3D printing is becoming more and more popular, and with that, 3D printing tools and applications are emerging on an extensive scale. While there are plenty of 3D printing tools available on the market, Solidworks is considered one of the best by designers as it comes with plenty of 3D printing features and functionalities. Solidworks is an application for designing and drawing 2D and 3D objects, which makes it great for modeling the object to be printed. It has many tools such as sketching, part design, assembly design, and so on. A lot of people have questions regarding using Solidworks for 3D printing, with the most common one being, ‘can you use Solidworks for 3D printing?’ The answer is yes. And the best part- Solidworks is not only helpful in creating designs for manufacturing, but it can also help with other types of projects like architectural or mechanical engineering.
With that said, in this post, we will discuss how to use Solidworks for 3D printing.
Design a printable 3D file
First things first, you need to have a Solidworks file before you can create the object to be printed. In Solidwork, it is very easy and fast to make a design ready for printing as there are plenty of tools available in Solidworks that help with designing various types of objects such as gears, jigs, holders, etc.
In SolidWorks software, you first need to create sketches on different planes using basic sketching tools like line and arc, which will form the basis of your components. Along with these lines and arcs, you can use other existing features & functions from the assembly environment into this solid model. After all necessary modifications are done, prepare and export the 3D files for 3D printing.
Manage and export 3D files for 3D printing
After creating the 3D printable model, you need to prepare it for printing by adding required features such as holes or fillets so that they can be printed accurately without any errors. Solidwork offers plenty of tools and functions, which help in preparing your file for printing with great accuracy, like surface modeling tools, shell tools, etc. However, if Solidwork does not offer a particular function, then users can use separate software packages available on the market, which are compatible with the Solidwork platform.
There is another option where multiple components can be combined together using an assembly environment along with standard mating conditions/constraints between these components to form an assembly model ready to print. However, this approach has its own disadvantages as well because Solidworks allows you to use only one model that can be exported for printing.
After all necessary modifications are done, Solidwork offers several options to prepare the files for printing by using different file types such as .stl or .igs and so on, depending upon your needs. Once this process is complete, Solidworks helps in exporting the required data into a printable format like an STL file which can then be used with other compatible software packages available on the market.
Avoid mistakes that can occur during the design process
Lastly, before you finalize the design and send it for 3D printing, you should cross-check the Solidwork file using Solidworks Simulation to make sure that the design is perfect and the file attributes fit the 3D printer. This includes everything from the size of the file to volume selection, last-minute repairs, and more. Solidworks Simulation allows you to test different conditions such as stress, heat, dynamics, etc., in order to check if your design is ready for final printing or not.
Conclusion
Solidworks offers a wide range of resources available online, which help learn how to use Solidworks for various applications and other tutorials, including videos, articles, & blogs. So, make sure to look at them as well.
