Pipe Valve with SolidWorks Flow Xpress
For this post I decided to make a pipe valve. One of the reasons for doing this was because I wanted to use FloExpress through the pipe. You can see the results in the video above or also by opening the file at the bottom. The end caps are there because the part needs to be completely sealed to use FlowExpress. I used screw mates on most of the parts but I suppressed them so that everything wouldn’t move when trying to unscrew the handle. Take a look at the handle, I was really happy with how it came out because it looks like a real handle. I used three different circular patterns to create it. All the threads I created using a helix, a profile and the sweep feature. This model was created in SolidWorks 2011; if you have an earlier version of SolidWorks you can go here to 3D Content Central to download the model for your version. I hope you enjoy.
Ian Jutras
Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Mechanical Engineering 2013