Like the other browser-based modeling tools available through the SOLIDWORKS xDesign bundle, the xDesign app enables users to design and collaborate with their team anywhere and anytime. Whether you have been modeling for years or are new to 3D CAD environments, xDesign provides intuitive tools to help your designs come to life. Part four of our SOLIDWORKS xDesign Beginner Guide showed how to create both 2D and 3D annotations for drawing and documentation packages. In part five of our SOLIDWORKS xDesign Beginner Guide, we’ll discuss the basics of xDesign assembly modeling and how to approach even your most complex design needs.
xDesign is a single modeling environment meaning that everything happens within the same design space, with no distinction between part and assembly files giving us extensive flexibility for assembly modeling. Assembly components can be easily created and modified by adding and removing other components and features without navigating complex assembly hierarchies. However, we still use basic bottom-up modeling techniques to place components accurately and to remove relative motion between them. Once assembled, we can interrogate the model and modify any components that are causing interferences.
xDesign Assembly Mates
After inserting components into an assembly, we use assembly mates to locate and restrict their motion with respect to each other. Mates are logical features that constrain components in 3D space. These assembly features consider the topology of what is selected on the components and depending on the selection, possible solutions are offered for positioning the components. An easy way to apply a mate is to “control-select” method by holding the control key, selecting the positioning face on each component, and then releasing the control key. An in-context toolbar will appear near your cursor with buttons for the relevant geometric conditions that can be imposed on the components. For example, two planar faces can be constrained to be coplanar (coincident), perpendicular, parallel, at a specified distance, or at a specified angle.
xDesign assembly in-context menu for mates
Clicking the coincident option moves the components to a position that satisfies the geometric requirement. These faces will remain coplanar as components are moved around and other mates are added to the assembly. Each mate removes particular degrees of freedom (DOF) from the xDesign assembly and with the coincident mate, one translation and two rotation DOFs are removed.
There are two other techniques for mating components in an xDesign assembly. One way is to select the Mate command on the Assembly section of the Action Bar to open an interactive dialog. The dialog allows you to select the component faces (they can be pre-selected, too), and then only geometrically relevant mates are suggested in the dialog box. Two cylindrical faces can be constrained to be concentric, tangent, or have their axes constrained perpendicular or parallel. Clicking on the relevant mate icon will move the components to the requested position.
Applying a mate to two selected faces
The final way to create xDesign assembly mates is using the SmartMate technique using mouse actions. It is initiated by clicking and dragging the cursor from the relevant geometry of the first component onto the second component you want to mate to. When you see the dragged component turns transparent and the paperclip with the lightning bolt symbol appears, you have activated the SmartMate mode.
Mating geometry recognized
Behind the scenes, xDesign is scanning the geometry your cursor is passing over. When it recognizes potential mating geometry in the xDesign assembly the faces will be highlighted, and the dragged component will snap to preview the mated position. You may have to move your cursor a little bit to activate mate recognition, and the preview changes as the cursor moves around the component. When you see the desired Mate preview and the paperclip with the lightning bolt symbol, release the mouse button and a toolbar appears. In this case, a concentric mate will be applied by pressing “OK”. Each of these mate creation techniques results in a node in the Mates folder in the Design Manager. In this folder, you can edit, deactivate, or delete these assembly features as needed.
Applying a SmartMate in xDesign
Interference Detection
Now that our assembly is complete, we can analyze the mechanism and check for interferences. Unlike the real world, xDesign allows components in an assembly to occupy the same space at the same time, and these solid-body interferences are not always obvious. Fortunately, we can easily understand interferences in our assembly with the Interference Detection command found on the Assembly tab of the Action Bar.
In the Interference Detection dialog, select the components to be considered for this interference check. By selecting the component name at the top of the list in the Design Manager all the components in the assembly are added to the interference check. Clicking the “Calculate” button will run the interference study.
Calculating an Interference Detection
When interferences are detected xDesign makes the interfering parts transparent so we can see the interference region, even buried deep in the assembly. This assembly has interferences where the post on the Top Yoke engages with the bore on the Crankshaft. We could take this to the next level and visualize the problems even better by showing only the interfering regions.
xDesign assembly showing interferences
Modifying Assembly Components
Running the interference detection revealed that we need to modify the vertical post on the Male Yoke part to eliminate the interference. Moving from assembly modeling to part modeling in xDesign is just a simple double-clicking on the component in the Design Manager or the graphic area without leaving the single modeling environment. xDesign’s user interface and model display change to reflect the transition to the part modeling environment.
Parts that we are not editing turn translucent and the edited component’s region of the Design Manager takes on a white background. Also, a left-click or right-click on features in the tree or model shows typical part modeling toolbars and functions.
xDesign UI changes with part modeling
Now with a double-click, we can easily reduce the depth of the Yoke’s extrusion. After the change is made, the Yoke automatically updates and a further double-click at the top of the Design Manager returns to editing the top-level assembly.
Editing a part’s feature
We have seen that working in an xDesign assembly is intuitive and logical. We can quickly utilize assembly mates to easily bring components in our designs together. Additionally, interference detection alerted us to problems in the design at an early stage. Finally, modifying the components while in the assembly was very easy in the single modeling environment. We hope this guide has provided you with the foundational knowledge and inspiration to explore further and innovate within the versatile world of 3DEXPERIENCE. Be sure to tune in for part six of our SOLIDWORKS xDesign Beginner Guide to learn how to leverage the 3DEXPERIENCE web-based design apps for 3D printing applications.
To learn about other powerful uses for the 3DEXPERIENCE platform, read our other articles here.
