SolidWorks Surfacing and Complex Shape Modeling Bible E-Book

Matt Lombard

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Wissenschaft und neue Technologien
• Serie: Bible
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 681

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2011

Beschreibung

If you want to gain proficiency and expertise with SolidWorks surface modeling, this is the resource for you. You'll learn how to apply concepts, utilize tools, and combine techniques and strategies in hands-on tutorials. This Bible covers the range from sketching splines and shelling to modeling blends and decorative features. Complete with professional tips and real-world examples, this inclusive guide enables you to coax more out of SolidWorks surfacing tools.

Leseprobe

SolidWorks® Surfacing and Complex Shape Modeling Bible

by Matt Lombard

SolidWorks® Surfacing and Complex Shape Modeling Bible

Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc.10475 Crosspoint Boulevard Indianapolis, IN 46256 www.wiley.com

Copyright © 2008 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana

Published simultaneously in Canada

ISBN: 978-0-470-25823-1

Manufactured in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, [phone], fax [phone]. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Legal Department, Wiley Publishing, Inc., 10475 Crosspoint Blvd., Indianapolis, IN 46256, [phone], fax [phone], or online at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions.

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Library of Congress Control Number: 2008924089

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About the Author

Matt Lombard holds a mechanical engineering degree from Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, New York. Matt has worked as a design and manufacturing engineer in the medical and microelectronics industries. Currently, through his company Dezignstuff, he works mainly as a consumer product modeling consultant and technical writer.

Before becoming an engineer, Matt went to music school for two years and performed with the U.S. Navy band for four years. He still plays in local community groups for fun. Having grown up in the Adirondack Mountains of northeastern New York, he now calls the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia home. Contact Matt directly at [email protected], or visit his blog at www.dezignstuff.com/blog.

Dedication

This book is dedicated to my parents, Jim and Carol Lombard. Dad is the consummate punster and word play addict, as well as a former math teacher. Mom is a retired music teacher. Between these influences, it isn’t any surprise that I have written this book that straddles between the analytical and aesthetic.

Credits

Senior Acquisitions Editor

Stephanie McComb

Project Editor

Sarah Hellert

Technical Editor

Mark Matthews

Copy Editor

Marylouise Wiack

Editorial Manager

Robyn Siesky

Business Manager

Amy Knies

Senior Marketing Manager

Sandy Smith

Special Help

Alissa Birkel Jama Carter Sarah Cisco

Vice President & Executive Group Publisher

Richard Swadley

Vice President and Publisher

Barry Pruett

Project Coordinator

Erin Smith

Graphics and Production Specialists

Stacie Brooks Carl Byers

Quality Control Technicians

John Greenough Dwight Ramsey

Media Development Coordinator

Jenny Swisher

Proofreading and Indexing

Broccoli Information Management

Cover Design

Michael Trent

Cover Illustration

Joyce Haughey

Contents

Title

Preface

Acknowledgements

Part I: Laying the Groundwork

Chapter 1: Understanding Basic Concepts

Assumed Basic Skills

Concepts, Tools, Techniques, and Strategies

Understanding the Difference Between Design and Modeling

Summary

Chapter 2: Surfacing Primer

What are Surfaces?

Surfacing: One Stop in the Evolution of CAD

Choosing Solids or Surfaces

Surfacing Theory and Concepts

Understanding Curvature Continuity

Summary

Part II: Understanding the Tools

Chapter 3: Sketching with Splines

Why Splines?

Anatomy of a Spline

Controlling Splines

Fully Defining Spline Sketches

Tutorials

Summary

Chapter 4: Sketching in 3D

Getting Started in a 3D Sketch

Editing and Visualization Techniques

Working within the Limitations of 3D Sketches

Using Special 3D Sketch Tools

Tutorials

Summary

Chapter 5: Creating Curves

Using the Helix/Spiral Feature

Creating a Projected Curve

Curve Through Reference Points

Curve Through XYZ Points

Creating Composite Curves

Split Lines

Tutorial

Summary

Chapter 6: Using the Primary Shape Creation Features

Choosing Which Feature to Use

Using Sweeps

Using Lofts

Using the Boundary Surface Feature

Using the Fill Surface Feature

Summary

Chapter 7: Using Advanced Fillets

Differentiating Fillet Functions

Using Fillet Options

FilletXpert

Fillet Best Practice Recommendations

Tutorial

Summary

Chapter 8: Shelling

Thinking about the Manufacturing Process

Using Shelling Options

Diagnosing Shell Problems

Shelling Manually

Tutorial

Summary

Part III: Using Secondary, Management, and Evaluation Tools

Chapter 9: Using Secondary Shape Creation Features

Using the Dome and Shape Features

Using the Indent Feature

Using the Radiate Surface

Using the Ruled Surface

Tutorial

Summary

Chapter 10: Working with Hybrid Features

Moving Between Solids and Surfaces

Extruding to Surfaces

Lofting Between Surfaces

Using Thicken for Bosses and Cuts

Using Replace Face

Using Advanced Options of the Fill Surface

Using the Wrap Feature

Tutorials

Summary

Chapter 11: Managing Surfaces

Copying, Merging, and Moving

Changing Boundaries

Tutorial

Summary

Chapter 12: Using Direct Editing Tools

Using Move Face

Using Delete Face

Using the Freeform Feature

Using Flex

Using Deform

Tutorial

Summary

Chapter 13: Managing Bodies

Organizing Bodies

Visualizing Bodies

Combining and Moving Bodies

Deleting Bodies

Tutorial

Summary

Chapter 14: Evaluating Geometry

Using Model Quality Evaluation Methods

Using Shape and Continuity Evaluation Methods

Using Plastics and Machining Evaluation Methods

Tutorial

Summary

Part IV: Using Specialized Techniques

Chapter 15: Modeling a Ladle

Getting Started with a Complex Model

Modeling from the Available Data

Tidying Up the Loose Ends

Summary

Chapter 16: Modeling a Trowel

Modeling the Handle

Modeling the Scoop

Summary

Chapter 17: Modeling Blends

Modeling a Plastic Cover

Tinkering with the Solid

Modeling a Stool Concept

Patching Bad Geometry

Summary

Chapter 18: Modeling a Plastic Bottle

Laying Out the Task

Building the Model

Creating a Thread

Checking the Volume

Summary

Chapter 19: Modeling Decorative Features

Modeling an Egg-and-Dart Pattern

Modeling a Woven Pattern

Modeling a Flower-Trumpet Finial

Modeling a Fleur-de-Lis Decorative Piece

Modeling a Scroll

Modeling a Botanical Shape

Summary

Chapter 20: Modeling Overmolded Geometry

Understanding the Overmold Process

Modeling a Toothbrush

Summary

Chapter 21: Working from Digitized Data

Creating an Orange Juice Bottle

Creating a Cast Iron Skillet Handle

Summary

Chapter 22: Using Master Model Techniques

Understanding Master Model Tools

Differentiating Multi-body Parts and Assemblies

Using Push Type Master Model Tools

Using Pull Type Master Model Tools

Tutorial

Summary

Chapter 23: Post-Processing Data

Presenting Ideas with PhotoWorks

Communicating with eDrawings

Using 3D Instant Website

Using PowerPoint as a Communication Tool

Rapid Prototyping

What about Fully Dimensioned Prints?

Summary

Preface

Welcome to the SolidWorks Surfacing and Complex Shape Modeling Bible. I know, that is quite a mouthful for the title of a book. To just call it the “SolidWorks Surfacing Bible” does not do the topic justice because much of the content deals with solids. There was also the temptation to use “Swoopy Shapes” in the title, but editors have little sense of humor when it comes to abusing the English language in that way, so I had to compromise with the phrase “Complex Shape Modeling”. The “Bible” part of course comes from the name of the series of books from the publisher, Wiley Publishing, and is not meant to be blasphemous or to put me up on a supernatural pedestal.

This book is intended for intermediate to advanced SolidWorks users. Everyone has a different idea of what those two levels mean, but I’m assuming the reader of this book has a complete understanding of solid functions in SolidWorks, and at least a passing familiarity with surfacing. If you know nothing about surfacing, a surfacing primer is included in the early chapters to help familiarize you with some terminology. Surface modeling requires a completely different way of looking at geometry. Surfacing is essentially building a model one face at a time.

You might look at the SolidWorks 2007 Bible as a good pre-requisite for this book. If you understand things at the level of the SolidWorks 2007 Bible, you are ready for this book. Assembly topics are used minimally in this book, and there are no sheet metal or weldment topics used here.

The SolidWorks Surfacing and Complex Shape Modeling Bible is written from the point of view of an engineer who has to precisely re-create concept shapes provided by artistic professionals in a way conducive to the manufacture of the part. I do not discuss artistic design issues here; I prefer to use the term “modeling” rather than “design”. In this case, modeling is the main difficult task, and it is difficult enough without also considering design.

The book is written from the point of view of an engineer primarily because I am an engineer, and it would be difficult for me to write it from another point of view. The information contained in the book is certainly useable by artistic professionals, hobbyists, CNC programmers, drafters, entrepreneurs, students, or others. The goal in most of the examples is to work from some sort of input, which could be point cloud data, digital photos, or scanned hand sketches, and to produce high quality finished geometry.

As in the SolidWorks 2007 Bible, the SolidWorks Surfacing and Complex Shape Modeling Bible takes the approach that to talk about the capabilities of the software completely, you must also understand its limitations. Discussions of limitations, bugs and work-arounds are not intended to belittle the software or its creators, only to help align your expectations; what should you expect the software to do, and what is beyond the capabilities of the software.

Acknowledgements

The information in this book came from several sources. Most of it came from reverse engineering the software to figure out what certain functions actually did, but there are several individuals whom I must credit for either specific or general information that got me on the right track. Mark Matthews of Essential Design in Boston, MA is an Industrial Design professional who acted as my technical editor for this book. Mark kept me in touch with the ID side of issues, and offered several ideas that I added to the book. Mark Biasotti of SolidWorks certainly deserves much credit as well. He was able to arrange conversations with developers to try to get a better understanding of what was actually going on behind the scenes. Other individuals who contributed ideas or encouragement include Ricky Jordan, John “Muggs” Ferguson, Kim Hardy, Stan Kujawski, and the guys from Spark Engineering. I would be remiss if I didn’t also list materials provided to the general SolidWorks user community by people like Mike Wilson, Keith Pedersen, and Ed Eaton; they have made contributions to the SolidWorks surfacing topic long before this book became available.

Part I

Laying the Groundwork

In This Part

Chapter 1 Understanding Basic Concepts

Chapter 2 Surfacing Primer

Chapter 2: Surfacing Primer

In This Chapter

What are surfaces?

Surfacing: One stop in the evolution of CAD

Choosing solids or surfaces

Surfacing theory and concepts

Understanding curvature continuity

Solid modeling has introduced an entire generation of engineers and designers to working in 3D. Today you can find younger users who have never drawn on the drawing board with a pencil and instruments, or even done much work in 2D CAD applications. Solid-modeling software takes the underlying power of surface modeling and automates its application to common types of mechanical geometry. In addition to modeling mechanical parts more quickly, this also allows many more people to gain entry into the world of 3D design because less specialized knowledge is required. Solid modeling removes many of the tedious modeling tasks that you would otherwise need to go through by using a surfacing approach.

SolidWorks users who are just beginning to venture into the use of surfacing techniques may find that a new world awaits them. Learning the concepts, tools, and language of the trade can initially be a daunting task, but one that ultimately pays off in many ways. This surfacing primer aims to introduce you to the things you need to know when using surfacing functions in SolidWorks.

What are Surfaces?

In the early days of automobiles, an integral part of knowing how to drive a car was knowing how to tinker with the engine. Modern design and manufacturing now allow us to drive a car without knowing how it works. These days you might still tinker with the engine if you want to improve the performance. Think of surfacing as “tinkering with the engine” with both goals in mind—troubleshooting the inner workings, and getting it to do things it otherwise would not have been able to do.