Creating Exploded Views

When the exploded view mode is active, you can move parts of a 3D-CAD model along coordinate axes for visualization purposes only. You can create exploded views of single or multiple bodies.

In an exploded view you can:
  • Gain better understanding of a complex model by moving outer parts and exposing inner parts.
  • Select entities from their exploded location and perform 3D-CAD operations on the selections.
  • Explode all the bodies to identify and operate on bodies that lie internally.
  • Switch back to normal view while 3D-CAD stores the exploded positions.
In an exploded model view:
  • You cannot display or select vertices.
  • Some features are disabled such as sketch, 3D sketch, freeform surface modeling, and some operations in the repair tools.
  • The transformation of bodies is not recorded in macros.
To create an exploded view:
  1. In the toolbar at the top of the 3D-CAD View scene, click (Explode Model View).
  2. In the 3D-CAD View scene, select one or more parts. (Use CTRL-click for selecting multiple parts).
    After selecting one or more parts, a triad appears in the scene.

  3. To move the selected component, click and hold one of the three direction arrows on the triad. While holding the mouse button, you can move the selected entity along any of the three axes, and can also move them several times in different directions.
  4. To rotate the view around the selected component, click and hold the ball at the origin of the triad and move the mouse left or right.
  5. Continue to select and move as many parts as you want.
    The following screenshot gives an example of an exploded view.

To explode all bodies:
  1. In the toolbar at the top of the 3D-CAD View scene, click (Explode Model View) and select (Explode All Bodies).
    The model explodes such that each body is twice its original distance from the centroid of the model in each global coordinate direction (X, Y and Z).
  2. In the Explode Scaling dialog, which appears automatically, use the sliders to set the scale factor used to update the distance of each body from the model centroid in the chosen coordinate direction.

    To set the same scale factor in all directions, activate Explode all dimensions uniformly.

  3. To explode individual bodies manually, select and drag them in the scene. If you select theExplode All Bodies option, any body that was manually translated returns to the standard exploded position.
    The following screenshot gives an example of an exploded view.


    1. To reset the exploded view for the whole model, right-click in the 3D-CAD View scene and select Restore > Exploded View.
    2. To reset the exploded view for chosen parts only, in the graphics window, right-click on an exploded part and select Un Explode.
    3. To cancel an exploded view, click (Explode Model View) and select (Cancel Exploded View). This resets the exploded scaling, returns all bodies to their original position, and dismisses the exploded scaling dialog.