When trying to add components to the idealized part in a FEA model, the following message is encountered: “A component cannot be added to Work Component”. In this article, we explain the reasons and the possible workaround
It could be the case that you already have an existing FEA model to which you want to add an additional component. However, when trying to use the “Add Component” command on the idealized part (Modeling application: Assemblies tab > Base group > Add Component), you encounter the warning message: “A component cannot be added to Work Component”.
This happens because idealized parts cannot be treated as assembly parts to which components are normally added. Idealized parts are CAD parts, which are intermediaries between the Master part and FEM files, that do not support this capability.
The workaround that you can follow is to use the “Add Component” command in the Master CAD part instead of the idealized part. After doing so, the polygon geometry should update in the FEM file, and a new polygon body should appear.