How to do Exploded View in SolidWorks?

In this tutorial, you will learn to make exploded views in SolidWorks assembly. This feature is solely available for Assembly files which contain multibody parts. When we want to clearly obtain information of how the pieces are put together and designed, this feature comes in handy. Now we will go through a sample part which is the Lathe Chuck assembly. We’ll see where the command resides, how to access it and how to utilize its various options. Here we go.

The command sits under the property manager tab where you have the model tree. Above it, there is a pole with two boxes extending. That is the Configuration Manager. Here sit all your configurations of your part and the exploded views as well. By configurations, it means that there can be multiple versions of your parts saved at a single time in a single part file. For example, one configuration could have a different diameter and exploded views while the other could have totally different. It depends how you use these commands to their fullest to gain maximum advantage.

Image 1: Configuration Manager

Explode Steps and Options:

Contents

Now once you do that, as you see below, the properties are visible.

The first one is explode step sequence. It is below the Explode Steps box which shows how much exploded steps there are. It also shows which components exploded in that certain step.
Under that box,we move on to options and parameters. The first option box is regular step and the next one is called radial step. The regular step option rotates the chosen component to any point in the space. It can rotate in three different axes as we will see in the next images.
The components you choose to move and explode are mentioned in the box below the Explode Step name. Assign your own name to this step. Its all your personal preference.
The next options are the reverse lateral direction, dimensioning how far you want the part to be.
The reverse radial direction option uses the circular lines to change direction from clockwise to anti-clockwise and vice versa.
How many degrees to rotate the part in whichever direction you choose.
Add step is for further continuation of the process. Once done with exploding a single component to a certain place, you can click add step and move forward to explode other components without having to use the command again and again.

Image 2:Explode Options and Parameters

Exploded Views (Regular Step):

The first step is to choose a body. Regular step option is a standard choice for a single body. Once you click the body, it changes to a blue color and selection of the body is visible in the Components box at no.3 from the above reference image. Right Click any arrow and push it outwards as the default direction you can pull is in the directions of the arrows. To change direction, simply click the Reverse Direction icon on no.4 in the above reference image.

Image 3: Translation along x,y and z axes

Now choose which direction you want to move the part along the x,y and z axes. The more you drag the mouse, the further you distance yourself from the origin.

Image 4: Constant right click to increase distance

You can also select whether to rotate the part in the axes as well now. Click on any of the three circular lines to rotate the part in a circle. You can set it up also by putting a value in the Rotation Angle at no.6 in the reference Image no. 2.

Image 5: Rotation option appears after moving component

Image 6: Rotation Scale after clicking highlighted blue circle in ZX direction

After moving the body to a desired location and flipping any axes, click add step to move onto the next option. Now move the other one as well.

Radial Step:

Now for the Radial Step, we use it for the Nuts and Bolts. We select all of the nuts and bolts and select the radial option and they all come out at with a fixed center as shown below. The system itself