{"id":3409,"date":"2015-11-30T15:09:21","date_gmt":"2015-11-30T15:09:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.solidapps.co.uk\/blog\/?p=3409"},"modified":"2015-11-30T15:09:21","modified_gmt":"2015-11-30T15:09:21","slug":"solidworks-modeling-challenge-calculate-internal-volume","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.solidapps.co.uk\/blog\/2015\/11\/solidworks-modeling-challenge-calculate-internal-volume\/","title":{"rendered":"SOLIDWORKS Modeling Challenge \u2013 Calculate Internal Volume"},"content":{"rendered":"

Continuing the modeling challenge theme started with\u00a0our last post<\/a>, we\u2019d like to review a few different ways to calculate the internal volume of an open container. There\u2019s something to be learned from each method, but thanks to recent enhancements in SOLIDWORKS, some are much easier than others. Feel free to try this out for yourself on this 2015 SOLIDWORKS model<\/a>, and don\u2019t hesitate to comment if you discover an even better method.<\/p>\n

\"Modeling<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Surfacing (8 Steps)<\/b><\/h1>\n

Surface modeling provides the most flexible and creative modeling workflows in SOLIDWORKS since we\u2019re not confined to the typical constraints of the solid modeling environment (i.e. the constant necessity of water-tight faces). \u00a0Though surfacing can often provide convenient modeling shortcuts, in this case, it\u2019s the most manual process.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Right click an internal face of the container and choose the \u2018Select Tangency\u2019 option<\/li>\n
  2. Copy all of the selected faces by using the \u2018Offset Surface\u2019 command with a value of 0 (note: the command name in the PropertyManager will change from \u2018Offset Surface\u2019 to \u2018Copy Surface\u2019 as soon as the offset value is modified)<\/li>\n
  3. CTRL+Drag the \u2018Top Plane\u2019 to create an offset plane representing the liquid level<\/li>\n
  4. Sketch a rectangle on that plane<\/li>\n
  5. Create a \u2018Planar Surface\u2019 from that sketch<\/li>\n
  6. Hide the solid body of the container to isolate the view of the two surfaces<\/li>\n
  7. Remove the extraneous portions of the surfaces using the \u2018Mutual\u2019 mode of the \u2018Trim Surface\u2019 command<\/li>\n
  8. Apply the \u2018Thicken\u2019 command to the leftover surface model with the \u2018Create solid from enclosed volume\u2019 option activated<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Multibody (5 Steps)<\/b><\/h1>\n

    Multibody modeling allows us to create assembly-like designs within a single part file. \u00a0This environment enables us to model static in-context assemblies without the responsibility of managing external file references, but there are many more modeling tricks the multibody environment can be used for. \u00a0In this case, we\u2019re utilizing some multibody features to perform Boolean operations \u2013 leaving us with a single body.<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Sketch a rectangle on the \u2018Top Plane\u2019<\/li>\n
    2. Use this sketch to \u2018Extrude\u2019 to a height representing the liquid level with the \u2018Merge Result\u2019 option deactivated<\/li>\n
    3. Make a copy of the bottle\u2019s solid body using the \u2018Move\/Copy Bodies\u2019 command<\/li>\n
    4. Use the \u2018Subtract\u2019 mode of the \u2018Combine\u2019 command to subtract the copied bottle body from the extruded block<\/li>\n
    5. Choose to only keep solid body representing the internal volume<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Intersect (2 Steps)<\/b><\/h1>\n

      The Intersect command (introduced in 2013) is an underutilized feature that combines the power of the Split, Replace Face, Trim, Knit, and Combine features into a single easy-to-use interface. There are many more cases to use the Intersect command, but this example clearly illustrates the time savings it provides.<\/p>\n

        \n
      1. CTRL+Drag the \u2018Top Plane\u2019 to create an offset plane representing the liquid level<\/li>\n
      2. Use the \u2018Intersect\u2019 command to generate a solid body in the theoretical water-tight volume created by the bottle\u2019s body and the recently created plane<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        Is this the first time you\u2019ve heard of the Intersect feature? \u00a0If so, read more about it in our online help documentation<\/a>, and don\u2019t forget to check our What\u2019s New documentation<\/a> after each upgrade.<\/p>\n

        Originally posted in the SOLIDWORKS Tech Blog by Jordan Tadic.<\/p>\n

        \"DoubleRedArrow\"<\/a>\u00a0Find out more on SOLIDWORKS<\/a>
        \n        \"DoubleRedArrow\"<\/a>\u00a0Contact Sales<\/a>
        \n        \"DoubleRedArrow\"<\/a>\u00a0Request a Demo<\/a><\/p>\n

        \"REP_SWInspection_FeatureArticle_728x90_ENG\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        Continuing the modeling challenge theme started with\u00a0our last post, we\u2019d like to review a few different ways to calculate the internal volume of an open container. There\u2019s something to be… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3410,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[29,37,25,26],"class_list":["post-3409","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-solidworks","tag-3d-models","tag-hints-tips","tag-solidworks-2","tag-support"],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.solidapps.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3409","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.solidapps.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.solidapps.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solidapps.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solidapps.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3409"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.solidapps.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3409\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3411,"href":"https:\/\/www.solidapps.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3409\/revisions\/3411"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solidapps.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3410"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.solidapps.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3409"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solidapps.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3409"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solidapps.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3409"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}