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Consolidated Parts: These are included in the optimisation. They are the starting point for the initial Bounding Box Design Space for the optimisation.
Excluded Volumes: These volumes are not part of the optimisation but their geometry and place in the assembly need to be considered as void spaces in the final Design Space. It is also possible that some Access Regions as well as Clearance Regions need to be considered for these volumes.
Retained Volumes: A third group of components are not only place holders but they experience boundary conditions or boundary conditions are passed through these parts. They can be made of a different material than the Design Space. Retained Volumes should always be connected via Non-Design Spaces (including Machining Allowances) an Interface to the Design Space.
You can sort all of the parts of the assembly to these 3 different types of geometries and this is the start of the Design Space Creation Workflow for Part Consolidation.
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