Chapter 26: Modeling Multi-bodies
Renaming bodies
Notice that the bodies that you see in the folders have been named for the last feature that touched
a given body. That naming scheme is as good as any, except that it means that the body keeps
changing names. If you deliberately rename a body, it will retain the name through future changes.
You should follow the same rules of thumb for naming bodies as you do for naming features. It is
not necessary to rename every body, but if you will use one body frequently and need to select it
from the FeatureManager, renaming it is very useful.
Using multiple Bodies with Sheet Metal,
Weldments, and Molds
Various types of special SolidWorks documents require that you work with multi-body data. Those
are sheet metal, weldments, and molds. Sheet metal and Weldments are SolidWorks files with spe-
cial properties, and the molds are simply created from a separate set of specialized Mold Tools.
Introducing multi-body functionality in Weldments
Weldments are a special type of SolidWorks document that require the use of multiple bodies. The
Weldment tools are covered in detail in Chapter 31, but I mention them here because they fall
under the topic of multiple bodies. Each structural member in a weldment frame is created as a
separate solid body. So if you are getting involved in using the Weldment tools in SolidWorks, you
will need to also master the multi-body tools.
Introducing multi-body functionality in sheet metal
New in SolidWorks 2010 is the capability to have multiple bodies in sheet metal parts, and put
sheet metal parts into weldments. Sheet metal components are frequently used in welded frames,
so SolidWorks added the multi-body functionality to sheet metal. Sheet metal is covered in
Chapter 29, and the details of multi-body modeling as it relates to sheet metal are covered there.
Again, I include the multi-body capabilities of sheet metal in this chapter as an introduction to the
idea.
Introducing multi-body functionality in molds
Creating mold geometry using SolidWorks Mold Tools is another multi-body function. Other mold
creation software that works within SolidWorks uses assemblies to do this, but SolidWorks has
chosen to use bodies. You can also do the same kind of work without using the specialized tools if
you choose, and can even work exclusively in solids or in a hybrid solid and surface workflow.
Unless you choose to create geometry for various types of molding or casting manufacturing meth-
ods using assemblies, you are probably going to need to do it using multi-body parts. SolidWorks
Mold Tools are discussed briefly in Chapter 32.