Designing a Sheet Metal Enclosure with SOLIDWORKS

2h 31mIntermediate2014-05-21

Authors

Gabriel Corbett

Product Designer, Instructor, and Speaker

Course details

Real-world projects are vital to mastering SOLIDWORKS, and sheet metal enclosures are a perfect example of a typical project. Sheet metal enclosures house and protect circuitry, wiring, and other sensitive electronic parts and frequently require customization by a professional CAD designer. So take a firsthand walk through designing a sheet metal enclosure for circuit boards and panel-mounted connectors, as well as fans, power cords, and switches, with SOLIDWORKS. Gabriel Corbett covers the key techniques for working with in-context parts and assemblies that dynamically adjust based on the master part model. He'll show you how to use equations to drive the size of the box and calculate vent holes, work with circuit boards, and download connector components. Plus, learn how to add decals before prepping the final drawings for manufacturing.

Learning objectives
Working with the Base and Flange tools
Building the rough enclosure shape
Designing the cover
Adding vents
Adding components
Cutting holes for connectors
Adding graphics
Making assembly drawings

Skills covered

SOLIDWORKSDassaultManufacturingProduct and Industrial DesignProjectProduct and Manufacturing

Concepts

0. Introduction

01 - Welcome
02 - Using the exercise files

1. Sheet Metal Tools Review

03 - Reviewing the Base tool
04 - Using the Flange tool
05 - Building tabs
06 - Working with the Edge Flange
07 - Making miter flanges

2. Enclosure Design

08 - Building the rough enclosure shape
09 - Designing the cover
10 - Creating the tabs and corners
11 - Connecting the parts with hardware
12 - Adding vents to the design
13 - Working with nested assemblies

3. Working with Circuit Boards and Components

14 - Circuit-board basics
15 - Adding components to the design
16 - Reference documents and data sheets
17 - Panel-mounted components

4. Cutting Holes for Connectors

18 - Placing the board in the enclosure
19 - Adding standoffs and in-context holes
20 - Cutting holes for the connectors
21 - Using block cutouts

5. Adding Graphics

22 - Adding decals to the design
23 - Adding graphics to parts

6. Sheet Metal Drawings

24 - Making assembly drawings
25 - Adding part drawings
26 - Creating flat patterns
27 - Saving to DXF or DWG
28 - Saving to the STEP format
29 - Preparing for manufacturing
30 - Manufacturing resources

Conclusion

31 - Next steps