DesignSpark Mechanical Online Help

Shelling a solid

Use the ShellSolidObject that encloses volume. A surface becomes a solid if it encloses volume. or part that is hollowed out from a selected face, leaving a shell of designated thickness. tool in the Insert ribbon group on the Design2D or 3D model that contains at least one top-level component. tab to remove one of the faces of a solid and create a shell of a specified thickness. You can then use the ShellSolidObject that encloses volume. A surface becomes a solid if it encloses volume. or part that is hollowed out from a selected face, leaving a shell of designated thickness. tool to remove other sides of the shell. DS Mechanical automatically creates an offset relationship between the sides of the solid for you.

You can also create a closedshell without removing a face.

Shelled solids can have chamfers and rounds, and the faces can be drafted. The chamfer or rounded edge will be created and maintained on both offset faces. A shelled solid with a chamfer is shown in cross-section below.

To create a shell

1. Click the  ShellSolidObject that encloses volume. A surface becomes a solid if it encloses volume. or part that is hollowed out from a selected face, leaving a shell of designated thickness. tool in the Create Insert ribbon group on the Design2D or 3D model that contains at least one top-level component. tab.

   Mouse over the solids in your design to highlight the faces that could be removed.

2. (Optional) Enter a value into the dimension field to change the thickness of the shell.

   Enter a negative number to create the shell thickness from the outside of the solid.

3. Select the face you want to remove.

   The face is removed and a shell is created. The baseline of the offset is shown in blue. If you did not change the thickness, the default thickness is set by the minor grid spacing.

4. (Optional) Continue clicking to remove additional faces.

To create a closed shell

1. Select the solid.

2. Click the ShellSolidObject that encloses volume. A surface becomes a solid if it encloses volume. or part that is hollowed out from a selected face, leaving a shell of designated thickness. tool.

   An internal shell is created.

To edit a shell

Right-click the shell to change its thickness.

Tool guides

The following tool guides help step you through the process. Use the Tab key to cycle through them. As soon as the tool guide switches, the cursor may change to reflect the active guide.

Examples

An open shell and a closed shell

Adding and changing a rounded edge on a shelled or offset part changes the inside faces.