Sweep Solid

Use Sweep to carry a 2D sketch profile along a 3D path, generating complex geometry that follows curves and arbitrary trajectories. Sweep is ideal for creating pipes, rails, cable routes, handrails, and other features that follow non-linear paths.

Sketches

Select a closed sketch region as the sweep profile. A closed sketch encloses an area, and Zoo Design Studio exposes that filled area as a selectable region. For a solid sweep, select the region as the profile, not the individual sketch segments. Segments are selected for the path, not for the solid profile.

The selected region is carried along the path to create the solid volume. If the sweep starts in the wrong place or twists immediately, move the profile so it sits at the start of the guide path before creating the feature.

Path

Select the segment or segments that define the sweep trajectory. Path segments are not chained automatically: select each path segment one by one in the order the profile should travel. For the cleanest result, adjacent path segments should touch and be tangent to each other so the sweep transitions smoothly through corners and arcs.

Sectional

Enable this to keep the profile perpendicular to the path as it sweeps. Disable to maintain a fixed orientation relative to the world coordinate system.

Relative To

Controls the coordinate frame the sweep uses while the profile follows the path.

• sketchPlane keeps the profile oriented relative to the original sketch plane. This is useful when you want the profile to keep a stable orientation instead of rolling with the path.
• trajectoryCurve orients the profile relative to the path trajectory. This is useful when the profile should follow the path's local direction more closely.

If the preview looks rotated or rolled differently than expected, this is the first setting to compare.

Version

Chooses the sweep algorithm version. Leave this unset, or use 0, for the default algorithm. If the sweep looks twisted, pinched, inside-out, or otherwise wrong even though the profile and path selections are correct, try another version and compare the preview.

Tolerance

Controls the small-distance threshold used to decide whether path entities are coincident, coplanar, or intersecting. For normal modeling, leave this at its default value. Change it only when you are deliberately troubleshooting very small or nearly coincident geometry.

Start Tag and End Tag

Tag the start face (where the profile begins) or end face (where it finishes) to reference them later. This is mainly used for referencing faces from other objects or features, especially in code or scripts. In the usual point-and-click UI flow, you don't need to set these tags. This is mostly for advanced users who want precise control or automation.

Body Type

Choose whether to create a solid body (watertight volume) or a surface body (shell with no thickness). Most mechanical parts use solid body.

Parameter Reference

sketches: The selected sweep profile or profiles. In the UI, select a filled region for the solid profile, not its boundary segments.

path: The sweep trajectory. Select path segments one by one, or use a helix/path reference in code.

sectional: Breaks the sweep into sub-sweeps based on the path components.

tolerance: Sets the coincidence/intersection threshold for very small geometry checks. Usually leave this at the default.

relativeTo: Chooses whether orientation is relative to the sketchPlane or the trajectoryCurve.

tagStart: Names the start face for later reference.

tagEnd: Names the end face for later reference.

bodyType: Creates either a solid body or a surface body.

version: Chooses the sweep algorithm version. Use the default first, then compare versions if the result looks wrong.

Prefer to learn by watching?

If you want to find out more in a different way, check out our video walkthrough:

Are you interested in code?

Zoo Design Studio writes KCL behind the scenes. Here’s an example of a solid sweep in KCL: