SolidWorks 2010 Bible

Part VI: Using Advanced Techniques

This is not a comprehensive guide to complex shape modeling, but it should serve as an introduc-

tion to each feature type and some of the details about how it operates.

Extruded Surface

The Extruded Surface works exactly like an extruded solid, except that the ends of the surface are
not capped. It includes all the same end conditions, draft, contour selection, sketch rules, and so
on that you are already familiar with. Figure 27.3 shows the PropertyManager for the Extruded
Surface.

FIGURE 27.3

The Extruded Surface PropertyManager

You can also create extruded surfaces from open sketches, and, in fact, that is probably a more

common situation than creating a surface with a closed sketch.

When two non-parallel sketch lines are joined end to end, the result of extruding the sketch is a

single surface body that is made of two faces with a hard edge between them. If the sketch lines

were disjointed, then the extrude would result in disjoint surface bodies. If the sketch lines were

again made end to end, but done in separate sketches, then the resulting surface bodies would be

separate bodies; the second body would not be automatically knit to the first one as happens with

solid features. This is an important quality of surfaces to keep in mind. If you create surfaces in dif-

ferent features and want them knitted into a single body, then you will have to do that manually.