Chapter 38
Using Plastic Features

SolidWorks has several tools that were specifically designed to model and evaluate plastic parts. These tools can help simplify and standardize some of the complex repetitive tasks involved with plastic part design.

You can manually do all the work that these tools automate, which is useful when the automated tools don't provide the necessary options or flexibility. The more complex your models, the more comfortable you need to be with workaround techniques.

Because of the specific needs of plastic part modelers SolidWorks also has a set of powerful evaluation tools that help you examine your models to check the amount of draft, thickness, and location of undercuts. Finding design-related manufacturability problems in manufacturing is expensive. Finding them in the design office is far less expensive and conserves time. Having a good grasp of the evaluation tools is an important component of good plastic part and mold modeling practice.

This chapter...