CHAPTER
Employing Master
Model Techniques
IN THIS CHAPTER
Applying Pull functionsApplying Push functionsWorking with master model
techniques tutorialI
n this book, the term master model is used to refer to a technique where
an entire assembly is laid out or has its major faces constructed in a sin-
gle part, and that part is then placed into other files from which the
individual parts are created. Master model techniques are usually used in sit-
uations that in-context design cannot deal with, or where in-context design
is cumbersome.
Master model techniques are a product of four separate features or func-
tions that have some similarities and some differences, and rely heavily on
the knowledge of parent/child concepts, multiple bodies, and surface func-
tions. The four features are Split, Save Bodies, Insert Part, and Insert Into
New Part. In turn, these four features can be categorized into Push and
Pull type functions.
As an example of a master model technique, consider the mouse model
shown in Figure 28.1, which should be familiar by now. The overall shape is
modeled as a single part, and is split into several bodies using multibody
methods. Then, using these master model techniques, the individual bodies
are used to create individual part files where detail features are added.
SolidWorks has four distinct features or functions that do essentially the
same thing with subtle but important differences. The functionality of the
four tools overlaps significantly, but none is an exact copy of another.
Understanding the concepts of parent and child documents is key to under-
standing the concepts behind master model techniques. A parent document
is always the driving document — the one that existed first — so changes to
the parent propagate down to the child. The child document is always
dependent upon the parent. In these master model schemes, it is not always
possible to find the child document from the parent, but you can always find
the parent from the child.