Why You Should Consider SolidWorks Drafting in Metal Products Design

Flexibility

SolidWorks offers the flexibility to design the part as a 3D model (non-sheet metal) and later convert it into sheet metal to incorporate DFM requirements. The designer can also start with sheet metal directly if the component is simple and all features are well planned.

The order of design preference to be followed while creating sheet metal parts from a 3D model:

• Start with sheet metal as base flange and add up edge flange and miter flange
• With the right ‘K factor’ according to material and thickness, insert bends with the ‘Bend’ feature
• Convert to sheet metal feature
• Create additional features that are needed in your sheet metal designs

Intuitive design

SolidWorks 3D intuitive design for sheet metal gives you the design flexibility to produce sheet metal parts and accurate virtual prototypes. It is important in sheet metal design that designers should plan their design approach.

TrueCADD’s sheet metal design experts adopted a flexible top-down approach for 3D modeling and drafting of hoppers and walkway for a recycling plant. It empowered the manufacturer to accelerate engineering cycle and increase deliverables to an average volume of 55 hoppers/month.

User friendly sheet metal modeling features of SolidWorks

Ideally, a single 3D model for sheet metal products should have comprehensive design features to ensure clear design intent communication. For example, a typical sheet metal part model can have more than 20 features. This shows the need for an efficient CAD platform like SolidWorks with specific sheet metal design drafting features.

SolidWorks has provisions to:

• Incorporate various types of flanges like base, edge, miter, and swept
• Incorporate tabs and slots
• Generate basic as well as advanced bends like lofted, sketched, etc.
• Read readily available bend tables for bend allowance and K factors with material properties
• Create forming features like extruded flanges, embosses, louvers, lances, and ribs
• Add weldments to sheet metal parts

Ease in design drafting and modeling

The user-friendly program interface in SolidWorks allows the design engineer to complete the model in a progressive manner with required level of design detailing.

SolidWorks helps designer with:

• Effective design development through conceptualization in 3D
• Importing external CAD models, creating designs around it or a group of parts and converting 3D solid parts into sheet metal parts
• Creating detailed manufacturing drawings while developing 3D models

Efficient engineering documentation

While creating sheet metal parts, the designer needs to perform several technical tasks along with basic 3D sheet metal modeling.

SolidWorks offers:

• Creation of detailed manufacturing drawings from 3D Sheet metal parts and assemblies
• Auto-generation of flatten parts for flat patterns needed during manufacturing
• Estimation of manufacturing costs in real-time while designing
• Ease in updating concurrent drawings as they have bi-directional relationships with 3D models
• Accuracy and precision of engineering drawings by capturing detailed requirements for high-quality metal fabrication
• Ready-to-use component libraries to accelerate designing process

Scalable software architecture

The overall software architecture of 3D CAD SolidWorks is scalable and flexible with many customizable scripts, macros, and plug-ins. It also allows integration of external application, for sales, and manufacturing through APIs. It has a relatively simpler user interface and hence you need minimal training and maintenance.

Using SolidWorks you can:

• Have enhanced look and feel of models with GUIS
• Build and validate virtual prototypes with inbuilt applications
• Maintain high-level of interoperability between applications like CAD/CAM/PLM/CRM/ERP