CSWP Advanced Features 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: In SOLIDWORKS, what does the 'Draft Analysis' tool display to help evaluate moldability of a part?
- Wall thickness variations across the part
- Positive draft, negative draft, and straddle faces relative to a pull direction (Correct answer)
- Surface curvature discontinuities
- Undercut regions only
Correct answer: Positive draft, negative draft, and straddle faces relative to a pull direction
Draft Analysis color-codes faces as positive draft (face angles away from pull), negative draft (face angles toward pull), and straddle (face spans the parting line) to identify moldability issues.
Question 2: The 'Scale' feature in SOLIDWORKS scales a body by a specified factor. What is unique about scaling relative to the centroid versus an origin point?
- Centroid scaling preserves mass properties; origin scaling changes them
- Centroid scaling keeps the body centered in its own bounding box; origin scaling moves the body relative to the origin (Correct answer)
- Centroid scaling applies only to surface bodies
- There is no functional difference between the two
Correct answer: Centroid scaling keeps the body centered in its own bounding box; origin scaling moves the body relative to the origin
Scaling about the centroid keeps the part geometrically centered in place, while scaling about the origin moves the body because all points are scaled relative to (0,0,0).
Question 3: Which option in the Fillet feature produces a curvature-continuous blend (G2) rather than a tangent-continuous blend (G1) between faces?
- Constant Size Fillet
- Variable Size Fillet
- Face Fillet with curvature continuous option (Correct answer)
- Full Round Fillet
Correct answer: Face Fillet with curvature continuous option
The Face Fillet type includes a 'Curvature Continuous' checkbox that creates a G2 blend, meaning the curvature transitions smoothly across the fillet boundary instead of just the tangent direction.
Question 4: When modeling a sheet metal part, the 'Flatten' command unfolds all bends to show the flat pattern. Which measurement does SOLIDWORKS use to compensate for material stretch during bending?
- Bend radius
- K-factor (or bend allowance table) (Correct answer)
- Sheet thickness only
- Outside mold line distance
Correct answer: K-factor (or bend allowance table)
The K-factor (or an associated bend allowance/deduction table) accounts for how far the neutral axis shifts during bending, ensuring the flat pattern length is accurate for fabrication.
Question 5: In the FeatureManager, what does a feature icon with a small yellow warning triangle typically indicate?
- The feature is suppressed
- The feature has rebuild errors or warnings that do not prevent rebuilding (Correct answer)
- The feature references an external file that is missing
- The feature is frozen in the design freeze bar
Correct answer: The feature has rebuild errors or warnings that do not prevent rebuilding
A yellow warning triangle on a feature means SOLIDWORKS rebuilt it successfully but detected a non-fatal condition (such as a deprecated option or a near-tangent edge) that the user should review.
Question 6: What is the function of 'Intersect' as a feature tool (not the sketch tool) in SOLIDWORKS parts?
- It trims surfaces at their mutual boundary
- It creates regions from the intersection of selected solids, surfaces, or planes and lets you keep or discard each region (Correct answer)
- It projects one body's silhouette onto another
- It merges two bodies into one without removing material
Correct answer: It creates regions from the intersection of selected solids, surfaces, or planes and lets you keep or discard each region
The Intersect feature (Insert > Features > Intersect) computes all the volumetric regions created by overlapping solids and surfaces, then lets you toggle which regions to keep.
Question 7: Which SOLIDWORKS feature is specifically designed to add draft to already-modeled faces using a parting line rather than requiring draft at initial feature creation?
- Draft feature with 'Parting Line' type (Correct answer)
- Tapered Extrude
- Scale feature
- Flex > Taper
Correct answer: Draft feature with 'Parting Line' type
The Draft feature with the Parting Line option splits each selected face at the parting line and applies draft in opposite directions above and below it, ideal for adding mold draft after the base geometry is complete.
In SOLIDWORKS, what does the 'Draft Analysis' tool display to help evaluate moldability of a part?