Tab and Slot

The Tab and Slot feature creates tabs on one body and slots (holes) on another body to interlock the two bodies. You can specify how the tabs and slots look and how they are distributed along the selected entities.

Tabs and slots make it easier to weld parts together and minimize the requirement to build complicated fixtures because you can interlock several sheet metal parts. This feature is available in all parts, not just sheet metal parts. You can use it in single bodies, multibodies, and parts in the context of an assembly.

After you select the tab edge in a sheet metal part, SOLIDWORKS® automatically selects a slot face that is normal to the edge to streamline the process. For non-sheet metal parts, you need to select a matching face for the slots. The edges must be linear, the faces can be planar or cylindrical, but the edges and faces do not have to touch. If the faces are cylindrical, there can be only one body. Multiple bodies are unsupported.

If you have nonintersecting regions of two bodies, the tab and slot feature applies only to the intersecting regions.

Tab and Slot feature Enlarged image