ME 470 Project Configurations

This tutorial shows the basics of how to create configurations of an existing part in SolidWorks. Creating configurations is a fast, simple, and effective way to create other "versions" of parts, without having to completely create a new part. This is also very effective when using in an assembly and makes things much more simple. The methods shown are a general description, but should be able to be used on any part.

The first part of creating a configuration is to find out what exactly need to be changed. Once this is determined, It should be planned exactly how this could be implemented on the part using methods you are already familiar with. This tutorial in particular shows how to add splines to a flywheel in SolidWorks that was originally created with a tapered shaft. The details of how to do this will be found in the following steps.

Once it has been decided what needs to change between configurations, the next step is to create a new configuration and implement these changes. First you must create the configuration as shown in the video and label them appropriately to be referenced for future use.

Once the new configuration has been created, select the new one and begin editing it to create the part you want. For this tutorial, the tapered shaft that is highlighted above was suppressed with parent/child features and the sketch shown was created on it. The splines were then created just as any other splines would be created and the new configuration was finished.

The following tutorial will work in adjunct with the first one, "Solidworks Configurations" and will show you how to add previously created parts and configurations of parts into an assembly file in SolidWorks. Adding configurations to assembly files in SolidWorks is very simple and the basis of how to do so is shown in this tutorial.

Adding configurations to assemblies is a very simple process is done by adding the previously made part to a SolidWorks assembly file. It should be noted that what ever current configuration is open will be added to the assembly. Once one part is added, it can be Selected and dragged over to create a duplicate. From this duplicate, the part can be right clicked and a new configuration can be selected and used in the assembly.

I hope this tutorial was helpful as a general look into configurations in SolidWorks. Configurations can be used in as simple or complex of situations as necessary. For more complex configurations that can be paired with other things such as calculators, please reference other videos.