SolidWorks 2011 Assemblies Bible - Matt Lombard [162]
Creating an assembly
After you create the Split feature and save bodies out to new parts, the RMB menu displays the Create Assembly option, which puts all the parts from the bodies in the original part back together in the correct positions. Parts within the assemblies that you create this way are fixed in space with the same relationship to the assembly origin that they originally had as bodies to the part origin. Although this arrangement does not need mates to be properly positioned, it does not easily allow motion. To allow motion, you have to mate the parts using more traditional assembly methods.
Working with the Save Bodies feature
To access the Save Bodies feature, you can either right-click the bodies folders and select it from the RMB menu or choose Insert⇒Features⇒Save Bodies from the menu options. Save Bodies works by displaying path and filename information in the Resulting Bodies selection box of the Split PropertyManager. However, Save Bodies enables you to create an assembly right in the PropertyManager for the feature, rather than as a hidden feature with no record of the assembly name created by the feature. The PropertyManager for Save Bodies is shown in Figure 19.7.
FIGURE 19.7
The Save Bodies PropertyManager
Save Bodies is found in the lower half of the Split feature PropertyManager. You can use it to save bodies out to parts if the bodies already exist. Save Bodies also has the Create Assembly functionality built right into the PropertyManager.
In both the Split and Save Bodies PropertyManagers, the Consume cut bodies option means that if a body is saved out to a part, it is removed from the parent part. So if you saved all the bodies out to files, the parent part would be empty after the Split or Save Bodies feature in the FeatureManager.
Tutorial: Working with Master Model Techniques
Some of the concepts presented in this chapter may not make much sense until you apply them to a specific situation. The goal of this tutorial is to demonstrate the strengths and weaknesses of the various functions, as well as to give you some practical experience with the file management issues that you will encounter. In the following tutorials, you will use each of the four tools with the mouse multi-body part to become familiar with their different functions.
To work with the Insert Part function, follow these steps:
1. Make sure that you have access to the material from the DVD for Chapter 19. Create a new part, and insert the part named Mouse Base Part.sldprt. You can access Insert Part by choosing Insert⇒Part from the menu options. After issuing the command, SolidWorks attaches the part to your cursor and prompts you to specify a location for the inserted part in the PropertyManager. Drop the part at the Origin of the child part, or simply click the green check mark icon to accept the part. There is no need to use the Move dialog box; if it appears, then deselect the option that enables it. For this part, do not transfer any of the optional items, only the solid bodies.
2. After the feature is accepted and in the tree, right-click it and select List External Refs from the menu. The External References dialog box appears with the list of configurations displayed, as shown in Figure 19.8.
3. Select the Wheel configuration from the list.
4. Save and name the part file in such a way that it has the name of the technique used to create it (Insert Part) and the name of the body that it represents (such as Wheel).
FIGURE 19.8
The External References dialog box
Note
This tutorial has been prepared to flow smoothly. If you ever choose to do modeling in this way, then you will need to know what this preparation work entails. In the mouse master model, you should make a separate configuration for each body, and in that configuration create a Delete Body feature that deletes all the bodies except one. The alternative to this approach is to bring