Creating Swept Rods & Tubes in SOLIDWORKS 2016

Swept Feature Example

The SOLIDWORKS Sweep Feature has been enhanced for the SOLIDWORKS 2016 release. There is a new Circular Profile option to create a solid rod or hollow tube along a sketch line, edge, or curve directly on a model without having to sketch. This enhancement is available for Swept Boss/Base, Swept Cut, and Swept Surface features.

Enhanced SOLIDWORKS Sweep Feature

In this example I’ll create a swept rod onto a pool slide surface without creating a circular profile sketch:

1. To start I’ll select Insert > Boss/Base > Sweep.
2. Pick the new Circular profile option from the PropertyManager.

Sweep PropertyManager

3. Specify a size for the profile in this example I’ll enter 50mm.
4. Then pick a path for the sweep, in this example I’ll pick an edge of the slide surface, a preview of the sweep will be displayed:

Sweep Preview

5. Pick OK and the swept feature will be added to the model as shown in the example below:

Swept Feature

Learn more about the Sweep Feature

Attend our Advanced Part Modeling training course either in-class or online to learn more about using the SOLIDWORKS Sweep feature.