Flexible Components

You can define a part component as flexible to drive the geometry of flexible components by the assembly geometry.

For example, you model a spring in the context of an assembly where the length of the spring is driven by an external reference in the assembly. You insert the spring into a second assembly where the spring appears with an out-of-context reference. You can use the Make Part Flexible tool to remap the out-of-context reference to the second assembly. As a result, the spring is driven by the second assembly without affecting the nominal length of the spring.

You can use Make Part Flexible under the following conditions:

• A single part is selected.
• A part is in the top level of the active assembly.
• A part has external references defined in the context of an assembly that is not the active assembly.
  The external reference must be one of the following entity types:

  Arc or cylindrical edges	Partial cylindrical faces	Sketch arcs or circles
  Axes	Planar faces	Sketch lines (linear)
  Cylindrical faces	Planes	Sketch points
  Linear edges	Reference points	Vertices

The custom and configuration-specific properties of the flexible component are the same as these properties in the component's nominal state. Properties show the value from the nominal state. Select Use mass property from rigid state to apply the mass properties of the component in its rigid state to the activated flexible component.

The flexible component updates dynamically when an external reference changes.

In the FeatureManager design tree, indicates flexible components.

To change a component from flexible to rigid, select the part and click Make Part Rigid in the context menu. The remapped external references are deleted and the component returns to its nominal state.

See an example of creating a flexible component (external link to www.solidworks.com).