October 2, 2023
For our Homework #2 assignment, we were tasked with applying our new Solidworks skills and creating a 3D model. When starting this assignment, my only true experience with CAD modeling was from our lecture a week prior. While I haven’t modeled anything myself before, I have had a lot of second-hand exposure from others showing off their latest model design using special features in Solidworks.
When it came down to designing my own model for this assignment, I decided to pick an item that would involve tools that weren’t covered in the lecture example (i.e. a round object that would involve using the revolve and shell features). After watching some videos on how to use these tools, I settled on modeling a glass Coca-Cola bottle.
As far as choosing which software to use to create a 3D model, I decided to stick with Solidworks. This software has loads of tools available for a variety of modeling, so I would like to become more familiar with and comfortable using it!
I started off following a tutorial of someone modeling a generic bottle to see the tips and tricks of using the Revolve tool, and the other tools I haven’t used before. One of the early issues in this project was measurements and dimensions, as I didn’t have a real bottle with me to take measurements. Instead, I used the trace feature in Solidworks and then revolved that to get a bottle shape similar to the real one. I set the height of the bottle to dimensions similar to the information I found online.
After getting the solid bottle, I used the Shell feature to make the bottle into something that could hold liquid. I ran into lots of issues here regarding the minimum diameter which resulted in creating the shell outward rather than cutting it from inward. In the future, I would like to revisit this feature and troubleshoot further. Afterward, I used the Fillet feature to round the edges of the lip of the bottle.
After this whole process, I changed the material to glass and added a frosted glass look to the model (although you can’t tell from Solidworks that the material changed). I feel a lot more comfortable with Solidworks after this practice and capable of modeling many more things in the future!
To truly advance further with CAD modeling, I need to become more familiar with the available tools at our disposal in this application. Luckily, there are lots of tutorials online to aid in this endeavor. I am excited to expand and develop my 3D modeling skill set.
