SolidWorks Surface tools

By Online Instructor

In this book, you will learn the basics of surface tools in Solidworks. SolidWorks Surfacing tools can be used to create complex geometries that are very difficult to create using standard extruded bosses, revolve bosses, sweeps, lofts and so on. Surface modeling can also be used to edit and fix the broken imported parts.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Online Instructor
• Release date: Dec 29, 2013
• ISBN: 9781497779341

Book preview

Free Resources

You can download free resources from https://www.surfacedesign.webs.com

Introduction

SolidWorks Surfacing tools can be used to create complex geometries that are very difficult to create using standard extruded bosses, revolve bosses, sweeps, lofts and so on. Surface modeling can also be used to edit and fix the broken imported parts. In this book, you learn the basics of surfacing tools that are mostly used. The surfacing tools are available in the Surface Command Manager, refer to Figure 1.

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Figure 1

If the Surface Command Manager is not displayed by default, you can customize the Command Manager. Right-click on any of the tabs of the Command Manager and choose the Surface option from the shortcut menu displayed, refer to Figure 2.

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Figure 2

You can also find the surfacing tools on the menu bar.

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Figure 3

SolidWorks offers a rich set of surface design tools. A surface is an infinitely thin piece of geometry. For example, consider a cube shown in Figure. It has six faces. Each of these faces is a surface, an infinitely thin piece of geometry that acts as a boundary in 3D space. Surfaces can be simple or complex shapes.

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Figure 4

In solid modeling, when you have created solid features such as an Extruded Boss or a Revolved Boss, SolidWorks creates a set of features (surfaces) that enclose a volume. The air tight enclosure is considered as a solid body. The advantage of using the surfacing tools is that you can design a model with more flexibility.

Creating Basic Surfaces

In this section, you will learn to create basic surfaces using the Extruded Surface, Revolved Surface, Swept Surface, and Lofted Surface tools. These tools are similar to that available in solid modeling.

Creating Extruded Surfaces

To create an extruded surface, first create an open or closed sketch, refer to Figure 6.

Click the Extruded Surface 5.JPG button on