SolidWorks® Surfacing and Complex Shape Modeling Bible

Chapter 13. Managing Bodies

IN THIS CHAPTER

• Organizing bodies

• Visualizing bodies

• Combining and moving bodies

• Deleting bodies

• Tutorial

Solids and surfaces alike make use of bodies in SolidWorks. With solids, bodies are an option, but with surfaces, they are almost unavoidable. Most new surface features that you create will create a new body rather than adding to an existing one. Body management techniques are important with solids, but doubly so when working with surfaces.

While bodies in parts are in some ways analogous to components in an assembly, available body management techniques are not as sophisticated as component management techniques in assemblies.

In addition to the questions about how you should handle bodies, there are some best–practice concerns, especially when it comes to working with multi–body solids. These can mostly be summed up by saying that multi–body solid modeling is not a replacement for assemblies.

Further, some features are hyper–sensitive to changes in the numbers of solid bodies, for example, the Rib feature. If a part has a single solid body, and a rib is made on the part, and then the part is rolled back and altered such that at the time of the Rib feature there are now two solid bodies, then the Rib feature will fail.

Organizing Bodies

Both solid and surface bodies are listed in the Bodies folders at the top of the FeatureManager. Prior to SolidWorks 2008, the Solid Bodies and Surface Bodies folders would appear or disappear as that type of body became available ...