Take advantage of selected global and local settings, techniques, and tips that can lead to faster assemblies. Examine helpful settings in System Options and Document Properties. Understand how to work with large assembly FeatureManager design trees. Learn a few tips to speed up view manipulations.
This is an introduction to some of the assembly techniques that can further reduce the time required to open and edit your large assembly. Learn the advantages of using assembly techniques. Examine some details about each technique. Understand how the testing tool Assembly Visualization can help you find components that need to be simplified.
Compare opening an assembly using each of the three assembly modes: Resolved, Lightweight, and Large Design Review. Discover the differences between each mode. Examine the best use for each mode and how to use them. Understand the options when switching between modes.
Understand the characteristics of a large assembly, how SOLIDWORKS opens an assembly, and what can cause it to slow down. Also, a quick look at some possible solutions. Explore what makes a large assembly. Learn the sequence of steps SOLIDWORKS uses to open an assembly. Discover some common large assembly slowdowns.
Use both bottom-up and top-down assembly modeling design techniques to insert and modify components in an assembly. Insert components into an assembly using a bottom-up approach. Modify a component using a top-down approach. Create a new component using a top-down approach.
Move the components within a sub-assembly using flexible sub-assemblies. Modify the component properties of a sub-assembly to change it from rigid to flexible. Drag components of a flexible sub-assembly in the main assembly to observe their motion. Learn about the impact that flexible sub-assemblies have on overall assembly performance.
Insert features in an assembly that exist only in the assembly and not the individual part files. Add a Hole Wizard assembly feature. Create an assembly feature cut to act as a section view. Modify the feature scope to determine which parts are affected by the assembly feature.
Select components according to their position relative to assembly envelopes and hide, suppress, or delete the selected components. Utilize assembly envelopes as reference components that are ignored by bills of materials and mass property calculations. Convert components to assembly envelopes. Select components based on their position relative to an assembly envelope. Hide or show components selected using an assembly envelope.
A SpeedPak configuration improves performance of large assemblies by simplifying the assembly without losing its file references. Create SpeedPak configurations. Use SpeedPak configurations in higher level assemblies. Understand the benefits and limitations of using a SpeedPak configuration.
Create smart components by selecting components and features in a defining assembly. Then, insert smart components into an assembly to add the components and create the features. Create smart components in a defining assembly. Insert smart components into an assembly to create components and features. Select reference faces for the features of a smart component.
Add fasteners from the Toolbox library to the hole wizard holes and cylindrical cuts on selected faces or to an entire assembly. Add a sensor to monitor property values. Set up an alert to notify you if the property value is outside acceptable limits. Automatically add fasteners to an assembly. Edit the settings for the default fasteners. Edit existing fasteners. Add washers and nuts to secure fasteners.
Large Design Review mode offers faster performance and enhanced visual features while limiting access to details of constituent parts and subassemblies. Large Design Review mode is ideal for visual presentations, rough measurements, and section views. Open an assembly in Large Design Review mode. Review the available tools and features in Large Design Review mode. Explore the limitations of Large Design Review mode.
Use global variables and equations in assemblies to control dimensions of components or values of mates. Set dimension names. Define global variables. Add equations that link dimension values of one component to values in another component.
Animate an assembly from a first-person perspective. Create walkthrough animations. Position the camera throughout the animation sequence. Align the camera to a sketch path throughout the animation sequence. Save animations as AVI files.
Use the Assembly Visualization tool to display, sort, and select components by property. Navigate the assembly visualization pane to sort or group components. Change the color of components to improve visualization in the graphics area. Add custom columns to the assembly visualization pane. Export the information in the assembly visualization pane.
Model parts in the context of an assembly, using references to other components to complete the design. The design intent for new parts (sizes of features, placement of components in the assembly, etc.) comes from other components in the assembly. Build a virtual part in the context of an assembly by employing Top-Down assembly modeling techniques. Create features in the assembly context by referencing geometry in mating parts. Understand InPlace mates and external references. Identify external references in the FeatureManager design tree.
Add each of the six mechanical mate types to control the degrees of freedom of components when designing mechanisms. Mate a cylinder, plane, or point to a series of tangent faces with a cam follower mate. Limit the rotational movement between two components with a hinge mate. Move one component linearly to move another component rotationally with a rack and pinion mate. Add a pitch relation between the rotation of one component and the translation of another with a screw mate. Rotate two components relative to one another with a gear mate or a universal joint mate.
The linear coupler mate links the translation of one component to the translation of another component. The translation occurs along an axis you define relative to the assembly origin or a reference component. Select the faces and reference components to define a linear coupler mate. Set the ratio of motion of one component relative to another.
Constrain a point or a vertex of a component to a path in an assembly. Then, control the pitch, yaw, and roll of the component as it moves along the path. Specify the entities for a path mate. Edit a path mate to control pitch, yaw, and roll of the component.
Constrain two similar entities (points, edges, faces, etc) to be symmetric about a plane or planar face. A symmetry mate does not force the components to be symmetric, just the entities you select. Understand the acceptable selections for a symmetry mate. Constrain two planar faces to be symmetric about a reference plane.
