Solidworks Surface Modeling 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What SolidWorks feature creates a surface at a constant distance from an existing surface, following its shape?
- Ruled Surface
- Offset Surface (Correct answer)
- Thicken
- Move Face
Correct answer: Offset Surface
Offset Surface generates a new surface body that is equidistant from the original surface at every point, preserving its contour.
Question 2: When would you use a Ruled Surface in SolidWorks?
- To create a surface tangent or normal to a selected edge, useful for mold draft or packaging design (Correct answer)
- To sweep a closed profile along a path to form a tube surface
- To interpolate a smooth surface through a grid of 3D points
- To flatten a developable surface for sheet-metal unfolding
Correct answer: To create a surface tangent or normal to a selected edge, useful for mold draft or packaging design
Ruled Surface generates a surface that extends from selected edges in a direction that is tangent, normal, or angled to the adjacent face, often used for parting surfaces and mold design.
Question 3: Which SolidWorks command converts a surface body into a solid by adding uniform wall thickness?
- Shell
- Thicken (Correct answer)
- Knit Surface with 'Try to form solid'
- Solidify
Correct answer: Thicken
The Thicken command takes an open or closed surface body and adds material in one or both directions to create a solid body with a specified thickness.
Question 4: What is 'surface curvature continuity' referred to as in mathematical/CAD terminology?
- G0
- G1
- G2 (Correct answer)
- G3
Correct answer: G2
G2 continuity means two surfaces share the same tangent direction (G1) AND the same radius of curvature at every point along their shared boundary.
Question 5: In a SolidWorks Sweep Surface, what role does the 'Guide Curve' serve compared to the 'Path'?
- The path controls profile orientation; guide curves define start and end profiles
- The path defines the trajectory the profile travels; guide curves control how the profile shape scales or morphs along the path (Correct answer)
- Guide curves replace the path when the path is non-planar
- Guide curves set the twist rate and the path sets the taper angle
Correct answer: The path defines the trajectory the profile travels; guide curves control how the profile shape scales or morphs along the path
In a sweep, the path dictates the direction of travel while guide curves influence the profile's size, shape, or position as it moves along that path.
Question 6: What happens when you enable 'Merge smooth faces' in a SolidWorks surface operation?
- Adjacent faces with G2 continuity are combined into a single face, simplifying the surface body (Correct answer)
- All faces in the model are merged into one continuous surface
- Tangent edges are hidden from display but remain in the model
- Surface normals are flipped to point outward uniformly
Correct answer: Adjacent faces with G2 continuity are combined into a single face, simplifying the surface body
Merge smooth faces collapses adjacent, tangentially smooth faces into a single face where possible, reducing face count and simplifying downstream operations.
Question 7: Which SolidWorks tool lets you interactively move, rotate, or deform a surface body by dragging control points?
- Flex
- Freeform (Correct answer)
- Scale
- Deform
Correct answer: Freeform
The Freeform feature adds a control-point mesh to a selected face, allowing you to push and pull points to sculpt the surface shape interactively while maintaining continuity with adjacent faces.
Solidworks Surface Modeling 5
What SolidWorks feature creates a surface at a constant distance from an existing surface, following its shape?