Defeaturing

What the operation changes#

SOLIDWORKS Design Help 2026 describes two methods. Simplify Geometry removes selected components and details, while Silhouette creates a simplified part from component and body outlines. A separate result can therefore range from an accurate exterior with chosen interfaces to a much coarser envelope.

Autodesk's Inventor 2026 API example includes options to remove internal bodies, remove bodies below a size threshold, and replace geometry with envelopes. Those rules make repeatable simplification possible, but a size rule cannot decide whether a small connector or datum is essential to the receiving task.

Defeatured is not lightweight#

A lightweight component remains an assembly component with only part of its model data loaded. Defeaturing changes or replaces the derivative geometry itself. Hiding, suppressing, lightweight loading, and defeaturing can all make a screen feel less busy, but they produce different engineering evidence.

Limits#

Defeaturing can reduce design detail shared with another party. It does not make retained surfaces unmeasurable, guarantee that a shape cannot be reverse-engineered, or replace permissions and commercial controls.

Validate the derivative against a written interface list. Check units, datums, mounting geometry, envelopes, required mass properties, and exported metadata in the file that will actually be sent.