SolidWorks 2010 Bible

Chapter 26: Modeling Multi-bodies

Bridging between solids

Often when modeling, you “build what you know” and “fill in as you go.” An example of this

would be modeling a duct between end connections that are well defined. The duct in between is

defined only by the ends, which must exist first. Another example is a connecting rod where you

know the diameter of each end and the distance between the ends, and the connection between

them is of secondary importance.

Figure 26.13 shows a connecting rod made in this way. In this case, the bearing seat at one end

was created, and the other end was created by copying the body of the first one. From there, the

link between bearing seats was created, which joined the separate bodies together into a single

solid body.

FIGURE 26.13

Connecting disjoint bodies

This part contains some interesting features. First is the Thin Feature extrude that is used to make

the first bearing seat, which is combined with a Mid-plane extrude to make it symmetrical at the

same time. Then comes the Move/Copy Bodies feature, which copies the body in the same way that

the feature in previous examples has moved bodies. Next is the use of the Extrude From option,

which extrudes from a face, and then the use of the end condition Up To Next, which ends the fea-

ture neatly. The part also incorporates fillets that use faces and features to form the selection.

If you are not familiar with these options, I recommend that you open up the part from the

CD-ROM and have a look at it. It is a simple part that takes advantage of nice but simple produc-

tivity-enhancing options that have been available for some time in the SolidWorks software. The

part filename is Chapter 26 – Bridge.sldprt.

By default, Solid features have the Merge option selected, and they automatically combine with any

bodies that they touch. At the same time, they do not display errors if the Merge option is selected

but the new body does not touch any existing bodies.

Modeling for undetermined manufacturing methods

Sometimes you must start a design before you know exactly how the product will be manufac-

tured. This is an example of where the geometry of the finished product exists first and is then

broken up into manufacturable parts. The initial model, shown in the image at the top in Figure 26.14,