Designers and engineers have several computer-aided design (CAD) software programs at their disposal. Solid Works® is CAD software that can be utilized in mechanical engineering, aerospace and defense, consumer products, the building and architectural fields, other fields of engineering, the medical field, energy, electronics, industrial design for manufacturing and various other applications. CAD software lets users design in three dimensions instead of the usual two. It is a para solid-based systemwhere solid objects are used as representations in the software and are manipulated using parametric feature-based solid modeling. Solid Works® and any other CAD software having the para solid geometric modeling kernel, allow for modeling to be done within the software. A photo or drawing that begins as a 2D image can be transformed into a 3D model in Solid Works®. There are special tools that aid in the design of sheet metal. A component library of pre-designed components allows for a designer to choose from a design and not have to start a design at step one. An animation effect for producing animated assembly instructions is available in Solid Works®. Software for managing data is also available so that versions of product design releases can easily be kept track of.
Sheet Metal Design Tools
Smart Fasteners Technology is a tool specific for sheet metal design. Solid Works® also allows users to effectively cut costs by working with materials and weights during design development. It also has tools such as Finite Element Analysis (FEA) software that allows for structural analysis of designs to be conducted. Manufacturing testing in the software environment is possible by using the DFMX press tool to look for design flaws. Flaws can be found before a product goes to production and money can be saved by using the DFMX press tool. Imagine if a design went to production and the amount of money that would be lost if the product had to be pulled and could not be sold. Modeling from customer specifications can be done more effectively by being able to import data directly. After all of the design is complete for the sheet metal design, Solid Works® gives users the ability through 3DVIA Composer to produce technically accurate manuals as well as user manuals so that users know how to use the product. Finally, a design checker will ensure that the final design complies with the specifications of a client or the company using Solid Works®.
Training for Solid Works®
Certifications in Solid Works® can be earned in sheet metal by taking the Certified Solid Works® Professional Sheet Metal exam and getting at least a score of 75%. It is recommended that the exam participant first take the training courses called Solid Works® Essentials and Sheet Metal. The student can be asked questions on the exam the mass of a certain part or the elongation of a bent metal part with a given K-Factor.
Sample Use of Solid Works®
A company specializing in metal manufacturing is Maloya. Maloya not only focuses on producing metal for the process machinery industry but also for aerospace, architectural, transportation, the medical and scientific fields and more. They utilize Solid Works® for programming to print, digitizing and scanning for flat patterns, and it is also used for reverse engineering of components that are already in their fabricated state. Through using IT resources and Solid Works® parametric modeling, they can work with virtual clients as well. Maloya uses a CO2 laser for cutting and works with a plethora of metals.
Three dimensional modeling software is a popular tool used to design products in the manufacturing industry among other industries. Solid Works® offers a myriad of software tools and solutions for both the engineer and designer in today’s manufacturing environment.
Reto Hug is the President of Maloya which focuses on complex Metal Fabrication and <A href=”http://www.maloyalaser.com”>laser cutting technologies</a> using <A href=”http://www.maloyalaser.com/index.php”>advanced laser technologies</a> targeting aerospace, medical, machinery, scientific and transportation requirements.
