Solidworks

[Jon U.]

I would like to start out by saying that i'm not currently in college but am in the military. i'm planning on getting an engineering degree once i get out. in the meantime i got solidworks to try to do my own projects andlearn how some of this stuff works. i have also bought a couple of books on chassis and suspension design. Right now my main question with solid works is how can i have multiple tube converge at the same spot properly? when ever i try to triangulate an area i get the first two pipes made and then it won't allow me to create the third one. If this question would be better asked somewhere else let me know. thanks for any help.

[Jon U.]

I would like to start out by saying that i'm not currently in college but am in the military. i'm planning on getting an engineering degree once i get out. in the meantime i got solidworks to try to do my own projects andlearn how some of this stuff works. i have also bought a couple of books on chassis and suspension design. Right now my main question with solid works is how can i have multiple tube converge at the same spot properly? when ever i try to triangulate an area i get the first two pipes made and then it won't allow me to create the third one. If this question would be better asked somewhere else let me know. thanks for any help.

[Jersey Tom]

What I like to do for spaceframe design is to start with a big 3d sketch that drives everything. Nice and lightweight, easy to move around, easy to edit.

From there, you can make individual sweeps to flesh it all out.

[billywight]

With SolidWorks you can just make a 3D sketch as Tom said and then use the weldment feature to make all the tubes (structural members). See the SolidWorks help for more info on how to do that and how to make custom tube properties. You can only make a structural member one continuous chain, so make multiple and where they meet up use the trim/extend weldment command to crate the joints. Just check out the help for weldmants, structural members, trim, etc and it's pretty easy to figure out.

[Jon U.]

thanks for the help. i'll try what you guys have suggested