Certified SOLIDWORKS Professional Advanced
Sheet Metal Guide
Made by:
Moosa Jilani (https://www.linkedin.com/in/moosa-jilani-2331a7178)
Muhammad Shahzaib Khan (https://www.linkedin.com/in/shahzeb023)
About the Exam
The Certified SOLIDWORKS Professional Advanced: Sheet Metal exam is one of five advanced
professional exams offered by SOLIDWORKS. Passing four of these exams is required to gain
access to the Certified SOLIDWORKS Expert Exam.
The exam consists of 15 questions and is worth a total of 145 points. 100 points are required to
pass the examination. The total duration of the exam is 90 minutes.
Topics that may be assessed in the exam include:
• Linear Edge Flange
• Curved Edge Flange
• Miter Flange
• Closed Corner
• Gauge Tables
• Bending Calculation Options
• Bend Allowance
• Bend Deduction
• K-Factor
• Hem
• Jog
• Sketched Bend
• Forming Tool
• Unfold and Fold
• Flatten
• Convert to Sheet Metal Feature
• Hem Improvements
• Sheet Metal Cut List Properties
Exam Format
The following provided to you is a possible format for the CSWPA-SM exam. Regardless, it is
best to be well versed in all the topics that this exam can possibly cover.
Part A
Question 1: Create Simple Sheet Metal part and evaluate mass
Question 2: Close corners of the part and evaluate mass
Question 3: Flatten part and measure distance X as shown
Question 4: Add flange on one edge and add any required bends and evaluate the mass
Question 5: Flatten part and measure distance X as shown
Question 6: Add another flange to edge as shown and evaluate the mass
Question 7: Flatten part and measure distance X as shown
Note: In the above parts, linked variables may be different.
Part B
Question 8: Download part and convert to sheet metal and evaluate the mass
Question 9: Flatten part and evaluate bounding box area
Question 10: Unflatten part, add hem and evaluate mass.
Part C
Question 11: Open Downloaded part. Confirm parameters and evaluate mass
Question 12: Add downloaded gauge table. Change parameters and evaluate mass
Question 13: Flatten part and measure the bounding length.
Part D
Question 14: Save downloaded forming tool in proper folder. Open downloaded part and add the
forming tool then evaluate center of mass.
Question 15: Add linear pattern for forming tool as shown and evaluate center of mass
Creating Sheet Metal Base
Base Flange/Tab
The Base Flange/Tab feature is used to create a sheet metal part or add material to an existing sheet
metal part.
The following menu will appear once you select the Base Flange/Tab feature
The questions in the examination will provide you with information such as the sheet metal
thickness and the inner bend radius. According to the question, enter the necessary information
and click the check mark to close the Base Flange menu.
After the menu is closed, a feature called Sheet-Metal will appear on the feature tree.
The feature Sheet-Metal allows you to control the settings for all the bodies, while Sheet-Metal1
is used to control the settings for the body you have just created.
You will be able to adjust the inner bend radius for all bodies by right-clicking the Sheet-Metal
option and selecting the Edit Feature command.
Convert to Sheet Metal
The Conver to Sheet Metal feature is used to convert a solid or surface into a sheet metal part,
allowing you to apply all sheet metal features to it.
The following part is 180x100mm box that has been extruded 20mm using the extrude boss base
feature.
After going to the sheet metal tab and selecting the convert to sheet metal feature, a menu will
appear. Firstly, you will be asked to select a fixed entity. For this example, the bottom face of a
the part was chosen. You will then enter the sheet metal parameters such as the sheet metal
thickness and the inner bend radius. In this case, the sheet metal thickness was 1.2mm and the
inner bend radius was 1mm.
You will then be asked to select the bend edges. For this, you will select the edges connected to
the bottom face.
You will then set the corner defaults. You can select between 3 options: open butt, overlap, and
underlap. Following this, you will provide values for the gap for all the rips and the overlap ratio
for all the rips.
You will also be able to adjust the K-factor in accordance with the question.
Clicking the check mark would complete the conversion of the 3D part into sheet metal.
Lofted Bend
The lofted bend uses a loft to create a sheet metal part between two open-profile sketches. In the
following example, two sketches were used, one in the top place and the other 50mm above the
top plane. The sketch in the top place was a square of length 180mm and the sketch in Plane1 was
a square of length 250mm.
The requirement of creating a lofted bend is that both sketches should contain an open contour. To
make the open contour, a centerline was sketched from the origin to the left edge of the square.
Using the offset entities command, this line was sketched bi-directionally with a gap of 1mm.
Following this, the trim entities command was used to cut the sketch open. This was repeated for
the Sketch in Plane 1.
After selecting lofted bends, you will be asked to enter the profiles for which the loft will be
created. After selecting the sketches, you will enter the sheet metal thickness and inner bend radius
and click the check mark to create the lofted bend.
Edge Flange
To create an edge flange, you would first have to select an edge of the base flange and provide
sheet metal parameters. You will also have to enter the flange length and the flange position. The
flange position could be material inside, material outside, bend outside, bend from virtual sharp,
and tangent to bend.
Creating edge joints that would lead to another variable called the gap distance being introduced.
Miter Flange
A miter flange allows you to create a sketch and then implement it along the edges of the base
flange. This allows more complex edge flanges to be created.
The miter flange will ask you to select an edge and then you will be required to create a sketch of
the flange that you wish to make.
Hem
A hem is used to curl the edges of a sheet metal part. Selecting the hem option would lead you to
a menu. You would first be required to enter the edge on which you want to create the hem.
By selecting the edit hem width, you adjust the length of your hem. You can use smart dimension
properties to adjust the distance of the hem from the corner.
You can also adjust hem size by providing values for the hem length and the hem gap distance.
You can also decide what type of hem to use. You can choose between closed, open, tear drop, and
rolled.
Jog
The jog command adds two bends from a sketched line in a sheet metal part. In the following
example, a line has been added 40mm from the bottom edge of a 150mm square base flange.
After selecting the jog feature, you will have to select the fixed face. Selecting the larger face
would lead to the bends being added to the smaller side and vice versa.
The jog position can also be changed. You have options between jog centerline, material inside,
material outside, and bend outside. You can also adjust the jog angle as well.
Sketched Bend
The sketched bend adds a bend from a selected sketch in a sheet metal part. In the following
example, a sketch was added to the top left part of the base flange. You will then select the sketch
in the sketched bend menu. You will also have to provide the bend angle and bend position. The
bend position are the same as in the jog. The bend angle in this case is 60 degrees.
Corners
The corners feature creates various corner treatments on a sheet metal part. You have the options
of creating a closed corner, welded corner, breaking or trimming a corner, and providing corner
relief.
Closed Corner
Creating an edge flange leaves a gap at the corners. The closed corner feature is used to fill in this
gap. You will have to select which face to extend and SOLIDWORKS will automatically select
the face to match. You will have to provide the gap distance and the type of closed corner. There
are three corner types: butt, overlap, and underlap. In the example provided below, a butt corner
type was used.
Welded Corner
A welded corner is used to fill in the gap between two edge flanges entirely. You will have to select
the face from where the welded corner will begin and SOLIDWORKS will automatically detect
the stopping point showing you a preview of the corner.
Corner Break
A corner break allows you to trim part of the corner of. The break can either be a chamfer or a
fillet. For either case, you will have to provide the distance or the radius for the trim.
Corner Relief
Corner relief allows you to fill in a corner when the gap between the corners is too large. You will
have to select the corner to apply the corner relief. There are 5 relief options: rectangular, circle,
tear, obround, and constant width.
Forming Tool
The forming tool is a feature that uses parts that act as dies to bend, stretch or otherwise form sheet
metal. Forming tools include embosses, extruded flanges, lances, louvers, and ribs.
The forming tools can be found in the design library in SOLIDWORKS.
There is also the possibility that the design library is not being shown. To solve this issue we go
into the settings. In the settings, we select the file location option. This should open up the
following menu.
You will select the design library from the list of options under the heading “Show folders for:”.
Select the add option and go to the address C:\ProgramData\SOLIDWORKS\SOLIDWORKS
2024\design library. In this case, SOLIDWORKS 2024 is being used. This will display the design
library in the design library tree.
Making and saving a Form Tool
To create a form tool, firstly a part has to be made. In the following example, a lego brick has been
made. The rectangular protrusion will be the stopping face and the circular faces to be removed.
We then go into the Sheet Metal tab and open the forming tool option. This will open up a menu,
where we will have to select the stopping face and faces to remove.
Now, this part will be a saves as a form tool. To do this, we go into the file heading, select save as
and choose form tool from the list.
The file should be saved with the form tool folder in the design library. Close the part and open a
new part in SOLIDWORKS.
Using the Created Form Tool.
To use the form tool, first we will create a base flange/tab. In this case, a square of length 150mm
is used with thickness of 1.2mm. To apply the forming tool, open up the design library tree. In the
design library option, select the form tool folder. In the folder, you will find the part that we had
just saved as the form tool.
To apply the form tool, drag the created form tool onto the base flange. After setting the position
of the form tool, click the check mark to see the results.
Fold and Unfold
The unfold command flattens selected bends in a sheet metal part. Similarly, the fold command
folds selected bends in a sheet metal part.
To unfold a part, simply, select a face that will remain fixed and select the bends that will be
straightened.
The benefit of using the unfold and fold command is that the resulting part can be edited. This is
the major difference between these commands and the flatten command. The unfolded part can
have certain features removed and then be folded again. The procedure for folding the part is the
same as the unfold command.
Flatten
The flatten command completely flattens the sheet metal part. The resultant part can not be edited,
but may be used for evaluating certain lengths that may be asked in the examination.
Bending Allowances
Bending allowances are used to determine the length of the bends in a part when the flatten
command is used. There are 5 types of bend allowances: bend table, k-factor, bend allowance,
bend deduction, and bend calculation.
The type of bend allowance along with the value for it will be provided in the question.
Gauge Table
A gauge table is a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet which enables you to choose an appropriate sheet
metal thickness based on the material and the gauge numbers. Gauge tables contain predefined
metal thickness and bending details that go along with them.
The option to add a gauge table is available in the Sheet Metal option. After selecting the check
mark for the gauge table, you have the option of browsing for a gauge table or choosing from a list
or provided tables.
In the case, the SAMPLE TABLE – ALUMINIUM – METRIC UNITS.XLSX is being used.
As a result, the sheet metal parameters, specifically the thickness is replaced by gauge numbers.
These numbers go from Gauge 10 to Gauge 26, increasing in increments of 2. The resulting
thickness goes from 3mm at Gauge 10 to 0.5mm at Gauge 26.
Similarly, the bend radius changes for each gauge number. It provides a different list of suitable
radii for each Gauge number. The list of inner bend radii are provided for Gauge 10 and Gauge 26.
These gauge tables can be found in the SOLIDWORKS CORP folder. They are located at the
following address
C:\Program Files\SOLIDWORKS Corp\SOLIDWORKS\lang\english\Sheet Metal Gauge
Tables
This is what the SAMPLE TABLE – ALUMINIUM – METRIC UNITS.XLSX spreadsheet
looks like.
Bounding Box Area and other features
Some questions in the CSWPA-SM exam require you to evaluate the bounding box area. To do
this, we go into the cut list section of the design tree.
We right click the Sheet<1>(1). From the cut list, select the properties option. This opens up a tab
in which there are several values for the part, including the bounding box area.
Sample Questions:
1. Design this part in SOLIDWORKS using Sheet Metal features.
Unit System: MMGS
Decimal Places: 2, Part Origin: Arbitrary
Material: Aluminum 1060 Alloy
Sheet Metal Thickness: 1.2mm
Inner Bend Radius: 1mm
Trim Side Bend: ON (if applicable)
A=180
B=100
C=50
D=15
Evaluate the mass of the part in grams
2. Update the parameters of the initial part and evaluate the mass in grams.
Unit System: MMGS
Decimal Places: 2, Part Origin: Arbitrary
Material: Aluminum 1060 Alloy
Sheet Metal Thickness: 1.2mm
Inner Bend Radius: 1mm
Trim Side Bend: ON (if applicable)
A=200
B=110
C=40
D=18
3. Update the parameters of the initial part. Flatten the part and evaluate the distance X in mm.
Unit System: MMGS
Decimal Places: 2, Part Origin: Arbitrary
Material: Aluminum 1060 Alloy
Sheet Metal Thickness: 1.2mm
Inner Bend Radius: 1mm
Trim Side Bend: ON (if applicable)
A=180
B=100
C=50
D=15
Apply a K-Factor of 0.4 to the part.
4. Update the parameters of the initial part. Flatten and evaluate the distance X in mm.
Unit System: MMGS
Decimal Places: 2, Part Origin: Arbitrary
Material: Aluminum 1060 Alloy
Sheet Metal Thickness: 1.2mm
Inner Bend Radius: 1mm
Trim Side Bend: ON (if applicable)
A=200
B=110
C=40
D=18
Apply a K-Factor of 0.32
5. For the same dimensions in Question 4, evaluate the bounding box area of the part in mm^2.
6. Update the parameters of the initial part.
Unit System: MMGS
Decimal Places: 2, Part Origin: Arbitrary
Material: Aluminum 1060 Alloy
Sheet Metal Thickness: 1.2mm
Inner Bend Radius: 1mm
Hem Gap Distance: 1mm
Remove the round holes in the flanges of the part.
Create two symmetrical hems bent into the interior of the part as shown. Use the same parameters
given in Question 4.
Evaluate the mass of the part in grams.
Answers:
1. 125.60 grams ± 0.5
2. 133.37 grams ± 0.5
3. 195.85 mm ± 0.5
4. 185.55 mm ± 0.5
5. 42963.25 mm2 ± 100
6. 138.13 grams ± 0.5
