Mastering SolidWorks

Matt Lombard

• Publisher: Sybex
• Year: 2018
• ISBN:
  9781119300588
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Computer Science
• Subtopic: Digital Media
• Index: Computer Science

The complete SolidWorks reference-tutorial for beginner to advanced techniques

Mastering SolidWorks is the reference-tutorial for all users. Packed with step-by-step instructions, video tutorials for over 40 chapters, and coverage of little-known techniques, this book takes you from novice to power user with clear instruction that goes beyond the basics. Fundamental techniques are detailed with real-world examples for hands-on learning, and the companion website provides tutorial files for all exercises. Even veteran users will find value in new techniques that make familiar tasks faster, easier, and more organized, including advanced file management tools that simplify and streamline pre-flight checks.

SolidWorks is the leading 3D CAD program, and is an essential tool for engineers, mechanical designers, industrial designers, and drafters around the world. User friendly features such as drag-and-drop, point-and-click, and cut-and-paste tools belie the software's powerful capabilities that can help you create cleaner, more precise, more polished designs in a fraction of the time. This book is the comprehensive reference every SolidWorks user needs, with tutorials, background, and more for beginner to advanced techniques.

• Get a grasp on fundamental SolidWorks 2D and 3D tasks using realistic examples with text-based tutorials
• Delve into advanced functionality and capabilities not commonly covered by how-to guides
• Incorporate improved search, Pack-and-Go and other file management tools into your workflow
• Adopt best practices and exclusive techniques you won't find anywhere else

Work through this book beginning-to-end as a complete SolidWorks course, or dip in as needed to learn new techniques and time-saving tricks on-demand. Organized for efficiency and designed for practicality, these tips will remain useful at any stage of expertise. With exclusive coverage and informative detail, Mastering SolidWorks is the tutorial-reference for users at every level of expertise.

Part I
Introducing SolidWorks Basics

• Chapter 1: Introducing SolidWorks
• Chapter 2: Navigating the SolidWorks Interface
• Chapter 3: Working with Sketches and Reference Geometry
• Chapter 4: Creating Simple Parts and Drawings
• Chapter 5: Using Visualization Techniques

Chapter 1
Introducing SolidWorks

In SolidWorks, you build 3D parts from a series of simple 2D sketches and features such as extrude, revolve, fillets, cuts, and holes, among others. You can put the parts together into assemblies. You can then create 2D drawings from the 3D parts and assemblies.

This chapter will familiarize you with some of the basic concepts employed by SolidWorks.

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IN THIS CHAPTER, YOU WILL LEARN TO:

• Install SolidWorks
• Get started with SolidWorks
• Identify different types of SolidWorks documents
• Understand feature-based modeling
• Understand history-based modeling
• Sketch with parametrics
• Control changes with design intent
• Modify design intent
• Work with links between documents

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VIDEO

You can view videos for every chapter on the Wiley website and download sample files. View the Chapter 1 Introduction video to get started.

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Installing SolidWorks for the First Time

Some of you will have SolidWorks installed for you by people in your company or by SolidWorks reseller experts, and some of you will need to perform the installation on your own. Regardless, it is best to make sure that your hardware and software are compatible with the SolidWorks system requirements, which are available on the SolidWorks website at www.solidworks.com/sw/support/SystemRequirements.html.

SolidWorks installs natively only on 64-bit operating systems. It is supported only for Windows 7, 8.1, and 10. In all cases, the professional-level OS is recommended, as opposed to the Home edition. Excel and Word 2016 are also recommended. Although it is possible to install and run SolidWorks under emulators on Apple hardware, that configuration is not supported or tested by SolidWorks Corporation or its resellers.

You can find graphics card requirements at the previously mentioned link for system requirements. The main concern with a graphics card for SolidWorks is that it must be compatible with OpenGL and be SolidWorks certified. Hardware changes too rapidly for me to give specific recommendations here.

In addition to having the correct hardware installed, you also must have a compatible driver version installed. Again, refer to the SolidWorks system requirements website.

Alternatively, you might not want to get that involved at first. You can install the software with all the defaults just to get started, using the first attempt as a practice installation, especially if you intend to learn as much as you can about SolidWorks, and then come back and do a more thorough job of implementing it later.

You should count on the installation requiring about 16 GB of space on your hard drive, depending on the options you select to install. The locations of files on your computer will vary by SolidWorks version, by your operating system, and by your own installation choices, but the bulk of the files will be placed into two separate folders: the Program Files folder (C:\Program Files\SolidWorks Corp\SolidWorks) and the Toolbox Data folder (C:\SolidWorks Data).

Before installing any software, be sure to exit out of all other software first, turn off antivirus software, make sure you have enough hard drive space, and verify that the system meets the requirements outlined on the SolidWorks System Requirements web page.

Installations generally begin from a download of an installer application named SolidWorksSetup.exe, which is about 30 MB. You may need a login to access this area of the site. Find the download area at http://www.solidworks.com/sw/support/downloads.htm, shown in Figure 1.1.

FIGURE 1.1 The Downloads area of the SolidWorks website

Once you download and execute the installer, you will be prompted to unzip the installation files, and the installation will begin, as shown in Figure 1.2.

FIGURE 1.2 The SolidWorks 2018 Installation Manager

The next screen asks for your serial number, which is a 24-character code. After the installation, you will be required to activate your SolidWorks license. Figure 1.3 shows the Activation page of the installation process. If you have difficulty with this, you may want to contact your support organization.

FIGURE 1.3 SolidWorks 2...