SolidWorks 2010 Bible

Part VI: Using Advanced Techniques

FIGURE 26.8

Splitting a part to perform a local operation

Shell feature

The Shell feature hollows out one solid body at a time. If there are multiple solid bodies, then you
must select one to be shelled. Any face of the solid that you select will be removed during the
shelling. You can select a body without selecting a face by using the small Solid Body selection box
under the larger Faces to Remove selection box in the PropertyManager. If you do not select any
faces to be removed, then the body will be hollowed out with no external indication that the part is
hollow unless you view it in section view, transparency view, or wireframe view. Single or multiple
faces can be removed. This feature works by offsetting the faces of the outside of the model, and
the feature may fail if this causes problems with the internal geometry.

The Multi-thickness Shell option enables you to select faces that will have a different thickness

from the overall shell thickness. This is one method that you can sometimes use to limit the scope

of the Shell feature to a certain area of a body, but it is somewhat limited. Faces with different

thicknesses cannot be tangent to one another.

Because the Shell feature only works on one body at a time, splitting a part into multiple bodies

can be an effective way to limit the scope of the feature. The part shown in Figure 26.9 has been

split in half, and one-half has been made transparent for visualization purposes; as a result, you

can see that the part is shelled on the bottom on one end and on the top on the other end. The

Shell feature has no option for doing this with existing geometry. The only ways that you can do

this are either through feature order or by using multi-bodies. You can find the part shown in

Figure 26.9 on the CD-ROM with the name Chapter 26 – LocalOps Shell.sldprt.

To shell the part this way with feature order, you create one block and shell it, and then create the

other block and shell that. In order for this technique to work, the second shell needs to be as big

as, or bigger than, the first shell. If it is smaller, then it will (or may) hollow out areas that are not

intended to be hollow.