SolidWorks 2011 Parts Bible - Matt Lombard [309]
The direct edit tools available within SolidWorks are powerful and are becoming more powerful with each release. While they might be best applied to imported data, they can also be applied to native SolidWorks data. This brings up questions of best practice and duplication of effort. Sometimes the changes involved in editing a feature that is near the top of a long feature tree can be time-consuming compared to simply moving a couple of faces.
Chapter 24: Using Plastic Features
In This Chapter
Exploring plastic features
Learning about plastic evaluation tools
SolidWorks has several tools that are specific to modeling and evaluating plastic parts. These tools can help simplify and standardize some of the complex repetitive tasks involved with plastic part design. SolidWorks offers tools tailored to the needs of plastic part designers.
You can manually do all the work that these tools automate, which is useful when the automated tools do not provide the necessary options or flexibility. The more complex your models, the more comfortable you need to be with workaround techniques.
Because of the specific needs of plastic part modelers in some cases to prepare plastic parts for various molding methods, SolidWorks has a set of powerful evaluation tools that help you examine your models to check the amount of draft, thickness, and location of undercuts. Finding design-related manufacturability problems in manufacturing is expensive. Finding them in the design office is far less expensive and conserves time. A good grasp of the evaluation tools is an important component of good plastic part and mold modeling practice.
This chapter is written for the user who is already experienced in plastics practice and terminology, but needs to understand the SolidWorks tools used with the plastic and mold features. In this chapter, I assume that the reader already has a grasp of basic plastics and mold design.
Using Plastic Features
The plastic features available in SolidWorks are the Mounting Boss, Snap Hook, Snap Groove, Vent, Lip/Groove, and Indent, as well as the more standard Draft and Shell. These features offer standardized but flexible geometry to help you make more consistent models more quickly, and with less tiresome repetition. You can find most of the features in this section on the Fastening Features toolbar, and the remaining features on the Features toolbar.
Some of these features have applications beyond just molded plastic parts. Many molding, casting, or “net shape” processes exist in plastic materials, as well as metals, ceramics, and composites.
Using the Mounting Boss
The Mounting Boss feature enables you to place a boss with fins and either a hole or a pin on the end. It does not enable you to place a counterbored hole or a through hole to facilitate screw bosses. It is aimed primarily at press pins.
Figure 24.1 shows the Mounting Boss PropertyManager along with the preview of the boss in progress. The part used in this figure is on the DVD, with the filename Chapter 24 – right frame.sldprt.
The workflow for the Mounting Boss feature is as follows:
1. Select a spot on the part that represents where the boss will attach to the part. This can be either a flat or curved face. In the example in Figure 24.1, because I selected a curved face, it is necessary to also supply a direction of pull. If you select a flat face, the direction selection box in the next step is not available.
2. Select a plane, planar face, edge, or axis to establish the axis of the boss. This is usually the direction of draw. Notice in the part shown in Figure 24.1 that an axis established early in the part is named as the Direction of Draw. This step is optional. The default is the direction