SolidWorks® Surfacing and Complex Shape Modeling Bible

Chapter 8. Shelling

IN THIS CHAPTER

• Thinking about the Manufacturing Process

• Using Shelling Options

• Diagnosing Shell Problems

• Shelling Manually

• Tutorial

Shelling is simply the use of the Shell feature to hollow out a solid model and make a thin–walled part. Shelling on its own is not a complex shape creation function, but many, if not most, complex shapes are used in plastic parts, which generally are shelled. In addition, when shelling complex shapes, you are more likely to run into difficulties than when shelling prismatic parts.

Shelling is an inherently solid function. You cannot use the Shell feature on a surface body. Sometimes, however, surfaces are used to manually shell a solid as a workaround when the Shell feature simply won't do the job for whatever reason. Manual shelling is generally not something you want to undertake except as a last resort, but sometimes it is the only way. When the automated tools can't handle the task, it is nice to know that you are not completely stuck.

The Shell feature has many mundane uses, but in this chapter, I discuss more advanced functions and describe several techniques for using the Shell feature that may or may not be new to you. I can't take credit for inventing any of these techniques; they are the product of many individuals experimenting with many different parametric design tools over the course of decades.

Thinking about the Manufacturing Process

The Shell feature is most frequently associated with modeling injection–molded parts. However, ...