For many designs, creating solid geometry with features like boss extrude and cut will get the job done. But for more complicated shapes, it’s impossible to build with solid modeling techniques alone. These more complicated geometries will certainly require surfacing techniques. Although the shape might be complicated, the tools and techniques to produce it don’t have to be.
The surfacing tools in SOLIDWORKS 3D CAD are extremely powerful but are easy to learn and use. In this Video Tech Tip, TriMech Application Engineer John Lewis takes an in-depth look at the Ruled Surface feature.
>> Click here to learn the five types of Ruled Surfaces
New Surface Geometry With The Ruled Surface Command
The Ruled Surface command is a very versatile command that can create several different types of surfaces. It will create surfaces at an edge relative to an existing surface. All it takes is just an edge and a user input distance. With that, the Ruled Surface can add new surface geometry in the following ways:
- Tangent to Surface
- Normal to Surface
- Tapered to Vector
- Perpendicular to Vector
- Sweep
Check out the video to see a very detailed example of each way the Ruled Surface Command can be used to create surface geometry for your designs.
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