Lessnn 1 soLIDwoRKs

Welflment Features

Groups vs. W hen the elem ents ofa w eldm ent stm cture use the same profi le, they
Structural can exist w ithin the same structural m em ber t‘caturc, albeit in different
M embers groups, depending on the layout. W hen m em bers are Created w ithin the
same feature, trim m ing betw een segm ents is achieved automatically. It
is best practice to take advantage ofgreups w ithin the same feature
w henever possible.
B ut w hat ifthere are different profi les required? Since only one profile
can be used w ithin a structural m em ber feature, separate features m ust
be created. W hen this is the ease, manual trim m ing is ofien required
betw een members.
Introducing: T rim /E xtend is a specialized tool for m anually
Trim/Extend trim m ing structural m em bers and ereating
earner treatm ents. T he same set 0f corner
, .x

treatm ents that are available w hen inserting

structural m em bers are available w ithin this I 9 '5». '79
W '
cum m and and can be used to create end m iters or end butts betw een
m em bers of different sizes or types. In addition, an E nd Trim option
will simply trim or extend a body to seleeted geom etry
W here to Find It I C om m andM anager: Weldmenls > T rim /Extend @
I Menu: Insert, W eldm enls, Trim lE xtend

O pen a part.
0an the file manualjl’imsldprt. It is sim ilar to the Conveyor
Fram e part, but uses difi‘brent protiles for the fram e top and leg/braee
com bination. T hese bodies could not be created w ithin the same
strucm ral m cm bcr feature due to the different structural m em ber
profile.

24
Lesson 1 SOLIDWDRKS
Wellment Features

Trim/Extend T rim lE xIend options vary slightly depending on the Corner Type
O ptions seleemd, sim ilar to options in the Structural M em ber feature (see
C om er Tmalment O ptions on page 20). Some unique options in this
com m and are listed below:
I A llow exlension
I For Bodies to be T rim m ed, this option allows m em bers to be
extended as w ell as trim m ed to m atch the T rim m ing B oundary (the
T rim m ing B oundary is displayed in pink).

Bodies in be Tllmmed, Bodies in be Trimmed,

Allowextenslon seleded Allen extermou deared

I For T rim m ing B oundary, A llow Extension w ill virtually extend

trim m ing boundary selections to com pletely out through m em bers
as shown below (the T rim m ing B oundary is displayed in pink).

Tnmmlng Boundary, rnmmlng Boundary,

Allow exlenslon selected Allen extermou deared

I Facelplane or Bodies
W hen using the E nd Trim eorncr type, the T rim m ing B oundary can be
individually selected faces and planes, or entire structural m em ber
bodies. If trim m ing to geom eny that w as not created with a sn'uctuml
m em ber feature, faces must be se1eeted for the trim m ing boundary.
up 0n com plex w eldm cnt models, consider using Face/Plane selections
for faster perform ance.
Lesson 1 SDLIDWORKS
Woldmcnt Features

C om plete the command.

C lick OK v .
T he result is seen at right.
close the file w ithout saving.

Sketch Layuut sketches are the

Considerations foundalion of w orking with
stnlem ral members. You should
keep in m ind how the groups 0f
structural m em bers w ill be
form cd whcn constructing a
w oldm cnt layout. l-lcrc arc somc
things to considcr w hen
creating a layout skctoh:
I Take advantage of panem s
nnd syminctry.
M irroring or patterning bodies is an Easy w ay to orcctc sim ilar
picccs w ithin thc part w hilc kocping skctch rcquircm cnts at n
m inim um
For tho Conveyur Frame, wc nrc only constructing tho leg and
bm cc mcmlocrs for onc corncr and thcn will m irror the bodies to
comnlcto tho rminc.

. in order to be part ot‘thc same group, path scgm cnls m ust be cithcr:
- Connccmd cndcloccnd.

- D iseonnccm d but parallel to each other.

Skctch segm ents do not have be in the same skctch to belting to thc
same group.

2!!
Lesson 1 soLIDwoRKs
Werdment Features

T rim O rder T he order in w hich gm ups are added determ ines how the segm ents w ill
be trim m ed at their intersections. By default, the first sclectcd gm up
will be left full length and the follow ing groups will be trim m ed to
m eet it.
For exam ple. in the illustration below, the three vertieal blue lines and
two horizontal green lines intersect in the middle ofthe structure. By
selecting the blue lines into a group first, the tw o green lines are
divided zit the interscetions with blue lines.

G R O U PI
GROUPZ

G R O U P}

an
Lesson 1 SDLIDWORKS
Weidment Features

Adding Plates A lthough structural m em bers are the usually prim ary features ofa
and Holes w eldm ent m odel, conventional feature types can also be used to create
geom etry in a w eldm eut part. The Conveyor Fram e will have base
plates with holes w elded to the bottom of each leg. To create this pleee,
w e'll use an E xtruded Boss and Hole W izard feature
C om m on conventional features used with w eldm ents are found on the
Weldments toolbar for ease of access. T hese are the same com m ands
that can be launched from the Features toolbarl

Access the Conveyor Fram e.

This is the file we w orked on previously.
Sketch the plate.
Select the plane Bottom of Legs
and open a Sketch C.
Sketch a Rectangle D as shown. 1 20 60 1
60

Extrude.
C lick Extruded BossIBase fl.
Use the end condition B lind and a D epth of
20m m . Extrude dow nw ard, away from the legs.

N ote Since this model is defined as a w eldlnent, the M erge Result option
autom atically eleared to generate this feature as a separate solid body in
the part (see Weldmem Feature on page 9).
A dd the holes.
Use the H ole W izard
a to add tw o
clearance holes for M20 bolts.
Locate the holes as shown in the 7
illustration

32
Lesson 1 soLIDwoRKs
III/eminent Fum es

N ote T he use ufgusscts is not limited to w eldm ent type parts. You can use
the gusset feature in any part w hether m ultibndy or not. (lussets will
alw ays be Created as a separate solid body.

W here to Find It I Commansznager: Weldments > Gusset A

I Mcnu: Insert, W eldm ents, Gusset

Insert a gusset.
C lick Gusset J.
C lick Polygonal Profile . 2

Sci d1 and 112 to 125m m .

Set as to 25m m .
Set Profile A ngle (a1) to 45“.
at mam
Add an internal C ham fer 2E.- with as m am
d5’d6’25mm.
Set Gusset Thickness to 10m m and click ! .l mm
B oth Sides
For L ocation, click Mid Point -I-. as 2mm
Us 25mm
Select the faces shown in the illustration
. 2mm
below.
fip Ifyou use Select other, be ezreful not ta
select the interior face ofthc tubc. (h mm”

m em
71 m
Lesson 1 soLIDwoRKs
Welflment Features

T he default offset is cme half nfthe w all

thickness.
Corner Treatment ouset
Use the corner treatm ent options to specify a
cham fcr or fillet at the corners of the end
can profile. W ithout com er treatm ents, a
sim ple rectangular end cap is created for Chamter
tube members.

W here to Find It - C om m andM anager: Weldments > E nd C ap 63

I Mcnu: Insert, W eldm ents, E nd C ap

N ote G ussets and end caps are children of the structural m em bers they
reference. D eleting a structurnl m em ber deletes any associated gussets
or end Caps.

Insert an end cap. 6 “0' w

C lick E nd C ap a. v x a
C lick Thickness direction: O utw ard.
N ote U sing Inw ard here w ould keep the overall
fram e size the same by shortening the tube by w" ”7“
the cap thickness. Elli. ‘LF‘

Set Thickness to 5m m .
6 Suanmm ;

m. A
U nder O ffset, click Thickness R atio and ! ”WWW"
. vomuvalue
verify it is set to 0.5.
. . \

'i H A

C lick Corner T reatm ent and select C ham fer.

Set the chamfer Distance to 5m m . mm"
mitt
Select the cnd face ofthc tube as shown in the (a rim ;
illustm tiun below. C lick OK v .

36
Lesson 1 soLIDwoRKs
Weiemenr Features

Advantages of a W eldm ent stm em ral m em bers and features provide a quick and simple
Multibody part w ay to genom ic m ultiple pieees eta w elded structure. C onsider w hai
w ould be required to build the Conveyor Fram e as an assembly:

. [fusing bottolnrup icchniqucs. eaeh unique pieee w ould need in be

created as a separate pan, then inserted and m ated into place. If
changes were required onee the assem bly w as eem plete, separate
files w ould need to be m odified and m ates m ay need to be updated.

. lfiopdown assem bly teehniques were used, updates m ay

autom atically transfer to pans created in the context of the
assembly, but the eom plex filc relationships m ay be difllcult to
m anage or result in slow perform anee.
W hen w orking with a w eldm ent as a m ultibody pan, these limimtions
are elim inated. There is no need for m ultiple files or males, and m aking
changes to m ultiple pieces at once is as easy as m odifying a layout
sketch or feature.

11 Make changes to the C onveyor Fram e.

change the dim ensions oflhc Upper Fram e and L eg Sketch as
show n.
R ebuild the pan.

M em bers arc resizcd and repositioned to m atch the layout. All corner
conditions and profi le locations are mainmincd.

as