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Assembly

Basic Concepts

• determine first component in the assembly
• determine position of first component in the assembly
• order of the parts inserted doesn't really matter
• point the part to the assembly origin to align to an origin
• watch what you mate to, so you don't have problems, if something gets suppressed later
• model top-down, bottom-up, or in-between
• subassembly configurations assist assembly configurations to create entirely different products easily
• at least one component in an assembly should be fixed or fully defined
• avoid showing detail and cosmetic features at the assembly level
• avoid mating to faces that may be suppressed in a configuration
• if part is created in place, then creates in-place mate tied to a face
• check to see if mate solves (warning) or not (error)
• cannot delete the active configuration, but can delete the default configuration
• set configurations to allow rotations.
• subassemblies are added to assemblies as rigid components. You can fm-RMB to solve them as flexible which allows their components to move individually
• the first part added to an assembly should be a part that will not move
• if the changes are minor and assembly is small, rebuild right away when things are changing. If there are multiple changes, wait till all of them have been completed.
• if the assembly is not needed, it should be deleted from disk
• each assembly can contain one or more display states
• store section view with model for use in drawing

Along the Way

• base features, datums, reference geometry are stable references, as they only have one parent
• use Plane to attach drive common features to. A plane only has a single parent, and is robust
• if features aren't known at the beginning, use a reference feature skeleton, simple robust features to define common features
• use skeletongs to create a sketch to control movement of the parts using intelligence but little overhead
• create a simplified configuration as a standard (for autoloading later)
• define the major functional surfaces
• often use top-down assembly during design phase
• want to break the links before the parts are sent to manufacturing
• if you want to use equations in assemblies, keep in mind that you have to use the dimensions for the equations.
• dissolving a subassembly into an assembly will keep the file.
• leave out excessive mates
• when creating an assembly feature (such as a cut, or hole) you can set the feature scope to determine what gets affected by the feature
• use the SmartMate button to combine move and mate capabilities in the assembly
• understand difference between solving as rigid, solving as flexible
• when mirroring, think if you need a mirrored part. once mirrored, can independently add to the part.
• use RMB>Replace Mate Entities to replace references in a mate
• if an subassembly is used multiple times and should be displayed in multiple positions, create and set configurations for each, set them subassembly to be flexible. You can then move them independently.
• use an assembly feature (Extrude>Cut) to create a section view. Can create a section configuration.
• use SaveAs to replace components in an assembly. If the assembly is open at the same time, all instances will be replaced without mate errors.
• use Display States to control the visibility and appearance of components in an assembly
• component patterns, properly used, eliminate the need for several mates
• use Assembly Layouts to reduce the amount of parent/child relationships established
• mating to planes instead of faces has advantages as you can mate to nonplanar parts. Planes also won't change as easily as parts.
• temporarily fix a mated part to resolve conflicts.
• use an assembly cut to create complicated section views. Use Feature Scope to limit what components are cut.
• limit Auto Explode to small assemblies (maybe a half dozen parts). Manually explode anything bigger than that.

Techniques

• reorder hardware components so they are grouped together (flat head screw, washer, nut)
• vendor supplied parts are often relatively simple representations of the shape and size, not the full detailed model
• mate between read-only parts in an assembly, because the mate is stored in the assembly
• not everything needs to be fully constrained. spinning bolts may be ok
• do not delete a broken mate. Suppress it, fix then, then unsuppressed.
• learn how to use design tables
• create Smart Components that bring features and components into the assembly upon insertion
• use reference geometry to group features together. Children of the reference geometry (e.g. a plane) will be suppressed if the plane is suppressed
• use both Bottom-Up and Top-Down approaches when constructing assemblies. Use B-U for items known, use T-D when you need to reference existing geometry to build a part.
• use Join to combine an assembly into a single part. Access via Insert>Component>New Part, then select the parts, Insert>Features>Join.

last update: 23.Dec 2009