Online course "Efficient 3D Design in SolidWorks: From Sketching to Assembly and Drawings in accordance with the Unified System for Design Documentation"

A specialized practical training program helps acquire fundamental knowledge and confident skills in using the program to solve problems such as: accelerating the design process and producing working drawings, visualizing 3D design, significantly reducing manufacturing errors through the ability to automatically check assemblies for collisions and interference, parameterizing products using formulas and parameter tables, quickly calculating mass-inertial characteristics, preparing models for CNC manufacturing and 3D printing, organizing teamwork on projects, and much more.

This course is designed for

design engineers, mechanical engineering designers, instrument engineers, metalworkers, and industrial tooling specialists, as well as specialists transitioning from 2D systems (AutoCAD, KOMPAS-Graphic) to modern 3D design.

Required knowledge

confident PC user skills, basic understanding of drawing (projections, sections, views).

Course program

1. Interface, SolidWorks architecture, 2D sketching and basic extrusion

• Workspace setup (CommandManager, MMGS units, templates). Parametric sketch logic: geometric relationships, dimensioning rules, Fully Defined status.
• Practice: Modeling a Support Node Bracket (Practice Problem 1.1 and 1.2).

2. Extruded Cut Boundary Conditions

• Feature depth control: Through All, Up to Surface, Offset from Surface, Mid Plane. Extruded Cut tool, Thin Features. Quick geometry editing via the FeatureManager tree.
• Practice: Case cover with stepped mounting cutouts (Problem 2.1).

3. Revolve Boss / Cut elements and axisymmetric parts

• Centerlines, construction of closed half-sections, automatic diametrical dimensioning. "Rotated Boss" and "Rotated Notch" operations. Design features for shafts, pulleys, fittings, seal grooves, and tapered grooves.
• Practice: stepped transmission shaft and grooved flange (Problem 6.1 and 6.2).

4. Fillets, chamfers, drafts and thin-walled shells

• Correct fillet order: constant and variable radii, tangential spread. Chamfers for welds and threads. Casting and stamping drafts (Draft is the neutral plane, the direction of extrusion). Creating thin-walled housings using the Shell tool.
• Practice: Cast gearbox housing with 2° slopes and chamfers (Problem 4.10 and 12.1).

5. Hole Wizard, Element Arrays, and Mirroring

• Standardized holes for GOST/ISO fasteners: countersinks, counterbores, and blind tapped holes. Linear array (replication in two directions) and circular array (equal pitch, staggered). Mirror image of elements and bodies. Assignment of physical materials and mass measurement (Mass Properties).
• Practice: Perforated flange with threaded sockets and circular array (Problem 11.1, 7.1).

6. 3D sketches, elements along a path (Sweep) and elements along sections (Loft)

• Orientation in space when drawing 3D sketches (Tab key, XY/YZ/ZX planes). Sweep tool: profile and path, guide curves, twist. Loft tool: contour vertex synchronization, connectors, circle-to-square blend.
• Practice: Bent hydraulic pipe and transition pipe (Problem 8.1, 8.2).

7. Parameterization: Equations, Configurations, and Design Table Excel

• Global variables and mathematical relationships between dimensions. Manage dimensions through "Part Configurations": suppress features, change dimensions and materials. Automatic generation of product dimension lines through the built-in parameter table (Design Table Excel).
• Practice: parametric bolt GOST / fitting with 6 automatic configurations.

8. Assemblies Modeling: Mates and the Toolbox Library

• Bottom-Up assembly methodology. Basic mechanical mates: coincidence, parallelism, concentricity, tangency, angle, distance. Degrees of freedom and fixation. Integration with the SolidWorks Toolbox standard parts library: automatic insertion of bolts, washers, and nuts into holes.
• Practice: Assembling the mechanism support unit with fasteners from Toolbox (Problem 9.10).

9. Assembly analysis, interference checking and disassembly diagrams

• Assembly error diagnostics: automatic detection of interference and gaps. Creation of mechanism disassembly diagrams (Exploded View) with part movement trajectories. Assembly/disassembly animation. Automatic BOM generation (Bill of Materials).
• Practice: identifying collisions in a mechanical drive and exploded view of the unit (Problem 17.3).

10. Drawings according to the Unified System for Design Documentation (ESKD) and the final certification workshop CSWA

• Creating drawings of parts and assemblies: standard views, isometric views, cross-sections, sections, detail views, roughness, and technical requirements. Final assessment: solving a timed test exam based on the Dassault Systèmes CSWA international standard with a control weight check.
• Result: completed working drawing of the unit according to the Unified System for Design Documentation (ESKD) and defense of the test case.