efficient fasteners in assemblies
efficient fasteners in assemblies
(OP)
When adding repeat fasteners (usually cap screws) to an assembly, it seems there must be a more efficient way compared to my current practice = add component, find appropriate component, insert by constraints etc. For example, if I had a qty of 20 identical cap screws to add to an assembly I would need to repeat the above over and over. Is there a way to set to parameters (screw type) and then a constraint set (concentric usually) and then go around clicking the appropriate counterbores?





RE: efficient fasteners in assemblies
For more information about how to set this up and get it working, go to the NX Help files and do a search on "Fastener Assembly overview" where you will find the information.
John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Design Solutions
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA
http://www.siemens.com/plm
http://www.plmworld.org/museum/
To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.
RE: efficient fasteners in assemblies
RE: efficient fasteners in assemblies
Presently in our reuse library we have configurable fasteners. Basically I navigate to (for example) the socket head cap screw folder. When I right click on the cap screw and select add to assembly I get a dialog box with options for size, length and placement. After selecting the size, length and placement, one fastener is added to the assembly. I then repete this procedure over and over. The problem is that many of my assemblies have multiples of the same fastener and typically not in a linear or circular pattern.
I have reviewed and played around with the fastener assembly tool but have not been successful in getting multiple fasteners inserted. It seams the fastener assembly tool is looking for a fastener but I cannot point it toward my reuse library.
RE: efficient fasteners in assemblies
Once you have these 'Fastener Assembly Configurations' defined, these are the ones which the 'Fastener Assembly' function will ask you select your fasteners from. Note when you are using this tool, you can select as many holes as you wish, they can be different size with different 'stack thicknesses', just as long as you wish for all of the selected holes to be assembled with the same fastener configuration.
To better show you how this works, I created a simple demo and than captured an AVI which you can see at the link below. In this demo I'm adding 7 sets of fasteners (Screw/Washer/Nut) in different sizes and lengths, all in one operation. All I have to do is select the faces and the system automatically detects the holes, determined the dia of the holes and then selects the appropriate size screw. It also measures the thickness of the 'stack' so that the correct length screw is selected as well. During the process the user has the chance to select whatever predefined fastener configuration he wishes. In fact, during one running of the dialog, the user could select different configurations for each hole or any combination he wishes.
http://s6
Anyway, see if perhaps this is what you were looking for.
John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Design Solutions
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA
http://www.siemens.com/plm
http://www.plmworld.org/museum/
To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.
RE: efficient fasteners in assemblies
The demo is exactly what I am trying to do. It appears our reuse library's components are set up accourding to the "best practices" including KRX file etc. I guess the part I have been missing is the prework to define a fastener assembly configuration. I can navigate to the fastener assembly configuration but I am not sure what to do in order to get fasteners from my reuse library saved as a configuration.
RE: efficient fasteners in assemblies
Now there is some help in the documentation so what I would do is open the 'Fastener Assembly Configuration' dialog and then hit the 'F1' button. This will bring up the Help file for this dialog. After reviewing the item in this page, at the top select the 'How To' option and this will take you to a page where it does describe the process in some detail. That's the best I can offer without actually being there.
John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Design Solutions
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA
http://www.siemens.com/plm
http://www.plmworld.org/museum/
To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.
RE: efficient fasteners in assemblies
Thanks agian. I did review the help files and have been able to make some progress but still think I am missing something. Attached is what my dialog looks like now. I think I need to do something to link this to my reuse library but cannot figure out how based on the help files. If you have any suggestions based on this screen shot that would be great. I can also inquire about getting some help from the company that sells us the software.
RE: efficient fasteners in assemblies
John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Design Solutions
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA
http://www.siemens.com/plm
http://www.plmworld.org/museum/
To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.
RE: efficient fasteners in assemblies
RE: efficient fasteners in assemblies
If I insert from my re-use library the first fastener and then click: assemblies->Components->Add component-> Select the reuse hardware from the loaded parts (ie the part I added above)
Go to the replication section in the add component menu – change Multiple add to "Repeat after Add"
You can step through multiple adds of that reuse component... Pretty slick once you get it going...
All of the new fasteners retain their link or identification as a "re-usable" component in 7.5 which I do not think was the case in earlier versions...