SolidWorks 2010 Bible

Chapter 26: Modeling Multi-bodies

normal Feature Scope, because the Feature Scope is intended to select multiple bodies, and the Rib

feature requires a single body. There is a simple Selected Body selection box in the Rib

PropertyManager.

After you have selected the target body, deleting the new bodies that caused the problem in the

first place, thankfully, does not make the problem reoccur. However, if the body that the rib is

merged with is split using the Split feature, then that does cause a problem. As a result, the two

things that cause the Rib feature problem are rolling back and either adding bodies or splitting the

body to be ribbed.

Caution
As you encounter more specialized situations with multi-bodies and dependencies, you may notice more quirks
in the SolidWorks internal body management. The next section on managing bodies addresses some of these
quirks directly. n

Delete Solid/Surface feature

If you have created many ribs in a casting or plastic part, then it may be tedious to go through and
repair them all every time the body count changes. This sort of thing happens even if the other
body is just a reference body or an unused leftover.

In cases like this, you can use the Delete Solid/Surface feature. This is alternatively called Delete

Body, depending on where you look. Delete Solid/Surface removes the body from the body folder

(discussed in the section on body folders). This is a history-based delete, which means that before

the Delete Body feature in the tree, the body exists, and after the Delete Body feature in the tree,

the body does not exist. This feature has no effect on file size, because the data for the body must

still exist, and it has little, if any, effect on rebuild time. What is happening is that the body is still

there; you just cannot see it and have no access to it.

Delete Solid/Surface is often used for other purposes as well, primarily to clean up a model at the

end of the tree. The reasoning is that multiple bodies in a part confuse people. My recommenda-

tion here is to remove bodies if they are getting in the way, either for a hyper-sensitive feature like

the Rib feature or if they are causing visualization problems.

Creating multi-bodies with the Cut feature

A Cut feature may create multi-bodies, either intentionally or unintentionally. When it does hap-
pen, the Bodies to Keep dialog box appears, enabling you to select which bodies you intend to
keep. The Bodies to Keep dialog box is shown in Figure 26.17. This dialog box was formerly called
Resolve Ambiguity, which was not as descriptive as Bodies to Keep.

Notice that the Bodies to Keep settings are also configurable; therefore, different bodies can be kept

in different configurations, which is very useful.