Converting Assemblies into Multibody Parts

You can convert an entire assembly into a multibody part that is linked to the original assembly. Changes to the original assembly appear in the multibody part, while changes to the multibody part do not appear in the original assembly.

To convert an assembly into a multibody part:

  1. In an assembly, click Tools > Make Multibody Part.
    The software creates a temporary multibody part file. You then specify options for the final multibody part.
  2. In the PropertyManager, specify these options:

    Configuration

    If the assembly has multiple configurations, specify the configuration to transfer to the multibody part.

    Transfer

    Specify the bodies, reference geometry, and material to transfer to the multibody part. Solid bodies are included by default.

    Link

    The original assembly is linked to the multibody part by default. After you create the multibody part, to edit a component, in the multibody part, right-click the Make Multibody Part feature and click Edit in context to open the assembly and edit the component. To break the link and work independently in the original assembly, select Break link to original assembly.

    Visual Properties

    Select Propagate from original assembly to propagate color assignments from the components of the original assembly to the multibody part, including colors assigned to the parts, bodies, features, and faces.

  3. Click .
    The multibody part opens in the graphics area and contains the items you transferred. Under the Make Multibody Part feature, the tool groups the entities into folders that show the number of instances.

    The default multibody part name uses the original file name but you can rename it. All the bodies in the multibody part inherit their names from the assembly. They also match the position of the parts relative to the origin in the parent assembly.
  4. Optional: To edit the Make Multibody Part feature, in the multibody part, right-click the feature and click Edit Feature.
  5. Optional: To edit an assembly component, in the multibody part, right-click the Make Multibody Part feature and click Edit in Context to open the original assembly where you can edit components in context.