Solid Modeling - Good Practices Part 1

[ndcadadmin]

Source:
Nancy Anderson-Semple, Technical Editor

Editor's Note: Still relevant today, these recommended practices were written over 10 years ago by Nancy Anderson-Semple, then Technical Editor for Computer Vision! Adhere to them wisely!

Use Blocks!
Save portions of your design as blocks and use instances of these blocks when the same geometry appears in several places in a model or when creating components and assembling them in an assembly drawing.

Rational: A block is treated as a single element during recalculation. You can manipulate block instances much more quickly than with the equivalent number of individual elements. They also require much less time when resolving constraints because the system does not have recalculate the constraints within each block every time you make a change.

Use Datum Planes to Split a Solid!
When splitting a solid, use datum planes instead of trimmed planar surfaces or lines.

Purpose: To ensure that you have an infinite cutting surface. When you use a datum plane, model alternations will never fail as they might if the model changes and the line or surface no longer cuts through the solid

Exception: If you must use a line or a surface, make sure that it cuts across the solid as needed by relating the extremities of the cutting entity to the solid being split. That way, if the solid changes, the cutting entities will also change with it.

Use Local Operations!
Whenever possible, use local operations rather than boolean operations.

Purpose: With Boolean operations, the system considers all faces of a solid or surface before executing. With local operations, the system considers only the face you select and its adjacent faces.

Exception: If the case is relatively complex, and you are unsure of how many faces will be involved, a Boolean operation may be more appropriate.