■ CommandManager: Features > Extruded Boss/Base

■ Menu: Insert, Boss/Base, Extrude
51
25 Extrude.
Click Extruded
Boss/Base .
On the Features
CommandManager tab, the
options for other methods of
creating features are listed along
with Extrude and Revolve. They
are unavailable because this
sketch does not meet the
conditions necessary for creating
these types of features. For
example, a Sweep feature
requires both profile and path sketches. Since there is only one sketch
at this time, the Sweep option is unavailable.
The view automatically changes to Trimetric and a preview of the
feature is shown at the default depth.
Drag Handles and Handles appear that can be

Rulers used to drag the preview to the
desired depth. The handle is
colored while dragging in the
active direction. A callout shows
the current depth value and a
ruler.
26 Extrude Feature settings.

Change the settings as shown.
■ End Condition = Blind
■ (Depth) = 6mm
Click OK to create the feature.
52
Tip The OK button is just one way to accept and complete the process.
A second is to press the
Enter key.
A third method is the set of OK/Cancel buttons in the
Confirmation Corner of the graphics area, or press the D key
to bring it to the cursor.
A fourth method is to right-click and click OK

from the shortcut menu.
27 Completed feature.
The completed feature is the first solid,
or feature of the part. The sketch is
absorbed into the Extrude1 feature.
Note Click the preceding the feature name to expand

the feature and show the sketch.
28 Save and close.

Click Save then click File, Close to close the part.
53
Sketching Following is a collection of “rules of thumb” or best practices for

Guidelines† sketching of which all SOLIDWORKS users should be aware. Some of
these tips are covered in substantial detail in subsequent lessons within
this book.
■ Keep your sketches simple. Simple sketches are easier to edit, less
likely to develop errors, and help with downstream features such as
configurations.
■ Make use of the origin in your first sketch.
■ The first sketch of a new part should represent the main profile of
the part.
■ Create sketch geometry first, add geometric relationships second,
and then add your dimensions last. Dimensions can sometimes
interfere with the addition of required relations.
■ Use geometric relations wherever possible to maintain design
intent.
■ Draw the sketch to approximately the right scale to prevent errors
or geometry overlap when you start adding dimensions.
■ Add or edit dimensions on the closest / smallest geometry first, then
work your way to the outer / larger geometry to prevent geometry
overlap.
■ Use relations, equations, and global variables to reduce the number

of independent dimensions needed.
■ Take advantage of symmetry. Use the Mirror or Dynamic Mirror
sketch tool to mirror sketch elements and add symmetrical
relations.
■ Be flexible. It may be necessary to change the order in which
you’re adding dimensions or relations. Drag the sketch geometry
closer to the required location before adding dimensions.
■ Fix errors as they occur. Use SketchXpert and Check Sketch for
Feature which can quickly help you identify problems and correct
them.
† Thanks to Joe Medeiros, Javelin Technologies.
54
SOLIDWORKS 2018 - 2019 Exercise 1
Sketch and Extrude 1
Exercise 1: Create this part using the information and

Sketch and dimensions provided. Sketch and extrude
Extrude 1 profiles to create this part.
This lab reinforces the following skills:
■ Introducing: New Part on page 29
■ Sketching on page 31
■ Inference Lines (Automatic
Relations) on page 35
■ Dimensions on page 46
■ Extrude on page 51
Units: millimeters
1 New part.
Create a new part using the Part_MM template.
2 Sketch.
Create this sketch on the Front Plane using lines, automatic relations
and dimensions.
3 Extrude.
Extrude the sketch 50mm in
depth.
4 Save and close the part.
55
Exercise 2 SOLIDWORKS 2018 - 2019

Extrude 2 profiles to create this part.
Units: millimeters
1 New part.
2 Sketch.
and dimensions.
3 Extrude.
depth.
56
Exercise 3: Create this part using the information

Sketch and and dimensions provided. Sketch and
Extrude 3 extrude profiles to create this part.
Units: millimeters
1 New part.
2 Sketch.
and dimensions.
3 Extrude.
Extrude the sketch 25mm in depth.
57
Exercise 4: Create this part using the information

Sketch and and dimensions provided. Sketch and
Extrude 4 extrude profiles to create this part.
Units: millimeters
1 New part.
2 Sketch.
Create this sketch on the
Front Plane using lines,
automatic relations and
dimensions.
3 Extrude.
Extrude the sketch 100mm in depth.
58

Extrude 5 profiles to create the part.
■ Inference Lines (Automatic Relations) on
page 35
Units: millimeters
1 New part.
2 Sketch.
and dimensions.
Fully define the sketch.
3 Extrude.
depth.
59

Extrude 6 profiles to create the part.
■ Inference Lines (Automatic Relations)
on page 35
Units: millimeters
1 New part.
2 Automatic relations.
Create this sketch on the Front Plane using lines and automatic
relations. Show the Perpendicular and Vertical relations.
3 Dimensions.
Add dimensions to fully define the
sketch.
4 Extrude.
Extrude the sketch 12mm.
60

Fundamentals of 3d Design and Simulation

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FUNDAMENTALS OF

3D DESIGN AND SIMULATION

This is a preview of the Fundamentals of 3D Design and Simulation.

Fundamentals of 3D Design and

Dassault Systèmes SolidWorks Corporation

Details of the Part . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

Mass Properties. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179

Multiple Studies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299

To the Teacher The SOLIDWORKS Education Edition - Fundamentals of 3D Design

Accessing the To start the SOLIDWORKS Tutorials, click Help, SOLIDWORKS

TIP: When you use SOLIDWORKS Simulation to perform analysis,

My SOLIDWORKS My.SolidWorks.com is a community website to share, connect, and

Upon successful completion of this lesson, you will be able to:

What is the SOLIDWORKS mechanical design automation software is a feature-

This part can be visualized as a

If we were to map the individual features to their corresponding listing

Baseline dimensions like this will keep the

Dimensioning from the edge and from

How Features Design intent is affected by more than just

The “Potter’s The potter’s wheel approach builds the part as

There is not really a right or wrong answer when trying to determine

Split Part Derived Part Mirror Part

Library Feature Insert Part

Opening Files SOLIDWORKS is a RAM-resident CAD system. Whenever a file is

The The SOLIDWORKS user interface is a native Windows interface, and

Menu Bar Menu Bar pull-downs CommandManager Tabs

When a menu item has a right-pointing

Customizing When the Customize Menu item is selected, each

Note The CommandManager can be displayed with or without text on the

Adding and The default settings display multiple

FeatureManager The FeatureManager design FeatureManager Design Tree

■ Automatic - Hide the item when it is empty.

Tip The CommandManager or PropertyManager can be dragged and

PropertyManager Many SOLIDWORKS commands are executed through the

Below the top row of buttons are

Selection Selection Breadcrumbs show the

Note These objects and tools will be discussed in later lessons.

Opening Labs with You can open parts and assemblies

Heads-up View The Heads-up View toolbar is a

Multiple Monitor SOLIDWORKS can take advantage of multiple monitor displays to

System Feedback Feedback is provided by a symbol attached to the

Customization You have several levels of customization. They are:

Upon successful completion of this lesson, you will be able to:

2D Sketching This lesson introduces 2D sketching, the basis of modeling in

Sketches are used for all sketched features in SOLIDWORKS

Extrude Revolve Sweep Loft

■ State of the sketch

Where to Find It ■ Menu Bar: New

Where to Find It ■ Menu Bar: Save

Sketching Sketching is the act of creating a 2D profile comprised of wireframe

3 Open a new sketch.

Introducing: When many SOLIDWORKS commands are active, a symbol or a set of

Sketch Entity Button Geometry Example

Sketch Entity Button Geometry Example

Where to Find It ■ CommandManager: Sketch > Line

Note that some lines capture actual

Note The display of Sketch Relations that appears automatically can be

Note Click Shaded Sketch Contours from the Sketch

Sketch Feedback The sketcher has many

Symbol Icon Description