Like the other browser-based modeling tools available through the SOLIDWORKS xDesign bundle, the xDesign app enables users to design and collaborate with their team anywhere and anytime. Whether you have been modeling for years or are new to 3D CAD environments, xDesign provides intuitive tools to help your designs come to life. Part two of the SOLIDWORKS xDesign Beginner Guide saw us deep dive into the 2D sketching tools built into the cloud-based design apps. In part three of our SOLIDWORKS xDesign Beginner Guide, we’ll review how to create this simple knob component pictured starting by creating features in xDesign.
Simple knob created in xDesign
Terminology to Consider
For those new to using xDesign or other 3DEXPERIENCE cloud-based design apps, it’s important to take some time to understand the terminology unique to the modeling environment as it differs from other CAD software.
- Super Feature: A super feature is a tool that allows you to modify geometry to either add or remove material like extrudes, revolves, or sweeps.
- Smart Feature: A smart feature is a tool that improves your modeling processes by automating the creation and updating of features such as fillets and chamfers.
Opening xDesign
Upon opening the xDesign app, we see we have a couple of options to start with: New Component, Open, Import File, and Quick Tour. If you are new to using 3DEXPERIENCE web-based design applications, leveraging the Quick Tour is always a nice place to start learning about what the app is for and what you can do with it. With Open and Import File you can either open existing models that are in 3DEXPERIENCE or import models that you may have locally stored on your computer, respectively.
In this case, we are starting from scratch so we are going to select the New Component option to open our design window.
Selecting New Component option
Creating a Sketch
Using our 2D sketching tools, we’ll create the outline that will serve as the foundation for our part while adding dimensions and relations to help fully define the sketch.
We’ll select the New Sketch icon and choose the YZ plane to get started. As you can see in the image below, our sketch consists of a construction line running up through the origin, three line segments, and a tangent arc.
Fully defined sketch on the YZ plane
Using our Smart Dimension tool, we’ll add the corresponding dimensions to our sketch to fully define it. To accept our sketch and exit the sketching tool, we can click the green check at the top of the graphics window. Now that we have our Sketch.1 fully defined and saved, we can use it to create our first feature.
Using Super Features to Define the Shape
It’s time to bring our 2D sketch to life. On the Action Bar, select the Features tab and locate the Revolve command. When clicked, a dialog box will appear and you can make additional selections to define your feature. The first two rows of icons define how the feature will add or remove material. For this example, we’ll toggle on the solid button to create a fully solid feature. Additional features will allow us to select if we want to add, remove, or create a new body of material.
Next, we need to specify the axis around which our sketch will be revolved around. The construction line in our sketch, Line.1, will work perfectly for this. For verification, you’ll see it highlighted in green once you select it. The feature’s dialog box will automatically move to the next group of options that need to be selected. From the Design Manager Tree, we can choose Sketch.1 as the revolve profile. Just like the axis, you’ll notice the sketch entities are highlighted in purple to verify the selection. Finally, for Direction 1, a Full Revolve is selected by default which tells us that the feature will add material in a full 360° rotation around the specified axis.
Revolve command with a profile and axis selected
Note: Revolves have additional parameters in the advanced section of the dialog. For these options and more information on Revolve features, visit the 3DExperience User Assistance Guide here.
We will add a mounting hole on the bottom of our part and a recess at the top using our Extrude super feature to meet design intent. To add the mounting hole on the bottom of the knob, we will go back to our Sketch tab on our Action Bar, select New Sketch, and select the bottom face of our knob to define the sketching plane. Since this hole is just a circular profile extruded into the base of our knob, we’ll attach the center of our circle to the origin of our part and dimension it to have a 0.5-inch diameter. With the sketch still open, we’ll navigate to the Features tab and select Extrude which will open the properties for the feature.
Extrudes are a super feature that gives the user many options for adding and removing material. Typical CAD programs use separate tools for cuts and extrudes making it cumbersome to change your mind after the fact. To remove the material, toggle on cut and solid and select Sketch.2 for the profile. Under the section for direction 1, we’ll specify blind and for the Distance, we’ll type 1 inch. To accept the feature, click the green check to say OK.
Creating an extrude using a super feature
The recess at the top of our knob follows the same steps as our mounting hole. We will start a sketch on the top face of our knob, sketching a 1-inch circle coincident with the center of our face. With Sketch.3 still open, we’ll select the Extrude command from our Features section of the Action Bar and create a 0.1-inch deep blind cut into our knob. This completes the overall shape of our part, we can move on to add some additional features to finish up the part.
Creating the recess with another super feature
Using Smart Features
The next portion of our modeling requires us to add some fillets and chamfers to meet the design intent of the knob. In the Features section of the Action Bar, we’ll utilize the Fillet command. Once selected, we can add a constant 0.1-inch fillet on the edge between the arc and the bottom portion of our knob. Since Fillet is a smart feature, it will either add or remove material to create the fillet based on the existing geometry of our part. These features can also be edited any time after their creation, making it easy to meet the design parameters.
Creating features for the fillets
The Chamfer command works the same way as fillets. First, select the tool from the Action Bar and then use the drop-down at the top of the dialogue box to toggle between fillet and chamfer. The user then has multiple options to choose from when setting the parameters of the chamfer feature. In this case, we select a Symmetric chamfer, select the top edge of our recess (Extrude Cut.3), and set the distance to 0.1 inches.
Creating a symmetric chamfer
Let’s add another constant 0.1-inch fillet to the top and bottom edge of our chamfer to create a nice, rounded look to the top of our knob. Just like that our main design is complete and we can move on to post-processing, specifically applying material and evaluating its weight properties.
Applying Material
With our knob completed, we can now apply material from our material library in 3DEXPERIENCE. From the Tools section of our Action Bar, we’re going to select our Material Browser. A sidebar pops up and allows us to browse the materials available through collaborative spaces and even search for specific materials. In this instance, our design intent tells us this knob is going to be made from ABS Plastic so we can search for and select the material once we find it. We can apply the material by dragging it and dropping it onto our part. Once we release the material, a context toolbar allows us to apply the material to a component, face, or the entire physical product.
3DEXPERIENCE material library
If you need to remove or change a material, you can find the applied material in the Design Manager. It can be removed by right-clicking and selecting remove. To replace a material, simply drag and drop a new material onto your component. Now that our ABS material is applied to our component, we are ready to evaluate our part and gather its weight properties.
Evaluating Mass Properties
The browser-based xApps, including xDesign, make it extremely easy to obtain the mass properties of our parts and assemblies. With our material applied, locate the Weight Properties command in the Tools section of the Action Bar.
Weight Properties command on the Action Bar
A dialog box will open allowing you to view the additional information including the area, volume, weight, and center of gravity in the open physical product. Since we want to gather the properties of our entire part, we will make sure our selection drop-down is set to body and select our knob from the graphics area. The Material Information group box will display our chosen material (ABS Plastic) as well as the density of that material. That information combined with the geometry of our part gives us our volume, weight, and area true to size.
For a better comparison of how the material properties affect the overall weight of the knob, I calculated the weight properties of our knob with the ABS Plastic on the left and 1060 Aluminum Alloy on the right. It’s incredible how quickly we can make design changes to the model and see the results in real-time.
Comparing ABS Plastic and 1060 Aluminum Alloy
As shown, xDesign on 3DEXPERIENCE is a straightforward, effective modeling tool that empowers designers to bring their ideas to life with precision and efficiency. By following the steps outlined in this guide, you can confidently navigate the xDesign environment and produce high-quality 3D models. We hope this guide has provided you with the foundational knowledge and inspiration to explore further and innovate within the versatile world of 3DEXPERIENCE. Be sure to tune in for part four of our SOLIDWORKS xDesign Beginner Guide to learn how to create both 2D and 3D annotations for drawing and documentation packages.
To request more information about the SOLIDWORKS xDesign bundle, contact us here.
