Page 320 - Mastering SolidWorks

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292 CHAPTER 9 PAtterning And Mirroring

To be able to visualize the seed without selecting the feature, some users manually change the
color of the seed.

Exploring the Geometry Pattern Option
The SolidWorks Help file says that the Geometry Pattern option in feature patterns results in a
faster pattern because it does not pattern the parametric relations. This claim is valid only when
there is an end condition on the patterned feature such that the feature will actually pattern the
end condition’s parametric behavior. The part shown in Figure 9.8 falls into this category. After
you turn on the Geometry Pattern option, the improved rebuild time goes from 0.30 to 0.11
seconds. Although a 60-percent reduction is significant, the most compelling argument for the
use of the Geometry Pattern has nothing to do with rebuild time. It is to avoid the effect of
patterning the start- and end-condition parametrics. It ignores all settings in the feature defini-
tion. In effect, Geometry Pattern has much of the same effect as patterning faces, but with some
differences.
Figure 9.8
A geometry Pattern test

geometry pattern OFF—
parametrics are patterned

geometry pattern ON—
parametrics not patterned

In fact, the Geometry Pattern option is intended to pattern existing geometry without the
parametric intelligence. Geometry Pattern was not designed to improve rebuild speed.
Under some conditions, Geometry Pattern does not work. One example is any time a pat-
terned face merges with a face that cannot be patterned. Figure 9.9 shows two patterns, one that
can use Geometry Pattern and one that cannot.
Figure 9.9
Merged faces