85771707 Ug Nx Workbook Student Manual Design Applications of Unigraphics
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UNIGRAPHICS
DESIGN APPLICATIONS USING UNIGRAPHICS STUDENT MANUAL September 2002 MT10055 - Unigraphics NX
EDS Inc.
Proprietary & Restricted Rights Notices
Copyright Proprietary right of Unigraphics Solutions Inc., its subcontractors, or its suppliers are included in this software, in the data, documentation, or firmware related thereto, and in information disclosed therein. Neither this software, regardless of the form in which it exists, nor such data, information, or firmware may be used or disclosed to others for any purpose except as specifically authorized in writing by Unigraphics Solutions Inc. Recipient by accepting this document or utilizing this software agrees that neither this document nor the information disclosed herein nor any part thereof shall be reproduced or transferred to other documents or used or disclosed to others for manufacturing or any other purpose except as specifically authorized in writing by Unigraphics Solutions Inc. 2002 Electronic Data Systems Corporation. All rights reserved. Restricted Rights Legend The commercial computer software and related documentation are provided with restricted rights. Use, duplication or disclosure by the U.S. Government is subject to the protections and restrictions as set forth in the Unigraphics Solutions Inc. commercial license for the software and/or documentation as prescribed in DOD FAR 227-7202-3(a), or for Civilian Agencies, in FAR 27.404(b)(2)(i), and any successor or similar regulation, as applicable. Unigraphics Solutions Inc., 10824 Hope Street, Cypress, CA 90630. Warranties and Liabilities All warranties and limitations thereof given by Unigraphics Solutions Inc. are set forth in the license agreement under which the software and/or documentation were provided. Nothing contained within or implied by the language of this document shall be considered to be a modification of such warranties. The information and the software that are the subject of this document are subject to change without notice and should not be considered commitments by Unigraphics Solutions Inc.. Unigraphics Solutions Inc. assumes no responsibility for any errors that may be contained within this document. The software discussed within this document is furnished under separate license agreement and is subject to use only in accordance with the licensing terms and conditions contained therein. Trademarks EDS, the EDS logo, UNIGRAPHICS SOLUTIONS, UNIGRAPHICS, GRIP, PARASOLID, UG, UG/..., UG SOLUTIONS, iMAN are trademarks or registered trademarks of Electronic Data Systems Corporation or its subsidiaries. All other logos or trademarks used herein are the property of their respective owners.
Design Applications Using Unigraphics Student Manual Publication History: Version 15.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Version 16.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Version 17.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Version 18.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Unigraphics NX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
February 1999 January 2000 November 2000 August 2001 September 2002
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Course Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Course Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Intended Audience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Course Objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Prerequisites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . How to Use This Manual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Classroom System Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Class Standards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . About Part File Naming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Class Part File Naming . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Seed Part . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Expressions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Colors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Unigraphics Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Activity 1 - Toolbars in Gateway Application . . . . . . . . . . Activity 2 - Toolbars in Modeling Application . . . . . . . . .
-1 -1 -1 -1 -2 -2 -4 -5 -5 -5 -6 -7 -7 -8 -10 -17
Constraining Sketches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sketch Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DegreeĆofĆFreedom Arrows (DOF) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Constraining Sketches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Design Intent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Sketch Constraints Tool Bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Creating Dimensional Constraints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Text Height . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dimensional Constraint Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Activity 1 - Taking Control of the Angular Adjustment . . Editing Dimensional Constraints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Delay Evaluation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Evaluate Sketch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Update Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Activity 2 - Editing the Adjustment Angle . . . . . . . . . . . . . Creating Geometric Constraints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Displaying Constraint Symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Show/Remove Constraints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Constraint Interrogation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
1-1 1-2 1-2 1-4 1-4 1-4 1-4 1-7 1-7 1-11 1-14 1-15 1-15 1-15 1-16 1-19 1-20 1-23 1-24
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Constraint Categories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Constraint Listing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Listing Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Removing Constraints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Undo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dragging Geometry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Constraint Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Activity 3 - Adding Geometric Constraints to the Project Add Existing Curves to a Sketch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Automatic Constraint Creation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Activity 4 - Adding Objects to a Sketch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Activity 5 - Auto Creating Geometric Constraints . . . . . . Activity 6 - Applying Design Intent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Design Intent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Convert To/From Reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Activity 7 - Constraining Tangent Curves . . . . . . . . . . . . . Design Intent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Design Change . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Another Design Change . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Activity 8 - Constraining the Perimeter of a Sketch . . . . Activity 9 - Controlling Heat Transfer in a Cooling Pipe
1-24 1-25 1-25 1-25 1-26 1-26 1-26 1-26 1-27 1-28 1-33 1-34 1-36 1-43 1-47 1-47 1-48 1-49 1-49 1-52 1-53 1-56 1-60
Constraint Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Alternate Solution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Activity 1 - Alternate Solution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Drag . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Activity 2 - Dragging Sketch Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Placing sketches where they are needed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Resolving DOFs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Activity 3 - Creating and Positioning a Sketch . . . . . . . . . Design Intent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Activity 4 - Positioning a Sketch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Activity 5 - Using Positioning Dimensions . . . . . . . . . . . . Reattaching the sketch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Reordering the sketch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Activity 6 - Reattaching a Sketch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Activity 7 - Moving Sketches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mirroring in a Sketch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Activity 8 - Mirroring Sketch Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2-1 2-2 2-4 2-10 2-14 2-23 2-23 2-24 2-24 2-31 2-37 2-46 2-47 2-48 2-50 2-64 2-65
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Additional Sketching Techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-1 Edit Defining String . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-2 Deleting or Suppressing Sketches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-4 Activity 1 - Edit Defining String . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-5 Activity 2 - Suppressing and Deleting Sketches . . . . . . . . 3-10 Animate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-12 Activity 3 - Animating Sketch Dimensions . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-13 Expressions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Expressions Dialog Box Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . How to use Cut, Copy, and Paste . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Calculator Capabilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Comments In Expressions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Expression Operators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Other Expressions Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . List By . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Delete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Rename . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Activity 1 - Working with Expressions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . If (then) Else or Conditional Expressions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Suppression by Expression . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Suppress by Expression Dialog Box Options . . . . . . . . . . . Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Activity 2 - Creating Conditional Expressions . . . . . . . . . Design Intent Change . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Geometric Expressions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Selection Steps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Editing Geometric Expressions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Activity 3 - Applying a Geometric Expression . . . . . . . . .
4-1 4-2 4-3 4-3 4-4 4-4 4-5 4-5 4-5 4-6 4-6 4-6 4-7 4-10 4-11 4-12 4-12 4-13 4-13 4-18 4-18 4-19 4-20 4-20 4-21
Duplicating Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-1 Mirror Body . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-2 Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-3 Activity 1 - Rectangle Instance Arrays & Mirrored Body 5-4 Mirror Feature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-9 Selection Steps: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-10 Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-11 Activity 2 - Creating a Mirror Feature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-12 EDS All Rights Reserved
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Copy/Paste Feature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Copy Feature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Paste . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Expression Transfer Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Parent Transfer Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Other Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Considerations when using the Copy/Paste Feature . . . . . Activity 3 - Applying the Copy / Paste Feature . . . . . . . . . Activity 4 - Copying a Sketch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5-17 5-17 5-17 5-18 5-18 5-19 5-19 5-20 5-24
Assembly Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Assemblies Application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Assemblies Pulldown Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Assemblies Toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Assembly Navigator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Opening the Assembly Navigator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Assembly Navigator Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Node Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Assembly Navigator Icons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Selecting Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PopĆUp Menu Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Blank / Unblank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pack or Unpack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cut, Copy, Paste, and Delete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Replace Reference Set . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Make Work Part . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Make Displayed Part . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Display Parent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Open" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Close" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Edit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Drag and Drop in the Assembly Navigator . . . . . . . . . . . . Activity 1 - Activating and Using the Assembly Navigator Specifying Columns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Assembly Navigator Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Component Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Assembly Property Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Attributes Property Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Parameters Property Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Weight Property Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
6-1 6-2 6-3 6-4 6-5 6-5 6-6 6-6 6-7 6-9 6-10 6-10 6-10 6-10 6-11 6-11 6-11 6-11 6-11 6-12 6-12 6-12 6-13 6-14 6-17 6-18 6-21 6-22 6-23 6-24 6-25
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Part File Property Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . General Property Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Check Clearances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Activity 2 - Assemblies User Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Preview Component on Add . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Activity 3 - Preview Component on Add . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
6-26 6-27 6-28 6-29 6-33 6-34
Reference Sets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . General Concepts Concerning Reference Sets . . . . . . . . . . . . Using Reference Sets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Excluding Unwanted Objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Representing Components with Simple Geometry . . . . . . Default Reference Sets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Entire Part" Condition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Empty" Condition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Display Techniques for Assemblies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Simplified Assembly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Simplified Solids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Simple Curves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Faceted Representations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Right Hand and Left Hand Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tools to Automate the Creation of Reference Sets . . . . . . Creating Reference Sets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Origin and Orientation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Reference Set Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Activity 1 - Taking a look at Reference Sets . . . . . . . . . . . Replacing Reference Sets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Replacing Reference Sets with the Assemblies pulldown Replacing Reference Sets in context of an Assembly . . . . Reference Sets on the Assembly Toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Replacing Reference Sets with the Assembly Navigator . Activity 2 - Replacing Reference Sets in an Assembly . . . SubĆAssembly Reference Sets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Activity 3 - Mass Replacement of Reference Sets . . . . . . . Editing Reference Sets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Deleting Reference Sets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Renaming Reference Sets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Load Options and Reference Sets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Activity 4 - Load Options and Reference Sets . . . . . . . . .
7-1 7-2 7-2 7-3 7-4 7-4 7-4 7-5 7-6 7-6 7-6 7-7 7-7 7-8 7-8 7-9 7-10 7-11 7-12 7-15 7-15 7-17 7-17 7-18 7-19 7-23 7-24 7-32 7-33 7-33 7-34 7-35
TopĆDown Assembly Modeling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . General Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
8-1 8-2
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Top Down Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Method One . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Method Two . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Creating a New Component . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Verifying the Creation of a New Component . . . . . . . . . . . Activity 1 - TopĆDown Assembly Modeling . . . . . . . . . . . . Considerations of Selecting Data During Component Creation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Designing in Context of an Assembly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Selecting Geometry Outside the Work Part . . . . . . . . . . . . Sketching in Context . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Introduction to Interpart Modeling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Geometry Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Considerations when Interpart Modeling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Activity 2 - Designing in Context of an Assembly . . . . . . . Localized Interpart Modeling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Interpart Modeling Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Part in Process Modeling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mold/Die Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Weldments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Activity 3 - In Process Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Activity 4 - Wave Geometry Linker - Mirror Body . . . . . Editing Links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Broken Links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Deleting Parent Geometry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Activity 5 - Editing a Link . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Activity 6 - Editing the Time stamp of a Link . . . . . . . . .
8-3 8-3 8-4 8-5 8-7 8-8 8-10 8-11 8-11 8-12 8-12 8-14 8-15 8-16 8-27 8-28 8-28 8-29 8-30 8-31 8-34 8-38 8-39 8-39 8-41 8-46
Interpart Expressions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-1 General Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-2 Types of Interpart Expressions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-3 Referencing Expressions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-3 Overriding Expressions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-4 Creating Interpart Expressions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-5 Edit Interpart Links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-7 Load Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-8 Activity 1 - Creating Interpart Expressions . . . . . . . . . . . 9-9 Partial Loading Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-15 Resolving Interpart Expression References . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-15 Tips and Recommended Practices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9-16 Offset Curves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-1 Offset Curves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-2 vi
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Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-3 Activity 1 - Capturing Design Intent with Offset Curves 10-8 Trim Body / Split Body . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Trim Body . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Split Body . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Activity 1 - Windshield Fluid Reservoir . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
11-1 11-2 11-6 11-9
Face Operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Offset Face . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Limitations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Activity 1 - Offset a Face . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Taper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Taper Direction and Angle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Taper Reference Point . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tapering From Edges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Variable Angle Tapers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Isocline and Draft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tapering Tangent to Faces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Selection Steps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Other Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Editing Tapers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Activity 2 - Taper Solid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Design Intent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Activity 3 - Internal & External Taper Directions . . . . . . Activity 4 - Creating a Windshield Fluid Reservoir . . . . .
12-1 12-2 12-3 12-4 12-7 12-8 12-8 12-10 12-11 12-11 12-12 12-12 12-15 12-17 12-17 12-18 12-18 12-24 12-29
Variable Radius and Cliff Edge Blends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Variable Radius Blends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tips and Techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Activity 1 - Creating a Variable Radius Blend . . . . . . . . . Cliff Edge Blends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
13-1 13-2 13-4 13-7 13-13
Mating Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mating Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . General Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . FROM / TO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Mate Constraint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Align Constraint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Using the CSYS Filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Angle Constraint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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The Parallel Constraint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Perpendicular Constraint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Center Constraint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Procedure: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Distance Constraint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Tangent Constraint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Constraint / Object Matrix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Mating Conditions Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Defining Mating Constraints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Vary Constraints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Degree of Freedom Indicators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Preview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . List Errors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The OK, Apply, and Cancel Buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tree Listing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mating Constraint Popup Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mating Condition Popup Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Repositioning Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Reposition Component Dialog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Move Objects or Move Handles Only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Distance or Angle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Snap Increment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Point Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Vector Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Snap Handles to WCS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Motion Animation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Collision Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Stop on Collision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Repositioning Components by Dragging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Activity 1 - Mating the Nut Cracker Components . . . . . . Activity 2 - Remember Constraints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
14-7 14-8 14-9 14-10 14-11 14-11 14-12 14-13 14-14 14-14 14-15 14-15 14-16 14-16 14-17 14-17 14-18 14-20 14-20 14-21 14-21 14-21 14-21 14-21 14-21 14-21 14-22 14-22 14-23 14-24 14-38
Component Arrays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Component Arrays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Creating a Component Array . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Editing a Component Array . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Activity 1 - Creating a Circular Component Array . . . . . FeatureĆBased Component Arrays . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Template Component . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Component Arrays and Mating Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . FeatureĆBased Array Associativity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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Activity 2 - Creating Feature ISET Component Arrays . . 15-9 Part Families . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Capabilities and General Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Common Uses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . General Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Part Families Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Available Columns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Attribute Classes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Add Column . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Chosen Columns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Remove Column . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Create . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Edit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Delete . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Resume . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cancel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Part Family Spreadsheet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Verify Part . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Update Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Create Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Save Family . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cancel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Creating Family Members . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Activity 1 - Creating a Family of Standard Parts-Excel Activity 2 - Creating a Family of Standard Parts-Xess . Adding Part Family Members to an Assembly . . . . . . . . . . . . . Selection Criteria . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Obtaining Information on Family Members . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Family Of Parts Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Activity 3 - Adding a Standard Part to an Assembly . . . .
16-1 16-2 16-2 16-3 16-3 16-4 16-4 16-5 16-5 16-5 16-5 16-6 16-6 16-6 16-6 16-6 16-7 16-8 16-8 16-9 16-9 16-9 16-9 16-10 16-15 16-19 16-20 16-22 16-22 16-23
Revisions and Substitutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . File Versioning/Revisions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tracking Revisions By Part Number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Advantages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Disadvantages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Revising a Component and Assembly Using Save Part As. The Part Modification Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Additional Assembly Reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Update Report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
17-1 17-2 17-2 17-2 17-2 17-3 17-4 17-6 17-6
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Where Used . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Session Where Used . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Activity 1 - Revising Components Using Save As" . . . . . Load Options and Revisioning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Defining Search Directories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Partial Loading Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sharing Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Legacy Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Closing Assembly Component Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Reopening Component Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Substituting Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Unique Identifier (UID) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Allow Substitution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Substituting Components Using Substitute . . . . . . . . . . . . Substituting Components Using Reopen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Substituting Components Using the Assembly Navigator Activity 2 - Substituting Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Alternate Mating Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Defining Alternates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Activity 3 - Defining and Verifying Alternates . . . . . . . . .
17-7 17-7 17-8 17-12 17-14 17-15 17-15 17-15 17-16 17-17 17-19 17-19 17-20 17-21 17-23 17-24 17-25 17-30 17-31 17-32
Additional Projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Project 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Project 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Project 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Project 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Project 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Project 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Project 7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Project 8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Project 9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Project 10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Project 11 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Project 12 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Project 13 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Project 14 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Project 15 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Project 16 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Project 17 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Project 18 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Project 19 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
A-1 A-2 A-3 A-4 A-6 A-9 A-10 A-12 A-14 A-16 A-18 A-20 A-22 A-24 A-26 A-28 A-30 A-32 A-34 A-36
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System Topics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Enabling Interpart Modeling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . File Versioning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Regular Expressions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . File Versioning Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
B-1 B-2 B-3 B-3 B-4
Expression Operators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Operators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Precedence and Associativity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . BuiltĆin Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Scientific Notation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
C-1 C-2 C-3 C-4 C-4
Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . GL-1 Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . IN-1
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Course Overview
Course Overview Course Description Design Applications Using Unigraphics is a method based course that will focus on creating parametric models that captures design intent in a Master Model environment. Some of the functionality used to accomplish this is: building associativity between expressions, interĆpart modeling (linking geometry across part files), creating sketches, building assemblies, and creating mating conditions.
Intended Audience Designers, Engineers, and CAD/CAM managers who have a need to create parametric solid models that capture design intent while working in a Master Model environment.
Course Objectives After successfully completing this course, the student should be able to: Create Apply
sketches.
Top Down assembly modeling.
Create
InterĆpart expressions.
Create
Geometric expressions.
Copy/Paste Apply
a feature.
the Load Options.
Create
Reference Sets.
Design
in Context.
Apply Trim
InterĆpart modeling using the WAVE geometry linker.
a solid body.
Create
a variable blend.
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Course Overview Create
an offset face
Create
a taper
Reorder
features
Create
mating conditions between component part files
Create
simple part families
Prerequisites Practical Applications of Unigraphics course Basic understanding of parametric/explicit modeling, and the Master Model Concept. Working knowledge of the following: Unigraphics Part
interface
file saving conventions
Basic
Curve Creation
Solid
Primitives
Swept WCS
Features with Offsets
& Absolute coordinate systems
Layer
control
Form
Features & positioning dimensions
Simple
blends
How to Use This Manual It is important that you use the Student Manual in the sequence presented because later lessons assume you have learned concepts and techniques taught in an earlier lesson. If necessary, you can always refer to any previous activity where a method or technique was originally taught.
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Course Overview
The general format for lesson content is: lecture activity project summary
The format of the activities is consistent throughout this manual. Steps are labeled and specify what will be accomplished at any given point in the activity. Below each step are action boxes which emphasize the individual actions that must be taken to accomplish the step. As your knowledge of Unigraphics increases, the action boxes will seem redundant as the step text becomes all that is needed to accomplish a given task. Step 1 Open part file dau_topic_1.
From the menu bar, select File
Choose Open.
Double-click on the parts sub-directory.
Select the file dau_topic_1 and choose OK.
While working through lesson activities, you will experience a higher degree of comprehension if you read the CUE and Status lines. It is recommended that students who prefer more detail from an Instructor Led Course ask questions, confirm with restatement, and, more importantly, attend and pay attention to the instruction as it is given. Obviously, it is always necessary for students to consider the classroom situation and be considerate of other students who may have greater or lesser needs for instruction. Instructors cannot possibly meet the exact needs of every student. At the start of each class day you will be expected to log onto your terminal and start Unigraphics, being ready to follow the instructor's curriculum. At the end of the day's class you should always quit Unigraphics and log off the terminal.
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Course Overview
Classroom System Information Your instructor will provide you with the following items for working in the classroom: Student Login:
Username: Password:
Home Directory: Parts Directory: Instructor: Date:
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Class Standards The following standards will be used in this class. Standardization allows users to work with and predict the organization of parts created by others . All work should be performed in accordance with these standards.
About Part File Naming In order to facilitate the identification of design models without requiring the user to open a part file, the user community must establish standard names for the various files associated with the part definition. The following is a sample usage of a filenaming standard: revision (4 characters)
part name (25 characters)
xxx_xxxxxxxxxxxx_xxxx_xxxx•prt identifier (3 characters)
TIP
extension (4 characters)
configuration (4 characters)
Currently up to 128 characters are valid for file names. A four character extension (.prt) is automatically added to define the file type. This means the maximum number of user defined characters for the file name is actually 124.
Class Part File Naming This course utilizes the following filenaming standard: underscore delimiter
part name
unique identifier number
dau_ x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x _ x • p r t course identifier (3 characters)
underscore delimiter
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extension (4 characters)
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Course Overview
Where the student is requested to save a part file for later use, the initials of the student's given name, middle name, and surname replace the course identifier dau" in the new filename with the remainder of the filename matching the original.
Seed Part Seed parts are an effective tool for establishing customer defaults or any settings that are partĆdependent (saved with the part file). This may include nonĆgeometric data such as:
Preferences
Commonly used expressions
Layer categories
UserĆdefined views and layouts
Part attributes
TIP
Once a seed part is established, it should be writeĆprotected to avoid accidental modification of the seed part.
Two seed part files are available for use in this course. These files incorporate the standards described above, and include the TFRĆTRI view as the default view.
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dau_seedpart_in (Inches)
dau_seedpart_mm (Millimeters)
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Expressions The student will notice that there is a standard set of expressions resident in each of the part files as follows: Expression Name
Intended Use
bend_r=.5
identifies bend radius for sheet metal parts
dia=.5
identifies diameter
h=1
identifies height
l=1
identifies length
out_r=.625
identifies the outside radius for sheet metal parts
rad=.25
identifies Radius
thk=.06
identifies thickness
w=1
identifies width
These expressions could be entered by the user in each file or could be a standard expression file that could be imported into the part file by the user. Expression files that are valid for importing carry the file extension of .exp. The total number of characters allowed in an expression is 132.
Colors The following colors are preset to indicate different object types: Object
Valid colors
Bodies Solid Sheet
Green Yellow
Generating Curves (nonĆsketch) Lines and Arcs Conics and Splines
Orange Blue
Sketches Sketch Curves Reference Curves
Cyan Gray
Datum Features
Aquamarine
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Course Overview
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Points and Coordinate Systems
White
System Display Color
Red
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Course Overview
Unigraphics Interface Unigraphics utilizes a toolbar interface which is customizable for each user. Many of the options located under the Menu bar and various cascades can be accessed by selecting an icon from the appropriate toolbar. It is the intent of this course to emphasis ease of use". Lessons will introduce functions and identify their location with respect to toolbars and icons. The session of Unigraphics that will be initiated has an out of the box" interface, therefore the Gateway and Modeling applications will be customized through an activity. Control of Toolbar display may be accessed from one of 3 places:
Choose ToolsCustomize from the main menu.
Choose ViewToolbars from the main menu.
Use the Third Mouse Button within the Unigraphics window, outside the Graphics window.
The display of each toolbar, as well as each element of each toolbar, is user customizable. To turn ON or OFF the display of a toolbar choose ToolsCustomize or click MB3 in the toolbar area and select Customize. Placing a check in the box next to the toolbar name will instantly display the toolbar in the graphics area.
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Course Overview
To turn ON or OFF the display of a toolbar element choose the Commands tab. Placing a check in the box next to the toolbar command will instantly display the command in the appropriate toolbar. Removing the check turns off the display.
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Activity 1 - Toolbars in Gateway Application This activity will demonstrate working with toolbars to establish an efficient working environment in the Gateway application. Step 1 Open the part file dau_seedpart_in.
Choose the Open icon.
Step 2 Display the Standard toolbar in the Gateway Application.
Click Mouse Button 3 (MB3) in the toolbar area and choose Customize.
Click MB3 within toolbar area.
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The Customize Dialog box appears and shows the current toolbars which are displayed.
Verify that the Standard toolbar is checked ON.
The Standard toolbar should be displayed on the screen docked in the upper left corner under the Menu bar.
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Choose Close to dismiss the Customize dialog box.
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Step 3 Display the View, Selection and Utility toolbars.
Click MB3 in the toolbar area and verify the View, Selection and Utility toolbars are checked ON.
The toolbars are displayed on the screen in an Docked state. Remember that toolbars may be docked horizontally on the top or bottom and vertically on the left or right. Locate the toolbars.
View
Selection
Utility
NOTE: Icons may vary for each toolbar
Locate the Utility toolbar in the Unigraphics window, it may be docked or undocked.
NOTE: Icons may vary.
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Step 4 Move a docked toolbar.
Place the cursor on the handle portion of the Utility toolbar and press and hold down MB1.
Select Here
Drag the toolbar such that it is aligned under the Standard toolbar completely to the left side of the window.
Release MB1.
The Utility toolbar remains docked to the Unigraphics window in the proper position.
Select the View toolbar on the handle and drag the toolbar such that it is aligned to the right of the Standard toolbar.
Locate Here
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Select the Selection toolbar on the handle and drag the toolbar such that it is aligned to the right of the Utility toolbar. Locate Here
Step 5 Display the Application toolbar in the Gateway Application.
Click MB3 in the toolbar area and check ON the Application toolbar.
Click MB3 within toolbar area.
Checked ON
Locate the Application toolbar in the Unigraphics window, it may be docked or undocked.
NOTE: Icons may vary.
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Course Overview
Step 6 Customize the Application toolbar.
Click MB3 in the toolbar area and choose Customize.
Select the Commands tab and highlight Application in the Toolbars column.
Select these options
A listing with the commands for the Application toolbar is displayed. The commands displayed on the toolbar are checked in the Commands column.
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Scroll down to see all of the options in the Commands column. Turn ON the Modeling, Drafting and Assemblies commands and turn OFF all others options. Also, turn ON the Separator above the Assemblies command.
Scroll down here
Note that the display of the toolbar changes immediately upon selection of commands.
Choose Close to dismiss the Customize dialog box.
Locate the Application toolbar as shown below. Locate here
These toolbar settings will be retained for the Gateway application for the rest of the course.
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Course Overview
Activity 2 - Toolbars in Modeling Application This activity will establish toolbars in the Modeling application for future lessons. Step 1 Enter the Modeling Application.
Select the Modeling icon
in the Application toolbar.
Entering a different application will introduce a new set of toolbars. The toolbars that were established in the Gateway application may move and have different commands in them.
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Step 2 Display the common toolbars from the Gateway application.
Click MB3 in the toolbar area and verify that the Standard, View, Selection, Utility and Application toolbars are checked ON. Turn OFF all other toolbars. Other toolbars will be turned ON throughout the course as they are needed.
Dock the toolbars in similar locations as defined in the Gateway application.
Step 3 Customize the toolbars.
Click MB3 in the toolbar area and choose Customize.
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Course Overview
Toolbars
Select the Commands tab and adjust the toolbars to match the commands in the table below.
Standard New
View Refresh
Open
Fit
Save
Zoom
Separator
Selection Utility Application Select Work Drafting General Layer Objects Select Layer Assemblies Features Settings Select Separator Gateway Components Separator WCS Dynamics Type Filter Orient WCS Reset Separator Select All
Zoom In/Out Delete Rotate Commands Undo Pan Separator Separator Information Wireframe Settings Shaded Deselect All Settings Wireframe Separator View Up One Orientation Level
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Choose Close to dismiss the Customize dialog box.
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Step 4 Display additional toolbars in the Modeling application.
Click MB3 in the toolbar area and turn ON the Form Feature, Feature Operation, Edit Feature and Modeling Toggles toolbars.
Form Feature
Feature Operation
Edit Feature
Modeling Toggles
NOTE: Icons may vary for each toolbar
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Dock the toolbars horizontally or vertically in the locations defined below. Edit Feature
Feature Operation
Modeling Toggles
Form Feature
Step 5 Customize the toolbars.
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Click MB3 in the toolbar area and choose Customize.
Select the Commands tab and adjust the toolbars to match the commands in the following table.
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Toolbars
Form Feature
Feature Operation
Edit Feature
Sketch
Taper
Edit Feature Parameters
Extruded Body
Edge Blend
Edit Positioning
Revolved Body
Edge Chamfer
Move Feature
Sweep along Guide
Hollow
Separator
Separator
Instance Feature
Suppress Feature Unsuppress Feature Separator Delay Update on Edit Update Separator Feature Playback
Hole Commands
Offset Face
Boss
Separator
Pocket
Trim Body
Pad Slot
Separator Unite
Groove
Subtract
Separator Datum Plane Datum Axis Datum CSYS Separator Block Cylinder
Intersect
Modeling Toggles Form Feature Toolbar Feature Operation Toolbar Edit Feature Toolbar
Choose Close to dismiss the Customize dialog box.
Step 6 Choose FileCloseAll Parts. Do not save.
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Constraining Sketches
ÏÏÏ ÏÏÏ 1 ÏÏÏ ÏÏÏ
Constraining Sketches Lesson 1
PURPOSE This lesson describes geometric and dimensional constraints. It also covers modifying the constraints in sketches. OBJECTIVES Upon completion of this lesson, you will be able to:
Identify Constraint types.
Define Sketch Points & Degree of Freedom Arrows.
Create and edit Dimensional Constraints.
Create Geometric Constraints.
Work with System Applied Geometric Constraints.
Auto Create and Display Geometric Constraints.
Work with Constraint Conditions.
Convert Sketch Curves To Reference Curves.
Update The Model.
Add Objects to Sketch.
Constrain the Perimeter of a Sketch.
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Constraining Sketches
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Sketch Points Sketch objects are defined by theoretical points. A line, for instance, is defined by two points. The sketcher attempts to mathematically solve for the location of the points by analyzing the constraints (rules) that are placed on objects. The points that the sketch solver analyzes are referred to as sketch points. By controlling the locations of these sketch points the line itself may be controlled. There are various ways to control these points. The sketch points associated with different types of curves are illustrated in the graphic below.
Fillet
Line
Arc Circle
Spline
+ Point Ellipse
DegreeĆofĆFreedom Arrows (DOF) Degree of freedom arrows occur at sketch points to indicate that the solver is unable to fully define where the sketch point exists on the sketch plane. DOF arrows are only displayed during the creation of dimensions or constraints; they are yellow, and their base emanates at the sketch point with arrowheads pointing in both the horizontal or vertical directions (when the sketch point has no constraints). An arrow pointing to the right means that the sketch point in question is free to move in the horizontal direction, both to the right and left. An arrow pointing up means that the sketch point in question is free to move in the vertical direction, both up and down. If there are DOF arrows at a given point in both directions, the point is free to move in both directions.
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These arrows provide visual feedback to the user while in the process of constraining the sketch.
(no display) Undefined in X and Y Directions
Undefined in Y Direction only
Undefined in X Direction only
Defined in X and Y Directions
The system removes DOF arrows as rules are written that define the location of the sketch points.
Arc - Arcs have sketch points at the center and at either end. These sketch points as well as the radius of the arc may be defined if the user so desires.
Circle - Circles may have the center point as well as a radius or diameter defined.
Ellipse -An ellipse may have the location of its center defined; also, the parameters for the size and orientation of the ellipse are stored for future editing.
Fillet - Fillet is a specialized case of an arc. By definition a fillet is tangent to the objects with which it is associated. The system applies this rule as the fillet is created. Fillets may have the same information defined as other arcs, and in some cases the tangency that is assigned will define the endpoints.
Line - Lines may have the sketch points at either end defined.
Point - Points may be defined relative to other objects or at specific locations in space.
Spline - Degree three splines may have their defining points located. Slopes of the spline at the defining points may also be defined. Splines that are of a degree other than three may be added to sketches however, since their defining points are not located at their knot points, there is no way to locate their defining points using constraints.
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Constraining Sketches
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Constraining Sketches Design Intent The power in sketching is derived from the ability to capture design intent. This is accomplished by setting up rules that dictate how sketch objects will react to changing input. These rules are called constraints. As many or as few constraints as necessary may be applied to cause the sketch profile to update in the manner desired. Unigraphics sketches are not required to be fully constrained. A group of these rules may be thought of as a constraint set. The constraint set is comprised of two types of constraints, dimensional and geometric and are accessed from the Sketch Constraints tool bar.
The Sketch Constraints Tool Bar
Create Constraints Dimensions
Creating Dimensional Constraints A dimensional constraint establishes the size of a sketch object (such as the length of a line or radius of an arc) or the scalar relationship between two objects (such as the distance between two points). Dimensional constraints appear in the graphics window. Unlike drafting dimensions, changing the value of the dimensional constraints changes the shape and or size of the sketch objects that are controlled by the sketch points. This changes the feature of the solid model that the sketch curves control.
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Constraining Sketches
The Dimensions icon
ÏÏÏ ÏÏÏ 1 ÏÏÏ ÏÏÏ
accesses the Dimensions dialog.
You can use the dialog to create and edit dimensions, as well as change some of the preferences. There are nine icons located near the top of the dialog box. The top leftĆhand icon is the most useful as it infers the dimension type based on the objects that are selected and where their dimension text is located. It is also the default icon. The other eight icons are supplied for times when the system is unable to infer the desired dimension type. These different options are filters" that when selected will only allow a specific dimension type to be created. Because of this, certain types of geometry may not be selectable if they do not coincide with the dimension type selected. As dimensional constraints are being created, the dimension, its extension lines, and arrows are displayed as soon as the geometry has been selected. Drag the dimension to the desired location and place it by clicking the left mouse button. When dimensioning from a datum axis or datum plane, the dimension will not display until the location is selected. During some dimensioning the system infers a dimension type before all of the geometry has been selected. In these instances continue to select geometry until the correct dimension type is displayed, or select the icon for the dimension type desired and reselect the geometry.
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Constraining Sketches
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As dimensional constraints are being created, the system creates an expression. This expression's name and value are displayed in the current expression fields of the Constraints dialog box. This places the value field in overstrike mode so the user may enter the desired dimensional constraint. A slider is also provided below the value text and may be used to change the value. Enter new name
Enter new statement or numeric value
Use slider bar to change value
Below the value slider are two option menus for manipulating the appearance of the dimensional constraint. The leftĆhand option menu is for defining how the text and arrows of the dimensional constraint will be displayed. Options are for automatic text placement where the system decides the appearance, manual text placement with the arrows inside the extension lines, or manual text placement with the arrows outside the extension lines. Auto Placement
Manual Placement, Arrows In Manual Placement, Arrows Out
The rightĆhand option menu is for defining whether the dimension's leader is attached to the right or left of the dimension text. Leader From Left
Leader From Right
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Both of these option menus may be used before, during or after dimension creation.
Text Height The display height of the dimension text is controlled by the text entry field at the bottom of the dialog box. This value may be changed any time the Dimensions dialog box is active. The default value is .150 for inch part files and 4mm for metric part files. There are no limits to values for this field. Modifying this value changes all the dimensional constraints in the active sketch.
Dimensional Constraint Types Inferred - Allows the system to select any of the dimension types listed below, (except perimeter) based on object selection and cursor location. Points, points on sketch curves (including spline knot points), edges, lines, arcs, datum planes, and datum axes are selectable using this method. Horizontal - Used to filter the system to specify a distance constraint between two points with respect to the XĆaxis of the sketch coordinate system. Points, points on sketch curves (including spline knot points), edges, lines, and arcs are selectable using this method.
YC ZC
.500
XC
4.000
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Constraining Sketches
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Vertical - Used to filter the system to specify a distance constraint between two points with respect to the YĆaxis of the sketch coordinate system. Points, points on sketch curves (including spline knot points), edges, lines, and arcs are selectable using this method.
YC
2.000
ZC
XC
.500
Parallel - Used to filter the system to specify a distance constraint directly between two sketch entities. The parallel dimension is the shortest distance between the two points. All sketch objects are selectable using this method. The points selected will be inferred from the objects selected. Arcs selected for 1.23 dimension
1.23
.500
Line endpoints selected for .500 dimension
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Perpendicular - Used to filter the system to specify a distance constraint measured perpendicular to a selected line and a point or the normal distance. The first object selected using this method must be linear; the second will be a point inferred from the next object selected.
.8502
.6302
Angular - Used to filter the system to specify an angular dimensional constraint between two lines. The angle is measured counterclockwise from the ends of the lines nearest the cursor upon selection. Only linear objects may be selected with this method.
p0=45.507
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Constraining Sketches
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Radius - Used to filter the system to specify a radial size constraint for an arc or circle. Only arcs and circles may be selected with this method.
R p4=0.250
Diameter- Used to filter the system to specify a diametral size constraint for an arc or circle. Only arcs and circles may be selected with this method. p1=2.568
Perimeter- The Perimeter constraint is used to constrain the collective lengths of lines and arcs to a desired value. After the desired curves are selected the user chooses OK, a dimensional constraint is created and its name is prefixed with Perimeter, i.e. Perimeter_p7=6.456. There is no graphical representation of this constraint on the graphics screen.
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Constraining Sketches
Activity 1 - Taking Control of the Angular Adjustment In this activity, you will capture the design intent for a part by adding rules that will control how the part is to change. These rules allow the part to be easily modified. The included angle of the adjustment slot should change from 45° to 75°. Dimensional type constraints will be used to do this. Step 1 Open the part file.
Open dau_angleadjbrckt_1 and save as ***_angleadjbrckt_1.
Step 2 Add the required dimensional constraints.
Choose Modeling.
DoubleĆclick on one of the sketch curves to activate the sketch.
Choose Dimensions.
In the Text Height text box, key in .06 and press Enter.
Select the right end (over halfway, not endpoint) of the lower angled line.
Select Here
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Constraining Sketches
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The system infers that you wish to create a horizontal, vertical, or parallel dimensional constraint depending on the placement of the cursor relative to the geometry. DO NOT PLACE THE DIMENSION!
Select the right end (not endpoint) of the upper angled line.
The system now changes the ghosted dimension to an angular dimension.
Select Here
Select a cursor location to place the dimension.
Select the right end (not endpoint) of the line across the bottom.
Select the right end (not endpoint) of the lower angled line.
Second Selection
First Selection
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Constraining Sketches
Select a cursor location to place the dimension, choose OK to dismiss the Dimensions dialog box.
Step 3 Change the viewpoint.
Choose Orient View to Model.
Choose Finish.
There are times, such as geometry creation, when looking directly at the plane of the sketch is beneficial. At other times it is beneficial to change the view point to more accurately understand the effects of changes on the geometry. Step 4 Choose FileSave.
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Constraining Sketches
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Editing Dimensional Constraints The editing of dimensional constraints may be achieved as follows:
To edit the value, simply double click on the dimension and edit the value in the text box and press Enter.
To edit the position, simply drag a dimension's location.
Additional editing that may be done with the Dimensions dialog as listed below:
Name - Enter a new name in the text entry field.
Value - Enter a new value in the text entry field or use the slider.
Position - Click and hold the left mouse button to drag the dimension to its new position.
Text placement method - Select a different option from the option menu.
Leader side - Select a different option from the option menu.
Text height - Enter a new text size in the text entry field.
NOTE: The name and value of a dimensional constraint may also be edited by using the Expression Editor. As dimensional constraints are edited, the constraints are evaluated and the geometry is modified.
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Constraining Sketches
Delay Evaluation At times it is advantageous not to have the geometry change until all of the dimensional constraints have been modified. The Delay Evaluation is a toggle on the Sketch tool bar that controls this condition.
Evaluate Sketch The Evaluate Sketch button is provided so that the user may control sketch evaluation when the Delay Evaluation toggle is on. Sketches are evaluated automatically when the Constraints dialog box is exited.
Update Model The Update Model icon located on the Sketch tool bar may be used to force the model to update without leaving the sketch function. When a sketch is deactivated the display of the dimensional constraints is disabled. A toggle switch labeled Retain Dimension is supplied on the Sketch Preferences dialog box to enable the display should there be a need to display dimensions without an active sketch (such as to reference expression names between sketches, plotting, etc.).
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Constraining Sketches
ÏÏÏ Activity 2 - Editing the Adjustment Angle ÏÏÏ Sometimes you need more rules.... 1 ÏÏÏ ÏÏÏ Continue using the part ***_angleadjbrckt_1. Step 1 Change the layer settings.
Make layer 1 Selectable.
Fit the view.
Step 2 Edit a dimensional constraint.
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DoubleĆclick on a sketch curve to activate the sketch.
DoubleĆclick on the 45 dimension.
Choose Orient View to Model.
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Constraining Sketches
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In the Dynamic Input Field text box, key in 75 and press Enter.
Step 3 Edit another dimensional constraint.
DoubleĆclick on the 15 dimension.
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Constraining Sketches
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In the Dynamic Input Field text box, key in 25 and press Enter.
Notice how the geometry updates. Basic geometric assumptions that we make when we look at this geometry are not specified to the system, i.e. the bottom line has no horizontal constraint applied. If the geometry was created in the sketch rather than added to the sketch, some of these geometric assumptions would be added to the geometry as constraints during the creation process. Step 4 Reopen the part file.
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Choose Undo twice.
Choose Finish.
Choose FileCloseReopen All Modified Parts.
Do not save at this time.
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Constraining Sketches
Creating Geometric Constraints A geometric constraint establishes a geometric characteristic of a sketch object (such as defining a line as being horizontal) or the type of relationship between two or more objects (such as requiring that two lines be parallel or perpendicular, or that several arcs have the same radius). Geometric constraints have no editable numeric values; a constant angle constraint, for instance, simply dictates that the line stay at the angle it is at when the constraint is applied.
The Create Constraints icon There is no dialog.
activates the process of creating constraints.
Constraints are created by selecting the geometry, and then choosing the desired constraint icon from the upper left corner of the graphics screen. Only icons for constraints that are possible for the selected curves will be displayed.
If you wish to assign multiple constraints at one time, you can control-select the objects. Then the icons for constraints will remain on the screen after you choose the first constraint. You can use MB2 to cancel creation of constraints.
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Listed below are all the possible constraints and their respective icon.
Fixed
Constant Angle
Collinear
Concentric
Horizontal
Tangent
Vertical
Equal Radius
Parallel
Coincident
Perpendicular
Point on Curve
Equal Length
Midpoint
Constant Length
Point on String
Displaying Constraint Symbols Constraint symbols are displayed when a sketch is active. Symbols for Coincident, Point on Curve, Midpoint, Tangent, and Concentric are always displayed. The other symbols are not displayed at all times.
The Show All Constraints icon constraints in the active sketch.
will display the symbols for all the
Sometimes, when the curves are very small on the screen (the view is zoomed out), the symbols may not be displayed. You may need to zoom in to see them. The following is a definition of each of the available geometric constraints: Coincident - Defines two or more points as having the same location. Collinear - Defines two or more linear objects as lying on or passing through the same theoretical straight line.
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Concentric - Defines two or more arcs as having the same center. Constant Angle - Defines a line as having a constant angle. Constant Length - Defines a line as having a constant length. Equal Length - Defines two or more lines as being the same length. Equal Radius - Defines two or more arcs as having the same radius. Fix - Defines fixed characteristics for geometry, depending on the type of geometry selected, as follows:
Arc or circle - defines the radius and the location of the centerpoint.
Arc center, elliptical arc center, circle center, or ellipse center - locates the centerpoint.
Arc or elliptical arc endpoint - locates the endpoint.
Ellipse - locates the centerpoint and defines the radii.
Ellipse center - locates the centerpoint.
Elliptical arc - locates the centerpoint and defines the radii.
Line - defines the angle and length.
Point - defines the location.
Spline - removes all of its rigid DOFs (it cannot be rigidly rotated or rigidly dragged).
Spline control point - locates the control point.
Horizontal - Defines a line as horizontal. Midpoint - Defines a point to lie on an imaginary line that is perpendicular from the midpoint of the selected line. NOTE: For the Midpoint constraint, select the curve anywhere other than at its end points. Mirror - Defines two objects as being mirror images of each other. This constraint is automatically created when the mirror function is used. It cannot be created manually.
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Parallel - Defines two or more linear objects as being parallel to each other. Perpendicular - Defines two linear objects as being perpendicular to each other. Point on Curve - Defines the location of a sketch point as lying on a curve. Point on String - Defines the location of a sketch point as lying on an extracted string. Slope of Curve - Defines a spline, selected at a defining point, and another object as being tangent to each other at the selected point. Scale, NonĆUniform - Thus constrained, a spline will scale in the horizontal direction while keeping the original dimensions in the vertical direction during modification. Scale, Uniform - A spline will scale proportionally in both the horizontal and vertical when the horizontal length changes. A Scale constraint may not be mixed with fixing of an internal spline point as the uses of the two different constraint types are mutually exclusive. Tangent - Defines two objects as being tangent to each other. Vertical - Defines a line as vertical.
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Show/Remove Constraints The Show/Remove Constraints is a tool that aids you in the management of constraints. The constraints may be listed by object/s or all of the constraints of the active sketch may be listed at once. Determines which objects will have their constraints listed. Determines what type of constraints will be listed.
Determines if the filtered constraint will be included or excluded in the list. Determines what category of constraints will be listed.
Actions that can be taken on the listed constraints.
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Constraint Interrogation One way to determine what geometric constraints are present is to pass the selection ball over a sketch object. If the object has a constraint associated with it, the sketch object will be preĆhighlighted as well as other sketch objects that share the constraint and the constraint marker will appear next to the sketch objects. If the selection ball passes over an object which has no constraints associated with it, preĆhighlighting does not occur. The constraint types and their markers are shown in the figure below.
Fix
Perpendicular
Concentric
Tangent
Coincident
Equal Length
Colinear
Equal Radius
Point on Curve
Constant Length
Point on String
Constant Angle
Midpoint on Curve
Mirror
Horizontal
Slope of Curve
Vertical
Scale, Uniform
Parallel
Scale, NonĆUniform
Constraint Categories There are two major categories of geometric constraints, Explicit and Inferred. Explicit constraints are constraints that the user has created by assignment using the constraints dialog or by virtue of the creation method. Inferred constraints are Coincident constraints that the system has inferred and created during the curve creation process. The user has the option to list only the Explicit, or Inferred constraints, or both may be listed at the same time.
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Constraint Listing The constraints may also be listed in the Show/Remove Constraints dialog by selecting one of the three options at the top of the dialog window. They are: Selected Object Once an object is selected, the associated constraints, depending on the selected constraint category, are listed in the dialog box. To view constraints associated with a different sketch object, simply select the new object. Selected Objects Allows the selection of multiple objects; the associated constraints, depending on the selected constraint category, are listed in the dialog box. Objects may be deselected by holding the shift key down and selecting the object. All in Active Sketch List all the constraints of the active sketch, depending on the selected constraint category.
Listing Box Any time that there are constraints listed in the list box they may be browsed by selecting the constraint to highlight it. When the constraint is highlighted in the list box, the sketch object(s) that is associated with it is also highlighted in the graphics area. The Step Up the List and Step Down the List buttons allow easy navigation through the various constraints. The Up and Down arrows on most keyboards will mimic this behavior.
Information The Information button located on the Show/Remove Constraints dialog box will list all of the geometric constraints in the active sketch to the information window. This is useful should there be a need to make a hard copy of the constraints or save them as a text file.
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Removing Constraints Constraints may be deleted 3 ways:
Highlight them in the Show/Remove Constraints dialog List box and select Remove Highlighted Constraint(s).
Turn on Select Constraints (on the Selection tool bar), select the constraint symbol on the graphics screen, and then choose the Delete icon.
Turn on Select Constraints, select the constraint symbol on the graphics screen, and then use MB3→Delete to delete selected constraint.
Undo The user may access undo from the edit pulldown on the main menu, the icon on the standard toolbar, the third mouse button popĆup menu, or the accelerator keys. Undo takes the creation procedure back one step at a time.
Dragging Geometry UnderĆconstrained geometry can be dragged by simply holding down and dragging MB1 while on the selected curve(s) or point(s).
Selection When in the Sketcher Task Environment, the selection toolbar changes. It has two icons that are only available in the Sketcher.
Select Sketch Objects curves and dimensions.
Select Constraints screen.
Deselect All
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allows selection of all objects in the sketch -
allows selection of constraint symbols on the graphics
deselects all objects that are currently selected.
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ÏÏÏ ÏÏÏ 1 When the Constraints dialog box is active, the status line lists the constraint ÏÏÏ condition for the active sketch. A sketch may be fully constrained, under ÏÏÏ constrained, or over constrained. When the sketch is under constrained the status Constraint Conditions
line will indicate the number of constraints needed.
A sketch is evaluated each time a constraint is placed upon the sketch. Each time a sketch is evaluated, the system attempts to solve the set of constraints that describe how the geometric objects are positioned and their relationships with each other.
In order to completely capture the design intent of a particular profile, it may be beneficial to fully constrain the sketch. This occurs when the solver is able to completely define all sketch geometry. It is important to remember that there is no requirement to fully constrain a sketch. The design intent has been captured sufficiently when the constraint set applied to the profile causes it to update in the intended manner. A sketch is under constrained when there is insufficient information to completely locate each sketch point. DegreeĆofĆfreedom arrows are displayed at each point that could not be solved to identify the direction in which that point remains free to move.
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ÏÏÏ Activity 3 - Adding Geometric Constraints to the Project ÏÏÏ In this activity you will add geometric constraints to the angle adjustment 1 ÏÏÏ to cause the expected update to occur when the dimensional constraint ÏÏÏ bracket is modified. Continue working with ***_angleadjbrckt_1. Step 1 Add the required geometric constraints.
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Make layer 1 Selectable.
DoubleĆclick on a sketch curve.
Choose Orient View to Model.
Fit the view.
Choose Create Constraints.
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Select the line at the bottom of the sketch.
Choose Horizontal.
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Select this line
This constraint will keep the line from rotating around when dimensional constraints are modified.
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There are six places where the curvature transitions needs to maintain tangency.
Select the tangent curve pairs two at a time and Apply Tangency constraints to each set. Be careful to select on the correct half of the arc.
Lastly, the two arcs at the top of the slot should remain concentric.
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Select the two upper arcs and Apply a Concentric constraint.
Select these two arcs
The slot should now be constrained such that the angle may be adjusted while the configuration remains as intended.
Toggle Create Constraints
off.
Step 2 Edit the dimensional constraints.
DoubleĆclick on the 45 dimension and change it to 75.
The sketch geometry changes in the expected manner.
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Step 3 Apply the change to the solid geometry.
Choose Update Model.
Choose Finish.
Step 4 Choose File CloseSave and Close.
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Add Existing Curves to a Sketch Unigraphics affords the user the flexibility to sketch or not to sketch. Should the user decide not to control a swept feature with a sketch, he/she may do so at a later date. This is accomplished by using the Add Existing Curves function. An example of this situation could be that the user has the general idea of what a cross sectional profile looks like, but does not quite understand how form, fit, and function of the part will drive the design intent. As the design matures and the definition is recognized, the designer may then create a sketch and add the geometry that has already been swept to create a solid feature. When a sketch is active, the user may choose the Add Existing Curves icon and simply select the curves or points required. Curves that are added to a sketch have their layer reassigned to that of the sketch.
TIP
No constraints are applied to curves created outside of the sketcher, regardless of how the curves were created. The user must add constraints, as required, to curves added to sketches.
Developed" or associative" curves may not be added to sketches. The shape of these curves are controlled by other means, such as the associative faces for projected points or curves, or the law functions that control certain types of splines and helixes.
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ÏÏÏ Automatic Constraint Creation ÏÏÏ 1 ÏÏÏ ÏÏÏ The system has the ability to create certain types of geometric constraints in an automated fashion. This functionality is especially useful when geometry is added to a sketch rather than created as sketch objects. To create geometric constraints in this manner, choose the Automatic Constraint Creation icon. Toggle the desired constraints to on, and choose Apply or OK. Ensure that the proper distance and angle tolerances are set.
The Set and Clear buttons, on the Auto Create Constraints dialog box, may be used to turn all of the constraint fields on or off respectively.
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When using the horizontal, vertical, parallel, and perpendicular auto create options, the system evaluates lines using the specified Angle tolerance to apply the proper constraints. When using the other types of auto create constraints, the system uses the Distance tolerance to apply the constraints. Using the Distance tolerance with the Coincident constraint will have the effect of closing gaps that occur between geometric objects. This condition is common with objects that have been translated from other systems.
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ÏÏÏ Activity 4 - Adding Objects to a Sketch ÏÏÏ This activity will explore adding objects to a sketch, various curve operations 1 ÏÏÏ and auto creation of geometric constraints. ÏÏÏ Step 1 Open dau_iges_1 and start the Modeling application.
Step 2 Create a Sketch.
Change the Work Layer to 21.
Choose Sketch.
Click on the sketch name; key in s21_profile and press Enter.
Choose OK
to accept the XC-YC plane.
Step 3 Add the curves to the sketch.
Fit the view.
Choose Add Existing Curves.
Choose Select All from the Add Curve dialog box.
Notice that the top arc does not highlight. This is due to the arc lying outside the plane of the sketch. In order to add the curves to the same sketch they must first be coplanar. Do not choose OK to add the curves.
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Choose Cancel.
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Step 4 Project the curves onto a plane.
Choose Finish.
Choose Insert→Curve Operation→Project.
Drag a rectangle to select all of the curves.
Change the Copy Method radio button to Move.
Change the Direction Method option menu to Along Vector.
Choose the ZC Axis icon
Change the Directions radio button to Both.
Choose the Faces/Planes icon
Select the fixed datum plane that was created with the sketch.
Choose OK to perform the projection.
and choose OK.
Notice that the arc at the top of the profile is blue while the other curves are orange. By consulting the standards at the beginning of this manual, it becomes apparent that a spline or conic was created rather than the intended arc. Step 5 Convert the blue curve to an arc.
Choose Insert→Curve Operation→Simplify.
Choose Delete as the method of dealing with the original curve.
Select the curve at the top of the profile.
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Choose OK to perform the simplify operation.
The status line states that 2 lines or arcs were created in place of the conic. Step 6 Delete the extra curve that was created during the Simplify operation.
Choose Delete.
Select one of the arcs that was created and choose OK to delete it.
Step 7 Modify the remaining arc to close the profile.
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Choose Edit→Curve→Parameters.
Select the endpoint of the curve toward the opening.
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Select the endpoint of the line where the arc should end to limit the curve. Select this end of the arc to stretch
Select this end of the line to limit the curve.
Step 8 Add the curves to the sketch.
Choose Sketch.
From the Sketch Name pullĆdown select S21_PROFILE.
Fit the view.
Choose the Add Existing Curves icon.
Choose Select All and choose OK.
The curves are added to the sketch as evidenced by the color change to cyan. Step 9 Analyze the curves.
Choose Analysis→Distance.
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Select the two endpoints of the curves shown below Endpoint of this arc Endpoint of this line
Notice that the curves are not contiguous. This is very common when geometry is translated into a double precision system, like Unigraphics, from a single precision system. These values are fractions of a millimeter in this case; however, trying to extrude these curves into a solid body will fail because of the gaps.
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Exit the Information dialog box.
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Step 10 Close the gaps between the curves.
Choose Automatic Constraints Creation.
Choose the Clear button to clear all constraint types.
Choose the Coincident constraint to toggle it ON.
Change the Distance tolerance value to .25.
Choose OK to create the constraints.
Unigraphics interrogates each sketch point for other sketch points within the Distance tolerance and combines the points to one. The profile will now extrude properly to create a solid body.
Choose Analysis→Distance and check the two endpoints again.
Choose Finish.
Step 11 Extrude the sketch into a solid feature.
Choose Extruded Body.
Replace the view with the TFRĆTRI view.
Select a sketch curve to extrude.
The entire sketch highlights. Unigraphics treats the sketch as a single modeling operation for swept features.
Choose OK to accept the sketch as the section string.
Choose Direction_Distance.
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Choose OK in the Vector Constructor dialog box to accept the default direction.
Enter a Start Distance of 50 mm and an End Distance of 200 mm. Use the defaults of zero for the First and Second Offsets, as well as the Taper Angle.
Choose OK to create the body.
Fit the view.
The solid body is created. This profile could be further controlled by adding other constraints to capture design intent. Step 12 Choose File CloseAll Parts.
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Activity 5 - Auto Creating Geometric Constraints This activity will explore Auto Creation of geometric constraints. Step 1 Open the part.
Open dau_pipevise and start the Modeling application.
Step 2 Activate the sketch.
DoubleĆclick on a sketch curve.
Step 3 Analyze the existing constraint set.
Choose the Show/Remove Constraints icon.
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Ensure the radio button for All In Active Sketch is ON.
Toggle the Show Constraints option to Both and notice the different types of Explicit and Inferred constraints that exist in this part. They are: Collinear Midpoint Vertical
Equal Length Point on Curve Coincident
Horizontal Tangent
Step 4 Remove the geometric constraints.
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Select Remove Listed.
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Choose OK.
Step 5 Selectively Auto Create the geometric constraints.
Choose Automatic Constraint Creation.
Choose the Clear button in the All Constraints area of the dialog box.
Toggle ON the buttons for Horizontal, Vertical, Coincident, and Tangent only.
Choose OK to create the constraints.
Step 6 Manually create the rest of the constraints.
Make layer 61 Selectable.
Choose Create Constraints.
Select the leftmost vertical line.
Select the vertical datum axis.
Choose Collinear.
Select the bottom horizontal line.
Select the horizontal datum axis.
Choose Collinear.
Make layer 61 Invisible.
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Hold the Ctrl key down and select the two horizontal lines at the top of the profile.
Choose Collinear
Choose Deselect All.
Hold the Ctrl key down and select the bottom end point of the vertical line controlling the slot location and the bottom horizontal line.
Choose Point on Curve
and Equal Length.
and Midpoint.
The Status line should now inform you that the sketch is fully constrained.
Click MB2 to exit the function.
Choose Finish.
Step 7 Choose File CloseAll Parts.
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Activity 6 - Applying Design Intent Design Intent Apply dimensional and geometric constraints to control the following:
The height and width of the part.
The depth and width of the slot.
The slot should always stay in the middle of the part along the X axis. slot width slot depth
height
width
Step 1 Open dau_seedpart_in. Step 2 On Layer 21, create sketch S21 in the XCĆYC plane. Step 3 Create curves to produce the profile shown above. Step 4 Fully constrain the sketch according to the design intent. Step 5 After constraining the sketch, edit the dimension for the width of the part to verify that the slot remains in the center. Use any reasonable value of your choice. Step 6 Choose FileCloseAll Parts.
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Convert To/From Reference At times it is nice to be able to see what the effects of a change are numerically, but adding a dimensional constraint to do this causes the sketch to be over constrained. Additionally, sketch curves may need to be associated to other sketch curves that are not intended to represent a portion of the swept feature. To support these needs, Unigraphics allows Reference objects within sketches. These reference objects may be either curves or dimensional constraints. The Convert To/From Reference icon is located on the Sketch Constraints toolbar.
To change the status of the objects, set the radio button to the status desired, select the object(s) and choose OK or Apply. An option menu is provided to filter for All (the default), Curve, or Dimension. Reference curves are displayed in gray color and phantom line font. Reference curves are ignored during sweep operations. Reference dimensional constraints are shown in white color and only the value portion of the expression is shown, regardless of the preference setting. The value for this reference dimension will be updated as the sketch is changed, but it does not control the sketch geometry with which it is associated.
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Activity 7 - Constraining Tangent Curves Design Intent Apply dimensional and geometric constraints to control the following:
The width of the slot.
The total length of the slot.
Dia (width)
length
Step 1 Open the part file.
Open dau_straightslot_1 and save it as ***_straightslot_1 where *** represent your initials.
You will now constrain the slot in its current configuration. Later, the constraint set will be changed to accommodate two other changes.
Choose Modeling.
Step 2 Create a sketch
Choose Sketch.
Click on the sketch name; key in s21_slot and press Enter.
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Select the front face as the attachment face.
Attachment Face
Horizontal Reference here.
Select the horizontal reference as shown above. Choose OK.
Step 3 Add the curves to the sketch.
Choose Add Existing Curves.
Choose Select All and then choose OK.
Step 4 List the constraints currently on the sketch.
Choose Show/Remove Constraints.
Ensure the radio button for All In Active Sketch is toggled ON.
No explicit constraints exist in this sketch because the curves were added to the sketch and not created with the sketch active. There will be four inferred constraints
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Cancel the Show/Remove Constraints dialog box.
Step 5 Fully constrain the sketch according to the design intent.
Use Dimensions to locate the left arc center 1 inch from the left side of the part and 2 inches from the bottom of the part.
Add the following geometric constraints: Horizontal constraint to both lines Tangent constraint to arcs and lines (4 places)
Add the following dimensional constraints:
Step 6 After constraining the sketch, edit the dimensions for the slot to ensure that it updates properly. Use any reasonable values of your choice.
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Design Change Change the design intent on the previous sketch: modify dimensional and geometric constraints so that one end may be made larger than the other. The total length still needs to be controlled. Examine the diagram below and follow the steps to perform the design change. Radius 2
Radius 1
length
Step 7 List the constraints currently on the sketch and identify any that do not meet the new design intent. Delete the constraints that do not meet the new design intent and add new constraints.
Select the Show/Remove Constraints icon.
Verify the radio button for All In Active Sketch is selected.
Delete the horizontal constraints.
Delete the slot width dimension and replace it with a radius dimensional constraint on each arc.
The sketch is not fully constrained but, it does meet the design intent; one end may be made larger than the other. Step 8 Edit the dimensions for the slot to ensure it updates properly.
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Assign a value of .5 to the left radius dimensional constraint.
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Assign a value of .25 to the right radius dimensional constraint.
Another Design Change Change the design intent again so that the sketch may be oriented at various angles other than horizontal. The total length of the shape should still be controlled.
Angle
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Step 9 Create reference geometry.
Create the two lines shown below and apply the constraints as instructed below.
Assign a Vertical and Constant Length constraint to this line.
ÓÓÓÓÓÓÓÓÓ ÓÓÓÓÓÓÓÓÓ This line is created from arc center to arc center.
Step 10 Converting Curves to Reference Lines.
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Choose the Convert To/From Reference icon.
Select the two lines just created.
Ensure that the radio button is set to Reference.
Choose OK.
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Step 11 Add dimensional constraints shown below.
NOTE: If a horizontal dimension for the slot length was inferred or manually defined, delete it and replace with a parallel dimension. Step 12 After constraining the sketch, edit the dimensions for the slot to ensure that it updates properly. Use any reasonable values of your choice. Step 13 Choose FileCloseSave and Close.
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ÏÏÏ Activity 8 - Constraining the Perimeter of a Sketch ÏÏÏ In this activity, you will constrain the perimeter of a swimming pool sketch. 1 ÏÏÏ ÏÏÏ
Step 1 Open the part file dau_skt_perimeter and start the Modeling application. Step 2 Activate the SWIMMING_POOL sketch. Step 3 Investigate the existing constraints using Show/Remove Constraints.
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Choose the Show/Remove Constraints icon.
If necessary, toggle on All in Active Sketch.
Verify the Constraint Type is set to All.
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Verify the Show Constraints option is set to Explicit.
Choose the first constraint in the list, A5 Equal radius to A7. Investigate the highlighted curves on the screen.
Select the Step Down The List button or use your down arrow key and read through the constraints to get an idea of the existing constraints in the sketch. Then Cancel the dialog box.
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Step 4 Add the two dimensional constraints shown.
Step 5 Constrain the perimeter of the sketch.
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Choose the Perimeter icon from the dimension types.
Select all of the curves, a total of eight.
Select the middle mouse button to signify that you are finished selecting curves.
If you do not get all of the curves selected, highlight the perimeter constraint in the Dimensions list and choose the Remove Highlighted button.
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Verify that a Perimeter dimension appears in the Dimensions list. (It may be a different p"Ćnumber.)
Step 6 Edit the perimeter.
Slide the slider bar to the left and right and observe the changes in the sketch.
Slider Bar
Edit the Perimeter and other dimensions by entering values and/or using the slider bar.
Step 7 Close the part. Do not save it.
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Constraining Sketches
ÏÏÏ Activity 9 - Controlling Heat Transfer in a Cooling Pipe ÏÏÏ In this activity, you will apply a dimensional perimeter constraint to a cooling 1 ÏÏÏ The purpose of this constraint will be to control the cross sectional area of ÏÏÏ pipe. the fin relative to the flow of the coolant. Step 1 Open the part file dau_perim_1 and start the Modeling application.
This part contains the following features:
Cylinder
Thru Hole - The diameter of the thru hole controls the diameter of the cylinder by maintaining a constant wall thickness.
Sketch Step 2 Interrogate the sketch.
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Activate the FIN sketch.
Fit the view.
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The sketch is located by 2 geometric constraints, collinear and concentric, as show below.
Reference curve and datum plane (layer 61) are collinear. Sketch arc and OD of cylinder feature are concentric.
Step 3 Add a dimensional perimeter constraint to the sketch. The sketch needs one more constraint to be totally constrained.
Make layer 1 invisible.
Choose Dimensions.
Choose Perimeter.
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Constraining Sketches
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Select the curves shown below.
Select the middle mouse button to signify that you are finished selecting curves.
Note that there is a new dimensional constraint called Perimeter_p## and that the sketch is now fully constrained.
TIP
Choose Cancel.
If you do not get all of the curves selected, highlight the perimeter constraint in the Dimensions list and choose the Remove Highlighted button. Step 4 Extrude the sketch.
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Choose Finish.
Choose Extruded Body.
Select a sketch curve and choose OK.
Choose Trim to Face/Plane.
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Choose Cycle Vector Direction so that the extrusion vector points in the negative ZC direction and choose OK.
Toggle Extend Trim Face to ON.
Select the face shown below.
Select this face.
Choose OK.
Make sure taper angle is set to 0 (zero) and choose OK.
Choose Unite.
Step 5 Create a circular array of the extruded fin.
Make layer 61 Selectable.
Choose Instance.
Choose Circular Array.
Select the Extruded feature and choose OK.
Enter:
Number = 8 Angle = 45
Choose OK.
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Constraining Sketches
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Choose Datum Axis.
Select the datum axis in the graphic window.
Choose Yes.
Choose Cancel.
Make all but the work layer invisible.
Step 6 Capture the design intent for the fin.
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Choose ToolsExpression.
Select the ID expression and change it to 4.
Choose Apply.
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Fit the view.
Notice that the fins have retained their original profile. If the cooling pipe's volume is going to increase the cooling fins will also need to increase. For this application, each fin's profile should equal 1.25 of the cross sectional flow area. An expression has been created for you that represents the area of the flow cross section; it is called Flow_area. This expression is associative to the hole feature and will update automatically.
Undo the last expression operation to return the heat pipe to its original configuration.
Select the expression called Perimeter_p21 (the two digits following the p in your expression may be different).
Edit the expression as follows: Perimeter_p21=Flow_area*1.25 and choose Apply.
Select the ID expression and change it to 4.
Choose Apply.
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Fit the view.
Notice how the fins have updated to meet the new flow requirement. Step 7 Close the part. Do not save it.
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ÏÏÏ ÏÏÏ 1 ÏÏÏ ÏÏÏ SUMMARY Sketch constraints allow you to capture and maintain design intent even after design changes occur. Through dimensional and geometric constraints, you can adapt your solid models to the design intent of the final product. In this lesson you:
Applied Design Intent.
Defined Sketch Points.
Identified Degree of Freedom Arrows.
Created Dimensional Constraints.
Edited Dimensional Constraints.
Created Geometric Constraints.
Auto Created Geometric Constraints.
Displayed Geometric Constraints.
Converted Sketch Curves To Reference Curves.
Updated the Model.
Added Objects to a Sketch.
Constrained a Sketch by its perimeter.
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Constraining Sketches
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(This Page Intentionally Left Blank)
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Constraint Management Lesson 2
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PURPOSE This lesson describes other constraint management tools as well as additional ways to use sketches. OBJECTIVES Upon completion of this lesson, you will be able to:
Create an Alternate Solution.
Drag a sketch curve.
Reorder sketches.
Position Sketches on a Solid Body.
Locate a Sketch with Constraints.
Move a sketch using Reattach.
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Alternate Solution Constraint sets may be valid in one or more configurations depending on the given geometry. Scalar dimensional constraints have no positive or negative sign, they specify only an absolute value. This absolute value may be applied to specify a given distance between objects in one direction or the other. There are times when multiple solutions may be available for a given constraint set. At these times there is a need to ask the system to change the configuration based on the given set of constraints. Unigraphics provides this functionality as an Alternate Solution.
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Selecting the Alternate Solution icon from the Sketch Constraints toolbar will bring up a small dialog box containing the options OK, Back, or Cancel. The Cue line prompts the user to Select a dimension or circle/arc".
One alternate solution as it applies to a dimensional constraint would be the fairly simple case illustrated below. Geometric constraints for horizontal and vertical have been applied to the appropriate lines, as well as collinearity between the two horizontal segments as shown. The dimensional constraint is selected for an alternate solution with the results as shown. The vertical dimension is valid in either case when it is applied as an absolute value. p4=1
p4=1
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Two alternate solutions as applied to a circle or an arc, are when two circles are constrained tangent to each other or a line is constrained tangent to an arc. This is illustrated below. In the case of the two circles, either solution is valid given the constraints supplied. Alternate Solution may be used to switch between the two, should some other constraint cause the system to select the wrong configuration. First selection
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Two tangent circles
Second selection
OR A line tangent to an arc
First selection
Second selection
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Activity 1 - Alternate Solution In this activity you will explore alternate solutions to constraint sets and the effects that different constraints have as they are applied. Step 1 Open dau_alternate_1.
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Step 2 View the constraints.
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Choose Modeling.
DoubleĆclick on a sketch curve.
Choose the Show/Remove Constraints icon.
Ensure the List Constraints for radio button is set to All In Active Sketch.
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Change the Constraint Type to Tangent.
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Select A1 Tangent to L6 to see the only tangent constraint in the sketch.
Choose Cancel.
Step 3 Add dimensional constraints as shown.
Choose Dimensions.
Select the bottom horizontal line and place the dimensional constraint on the screen.
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Choose Radius.
Select the circle and place the dimensional constraint on the screen.
Choose OK.
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Step 4 Obtain an Alternate Solution.
Choose the Alternate Solution icon.
The Cue line prompts you to Select a dimension or circle/arc".
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Select the arc and the center vertical line.
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The circle flips to the other side of the line. This is a valid alternate solution, the circle is still tangent to the line. Step 5 Obtain another Alternate Solution.
Select the circle and the center horizontal line.
ÉÉÉ 2 ÉÉÉ ÉÉÉ ÉÉÉ Since there is no constraint associated to the two objects selected, there is no alternate solution available. Unigraphics displays a message stating that there is no valid alternate solution for the selected objects.
Choose OK to dismiss the message.
Choose Cancel in the Alternate Solution dialog box.
Step 6 Add a Tangency constraint.
Choose the Create Constraints icon.
Select the circle and the center horizontal line.
Apply a Tangent constraint.
Step 7 Obtain an Alternate Solution.
Choose Alternate Solution.
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Select the arc and the center horizontal line.
Here's what happened. The center horizontal line has six constraints associated to it: Horizontal Tangent to the arc Left endpoint is located midpoint of the left vertical line. Left endpoint is located on the left vertical line. Right endpoint is located midpoint of the right vertical line. Right endpoint is located on the right vertical line. When the alternate solution is applied to the line and circle, the top horizontal line collapses onto the bottom horizontal line. The two vertical lines now have a theoretical length of 0 (zero), which allows the middle horizontal line to meet its midpoint, point on curve, and tangent constraints.
Choose Undo
to restore the geometry.
Step 8 Add constraints to the center horizontal and vertical lines.
Choose the Create Constraints icon.
Select the left vertical line and the bottom horizontal line and apply an Equal Length constraint to them.
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Step 9 Obtain an Alternate Solution.
Choose Alternate Solution.
Select the arc and the center horizontal line.
With the addition of the Equal Length constraint, the geometry now updates in the desired manner.
Choose Finish.
Step 10 Choose FileCloseAll Parts.
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Constraint Management
Drag Unigraphics provides a variety of feedback about the sketch. The user may find information about the constraint condition of a sketch, list current constraints, or obtain information about sketch objects. Degree of freedom indicators are provided to help gain insight into information that the system does not have. There are occasions when the user considers a sketch constrained and the system still lists the status of the sketch as under constrained. One method of interrogating the sketch is to drag the geometry. Dragging allows under constrained geometry to be moved in the unconstrained directions.
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Dragging is accomplished by selecting curve/s or end point/s and then click and drag the selected objects. Objects that share sketch points with the object being dragged remain connected to the object and stretch to accommodate the movement. In the figure below, L6 is being dragged while L4 and L5 stretch to accommodate the movement of the line. L6 maintains its angular and length relationship during the drag operation. This line selected for drag L4 L6 p1=2
L5
p3=45°
These two lines stretch
p2=3.75
p1=2
p3=45°
p2=3.75
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Drag may be used to drag multiple sketch curves. Select the curves to be dragged, then use the left mouse button to click and drag to move the objects in their unconstrained directions. Selecting two or more objects to drag causes different results as the constraints applied to different curves have different effects on how the group of curves react. These two lines are selected to drag
p1=2
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p3=45°
p2=3.75 These two lines also stretch
p1=2
p3=45°
p2=3.75
Drag may be used to drag a single sketch point. Select the point to be dragged, then use the left mouse button to click and drag to move the sketch point in its unconstrained directions. Objects that share the sketch point stretch to accommodate the movement.
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In the figure below, V1 is being dragged. The lines that share the sketch point stretch to accommodate the movement of the point. Their angle and length are modified by the drag operation.
V1 p3=45°
p1=2
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p2=3.75
p3=45°
p1=2
p2=3.75
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Drag may also be used to approximate the correct location of a sketch profile relative to other objects. This may be useful when the process of constraining distorts the sketch profile so that it would be difficult to undo. Undesired Results Vert. Axis
Distortion caused by the act of constraining
Horz. Axis
Vert. Axis
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Horz. Axis
Desired Results Vert. Axis
Horz. Axis
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Desired results entire profile dragged from quadrant to quadrant
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Activity 2 - Dragging Sketch Objects Step 1 Open the part file dau_drag_1. Step 2 Activate a sketch.
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Choose Modeling.
DoubleĆclick on a sketch curve.
Zoom out the view to give yourself some working room around the geometry.
Toggle Show All Constraints
on.
Notice that the constraint set is presently made up of 1 vertical and 11 tangent constraints. Step 3 Drag a curve.
Place the cursor over the curve at location 1 shown below. Hold MB1 down and drag the curve to location 2.
1 2
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Notice how the vertical and tangent constraints impacted the drag operation. Also notice how the circle was left behind.
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Choose Undo.
Choose Create Constraints.
Select the arc and circle shown below. Apply a concentric constraint,
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Toggle Create Constraints
off (or MB2).
Place the cursor over the curve at location 1 shown below. Hold MB1 down and drag the curve to location 2.
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Notice how this time the circle moved with the drag operation.
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Undo the last Drag.
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Step 4 Dragging curves versus endpoints.
Place the cursor over the curve at location 1 shown below. Hold MB1 down and drag the curve to location 2.
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1
2
Notice how the two lines remained tangent to the arcs that they are constrained to.
Choose Undo.
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Select and drag the endpoint shown below from location 1 to 2.
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2
1
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Choose Undo.
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Select and drag the endpoint shown below from location 1 to 2.
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Choose Undo.
As you can see the selection of an end point compared to that of an entire curve may produce different results.
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Step 5 Drag several curves at one time.
Select the curves shown below by dragging a rectangle around them.
Drag the selection to the position shown below.
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Step 6 Drag all of the sketch geometry to a new position.
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Select all of the sketch curves by dragging a rectangle around the geometry.
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Drag the geometry to the location shown below.
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Step 7 Locate the sketch.
Choose Create Constraints.
Select the arc center of the arc and the horizontal datum axis.
Apply a Point on Curve constraint.
Select the same arc center and the vertical datum axis.
Apply a Point on Curve constraint.
Toggle Create Constraints
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off (or MB2).
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Notice what happened to the sketch geometry. The arc center moved to the prescribed location and the vertical line still meets the vertical and tangent constraints assigned to it.
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Fix the geometry by dragging the vertical line to the other side of the arc. Try to maintain the same size of the upper and lower arcs.
Choose Finish.
Step 8 Choose FileCloseAll Parts.
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Constraint Management
Placing sketches where they are needed Locating a sketch in the correct position and orientation relative to other objects is very useful. By creating an association between the objects in a sketch and a governing object, the correct modification of a solid during a change process may be assured. Sketches may be located relative to datum axes, datum planes, objects belonging to other sketches, nonĆsketch curves, or solid edges. Remember that sketches are features, and as such may only be located relative to features that are higher in the creation hierarchy (have a lower time stamp number). Sketches may be located by one of two methods:
Combination of dimensional and geometric constraints.
Positioning dimensions.
Resolving DOFs As points on a sketch are resolved the DOFs for that point will be removed. To resolve a DOF, it must be located in space. When using dimensional and geometric constraints, an individual object is located and the DOF is resolved by relating back to an external object, i.e. datum axis, datum plane, solid edge. When using positioning dimensions the entire sketch is being located. In order for the DOFs to be resolved, a point must be fixed. The following activities will guide you through the application of both methods.
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Activity 3 - Creating and Positioning a Sketch Design Intent The function of this part requires a triangular pocket located from a certain angled face. By creating the sketch on the solid, the sketch position can update automatically if the angle of the face changes.
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Step 1 Open dau_fence_1. Step 2 Start the Modeling application and make layer 21 the work layer. Step 3 Create a sketch of the pocket.
Choose Sketch.
Click on the sketch name, key in s21_pocket and press Enter..
Select the larger top face of the block as the placement face.
By design, the pocket should be oriented with respect to the pad such that the two legs of the triangle at right angles to each other can be constrained as horizontal and vertical.
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Select the upper half of the angled edge of the pad as the horizontal reference. By selecting the edge on its upper half, the positive direction of XC will point away from the pointed end of the pad.
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Choose OK.
If your display does not look like the graphic below, start over (choose File→Close→Reopen Selected Parts).
YC ZC
XC
The shape of the pocket in this sketch may be defined with only three lines. The corner radii of the pocket will be applied later as blends.
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Choose Profile.
In the middle of the placement face, create the three lines as shown below.
ÉÉÉ 2 ÉÉÉ ÉÉÉ ÉÉÉ Step 4 List the current constraints.
Choose Show/Remove Constraints.
Ensure List Constraints for is set to All in Active Sketch, Constraint Type is set to All, and Show Constraints is set to Explicit.
There should be one horizontal and one vertical constraint.
Choose Cancel.
Step 5 Constrain the sketch. By design, the size of the pocket should be controlled by defining the lengths of the horizontal and vertical sides.
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Choose Dimensions.
Select the horizontal line and place the dimension.
Change the value to 6 and press Enter.
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Select the vertical line and place the dimension.
Change the value to 4 and press Enter. p34=6.000
p35=4.000
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Choose Finish.
Step 6 Extrude the sketch.
Choose Extruded Body.
Extrude the sketch to a depth of 1 inch and subtract it to create a pocket.
Add a .5 inch blend to the inside pocket corners.
Step 7 Constrain the sketch position. Locate the sketch .75 inch away from the pad with the 90 degree corner of the pocket 1 inch from the back edge of the part.
DoubleĆclick on a sketch curve.
Choose Fit.
Choose Dimensions.
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Create the dimensional constraint as shown below.
0.750
ÉÉÉ 2 ÉÉÉ ÉÉÉ ÉÉÉ Now add another dimensional constraint to locate the sketch from the back of the part.
Select the edge at the rear of the part as shown.
Select the Point at the 90° corner.
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Note that the status line indicates that this is a perpendicular dimension.
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Use a cursor location to place the dimensional constraint.
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Enter a value of 1 and press the Enter key.
The dimensional constraint will update to display the new expression. The two constraints applied give the system enough information to determine the exact position of the sketch. The sketch then automatically moves into position.
Choose Update the Model.
Choose Finish.
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Step 8 Maintain the sketch position. Dimensional constraints associate the sketch to the target edges selected. Now edit one of those edges and observe how the sketch is affected. Since the pad has been positioned relative to the block, its angle may be changed by editing the appropriate expression.
Choose Tools→Expression.
In the expression listing is an expression named fence_angle, that is currently equal to Ć20 degrees. This value controls the angle of the pad. If this value changes, the angle of pad will change.
Change the value for fence_angle to Ć35, press Enter and choose OK.
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Note that the sketch remains parallel to the pad, .75 inch away, and remains 1 inch from the back of the part. In some cases if the edit to an edge used to position the sketch is great enough, an Alternate Solution to a dimensional constraint may occur. If either of the locating dimensional constraints have flipped, perform an Alternate Solution on the applicable dimension to resolve the flip. Step 9 Choose FileCloseAll Parts.
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Activity 4 - Positioning a Sketch This activity will demonstrate how to create a sketch and position it with alignment methods. This structural frame requires pockets to minimize its weight. The thickness of the walls and the webs should be controlled.
ÉÉÉ 2 ÉÉÉ ÉÉÉ ÉÉÉ Step 1 Open dau_frame_1 and save it as ***_frame_1 where *** represent your initials. Step 2 Constrain the sketch using both dimensional and geometric constraints to position the sketch curves relative to the solid edges and datum planes.
Choose Modeling.
DoubleĆclick on a sketch curve.
Choose Fit.
Choose Create Constraints.
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Select the 3 sketch arcs and the solid edge shown below and Apply a Concentric constraint.
Sketch arcs
Solid edge
Select the 3 sketch arcs and Apply an Equal Radius constraint.
Choose Dimensions.
Enter a Radius constraint of 2.25 to the curve shown below.
Apply a 2.25 radius constraint to this arc.
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Create the dimensional constraint as shown below. Note the name of the expression.
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Choose Create Constraints.
NOTE: When applying geometric constraints between datum features and sketch curves the constraints have to be applied individually. In the next example one line and one datum plane should be selected and a parallel constraint applied and then repeated for the rest of the lines.
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Apply a Parallel constraint to the objects as shown below. Parallel constraint
Parallel constraint
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Parallel constraint
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Apply the dimensional constraints as shown below.
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Apply the remaining dimensional constraint as shown below. Apply Alternate Solution where required.
ÉÉÉ 2 ÉÉÉ ÉÉÉ ÉÉÉ The sketch is now fully constrained and positioned on the solid body. Step 3 Extrude the sketch and subtract it from the solid to create the pockets. Use a Start Distance of 0 and an End Distance of 0.56.
Step 4 Edit the chamfer feature.
Choose Edit→Feature→Parameters.
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Select the Chamfer feature and choose OK.
Choose the Feature Dialog option and change the offset values to 1.5 and 2.0 and choose OK 3 times.
Examine the part to ensure the update was correctly applied. Look to see if any Alternate Solutions need to be applied to the dimensions from the datum planes.
Step 5 Optional: Add blends to the solid edges.
Create 0.125 blends on the walls of the pockets.
Create 0.0625 blends on the floors of the pockets.
Create 0.325 blends on the vertical outside edges of the solid.
Step 6 Choose FileCloseSave and Close.
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Activity 5 - Using Positioning Dimensions Step 1 Open dau_position_1. Step 2 Start the Modeling application. Step 3 Locate the sketch on the placement plane.
DoubleĆclick on a sketch curve.
Choose Fit.
Choose Show All Constraints.
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Notice that there are 2 vertical,1 horizontal and 2 tangent constraints.
Choose Dimensions.
Select the arc center and the bottom horizontal edge of the solid body.
Place a vertical dimension to the right of the part.
Change the value to 3 and press Enter.
Notice that the status line indicates that 1 constraint is needed. Also notice that the vertical DOFs no longer appear.
Select the arc center again and the right vertical edge of the solid body.
Place a horizontal dimension above the part.
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Change the value to 2 and press Enter.
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The sketch is now fully constrained
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Step 4 Apply a design change. Due to a design change the sketch needs to be rotated 20 as shown below. This set of instructions will demonstrate how Positioning Dimensions can accomplish this.
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Choose Angular.
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Select the objects in the order and at the locations as shown below.
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2 1
Place the dimension to the right of the part.
Notice how the dimension and horizontal constraint are displayed in yellow. Also notice that the status line indicates that the sketch is over constrained. The angular dimension and horizontal constraint are presently redundant (over constrained). If you were to change the angular dimension value, the dimensional constraint would then be in conflict with the horizontal and both vertical constraints. Since we do not want to delete and reassign geometric constraints, we will reposition the sketch using positioning dimensions. Step 5 Create positioning dimensions.
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Choose Undo.
Choose Positioning Dimensions.
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An error window popsĆup informing you that you cannot apply positioning dimensions when there are sketch constraints to external objects. This message is referring to the dimensions going to the solid body.
Choose OK.
Select the two dimensions that position the sketch to the solid body.
Choose Delete.
Choose Create Constraints.
Choose the endpoint shown below and apply a Fixed constraint.
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Choose Positioning Dimensions.
Choose Perpendicular.
Select the bottom horizontal edge of the solid body.
Select the arc and choose Arc Center.
Choose OK to accept the value of 3.
Choose Perpendicular.
Select the right vertical edge of the solid body.
Select the arc and choose Arc Center.
Choose OK to accept the value of 2.
Choose Angular.
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Select the objects in the order and at the locations as shown below.
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1
Key in 20 and choose OK.
Notice how the sketch rotated even though there are vertical and horizontal constraints present. This is because positioning dimensions operate on the entire sketch as a feature, where dimensional and geometric constraints operate on objects.
Choose Orient View to Sketch.
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Choose Fit.
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Now you can see that the sketch was rotated and that the vertical and horizontal constraints are still valid relative to the sketch plane. Step 6 Edit the angle positioning dimension.
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Choose Edit Positioning Dimension from the pullĆdown.
In the graphic window select the angle positioning dimension.
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Key in a value of 45 and choose OK twice.
Choose Orient View to Sketch.
Fit the view.
Choose Finish.
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Step 7 Close the part do not save.
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Reattaching the sketch When a sketch has been created on the wrong sketch plane, or needs to be moved for some other reason, the Reattach icon located on the Sketcher toolbar may be used. Reattach allows for the redefinition of a sketch's sketch plane and reference direction. Below, the extruded feature was reattached to a new face and a new horizontal reference was specified.
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Reattached to a new placement face
Original feature
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Reordering the sketch Since sketches are features they appear in the Model Navigator as well as the list of features presented when performing an Edit→Feature→Reorder. This allows sketches to be located anywhere in the creation hierarchy. Reordering will become necessary when attempting to add generating or guide curves, of a swept feature, that occurs before the sketch. The sketch will need to be relocated in the build order so that it occurs before the swept feature that is generated or guided by the curves. Once the timing of the sketch relative to the swept feature is resolved, and the curves are added to the sketch, the curves may be treated as any other sketch curve for the purposes of constraining.
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Activity 6 - Reattaching a Sketch Step 1 Open dau_reattach_1 and save as ***_reattach_1. In this activity you will reattach a sketch that defines two cam blocks. The arrows in the illustration point to the cam blocks.
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Step 2 Reattach a sketch.
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Choose Modeling.
Change the display to Visible Hidden Edges.
Make layer 62 selectable.
Activate the INSERT_RELIEF sketch.
Choose Orient View to Model.
Choose Reattach.
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Select the face shown below.
Click on the Y axis of the coordinate system.
Select the datum plane to define the vertical direction.
Choose OK.
Choose Finish.
Shade the model and review the part.
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The sketch is now reattached to the defined face and the cam block features are rebuilt. Step 3 Save and close the part.
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Activity 7 - Moving Sketches This activity highlights moving sketches into the proper positions to create a model of a switch base. Step 1 Open dau_switchbase_1 and save it as ***_switchbase_1 where *** represent your initials. Notice that the geometry is two dimensional and appears as if it was brought into this Unigraphics file from another system where it was used to define a drawing. You will selectively eliminate some of the resultant geometry and constrain the remainder in sketches so that parametric control over the model may be defined by the geometry.
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The two dimensional curves from the views in the drawing can be used to define three orthogonal profiles and added to sketches. The sketches will initially be created on the same plane. Two of the sketches will later be moved into the proper positions to create the extruded features on the solid model.
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Step 2 Move the curves required for each profile sketch to separate layers.
Choose Modeling.
Choose Format→Move to Layer.
Select only the two circles in the top" view and choose OK.
Key in 21 and press Enter.
Move the lines shown below in the front" view to layer 22.
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Move the curves shown below in the right" view to layer 23.
This part file has existing standard expressions which will be referenced by the dimensional constraints in the sketches. They should be edited to the desired values. Step 3 Edit the expressions for the diameter and height.
Choose Tools→Expression.
Change the value of the expression dia to 3.75 and the value of the expression h to 5.75.
Choose OK.
Step 4 Create a sketch for the top profile.
Change the work layer to layer 21 and make all other layers invisible.
Create a sketch named S21_TOP on the XCĆYC plane.
Choose Fit.
Add the two circles to the sketch.
Step 5 Constrain the sketch for the top profile.
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Add constraints to position the sketch so that the centers of the circles are aligned with the two datum axes.
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Add a dimensional constraint for the outer diameter. Change the value of this expression to dia to associate it to the expression.
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Choose Finish.
Choose Fit.
Step 6 Move the datum plane and two datum axes to layer 61. They are no longer required for this sketch but will be referenced by the other sketches. Step 7 Create an extruded feature using the top profile.
Change the work layer to layer 1 and keep layer 21 selectable.
Replace the view with the TFRĆTRI.
Extrude the sketch S21_TOP in the +ZC direction using a start distance of 0 and an end distance of h.
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Step 8 Create a sketch for the front profile.
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Change the work layer to layer 22. Make layer 61 selectable and all other layers invisible.
Choose Fit.
Create a sketch named S22_FRONT. Define the placement face with the existing datum plane and select the datum axis parallel to the XC axis as the horizontal reference.
Choose Fit.
Add all of the curves on layer 22 to the sketch.
Step 9 Constrain the front profile sketch.
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Use the Automatic Constraint Creation to create horizontal and vertical geometric constraints.
Add dimensional constraints for the total height and width as shown below.
Test the behavior of the sketch by changing the height constraint to 7.0 and the width to 5.0.
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Notice that the sketch does not satisfy the design intent and remain symmetrical when the expressions are changed. To satisfy the design intent you can add a reference line and additional geometric constraints.
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Choose Cancel.
Choose Undo, twice if necessary, to change the dimensions back to their original values.
Create a vertical line between the midpoints of the two horizontal lines as shown and convert it to reference.
Add the dimension, Collinear and Equal Length constraints as shown below.
Collinear Equal Length and Collinear
Change the value of the expression for the total width to dia and the total height to h.
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Choose Finish.
Step 10 Create associative reference features to be used as attachment faces for the front and right profile sketches, and as location aids.
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Change the work layer to layer 62. Make sure layers 1 and 61 are selectable to display the solid and the other datum objects.
Choose Datum Plane and create a Datum Plane through the axis of the outer cylindrical face of the solid.
Create another Datum Plane through the axis of the cylindrical face and at a 90 degree angle to the plane you just created.
Create a Datum Axis through the axis of the cylindrical face of the model.
The front profile sketch will be attached to the datum plane that is parallel to the ZC-XC plane. However, the plane was created after the sketch and cannot be referenced as a target face unless it precedes the sketch. Step 11 Reorder the sketch after the datum planes.
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Choose the Model Navigator icon.
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In the Model Navigation window, place the cursor on the S22_FRONT:SKETCH node.
Press the right mouse button to display the popĆup menu, slide the cursor down to the Reorder After option, and select the last datum axis from the cascading menu.
Step 12 Attach the front profile sketch to a datum plane.
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DoubleĆclick on a sketch curve.
Choose Orient View to Model.
Choose Reattach.
Select the datum plane that lies in the ZC-XC plane as the target face.
Notice the Datum Axis used for Horizontal Reference is still valid. It is not necessary to redefine all steps during the reattach operation.
Choose OK.
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Step 13 Position the sketch.
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Choose Fit.
Add a constraint to make the centerline of the sketch Collinear with the datum axis through the cylindrical face axis.
Add another constraint to make the lower horizontal line in the sketch Collinear with the datum axis that is parallel to the XCĆaxis. Collinear
Collinear
Choose Finish.
Step 14 Extrude the front profile sketch.
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Choose Extruded Body.
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Extrude the sketch S22_FRONT along the YC axis using a start distance of -dia/2 and an end distance of dia/2 and choose the Intersect operation.
ÉÉÉ 2 ÉÉÉ ÉÉÉ ÉÉÉ Step 15 Create the sketch for the right profile.
Change the work layer to layer 23, make layer 61 selectable, and all other layers invisible.
Create a sketch named S23_RIGHT. Once again, define the placement face with the datum plane defined for the S21_TOP sketch and select the datum axis parallel to the XC axis as the horizontal reference.
Choose Fit.
Add all of the curves to the sketch.
Step 16 Constrain the right profile sketch.
Choose Automatic Constraint Creation.
Set the Distance value to .01.
Toggle on: horizontal, vertical, coincident, tangent, and equal length.
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Choose OK.
Create two vertical reference lines between the midpoints of the horizontal lines as shown below.
Add the dimensional constraints as shown above.
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Change the value of the expression for the width to dia" and the value of the expression for the height to h" to associate them to the other sketches.
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Step 17 Attach the right profile sketch to a new datum plane.
Make layer 62 selectable.
Choose Orient View to Model.
Choose Fit.
Choose Reattach.
Select the datum plane that lies in the YCĆZC plane as the target face.
Choose OK.
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Step 18 Add geometric constraints to position the sketch.
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Choose Orient View to Model.
Choose Fit.
Add a geometric constraint to make the centerline of the sketch collinear with the datum axis through the cylindrical face axis.
Add another constraint to make the lower horizontal line in the sketch collinear with the datum axis that is parallel to the XC axis.
Collinear
Collinear
Choose Finish.
Step 19 Extrude the right profile sketch.
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Change the work layer to layer 1.
Choose Fit.
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Choose Extruded Body.
Extrude the sketch S23_RIGHT along the XC axis using a start distance of -dia/2 and an end distance of dia/2 and choose an Intersect operation.
Choose Cancel.
Make all layers invisible.
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Step 20 Edit the expressions to modify the part.
Choose Tools→Expression.
Change the value of the expression dia to 4.25 and the value of the h to 6.5.
Choose OK to update the model.
Step 21 Choose FileCloseSave and Close.
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Constraint Management
Mirroring in a Sketch The sketch mirror functionality provides a means for copying geometry and constraints within the context of a sketch whenever a sketch design intent is meant to be symmetrical. The mirror function may provide a time saving option. To mirror sketch curves:
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Choose Mirror.
Choose the mirror line.
Choose the curves to be mirrored.
Choose OK or Apply.
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Activity 8 - Mirroring Sketch Objects Step 1 Open the dau_mirror_1 part file and rename as ***_mirror_1.
ÉÉÉ 2 ÉÉÉ ÉÉÉ ÉÉÉ This part file contains a sketch and a solid body that was extruded from the sketch. When the model is complete it will represent a VĆBlock.
Step 2 Activate the sketch.
Double click on a sketch curve.
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The status line indicates that the sketch is fully constrained. The sketch represents half of the VĆblock. The left side will be identical to the right. Step 3 Mirror the sketch curves.
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Choose Mirror.
Select the line, pointed to in the illustration below, as the mirror line.
Click MB2 to advance the selection step to Mirror Geometry.
Select the remaining sketch geometry.
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Choose OK.
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Choose Orient View to Model.
Choose Update Model.
Because the extrusion feature is based on the sketch the model updates to reflect the current sketch. Step 4 Edit the angle of the VĆblock.
DoubleĆclick on the P2=60.000 dimension.
Key in 50 and press Enter.
Choose Update Model.
Choose Finish.
Step 5 Save and close the part.
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SUMMARY Sketches can be reconfigured by using an alternate solution when more than one configuration applies to a given set of constraints. Sketches also can be dragged to other locations or in relation to their own members. Managing sketches will allow you more flexibility when you create your designs. Positioning sketches using dimensional or geometric constraints or a combination of both can help you maintain design intent when related features change. Reattaching a sketch to another sketch plane offers you greater flexibility in your final configuration. In this lesson you:
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Created an Alternate Solutions to obtain the appropriate profile.
Dragged sketch objects to analyze constraint sets.
Located sketches using constraints.
Reattached sketches.
Reordered sketches.
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Additional Sketching Techniques
Additional Sketching Techniques Lesson 3
PURPOSE This lesson describes additional techniques that may be used to manipulate sketches. OBJECTIVES Upon completion of this lesson, you will be able to:
Edit a Defining String.
Suppress and Delete Sketches.
Animate Sketch Dimensions.
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Additional Sketching Techniques
Edit Defining String Sketches are used to define profiles or paths for swept features. The profiles are called Section Strings and the paths are called Guide Strings. Sketch objects that define another feature of the solid model cannot simply be deleted due to the parent/child dependency relationship.
Edit Defining String
is accessed in the Sketch Operations toolbar.
This option allows objects to be added to or removed from a string of objects defining a Section String or Guide String that has been swept into a solid feature. This is useful when the shape of a string member changes, or when the number of objects changes. When the Edit String dialog box displays, the system shows a list of features associated with the active sketch. By default, the top feature in the list is highlighted in the dialog box and the sketch objects associated with the feature are highlighted in the graphics area.
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To add objects to the defining string, simply select them. To remove objects from the defining string, hold down the Shift key while selecting them.
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The closure condition of the string may not be altered while adding or removing objects. A closed loop of objects must remain closed.
An option menu is provided to allow filtering of selectable objects. Options are provided for All (the default), Curve, Edge, Face, and Sketch. The radio buttons at the top of the dialog box, Section and Guide, are for instances where sketches are used both as a section string for one feature and as a guide string for another feature. In these cases the system provides for editing of defining strings of the nonĆactive sketch because of the associativity of the sweep along guide feature.
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Additional Sketching Techniques
Deleting or Suppressing Sketches Since sketches are features of the model, they may be deleted or suppressed by choosing Edit→Delete or Edit→Feature→Suppress.
Sketches may also be deleted or suppressed from the Model Navigator.
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Activity 1 - Edit Defining String In this activity you will modify the profile of a part that already exists by changing the curves that define the profile. Step 1 Open dau_bbqcover_1 and save it as ***_bbqcover_1 where *** represent your initials.
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Step 2 Activate the sketch defining the profile.
Choose Modeling.
Choose Sketch.
From the sketch name pull down select S21_CROSSSECTION.
Step 3 Change the profile defining the part.
Make layer 1 Invisible.
Choose the Spline icon
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on the Sketch Curve toolbar.
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Additional Sketching Techniques
Choose the Through Points creation method.
Verify that the Curve Degree is set to 3, and that the Curve Type is set to Multiple Segments; choose OK.
Choose Point Constructor as the Point Specification Method.
Start with the upper left endpoint on the sketch as shown. Follow with points 2, 3, and 4 as cursor locations. Finish with the upper right endpoint as shown. 2
3
4
1
5
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Choose OK to signal the end of point specification at the same point last specified.
The Cue line prompts to ask if you are Done specifying points?"; choose YES or OK.
The Cue line now prompts to Specify constraints or choose OK to proceed", the slope at the ends of the spline should match the slope of the angled lines at the ends of the sketch to assure a smooth transition. This could be done using the dialog box shown, but it would not assign a constraint. We will assign a slope constraint using Geometric Constraints.
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Choose OK to create the spline.
Cancel the Spline Through Points dialog box.
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Choose Create Constraints.
Select the left angled line and the left endpoint of the spline as shown below. Make sure the spline is highlighted when selecting the left endpoint.
Apply a Slope of Curve
constraint to these objects.
Repeat the previous action for the right angled line and the right endpoint of the spline.
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Step 4 Constrain the sketch as shown below.
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Step 5 Edit the defining string for the model.
Choose the Edit Defining String icon.
Select the spline to add it to the string.
Hold down the Shift key and select the top horizontal sketch line to remove it from the string.
Choose OK.
Step 6 See the change to the model.
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Make layer 1 selectable.
Choose Orient View to Model.
Choose Update Model.
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Step 7 Convert the extraneous line to a reference line.
Choose the Convert To/From Reference icon.
Select the top horizontal line that was just removed from the string, ensure that the radio button is set to Reference, and choose OK.
This line is still needed because the spline is constrained to the point.
Choose Finish. Examine the new and improved barbecue cover.
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Step 8 Choose FileCloseSave and Close.
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Additional Sketching Techniques
Activity 2 - Suppressing and Deleting Sketches In this activity you will suppress and delete a sketch that has features associated to it. Step 1 Open dau_delete_1.
Step 2 Suppress a sketch.
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Choose Modeling.
Choose Edit→Feature→Suppress.
Choose the sketch named S21_CAM from the Feature Selection dialog box.
Choose OK.
The dependents of the sketch are also selected. This includes all of the features except the datum plane and axes used to define the sketch plane. Step 3 Unsuppress the sketch.
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Choose Edit→Feature→Unsuppress from the main menu bar.
Choose all of the suppressed features from the Feature Selection dialog box (Choose the top feature in the list and drag with the left mouse button to the bottom of the list).
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Choose OK.
Step 4 Delete a sketch.
Choose Model Navigator.
Place the cursor over S22_EAR. Click MB3 and choose Delete from the popĆup dialog.
A Notification window pops up informing you that deleting this feature will affect other features.
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Choose Information.
The Information window list the other features that will also be deleted.
Close the Information window.
Choose OK in the Notification window.
The dependents of the sketch are also selected. This includes two circular array instances and a blend.
Step 5 Choose FileCloseAll Parts.
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Additional Sketching Techniques
Animate The Animate function dynamically displays the effect of varying a given dimension over a specified range. Any geometry affected by the selected dimension is also animated. The behavior of the animation is relative to the existing dimensional and geometric constraints.
ÉÉÉ ÉÉÉ 3 ÉÉÉ ÉÉÉ Dimensions list box: Lists the dimensions that can be animated. Value: The value of the currently selected dimension. Lower Limit: The smallest value that the dimension will be during the animation. The default limit is the selected dimension value minus 10%. Upper Limit: The largest value that the dimension will be during the animation. The default limit is the selected dimension value plus 10%. Steps/Cycle: The number of times that the dimension value changes when it moves from the upper limit to the lower limit (or vice versa). Display Dimensions: Optional: lets you display the original sketch dimensions during the animation.
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Additional Sketching Techniques
Activity 3 - Animating Sketch Dimensions Step 1 Open dau_animate_1 and save it as ***_animate_1 where *** represent your initials. Step 2 Animate the first sketch.
Choose Modeling.
DoubleĆclick on a sketch curve.
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Toggle Show All Constraints
on.
The constraints that presently exist in this sketch are: Lines are either horizontal or vertical. Lines are equal length to each other. Arcs are equal radius to each other. Lines are tangent to adjacent arcs.
Choose Animate Dimension.
Pan the sketch to the right so that none of the geometry is hidden behind the dialog.
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Select the p5=1.000 dimension.
Key in the following values: Lower Limit = .125 Upper Limit = 2.875 Steps/Cycle = 10
Choose Apply.
The sketch animates the radius dimension within the animate limits and the present constraints of the sketch.
Choose OK to stop the animation.
Change the Steps/Cycle value to 20 and choose OK.
Changing the number of steps per cycle slows down the animation.
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Choose OK.
Choose Finish.
Step 3 Animate the second Sketch.
Change the work layer to 22 and make layer 21 invisible.
DoubleĆclick on a sketch curve.
The constraints in the sketch consist of a fixed horizontal line and 4 angular dimensions that are associative to each other.
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Choose Animate Dimension.
Select the p0=43.200 dimension.
Key in the following values: Lower Limit = 10 Upper Limit = 60 Steps/Cycle = 20
Choose OK.
NOTE: If you are using a space ball, you may zoom and pan during the animation so that you can see the entire range of motion.
Choose OK.
Edit the p2 dimension to have a value of p1*9 (p2=p1*9).
Choose Animate Dimension.
Select the p0=43.200 dimension.
Key in the following values:
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Lower Limit = 10 Upper Limit = 60 Steps/Cycle = 20
Choose OK.
The animation now dynamically reflects the new dimensional value.
Choose OK.
Choose Finish.
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Step 4 Animate the third Sketch.
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Change the work layer to 23 and make layer 22 invisible.
DoubleĆclick on a sketch curve.
Review the sketch constraints. Notice the reference line with the constant length constraint.
Choose Animate Dimension.
Select the p9=3.000 dimension.
Key in the following values: Lower Limit = .625 Upper Limit = 4.49 Steps/Cycle = 20
Choose OK.
Choose OK when you done viewing the animation.
Choose Finish.
Step 5 Save and close the part.
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Additional Sketching Techniques
SUMMARY The Edit Defining String feature in Unigraphics provides the ability to add or remove objects from sketches to change the shape of the sketch. When the strength analysis of your design proves you need another rib, you can accommodate the change with a minimum of delay. Suppressing or deleting sketches can provide you a means to create varying configurations of your final product. In this lesson you:
Edited the defining string of a swept feature.
Deleted, suppressed, and unsuppressed sketches.
Animated sketch dimensions.
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Expressions
Expressions Lesson 4
PURPOSE functionality.
This lesson describes various aspects of the expression
OBJECTIVES Upon completion of this lesson, you will be able to:
Cut, Copy, and Paste functions in Expressions.
Use the Expression Editor as a Calculator.
Create comments in Expressions.
Create Conditional Expressions.
Create Geometric Expressions.
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Expressions
The Expressions Dialog Box Window
Name Filter
Expression List
Expression Editor & Calculator
Geometric Expressions
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Interpart Expressions
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How to use Cut, Copy, and Paste
Highlight the statement in the expressions editor field by doubleĆclicking or by clickingĆandĆdragging over the text.
With the cursor inside the editor field, use the third mouse button (MB3) and choose Copy or Cut.
From the expression list, click on the expression that you want to add the information to, move the cursor to the position for inserting the text, use MB3, and choose Paste.
Calculator Capabilities You can use the expression editor field to perform calculations. You may then copy the value into an actual expression. If you enter an arithmetic statement without an expression name, the system will simply evaluate your statement and will place the value below the expression editor field. For example, entering the following expression in the editor field will create a new expression: length = 3 * (pi() * 6) / 3.4 However, if you had entered the following and pressed Enter: 3 * (pi() * 6) / 3.4 No expression is created, because no name (left side) is given in your statement. The system would evaluate the statement and place the value in the Value= area as shown below. Value = 16.63196 The statement in the text entry box can be cut or copied and pasted into actual expressions.
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Expressions
Comments In Expressions You can create comments in expressions by inserting double forward slashes //" after the mathematical statement. Anything appearing after the forward double slashes is ignored. The key terminates the comment. If an expression statement is to exist on the same line as a comment, the expression needs to be stated first. Examples are shown below: length = 2*width //comment //comment// width'0 = 5
:Valid :Invalid
Expression Operators Expression operators can be found in Appendix C.
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Other Expressions Options List By The List by: option automatically reorders the expressions. The three ways to order the list are:
by the Creation order, where the expressions are listed in the order they are created (first to last),
by Reverse Creation order, where the most recently created expressions are listed first (a very effective option), or
by Name, where they are listed in alphanumeric order. Uppercase expressions are listed before lowercase expressions.
Filter The Filter option displays a list of expressions containing a userĆspecified string. The filter text is case sensitive. For example, if the following is entered in the field: p*
only expressions starting with a 'p' are listed
*rad*
only expressions containing the string rad" are listed
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To use filter:
Choose to Include or Exclude string.
Enter a string in the filter field and press the Enter key.
Expressions that contain the specified string are displayed or not displayed in the expressions list dialog box, depending on the chosen Filter Action (Include or Exclude).
Choose Save Current Filter if you wish to retain the new setting in place of the default.
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Delete To delete an expression:
Choose the expression that you want to delete from the expression list.
Choose Delete
Choose Undo from the Standard Toolbar or Edit→Undo List and select Expression from the list if you decide that you do not want to delete the expression.
in the dialog box.
NOTE: You cannot delete an expression that is still in use. To delete all unused expressions, use FileUtilitiesPart CleanupDelete Unused Expressions.
Rename To rename an expression:
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Choose the expression you wish to rename from the expression list.
Choose Rename.
Enter a unique name in the Rename Variable dialog box. (To cancel the rename action, choose Back.)
Choose OK on the Rename dialog box.
Choose Undo from the Standard Toolbar or Edit→Undo List and select Expression from the list if you decide that you do not want to keep the name change.
When the expression is renamed, it is changed in every occurrence where used. Remember that all expression names must be unique. It is often helpful to rename the expressions, which are automatically generated by the system, to more descriptive names.
List The List option displays an information window with all of the expressions in the current part file by name and the current value of each of those expressions. You may save the listing to a text file by choosing File→Save As from the listing window. Also, you have the option of printing the entire listing window to your default printer, without saving it to a text file by choosing File→Print from the listing window.
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Expressions
Activity 1 - Working with Expressions In this activity, you will make the expressions easier to understand by renaming and adding comments. Step 1 Open dau_express and save as ***_express.
Step 2 Rename some of the expressions.
Choose Information→Expression→List All.
Notice how some of the expression names are not very descriptive, i.e. p0, p1, etc. .
Exit the Information window.
Choose Information→Expression→List All by Reference.
In the Information window choose Edit→Find.
Enter p0 and press Enter.
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Expressions
The window scrolls down till it finds the first occurrence of p0. Notice that p0 is used in the EXTRUDED(1) feature and controls the taper angle. You will use this information to rename the expressions that control the extruded feature.
Exit the information window.
Start the Modeling application, if needed.
Choose Tools→Expression.
Select p0=0.
Choose Rename.
Enter, ext_taper_ang and choose OK.
Continue by renaming the following expressions as shown in the table below. Old Name p1 p2 p3 p4
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New Name ext_lim1 ext_lim2 ext_offset1 ext_offset2
Step 3 Build associativity between the inside blend and outside blend.
Select blend_outside=.25.
With the Backspace key, remove .25.
Select blend_inside=.25.
Notice how the expression name has been placed to the right of the equals sign.
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Expressions
Select thickness=.25.
The expression should now read as follows: blend_outside=blend_inside+thickness
Press Enter.
Now the part will maintain a constant wall thickness. If the inside blend changes the outside blend will update accordingly. Step 4 Add a comment to an expression.
Select the hole_v=height/2.
Edit the expression by adding a comment as shown below: hole_v=height/2 // hole vertical position and press Enter.
Select the hole_h=length/2.
Edit the expression as shown below: hole_h=length/2 // hole horizontal position and press Enter.
Choose List.
Adding comments is another way of making your partfiles easier to understand, not only for you but for down stream users.
Exit the information window.
Choose OK.
Step 5 Save the part, do not close it.
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Expressions
If (then) Else or Conditional Expressions You have the ability to develop design rule relationships between certain elements of your model. One way to accomplish this is through conditional expressions or conditional equations. Conditional expressions are created by using the if (then) else structure that uses the following syntax: single_variable = if (this condition is true) (then this) else (this) For example: width = if (length>=8) (3) else (2) Alternative syntax shown below without some of the parentheses. width = if (length>=8) 3 else 2 Means that: If the length is greater than or equal to 8, the width shall be 3. If the length is less than 8, the width shall be 2.
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Syntax and the command portions of the statement must be lower case.
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Expressions
Suppression by Expression Using this option, you can use an expression to suppress a feature using the expression editor, which provides a list of suppress expressions to edit. This function is not available if Delayed Update on Edit is active.
ÉÉÉ 4 ÉÉÉ ÉÉÉ If a child feature has its own suppress expression, its suppression status will be controlled by that instead of by its parent's suppress status (i.e., the child is not automatically suppressed when its parent becomes suppressed). Child features that do not have their own suppress expressions are automatically suppressed when their parents suppress.
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Expressions
Suppress by Expression Dialog Box Options Function Create for each Create shared Delete for each
Delete shared Filter List box List
Description Allows you to create an expression for the suppression of individual features selected from the list box. Allows you to create a single expression that controls the suppression of all features selected from the list box. Allows you to delete the selected feature's suppression expression. The list box displays all features which contain a suppression expression. Allows you to delete the selected features' shared suppression expression. The list box displays all features which contain a shared suppression expression. If you seĆ lect a feature, the list box highlights the other features which share that same expression. Allows you to limit the features that appear in the list box. Lists the features that can be selected for a suppress by expression operation. Allows you to generate a report that lists features which contain a suppression expression.
Procedure Once you have selected the appropriate option, choose Apply, and the system generates the new expressions and updates the selection feature list. All previous selected features are removed from the list.
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Expressions
Activity 2 - Creating Conditional Expressions In this activity, you will continue working with the ***_express partfile by developing conditional expressions to capture a revised design intent.
Design Intent Change Assume that the design intent of the part has changed as follows:
The length is 2 times the height.
The width is equal to the height.
The hole diameter is a function of the height as illustrated in the table below. Part Height
Hole Diameter
> 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.5 > 4 but 2 but 1 but 4)(3.5)else(hole_b) Translation -If the height is greater than 4, hole_dia will equal 3.5; otherwise go to expression hole_b. hole_b=if(height>2)(1.5)else(hole_a) Translation -If the height is greater than 2, hole_dia will equal 1.5; otherwise go to expression hole_a.
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hole_a=if(height> button.
Choose the Specify Arbitrary Planes button.
Choose Principal Plane.
Choose XC Constant.
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Choose OK to accept the 0 (zero) value.
Toggle Show Cap to ON.
Move the Primary Plane and Secondary Plane sliders to inspect the interior of the reservoir.
The part may also be rotated in the viewing mode.
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Step 8 Save the part and close it.
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Face Operations
ÉÉÉ 12 ÉÉÉ ÉÉÉ The taper functionality allows the user to change the orientation of one or more ÉÉÉ faces of a solid body. Creating draft for cast parts would be one application for SUMMARY The Offset Feature allows the user to move a face, multiple faces, or an entire body in a direction based on the face's normal.
this parametric feature. In this lesson you:
Created an Offset Feature.
Created Taper features.
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Face Operations
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Variable Radius and Cliff Edge Blends
Variable Radius and Cliff Edge Blends Lesson 13
PURPOSE The purpose of this lesson is to introduce you to the Variable Radius and Cliff Edge blend functionality. OBJECTIVES Upon completion of this lesson, you will be able to:
Create and edit a Variable Radius Blend.
Identify Automatic and Constrained Cliff Edge blends.
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13-1
Variable Radius and Cliff Edge Blends
Variable Radius Blends You can create a variable radius blend by specifying multiple points along selected edges and entering a radius at each point. This creates a blend whose radius varies as specified. A tolerance is used to approximate the variable radius blend. The system uses the smallest of these three tolerances:
Tolerance in the Edge Blend dialog box
Distance Tolerance in the Modeling Preferences dialog box
The smallest entered radius of the variable radius blend divided by ten, unless the radius is zero
If the blend fails, tighten the tolerance. If the blend takes a long time to generate, loosen the tolerance.
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To create a variable radius blend, you should:
Choose Edge Blend.
Ensure that Allow Variable and Setback is toggled on.
Select the desired edges to blend.
Select a point location on an edge where you want the radius to vary.
Modify the point location as necessary.
Enter the variable radius for the selected point.
Continue by selecting point locations and editing location and radius as required.
If you select on an edge that is not highlighted, that edge is selected. If you select on an edge that is highlighted, a point is created on that edge. You can then change the position of the point, if you wish. You can create points at any time while selecting the desired edges to blend. The Point Method options (Infer, Cursor Location, Existing Point, End Point, Control Point, Arc/Ellipse Center, Quadrant Point, and Point Subfunction) can help you create points.
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Variable Radius and Cliff Edge Blends
You can change the position of a point to any other position along the edge it is on by choosing Modify Point. This brings up the Modify Point dialog box, where you can enter a new value for Arclength, %Arclength, or use a slider to move the point. The dialog box also has a Reset button to return the point to its original position.
ÉÉÉ ÉÉÉ 13 If you want to change the location of a point from one selected edge to another, ÉÉÉ select the point in the dialog box listing, choose Respecify Edge, and select the ÉÉÉ new edge. NOTE:
The new edge must be one that was selected for blending.
If you wish to change a selected edge to another edge, you can deselect the edge by holding down the key while selecting it. Then select the desired edge. You can delete a point by selecting it in the graphics window or in the scroll window in the Edge Blend dialog box, then choosing Remove Point. After you select a point, the Variable Radius option is highlighted. Enter the desired radius. The value you enter for the point radius must be positive at the endpoints.
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Once you have selected all desired edges and selected all desired point locations for varying radii, choose OK and the blend is created. Specified points
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(At each point, a radius is applied)
Selected edge
Tips and Techniques Every selected edge needs at least two radii (one for each endpoint). If you do not declare enough information to create the blend, the system infers information for you depending on other selected geometry. The following can help you understand what the system does if you do not declare enough information:
If you indicate only one point and corresponding radius for a selected edge, the system creates a constant radius blend for that edge.
If you do not give a point and radius to a selected edge, the system uses the default radius to create the blend for that edge.
The following are some rules you should follow to produce the desired blends:
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Variable Radius and Cliff Edge Blends
To produce a linearly varying blend, you must define a different radius at each end of an edge. Linearly varying blend
Radius 1
Radius 2
If you must perform blends that will blend away entire faces, blend only one edge at a time. These faces will be blended away
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Result
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Variable Radius and Cliff Edge Blends
If you select an open loop set of edges and supply radii only to the two open endpoints, the blend will vary continuously from endpoint to endpoint, as shown below. Radius (R=.4) assigned at this endpoint 2
Radius (R=.1) assigned at this endpoint 1
No radius assigned at shared points
Result
2 2
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1
Top view
1
Iso view
You can create a variable radius blend with the radii value of zero at one of the selected vertices.
Zero radius blends
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Variable Radius and Cliff Edge Blends
Activity 1 - Creating a Variable Radius Blend In this activity, you will apply a variable blend along series of tangent edges. Step 1 Open the part file dau_blend_frame and start the Modeling application.
ÉÉÉ ÉÉÉ 13 ÉÉÉ ÉÉÉ Step 2 Create a variable radius blend.
Choose Edge Blend.
Ensure that Allow Variable and Setback is toggle on.
Set Filter to Edge.
If necessary, toggle Add Tangent Edges to on.
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Variable Radius and Cliff Edge Blends
Select the edge shown below and, if necessary, accept it.
Select this edge.
All of the tangent edges are selected.
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Zoom in on the model and select the same edge as before.
Choose the Modify Point button.
Move the slider back and forth and observe how the asterisk moves along the selected edge.
Move the slider so that the asterisk is located on the endpoint shown below, and then choose OK.
This endpoint
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Enter 1.12 in the Variable Radius text box, (do not press Enter or choose OK).
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Select the edge shown below and, if necessary, accept it.
Select this edge.
Choose the Modify Point button.
Ensure that % Arclength is toggled ON and, if necessary, enter 50.
Choose OK.
In the Variable Radius text box, the previously entered value, 1.12, is still there. This is the value needed for this point, so no change is required. You will proceed by selecting the next point to apply a variable radius to.
Select the edge shown below, accept it if necessary.
Select this edge.
Choose the Modify Point button.
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Variable Radius and Cliff Edge Blends
Move the slider so that the asterisk is located on the endpoint shown below, and then choose OK. This endpoint.
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Enter .5 in the Variable Radius text box.
Select the same edge again.
Choose the Modify Point button.
Move the slider so that the asterisk is located on the endpoint shown below, and then choose OK.
This endpoint.
In the Variable Radius text box, the previously entered value, .5, is still there. This is the value needed for this point, so no change is required. You will proceed by selecting the next point to apply a variable radius to.
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Variable Radius and Cliff Edge Blends
Select the edge shown below and accept it. Select this edge.
Choose the Modify Point button.
Ensure that Arclength is toggled ON and enter 1.5; choose OK.
Enter 1.12 in the Variable Radius text box.
Select the endpoint as shown below.
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Select this endpoint.
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Choose OK to create the blend; the last point will have the same variable radius assigned to it as the previous point.
Step 3 Edit one of the variable radii.
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Select the new blend feature on the solid body.
With the cursor on the blend feature, click MB3 and choose Edit Parameters.
Select pt3 R= .5 in the Edge Blend dialog box.
Choose the Modify Point button.
Enter a % Arclength value of 20 and choose OK.
Edit the variable radius of pt3 from .5 to 1.75 and choose OK two times to apply the change.
Step 4 Close the part, do not save.
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Variable Radius and Cliff Edge Blends
Cliff Edge Blends You can create two types of cliff edge blends: automatic (Edge Blend) and constrained (Cliff Edge). For example, the blend below on the left has been created with the automatic cliffĆedge option (by default), The block feature's width parameters is then edited so that the block becomes wider, the system simply reapplies a rolling ball radius of the same value, as illustrated on the right. Since the cliff edge was created automatically a full blend is created. However, if the blend had been created using Cliff Edge the system would respond with the Edit During Update dialog box.
ÉÉÉ ÉÉÉ 13 ÉÉÉ ÉÉÉ To create a constrained Cliff Edge blend:
Select the desired blend edge.
Select the desired cliff edge.
Enter a value into the Default Radius field.
Continue selecting or choose OK or Apply to create the blend.
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Variable Radius and Cliff Edge Blends
SUMMARY Unigraphics Variable Radius and Cliff Edge Blend options allow specific design solutions when you need to create unique edge shapes. You can create a variable radius blend by specifying multiple points along selected edges and entering a radius at each point. Cliff Edge blends can be created through the Edge Blend feature. In this lesson you:
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Created and edited a Variable Radius blend.
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Mating Conditions
Mating Conditions Lesson 14
PURPOSE At the heart of assembly modeling is the ability to establish parametric relationships between components. You can relate the locations and orientations of components to each other by defining mating conditions in an assembly. OBJECTIVES Upon completion of this lesson, you will be able to:
Define mating conditions.
Reposition components.
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Mating Conditions
Mating Conditions General Concepts By applying mating conditions to components in an assembly, you establish parametric, positional relationships between objects in them. These relationships are termed mating constraints. Example: If you aligned the cylindrical face of a bolt to the cylindrical face of a hole in a block and then moved the hole, the bolt would automatically move with it.
A mating condition is made up of one or more mating constraints. There are eight types of constraints: Mate, Align, Angle, Parallel, Perpendicular, Center, Distance and Tangent. Mating Condition Mating Constraints(8)
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Mate Align
Angle Parallel
Perpendicular Center
Distance Tangent
A mated component does not need to be fully constrained to be functional.
FROM / TO When selecting objects to mate, the cue line will be directing you to select FROM and TO objects. The FROM object is part of the component that is going to move to a new position. The TO object is part of the component that is remaining in its present location.
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Mating Conditions
The Mate Constraint When applying the Mate constraint to components using planar faces and datum planes, the objects will be oriented so that their normals are parallel and point in opposite directions. The components will not necessarily have physical contact but will be coplanar. By definition, a face normal in a solid body points away from the solid. Selected FROM" face on the component to be mated The shaded surfaces are now constrained to be coplanar.
Selected TO" face on the component to mate to
When mating asymmetrical faces, i.e. cylindrical to cylindrical, spherical to spherical, the radii must be the same; conical to conical, the taper must be the same.
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Mating Conditions
The Mate constraint can also be used to position an edge or curve object of a component with a planar object, (planar faces and datum planes), of another component. A vector will be determined from the edge or curve object, the objects will be oriented so that the vector and the planar object lie on the same plane. This curve selected for the FROM.
This face selected for the TO.
This curve is now located on a plane that passes through the shaded face.
FROM Component object is made up of a block, line, and arc.
This curve selected for the FROM.
This face selected for the TO.
This vector, which is normal and centered to the arc is now located on a plane that passes through the shaded face.
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The Align Constraint When applying the Align constraint to components using planar objects of (planar faces and datum planes), the objects will be oriented so that their normals are parallel and point in the same direction. The components will not necessarily have physical contact but will be coplanar. FROM" face
TO" face
When aligning asymmetrical faces, i.e. cylindrical to cylindrical, spherical to spherical, or conical to conical, the radii and/or taper do not have to be the same. FROM" face
TO" face
The Align constraint can also be used to position an edge or curve object of a component with a planar object, (planar faces and datum planes), of another component. A vector will be determined from the edge or curve object, the objects will be oriented so that the vector and the planar object lie on the same plane, (same behavior as with mate constraint).
Using the CSYS Filter The Align constraint allows the use of existing coordinate systems for FROM/TO selection objects. When using the CSYS, the user selects the FROM CSYS and then immediately selects the TO CSYS. This constraint will remove all DOFs between the two respective components.
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Mating Conditions
The Angle Constraint Use the Angle constraint when you need to control specific angles between objects of components. The example below illustrates an angle constraint that is being applied in conjunction with two other constraints. The two planar faces of the blocks must always be coplanar by virtue of the Mate constraint. The pivot for the Angle constraint is a function of the Align constraint that is applied to the two edges. First: The top face of the large block and the bottom face of the small block have Mate a constraint.
Third: The two shaded faces have an Angle constraint of 30 degrees.
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Second: These two edges have an Align constraint.
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Mating Conditions
The Parallel Constraint Use the Parallel constraint when you need to establish parallelism between objects of components. Objects that have surface normals associated to them will be oriented parallel based on those normals. When applying the Parallel constraint to position a planar object of a component, (planar faces and datum planes), with an edge or curve object of another component; a vector will be determined from the edge or curve object, that vector and the planar object's normal will then become parallel.
This curve selected for the FROM.
This face selected for the TO.
This curve is now parallel to the normal of the shaded face.
FROM Component object is made up of a block, line, and arc.
This curve selected for the FROM.
ÉÉÉ 14 ÉÉÉ ÉÉÉ This vector is now parallel to the normal of the shaded face.
This face selected for the TO.
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Mating Conditions
The Perpendicular Constraint Use the Perpendicular constraint when you need to establish perpendicularity between objects of components. Objects that have surface normals associated to them will be oriented perpendicular based on those normals. When applying the Perpendicular constraint to position a planar object of a component, (planar faces and datum planes), with an edge or curve object of another component; a vector will be determined from the edge or curve object, that vector and the planar object's normal will then become perpendicular. This curve selected for the FROM.
This curve is now perpendicular to the normal of the shaded face.
This face selected for the TO.
FROM Component object is made up of a block, line, and arc.
This curve selected for the FROM.
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This face selected for the TO.
This vector is now perpendicular to the normal of the shaded face.
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Mating Conditions
The Center Constraint The center constraint may be used to center 1 or 2 objects of a component to 1 or 2 objects of another component. See the examples below.
Center Objects 1 to 1 Selections This face selected for the FROM.
Center Objects 1 to 2 Selections
This face selected for the FROM.
This face selected for the TO.
Top View
Top View
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These two shaded faces are selected for the TO and Second TO.
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Mating Conditions
Center Objects 2 to 2 Selections
These two shaded faces are selected for the FROM and Second FROM.
Top View
Top View
These two shaded faces are selected for the TO and Second TO.
Procedure:
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Choose the Center constraint.
Set the Object filter.
Set the number of objects to use (Center Objects).
Select the objects as instructed on the cue line.
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Mating Conditions
The Distance Constraint This constraint allows the user to define distance between two geometric entities. The sign (+/-) of the dimension controls which side of the surface the solution is on.
The Tangent Constraint The tangent constraint defines a physical contact between two geometric entities. There can be multiple solutions to a tangent constraint. To allow the user to specify which solution is desired, a help point will be computed from the pick position on the surface and used to find a unique solution to the tangent constraint. The following are some examples of tangent constraints:
Point on Surface.
Line tangent to Surface.
Plane tangent to Sphere.
Plane tangent to Cylinder.
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Mating Conditions
Constraint / Object Matrix The below table is available as a tear out in the back of the book. Point
Line
Circle
Plane
CylindriĆ cal Face
Spherical Face
Conical Face
Mate Align Distance
Point
Mate Align Distance
Mate Align Angle Parallel Perpend. Center Distance
Mate Align Center Distance Tangent
Mate Mate Align Align Angle Angle Parallel Parallel Perpend. Perpend. Center Center Distance Distance Tangent Tangent
Mate Align Center Distance
Mate Mate Mate Align Align Align Angle Angle Angle Parallel Parallel Parallel Perpend. Perpend. Perpend. Center Center Center Distance Distance Distance Tangent
Cylindrical Face
Mate Align Center Distance Tangent
Mate Mate Mate Mate Align Align Align Align Angle Angle Angle Angle Parallel Parallel Parallel Parallel Perpend. Perpend. Perpend. Perpend. Center Center Center Center Distance Distance Distance Distance Tangent Tangent Tangent Tangent
Spherical Face
Mate Align Center Distance Tangent
Mate Align Center Distance Tangent
Mate Align Center Distance Tangent
Mate Align Center Distance Tangent
Mate Align Center Distance Tangent
Mate Align Center Distance Tangent
Conical Face
Mate Align Center Distance
Mate Align Center Distance
Mate Align Center Distance
Mate Align Center Distance
Mate Align Center Distance
Mate Align Center Distance
Mate Align Center Distance
Toroidial Face
Mate Align Center Distance
Mate Align Center Distance
Mate Align Center Distance
Mate Align Center Distance
Mate Align Center Distance
Mate Align Center Distance
Mate Align Center Distance
Line (Datum Axis)
Circle
Plane (Planar Face) (Datum Plane)
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Mating Conditions
The Mating Conditions Dialog Box Mating conditions are applied from the Mating Conditions dialog box and can be accessed by choosing AssembliesComponentsMate Component.
Mating Conditions Tree Listing
Constraint Types
Selection Types
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Expression Name Expression Value
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Defining Mating Constraints
Choose the type of constraint you want to apply.
Select the filter type.
The system prompts you to select an object FROM component to be mated (component you are moving").
The system prompts you to select an object on component to mate TO (component that will remain stationary). Select the desired object.
Choose:
Preview then Apply or
OK to accept the constraint and dismiss the dialog box window.
Vary Constraints The Vary Constraints option can be used to reposition the active component in the mating dialog. When repositioning a component, the applied mating constraints may limit the freedom of movement. This dialog box has similar functions to the Reposition Component dialog box. A different component can be selected and repositioned by choosing the Selects Component icon.
Select Components
Finished Selection
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Mating Conditions
Degree of Freedom Indicators The system may display temporary arrows indicating remaining Degrees of Freedom. The Show Degrees of Freedom option may be toggled to turn on and off the display of these arrows. A Mate constraint applied to the faces shown, constrains the small block in the direction normal to the faces. The small block is still free to translate and rotate in a plane parallel to the faces.
Preview The Preview option becomes active after all the objects have been correctly selected for a constraint. This option lets you preview the solution by actually moving the component based on the existing constraints. Additional constraints may then be applied. After previewing the constraint, choose Apply or OK to accept the constraint or continue creating another constraint. If the constraint is not as desired, choose Unpreview and use the marching icons to define different FROM and TO faces.
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Mating Conditions
List Errors If there are no degree of freedom indicators visible and the Show Current Solution option is unavailable, you may have tried to define an invalid mating constraint. This will activate the List Errors button. Choosing it will present information concerning the error status. The constraint must be deleted and recreated.
The OK, Apply, and Cancel Buttons
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The OK button should be selected only after all constraints have been applied. This will save" the mating condition (and its constraints) and dismiss the dialog box. The Apply button will apply the constraint and the Mating Conditions dialog box will remain open. The Cancel button will dismiss the dialog box and not save any of the constraints you added.
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Mating Conditions
Tree Listing The Mating Conditions Tree Listing list all of the assemblies mating conditions and constraints. Several options and viewing preferences may be controlled from the Listing Tree. See the illustration below.
Mating Condition expanded to display constraints Mating Condition
Mating Constraint
Mating Constraint Popup Menu
Mating Constraint suppression toggle
Constraint Suppress/Unsuppress Toggle Ć Controls the suppression status of the selected constraint.
A suppressed mating constraint is ignored during geometric edits.
If a mating constraint is being unsuppressed, the mating condition must be solved again.
Mating Constraint Popup Menu The mating constraints popup menu is activated by placing the cursor on a mating constraint and pressing MB3.
Alternate Solution Ć Produces any other solution that is applicable to the selected constraint.
Convert To Ć Allows the constraint to be changed to another applicable constraint, i.e. Mate to Distance.
Delete Ć Removes the selected mating constraint.
Rename Ć Allows the renaming of a mating constraint.
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Mating Conditions
Mating Condition Popup Menu The mating condition popup menu is activated by placing the cursor on a mating condition and pressing MB3. Mating Condition Popup Menu
Highlighting Conditions
Mating Condition suppression toggle
Highlight/Unhighlight Ć will highlight or unhighlight the current condition.
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From Ć Highlights the FROM object for all constraints of the selected condition.
To Ć Highlights the TO object for all constraints of selected condition.
With/Without Direction Ć Controls the display of the objects normal or vector.
Show/Remove Degrees of Freedom Ć Controls the display of the remaining Degrees of Freedom (DOF). Suppress/Unsuppress Ć Controls the suppression status of the selected condition. Can also be performed by using the suppression toggle in front of the condition name.
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A suppressed mating condition is ignored during geometric edits.
No error messages will be displayed for suppressed mating conditions.
If you modify a component creating a failed constraint, that constraint must be deleted before the mating condition can be unsuppressed.
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Mating Conditions
Delete Ć Removes the selected mating condition. Rename Ć Allows the renaming of a mating condition. Remember Constraints Ć Mating constraints may be saved for a selected mating condition within the assembly part file. This allows learned" or automatic mating when the same component is added to the assembly again.
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Mating Conditions
Repositioning Components The Repositioning functionality may be used on a component object that: does not have any mating conditions, the mating conditions have been suppressed, or the component object is partially constrained. If the component is partially constrained then its mating constraints will be enforced within the reposition function. To Reposition a component choose the Reposition Component icon or choose AssembliesComponentsReposition Components from the assemblies toolbar.
Reposition Component Dialog Repositioning can be accomplished in the Reposition Component dialog box by:
Point to Point Translation
Translate
Rotating about a point
Rotating about a line
Reposition
Rotating between axes
Rotating between points Rotate About a Point
Rotate About a Line
Translate
Reposition
Point to Point
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Rotate Between Axes
Rotate Between Points
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Mating Conditions
Move Objects or Move Handles Only These are radio buttons that let you specify whether you want the objects to move along with the handles (e.g., so you can rotate the component about a specific point or axis, or translate along a specific vector). If desired, you could move the handle only.
Distance or Angle The Distance or Angle input field lets you define a distance (or angle) for movement.
Snap Increment Snap Increment allows snapping to "wholeĆmultiple" distances when dragging handles.
Point Method Provides options to let you define points as needed when moving the component object(s) using the handle method. This option is active if the handle origin is active.
Vector Method Provides options to let you define vectors as needed when moving the component object(s) using the handle method. This option is active if one of the handle's three vectors is selected.
Snap Handles to WCS Provides a means for moving the handles to the origin and orientation of the current WCS.
Motion Animation This slider lets you specify how finely the motion is animated (from Fine to Coarse) during the motion that you have defined.
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Collision Mode
Collision Mode allows you choose whether to check the clearance using no objects (i.e., OFF), faceted representations of objects, or first the facets and then the solids (if loaded).
Stop on Collision Stop on Collision is only active when Collision Mode is set to Quick Facet or Facet/Solid. When toggled ON, this option will stop the animation when a collision occurs. When toggled OFF, the colliding objects will highlight but the motion will not stop.
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Mating Conditions
Repositioning Components by Dragging Components can be repositioned by the use of drag handles for quickness and ease. When the Reposition Component dialog box is displayed, the graphics screen displays a set of handles that can be used to drag the component.
The handles can be:
Dragged after selecting one handle (i.e., hold MB1 down while moving the handle).
Translated by selecting the origin handle and then selecting a point.
Transformed so the handles are aligned to a coordinate system.
For example:
Selecting the filled square origin will allow you translate to a point by picking a point.
Selecting the filled square origin and dragging will translate the component.
Selecting an open circle (on each axis) will allow you to translate the component along the axis.
Selecting an filled circle will allow you to rotate the component around an axis.
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Mating Conditions
Activity 1 - Mating the Nut Cracker Components In this activity, you will assign mating constraints to components of a nut cracker assembly. The component part files have already been added to an assembly. In consideration of the class time constraint, the smasher plate, base, mount, ramrod, and hinges have already had mate conditions applied to them. Design Intent: There will be associative relationships between component part files, so that any changes in size and shape of individual component part files will cause the assembly to update. Step 1 Open the part, dau_nut_cracker_assm and start/verify the Modeling and Assembly applications..
Shaft
Arm
Crank Smasher Plate
Ramrod
Link
Hinges
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Base Mount
Step 2 Change the display of the Hidden Edges to visible for easier recognition of faces.
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Mating Conditions
Step 3 Assign mating conditions between the Base and the Shaft.
Choose AssembliesComponentsReposition Component or by choose the Reposition Component icon from the Assemblies toolbar.
Select the Shaft component and click the middle mouse button (MB2).
Select the square drag handle (origin) and holding down MB1, drag the crank to the location shown below, release MB1, and choose OK.
Cancel the Reposition dialog box (MB2) and Fit the view.
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Choose Mate Component.
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Mating Conditions
Choose Center.
Notice that the From Selection icon
is active.
The cue line reads: Select object FROM component to be mated. Select the face of the shaft component as shown below.
Select this face.
The selection step advances to To and the cue line reads: Select object on component to mate TO.
Select the cylindrical face of the Mount component as shown below and choose Preview. Select this face.
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Choose Apply. The constraint is applied and the selection step returns to From.
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Choose Distance.
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Mating Conditions
Select the face of the Shaft component as shown below.
Select this face.
Select the face of the Mount component as shown below and key in an offset value of 1.5, and then choose Preview.
Select this face.
Choose Apply and then Cancel.
Step 4 Assign mating conditions between the Shaft and the Crank components.
Choose Reposition Component.
Select the crank component and click the middle mouse button (MB2).
Rotate and translate the crank component to the approximate location and orientation shown using the reposition handles.
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NOTE: If you do not have the exact location, it doesn't matter. The mating conditions will define its position in the next step.
Choose Mate Component.
Choose Align.
Select the face of the Crank component as shown below.
1st Select this face to define the FROM.
2nd Select the end
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face of the shaft to define the TO.
Select the face of the Shaft component as shown above and choose Preview. The shaft is oriented to meet the constraint although it has not been applied yet.
Choose Apply. The previous constraint has now been applied.
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Mating Conditions
Choose Center.
Select the cylindrical face of the Crank component as shown below.
1st Select this face to define the FROM.
2nd Select this face to define the TO.
Select the cylindrical face of the Shaft component as shown above and choose Preview and then choose Apply.
Choose Parallel.
Select the internal planar face of the crank as shown below.
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Select this face to define the FROM.
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Select the planar face on the Shaft component as shown below and then choose Preview.
Select this face to define the TO.
The shaft and crank are oriented to reflect the constraint.
If the planar faces are 180° out of sync choose Alternate Solution and then choose OK. If the planar faces are oriented properly, choose OK until the Mating Conditions dialog box is dismissed.
Step 5 Reposition the crank component to see the effect of the mating conditions applied so far.
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Choose Reposition Component.
Select the crank component and choose OK.
Select the square drag handle (origin) and, holding down MB1, drag the crank around in a circular motion and verify that the shaft rotates. Choose MB2 to cancel the dialog box.
Step 6 Assign mating conditions between the Shaft and Arm components.
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Choose Reposition Component.
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Mating Conditions
Select the arm and choose OK.
Select the square drag handle and holding down MB1, drag the Arm closer to the assembly and choose MB2.
Choose Mate Component.
Choose Center.
Select the cylindrical face of the Arm component as shown below. You may have a different orientation of the arm.
1st Select this cylindrical face to define the FROM.
2nd Select this cylindrical face to define the TO.
Select the cylindrical face of the Shaft component as shown above and choose Preview and then choose Apply.
Choose Distance.
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Mating Conditions
Select the face of the Arm component for the FROM selection as shown below.
1st Select this face to define the FROM.
2nd Select this
face to define the TO.
Select the face of the Shaft component for the TO selection as shown above, enter an offset value of -.25, and then press Enter.
Choose Apply.
Choose Parallel.
Select the internal planar face of the Arm component as shown below. Select this planar face.
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Mating Conditions
Select the planar face of the Shaft component as shown below and then choose Preview.
Select this planar face.
If the planar faces are 180° out of sync choose Alternate Solution and then choose Apply. If the planar faces are oriented properly, choose Apply.
Cancel the Mating Conditions dialog box.
Step 7 Reposition the crank component to see the effect of the mating conditions applied so far.
Choose Reposition Component.
Select the crank component and choose OK.
Select the square drag handle (origin) and holding down MB1, drag the crank around in a circular motion and verify that the shaft and the arm rotate.
Choose MB2 to cancel the repositioning.
Step 8 Assign mating conditions between the Arm and Link components.
Choose Mate Component.
Choose Center.
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Mating Conditions
Select the faces as directed in the illustration below.
1st
Select this cylindrical face to define the FROM.
2nd
Select this cylindrical face to define the TO.
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Choose Apply to apply the constraints.
Set the Center Objects filter to 2 to 2.
Note that in the following constraint you will be selecting 4 faces.
FROM
Second TO TO
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Second FROM
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Mating Conditions
Select the faces as directed below.
The orientation of your components may differ than the illustrations below.
1st
Select this face to define the FROM.
2nd
Select this face to define the TO.
3rd
Select this face to define the Second FROM.
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4th
Select this face to define the Second TO.
Choose Apply.
Set the Center Objects filter to 1 to 1.
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Mating Conditions
Select the faces as directed in the illustration below.
2nd
Select this cylindrical face to define the TO.
1st
Select this cylindrical face to define the FROM.
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Choose Apply.
Cancel the Mating Constraints dialog box.
Step 9 Visually verify the mating constraints.
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Orient the view to the Trimetric view (MB3).
Shade the model (MB3).
Choose Reposition.
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Select the crank component and accept with MB2.
Drag the crank around using the handles.
Notice how the different component move within the constraints that have been assigned to them. The assembly can be rotated while using the reposition drag function. Step 10 Close all parts.
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Mating Conditions
Activity 2 - Remember Constraints In this activity, you will assign mating constraints to components of a sub-assembly and top-level assembly. The mating constraints will then be saved using the Remember Constraints function and then additional components of the same name will be added by taking advantage of the learned" constraints. Step 1 Open the part, dau_rem_const_assm and start/verify the Modeling and Assembly applications.. Step 2 Examine the assembly.
Choose the Assembly Navigator icon.
bracket
chassis
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Step 3 Add hardware to the bracket and save the mating constraints.
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Make dau_rem_const_brkt the Displayed Part.
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Mating Conditions
Choose the Add Existing Component icon.
Choose the Choose Part File button.
Select dau_rem_const_nut and choose MB2.
Change the Reference Set to BODY.
Change the Positioning option to Mate and choose MB2.
Mate the mounting flange of the clinch nut to one of the bracket inside surfaces.
Center the collar of the clinch nut into one of the holes on the mate" surface.
mounting flange collar
bracket inside surfaces
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Apply the constraints.
Place the cursor over the Mating Condition name, choose MB3 and then Remember Constraints.
Choose OK in the Mating condition remembered message window.
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Mating Conditions
Choose OK to dismiss the Mating Conditions dialog box.
Step 4 Add the remaining hardware using the learned" mating constraints.
Choose the Add Existing Component icon again.
Choose dau_rem_const_nut from the Select Part dialog box and choose MB2.
Ensure the Reference Set is set to BODY and the Positioning option is set to Mate, then choose MB2.
The Place Component dialog box appears and the CUE line now prompts you to Select the object on the component to mate TO. All of the FROM" faces, as well as the types of mating constraints, have been saved with the Remember Constraints function. The arrow in the Place Component dialog box defines which Mating Constraint you are identifying the TO face for. Defines which is the active constraint
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Mating Conditions
The existing FROM face for the Mate constraint is already highlighted in the Component Preview window. Select one of the bracket inside surfaces to mate TO. bracket inside surface
The Mate constraint is now solved, which is noted by the checkmark. Notice the clinch nut has rotated automatically in the Component Preview window to show a better orientation of the FROM face.
Select the appropriate hole to Center the clinch nut into and choose MB2.
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Mating Conditions
Add two more clinch nuts to fill the two remaining holes. The part should look like the following image when finished.
CHALLENGE: Return to dau_rem_const_assm and add the part dau_rem_const_screw using the appropriate mating conditions to secure the bracket to the chassis. Use the Remember Constraints function to add the remaining screws to the assembly. Step 5 Close all parts, do not save.
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Mating Conditions
SUMMARY Drag handles are a new and extremely efficient way to reposition components. This lesson teaches the use of drag handles to reposition components. It also covers mating constraints. By applying mating conditions to components, you were able to relate their locations and orientations in an assembly. In this lesson you:
Defined mating conditions.
Repositioned components.
Added components using Remember Constraints.
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Component Arrays
Component Arrays Lesson 15
PURPOSE Time and effort can be saved by applying component arrays and feature base component arrays. These features capitalize on the parametric and associative characteristics already present in assembly models. OBJECTIVES Upon completion of this lesson, you will be able to:
Create a Circular Component array.
Apply the From Feature ISET function.
Edit a circular array.
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Component Arrays
Component Arrays You can use the Component Arrays options to create and edit linear and circular arrays of components in an assembly based on a template component.
Creating a Component Array A component array can be defined in one of two ways
As the component is added to the assembly by changing the Multiple Add option to Array, or
After the component has been added to the assembly by choosing Assemblies Components Create Array.
The Create Component Array dialog box allows you to define the type and name of the array to create.
Linear is a linear array of components where you specify the number of components, the spacing between them, and a direction reference. Circular is a circular array of components where you specify the number of components, the angle between them, and an axis.
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The From Feature ISET provides a means to quickly generate a pattern of components with corresponding mating conditions based on an instance array in a component part.
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Component Arrays
Editing a Component Array Component Arrays can be edited by choosing Assemblies Edit Component Arrays.
The Edit Array Parameters option can be used to change the number of components, spacing, or direction reference for a linear or circular array. Other options are available to rename and delete arrays.
TIP
The number of components and spacing values are stored as expressions. They can also be edited from the expression editor by choosing ToolsExpression.
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Component Arrays
Activity 1 - Creating a Circular Component Array In this activity, you will create a component array to define three additional locator blocks.
Step 1 Open dau_fixture_assm2 and start the Modeling application. Verify the Assemblies application is ON. Step 2 Display the datum axis which will define the axis of the array.
Choose Format→Layer Settings.
Make layer 62 selectable.
Step 3 Create a component array of locator blocks.
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Choose Create Component Array.
Select dau_locator from the Assembly Navigator and then OK.
Choose Circular from the Create Component Array dialog box and choose OK.
Toggle the Datum Axis option ON in the dialog box.
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Select the datum axis from the graphics area.
Enter a Total Number of 4, an Angle of 90 and choose OK.
The three additional locators are added to the assembly. Step 4 Close all parts; do not save.
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Component Arrays
FeatureĆBased Component Arrays In many cases it is necessary to associate an array of components to a corresponding array of features in another component of the assembly (i.e. bolts associated to a hole pattern). This can be accomplished by using the From Feature ISET option in the Create Component Array dialog box.
The Template Component Component arrays produce occurrences of a template"component object. These occurrences are all associated to the template component. Any changes made to the original component are reflected in the occurrences of the component. The template component defines certain properties for any newly generated occurrences within the array which include:
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component part
color
layer
name
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Component Arrays
Component Arrays and Mating Conditions When using the From Feature ISET option, mating constraints will be generated for the new occurrences based on those of the template component. If the constraint has been applied to an object belonging to a feature used to create the instance array, the constraint will be duplicated for each occurrence of the component. Because the component array uses the mating constraints of the template component, you must assign mating constraints to the template before creating the ISET component array.
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Component Arrays
FeatureĆBased Array Associativity If the number of features in an instance set is changed, the components in the array associated to those features will also change (added or deleted). Furthermore, if a feature in an instance set is removed entirely as a result of a modeling change, the corresponding component in the array will also be removed. Template" component New template" component
Hole is removed from array.
If the deleted component was the template", the system assigns a new template from the remaining components in the array.
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Component Arrays
Activity 2 - Creating Feature ISET Component Arrays In this activity, you will create a component array for a washer and a hex bolt based on the circular feature instance array of holes in the yoke. This is possible because the template washer and hex bolt will be mated to one of the instance array holes. Step 1 Open the dau_valve_assm_2 part file and start the Modeling application. Verify the Assemblies application is ON.
Yoke
Step 2 Add a washer.
Add the dau_washer part using the BODY reference set and the Mate Positioning option.
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Mate the bottom face of the washer to the top face of the yoke.
First select the bottom (FROM") face of the washer to mate
Second select the top (TO") face of the yoke
Center the cylindrical face of the washer to the hole in the yoke. (This is necessary so that you can later create a component array of bolts and washers associated to the instance array of hole features in the yoke).
First select the interior cylindrical (FROM") face of washer
Second select the cylindrical (TO") face of the hole.
Choose Preview and OK twice.
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Step 3 Add a hex bolt.
Add the dau_hex_bolt part using the BODY reference set and the Mate Positioning option.
Mate the bottom face of the bolt head to the top face of the washer.
First select the bottom (FROM") face of the bolt head to mate Second select the top (TO") face of the washer
Center the cylindrical face of the bolt to the hole in the yoke (Again, this is necessary so that you can later create a component array of bolts and washers associated to the instance array of hole features in the yoke).
First select the cylindrical (FROM") face of the bolt
Second select the cylindrical (TO") face of the hole
Choose Preview and OK twice.
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Component Arrays
Choose Cancel.
Step 4 Create the component array.
TIP
Choose Create Component Array.
Choose the dau_hex_bolt and the dau_washer from the Assembly Navigator and OK.
Use the Ctrl key while selecting the second component from the Assembly Navigator.
If necessary, choose the From Feature ISET option.
Choose OK.
A component array of washers and hex_bolts is generated based on the placement of the hole instance set of the yoke.
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Step 5 Verify that new mating conditions were generated.
Choose Mating Conditions.
Note that you now have mating conditions for all of the occurrences of the hex_bolts and washers.
Choose Cancel to dismiss the dialog box.
Step 6 Edit the bolt hole pattern in the Yoke.
Make dau_valve_yoke the work part.
Choose Edit→Feature→Parameters.
Select one of the hole features of the bolt hole pattern and accept it.
Choose Instance Array Dialog.
Change the values as follows: Number = 8 Angle = 360/8
Choose OK three times.
Make dau_valve_assm_2 the Work Part.
Notice how the quantity of fasteners has updated to meet the design change. To complete this edit, the bolt hole pattern in the valve_housing would also be changed.
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Step 7 Close the assembly; do not save.
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Component Arrays
SUMMARY Component arrays take advantage of existing parametric data and can save time in adding component part files to an assembly. In this lesson you:
Created a circular component array.
Applied the From Feature ISET function.
Edited a circular array.
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Part Families
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Part Families Lesson 16
PURPOSE Part Families provide a method to quickly define a family of similar parts based on a single template part. In this lesson you will create a part family to generate a family of standard parts. OBJECTIVES Upon completion of this lesson, you will be able to:
Demonstrate an understanding of the capabilities and concepts of Part Families.
Define a Part Family for a standard part.
Create Family Member parts from a template part.
Add a Part Family member to an assembly.
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Part Families
ÉÉÉ Capabilities and General Concepts ÉÉÉ 16 ÉÉÉ Families provide you with a fast way to generate a family of similar parts. ÉÉÉ Part Each family member is based on a single template part, which can be a piece part or an assembly. You are able to specify properties which may vary between family members. These properties may be expression values, attribute values, or optional features, for example. The Unigraphics spreadsheet is used to define the members of the family and their values for each of these properties. Changes to the template part can be propagated to all parts which are members of that family.
Common Uses The most common use for Part Families is to aid in the creation of a library of standard parts, such as bolts or washers.
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Part Families
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Terminology There are some terms that are specific to the Family of Parts functions, as explained below. Template part - A Unigraphics part file constructed in such a way as to allow a family of parts to be built based on it. Family table - A table created from the template part, in the Unigraphics spreadsheet function, that describes the various attributes of the template part that you can change when you create a family member. Family member - A readĆonly part file created from, and associated with, a template part and family table. Part Family - The template part, family table, and family member parts.
General Procedure
Create a template part.
In the template part, define the attributes that will be used in the family.
Create and save a family table in the spreadsheet, defining the various configurations of the family members.
Choose Part Family→Create Parts in the family table (spreadsheet).
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Part Families Dialog Box The Part Families dialog box is accessed in the Modeling application by choosing Tools→Part Families from the main menu bar. You can use the areas in the upper portion of the Part Families dialog box to specify the columns in the Part Families spreadsheet.
Option menu for Attribute Classes
Available columns
Chosen columns Chosen columns
Available Columns The Available Columns list box shows you the items available in the current part to be defined as columns in the family table spreadsheet. Only the items of the class shown on the option button are displayed.
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Attribute Classes You can select from six different attribute classes when defining the columns in the part family spreadsheet. You can later change the values of these attributes in the spreadsheet to define parts with different configurations. The available classes are:
Attributes - You can use part attributes and their values for a family.
Components - (For assembly template parts) You can replace a specified component with a different component, or you can remove it altogether by leaving the spreadsheet entry blank.
Expressions - You can supply values for expressions when the family member is created. Only constant expressions can be used.
Mirror - If you have a mirror body in your part, a part family member can use the base body, by entering a value of No in the spreadsheet, or the mirrored body, by entering a value of Yes.
Density - This option presents a list of all the named solid bodies in the part, allowing you to assign a density to each one. When the family member is created, you can specify a density and it will be applied to all bodies with that name. Use EditProperties to assign a name to the body.
Features - Features may be suppressed, by entering a value of No in the spreadsheet, or not suppressed, by entering a value of Yes.
Add Column To add a column to the Chosen Columns list, select its name in the Available Columns list, then choose Add Column.
Chosen Columns The Chosen Columns list box shows you the items that have been selected for the part family. Each item in this list represents one column in the spreadsheet.
Remove Column To remove a column from the Chosen Columns list, select its name from the list and choose Remove Column.
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Create This option invokes the spreadsheet for a new family of parts after you specify the columns.
Edit This option invokes an existing spreadsheet for editing.
Delete This option deletes the spreadsheet, which deletes the entire family of parts. NOTE: If the deleted part family has any member parts that have been created, they will revert to being ordinary Unigraphics part files.
Resume After control has been transferred to Unigraphics to verify or create a part, you must choose Resume to return control to the spreadsheet.
Cancel This option cancels any edits made to the spreadsheet after the last save, and returns control to Unigraphics. Therefore, if you edit the spreadsheet, then do a verify to check the edits, you can choose Cancel to leave the family table as it was before the edits.
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When migrating to a new version of Unigraphics, you must first update and save all part families and members before adding the members to an assembly.
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Part Families
The Part Family Spreadsheet Choosing the Create button invokes the spreadsheet. While the spreadsheet is active, Unigraphics is inactive. Unix platforms will need to use the Xess spreadsheet, which is the default setting. Windows platforms will need to change to the Excel spreadsheet under PreferencesSpreadsheet. The first column in the spreadsheet will have a header for Part_Name. The rows below it are for entering the part name of all the family members. The other columns have headers corresponding to the properties you chose. The second row is filled in with the values that exist in the template part for the properties chosen. The rest of the family can be defined by simply typing in the appropriate values in the spreadsheet.
When you are in the spreadsheet, there are several options available in the Part Family pullĆdown menu.
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Verify Part The family member whose row is selected is theoretically" created and you are given a message to let you know whether it is possible to create a part with the current configuration of attribute values. During this process, control is transferred back to Unigraphics. To continue, choose Resume on the Part Families dialog box to return to the spreadsheet.
Update Parts This option works in two ways: If no rows are selected in the spreadsheet The system searches for each member of the family, using the current search rules. For each member it finds, it checks to see if that member is out of date with respect to the current definition, which includes both geometry changes to the template part and changes to the definition in the family table. If the member is out of date, the system will update(recreate and save) the member part. The updated member part will be saved over the existing part if possible. If the member part was write protected, the new member part is saved to the directory specified under File→Options→Save Options. An update report is also generated. If any rows are selected in the spreadsheet The system searches for the selected members of the family, as above. However, it will not check to see if the member is out of date. It will simply create and save the new version and, following the same rules as above, either save it to the current location or to the directory specified on the Save Options dialog box. This option is offered primarily to cope with changes that may not be detected. An example would be attaching a name to a face. In this case, the model is not modified and the system does not detect that the member part is out of date. NOTE: When you choose Update Parts, the family (i.e., the spreadsheet) is saved. The template part itself, however, is not saved. It is recommended that when you edit a template part or the spreadsheet, you update the associated family members as well, since you are not notified that an update is needed when a family member part file is subsequently loaded.
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ÉÉÉ ÉÉÉ 16 The family member whose row is selected is actually created and saved as a part ÉÉÉ file. During the creation of the part, control is transferred back to Unigraphics ÉÉÉ and the Information window lets you know whether the part was successfully Create Parts
created and saved. To continue, choose Resume on the Part Families dialog box to return to the spreadsheet. NOTE: The created parts are saved in the directory specified under FileOptionsSave Options.
Save Family This option saves the spreadsheet data and returns you to Unigraphics. NOTE: Save Family and Create Parts will save the family (spreadsheet) but the template part file is not saved.
Cancel Returns you to Unigraphics without saving any changes made to the spreadsheet.
Creating Family Members Once you have defined the family members, you can create the actual part files in one of two ways.
Use the Create Parts in the family table (spreadsheet), or
Choose a template part when adding a component to an assembly (Edit Structure→Add). The family member part file is created, saved, and added to the assembly.
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Part Families
ÉÉÉ Activity 1 - Creating a Family of Standard Parts-Excel ÉÉÉ Unix users go to Activity 2. 16 ÉÉÉ ÉÉÉ Probably the most common use of Part Families is to define a standard library part that has many variations.
In this activity, you will create a part family for a hex bolt which has variations in head size and length. You will also use the feature attribute to suppress and unsuppress holes for safety wire. The template part has already been created for you. Step 1 Open the part dau_hexbolt_fam and rename ***_hexbolt_fam. Step 2 Choose ApplicationModeling and verify that the Assemblies application is enabled. Step 3 Define the columns for the Family Table.
Choose Tools→Part Families from the main menu bar.
Select the bolt_dia expression from the top window of the Part Families dialog box.
Choose the Add Column button.
Option menu
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Select the head_dia expression from the top window of the Part Families dialog box.
Choose the Add Column button.
NOTE: Instead of choosing, Add Column, you could just doubleĆclick on the expression, i.e. head_dia.
DoubleĆclick on the head_height expression from the top window of the Part Families dialog box.
DoubleĆclick on the length expression from the top window of the Part Families dialog box.
Change the option menu at the top of the dialog box from Expressions to Features.
DoubleĆclick on WIRE_HOLES[0](23)/SIMPLE_HOLE(23) from the top list of the Part Families dialog box.
NOTE: The order in which you select the attributes determines the order of columns in the spreadsheet. Step 4 Create the family table.
Choose the Create button from the bottom portion of the Part Families dialog box.
To expedite filling in the spreadsheet, you will import a text file that has been created for you.
In the spreadsheet application choose FileOpen.
Set the Files of type: to Text Files (*.prn *.txt; *.csv).
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Change the Look in: to point to the parts directory.
DoubleĆclick on the dau_hexbolt_fam text file.
In the Text Import wizard, choose Finish.
In the dau_hexbolt_fam.txt spread sheet, select cell A:1 and drag the cursor to cell F:12.
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All of the cells that have text are now highlighted.
Cell A:1
Cell F:12
Choose EditCopy.
Choose WindowWorksheet in Part Family Ć ***_HEX . . .
In the ***_HEXBOLT_FAM spread sheet, select cell A:2.
Choose EditPaste.
Step 5 Verify a family member
Select a cell in row 13.
From the spreadsheet menu bar choose PartFamily→Verify Part.
The Unigraphics session becomes active and the family member is displayed in the graphics window. Notice that the safety wire holes are not present; in this family member the hole feature is suppressed.
Choose Resume in the Part Families dialog box.
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Step 6 Save the Part Family and the template part.
From the spreadsheet menu bar choose PartFamily→Save Family.
NOTE: The Save Family option internally stores the spreadsheet data within the template part file. It does not save the template part file itself.
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From the Unigraphics menu bar choose File→Save to save the template part file containing the spreadsheet data.
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Activity 2 - Creating a Family of Standard Parts-Xess Windows users skip this activity. Probably the most common use of Part Families is to define a standard library part that has many variations. In this activity, you will create a part family for a hex bolt which has variations in head size and length. You will also use the feature attribute to suppress and unsuppress holes for safety wire. The template part has already been created for you. Step 1 Open the part dau_hexbolt_fam and rename ***_hexbolt_fam. Step 2 Choose ApplicationModeling and verify that the Assemblies application is enabled. Step 3 Define the columns for the Family Table.
Choose Tools→Part Families from the main menu bar.
Select the bolt_dia expression from the top window of the Part Families dialog box.
Choose the Add Column button.
Option menu
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Select the head_dia expression from the top window of the Part Families dialog box.
Choose the Add Column button.
NOTE: Instead of choosing, Add Column, you could just doubleĆclick on the expression, i.e. head_dia.
DoubleĆclick on the head_height expression from the top window of the Part Families dialog box.
DoubleĆclick on the length expression from the top window of the Part Families dialog box.
Change the option menu at the top of the dialog box from Expressions to Features.
Select the WIRE_HOLES(0)(23)/SIMPLE_HOLE(23) from the top list of the Part Families dialog box.
Choose the Add Column button.
NOTE: The order in which you select the attributes determines the order of columns in the spreadsheet. Step 4 Create the family table.
Choose the Create button from the bottom portion of the Part Families dialog box.
To expedite filling in the spreadsheet, you will import a text file that has been created for you.
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With MB1 select cell A2 as shown below.
Select this cell.
From the Spreadsheet menu, choose File→Import.
From your parts directory, select the dau_hexbolt_fam.txt file and choose OK.
Step 5 Verify a family member
Select a cell in row 13.
From the spreadsheet menu bar choose PartFamily→Verify Part.
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The Unigraphics session becomes active and the family member is displayed in the graphics window. Notice that the safety wire holes are not present; in this family member the hole feature is suppressed.
Choose Resume in the Part Families dialog box.
Step 6 Save the Part Family and the template part.
From the spreadsheet menu bar choose PartFamily→Save Family.
NOTE: The Save Family option internally stores the spreadsheet data within the template part file. It does not save the template part file itself. Step 7 From the Unigraphics menu bar choose FileSave to save the template part file containing the spreadsheet data.
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Part Families
Adding Part Family Members to an Assembly When selecting a part family template part to add as a component to an assembly, the Select Family Member dialog box is displayed. The Matching Members list box shows you any family members that have already been created, whether they are components of the current assembly or not.
Family Attributes (spreadsheet columns)
Selection Criteria
Family members that meet the criteria
You use this dialog box to choose which member of the part family to add to the assembly, in one of several ways:
If you know the name of the family member you wish to use, choose the name from the Matching Members list.
Enter the name in the Part Name text field.
Use the other options on to define selection criteria based on the values of Family Attributes.
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Selection Criteria This section lets you narrow down the list of available family members by specifying acceptable values of family attributes. The shoulderbolt_fam part family has a total of ten members which are all initially listed in the Matching Members list box. This list can be reduced by selecting a family attribute and a value that meets your requirements. When you select a family attribute, its name is inserted in the Selection Criteria text field and all its possible values are listed in the Valid Values list box.
When length" is selected ...
...its name is inserted in the text field, ...
... and its possible values are listed in the Valid Values list box.
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You can also enter an expression in the Selection Criteria text field to specify a range of values, or relate it to another expression (including interpart expressions)(e.g. length>.75 && length
Greater Than
<
Less Than
>=
Greater Than or Equal
<
==
>=
Left to Right
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