CSWP Advanced and Mechanical Mates 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: When using a Limit mate, what happens when the component reaches the defined maximum angle or distance boundary?
- The mate is deleted automatically
- The component stops moving at that boundary (Correct answer)
- SolidWorks displays an error and rebuilds fail
- The component passes through the boundary and snaps to the other limit
Correct answer: The component stops moving at that boundary
A Limit mate acts as a hard stop, preventing the component from moving beyond the defined minimum or maximum value during motion studies or manual dragging.
Question 2: Which SolidWorks mate allows you to define that a component must remain within a specific distance range from a reference, rather than at a fixed distance?
- Symmetric mate
- Distance mate with Limit option (Correct answer)
- Parallel mate
- Coincident mate with offset
Correct answer: Distance mate with Limit option
Enabling the 'Distance' mate's Limit option lets you specify a minimum and maximum allowed distance, giving the component a range of free travel.
Question 3: In SolidWorks, what is the primary purpose of the 'Profile Center' mate?
- Aligns two profiles end-to-end
- Centers the cross-section centroid of one component's face with another face's centroid (Correct answer)
- Offsets two parallel profiles by a set distance
- Mirrors one component's profile across a plane
Correct answer: Centers the cross-section centroid of one component's face with another face's centroid
The Profile Center mate automatically centers the geometric midpoints of two similar cross-sectional profiles (e.g., rectangular slots and tabs) relative to each other.
Question 4: Which statement correctly describes the behavior of a Symmetric mate?
- It mirrors a component across a plane, creating a copy
- It constrains a component so its selected entity lies equidistant from a symmetry plane relative to another entity (Correct answer)
- It locks all DOF of the component symmetrically
- It creates a pattern of the component about a plane
Correct answer: It constrains a component so its selected entity lies equidistant from a symmetry plane relative to another entity
A Symmetric mate keeps two selected entities (one on each component) equidistant from a specified symmetry plane, so they mirror each other's position during motion.
Question 5: What additional input beyond two component references is required to define a Symmetric mate?
- A rotation axis
- A symmetry plane or planar face (Correct answer)
- A distance value
- A ratio value
Correct answer: A symmetry plane or planar face
The Symmetric mate requires a plane (or flat face) to serve as the mirror reference about which the two selected entities are kept equidistant.
Question 6: In a Hinge mate, which degrees of freedom remain after the mate is applied?
- Only translation along the hinge axis
- Only rotation about the hinge axis (Correct answer)
- Rotation about and translation along the hinge axis
- All three rotations
Correct answer: Only rotation about the hinge axis
A Hinge mate combines a Concentric and a Coincident mate, leaving only one rotational DOF — rotation about the shared hinge axis.
Question 7: When setting up a Gear mate, the ratio is defined by entering values for which parameters?
- Number of teeth on each gear
- Pitch circle radii or a manually entered ratio (Correct answer)
- Module and pressure angle
- Gear face width and helix angle
Correct answer: Pitch circle radii or a manually entered ratio
SolidWorks Gear mates accept either pitch circle radii (from which it computes the ratio) or a directly entered numerical ratio to define the angular velocity relationship.
CSWP Advanced and Mechanical Mates 3
When using a Limit mate, what happens when the component reaches the defined maximum angle or distance boundary?