How to aproach large and disorganised assemblies in solidworks ?
How to aproach large and disorganised assemblies in solidworks ?
(OP)
Hello everyone,
I have just signed in and will get straight to the point with my problem. I am a recent graduate and just started cad position in small company which is mainly dealing with vehicle chassis assemblies. The problem for me at work are large assemblies of the vehicle chassis which have: under-defined elements, references broken, parts doubled, no naming on parts and overall is really difficult to work with, not mentioning it take ages to open, rebuild and change any off the features. Can you please tell me how to approach such assemblies in SolidWorks ? Is there any way to fix them quickly, automatically ? Any easy way to remodel them, apart from modelling each of the elements again and then put by mates together in new assembly?
I have just signed in and will get straight to the point with my problem. I am a recent graduate and just started cad position in small company which is mainly dealing with vehicle chassis assemblies. The problem for me at work are large assemblies of the vehicle chassis which have: under-defined elements, references broken, parts doubled, no naming on parts and overall is really difficult to work with, not mentioning it take ages to open, rebuild and change any off the features. Can you please tell me how to approach such assemblies in SolidWorks ? Is there any way to fix them quickly, automatically ? Any easy way to remodel them, apart from modelling each of the elements again and then put by mates together in new assembly?






RE: How to aproach large and disorganised assemblies in solidworks ?
You did not say what you need to do.
Best regards,
Alex
RE: How to aproach large and disorganised assemblies in solidworks ?
RE: How to aproach large and disorganised assemblies in solidworks ?
RE: How to aproach large and disorganised assemblies in solidworks ?
-Dustin
Professional Engineer
Pretty good with SolidWorks
RE: How to aproach large and disorganised assemblies in solidworks ?
RE: How to aproach large and disorganised assemblies in solidworks ?
Patrick
RE: How to aproach large and disorganised assemblies in solidworks ?
If you export and reimport everything, you're going to lose any intelligence, meta data, and associativity. That can cause pain later. If you're willing to consider that, I would do something much less drastic that retains much of the intelligence in the SolidWorks parts and models:
(1) Delete or suppress broken mates
(2) Fix components that are not defined in space by their mates. Start with the major components and go one by one. As you fix those components, you may find that components that attach to them are now defined in space. A good approach is to suppress everything, then start unsuppressing components one by one. Fix it in space by using "FIX" or by correcting broken mates & adding new ones.
(3) Use folders to logically group parts without creating subassemblies. Right click on a part in the assembly tree and select "Add to New Folder". Give the folder a logical name. Then drag related parts to the folder. You can then hide, unhide, suppress, and unsuppress complete folders.
I am also in the habit of renaming mates, especially critical ones. It sounds tedious, but if you know the keyboard shortcut for rename (F2; the same shortcut is used throughout windows, so it's worth knowing), it isn't. I use a naming convention like:
CartWheelTan2Stop
Renaming mates is especially useful for configuration-specific mates, which I prefix with the configuration name in ALL CAPS. These configuration-specific mates are often exclusive (i.e., if both are unsuppressed in the same configuration, they will overdefine the assembly).
RE: How to aproach large and disorganised assemblies in solidworks ?
Select No and/or Ignore (I typically tell SolidWorks not to ask me again that session), let the new or edited mate be broken, then flip its mate alignment.
This comes up most often when:
(1) Replacing one component with another that looks similar but is modeled differently, so that the mate alignments aren't correct. For example, two screw models can look identical but have different "directions" and thus alignments.
(2) Fixing mates that have been broken because geometry changed. Again, the geometry (a hole, for example) may look identical. But it may have been put in from the opposite side, or it may have been modeled as a revolve where once it was an extrusion. This may prompt SolidWorks to ask you if you want it to "fix" the misalignment, breaking downstream concentric and coincident mates in the process.
RE: How to aproach large and disorganised assemblies in solidworks ?
There are two general uses for configuration:
(1) Show a subset of parts or a different subset of parts. You may do this to make it easier to work (e.g., large, busy models), to show different stages of assembly, or to show alternate constructions.
After defining the contents of the configuration, you may later decide that additional parts need to be added. You want to be able to simply unsuppress those parts and have their mates come along with them. To do this, the proper configuration properties are:
DO NOT CHECK "Suppress new features and mates"
DO CHECK "Suppress new components"
(2) Show components in alternate positions
This typically requires alternate, configuration-specific mates or configuration-specific values of mates (such as an angle or distance mate). See my previous post about naming such mates; it will make it easier to manage the assembly over time. Also, I don't recommend using configuation-specific values. If a part is at two different angles in two different configurations, it is much better to define two different angle mates, name them accordingly, and suppress or unsuppress in the corresponding configurations.
You can also reorder mates, dragging configuration-specific or other critical mates to the top of the mate list.
RE: How to aproach large and disorganised assemblies in solidworks ?
- You are apparently not contracted to do so.
- You will have to do it all again when you receive the next revision.
Given that the customer's model is apparently screwed up, you might request that the customer supply what you are expected to interface with in a neutral format. In any case, you should save a copy of what you got from the customer so you will have a defensible position in the inevitable arguments to come.
Instead of mating your parts to the customer's parts, which will change, consider fixing your parts in the vehicle's global coordinate system.
Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA
RE: How to aproach large and disorganised assemblies in solidworks ?
First step is to create a backup of everything before you move forward.
Several of the work methods suggested will get you a stable model eventually.
Good luck.
--
Hardie "Crashj" Johnson
SW 2011 SP 4.0
HP Pavillion Elite HPE
W7 Pro, Nvidia Quaddro FX580
RE: How to aproach large and disorganised assemblies in solidworks ?
Certified SolidWorks Professional
RE: How to aproach large and disorganised assemblies in solidworks ?
"Engineers like to solve problems. If there are no problems handily available, they will create their own problems." -Scott Adams
RE: How to aproach large and disorganised assemblies in solidworks ?
Based on your comments I'd suggest that you take a limited approach to making changes. Make copies of what you need to change so you can compare your alterations to the original files and maintain design intent and requirements.
Regards, Diego
RE: How to aproach large and disorganised assemblies in solidworks ?
What about all of these direct modelers the CAD press are hyping.
Try finding a problem in a model/assembly with no history of how it was created.
I estimate about 90% of what I see (from all MCAD programs) has serious flaws (by the designer) when I examine the history/constraints/dimensions (or lack of). Undimensioned stuff out to 8 decimal places, calculated bolt circles vs geometric bolt circles just a couple of the most common. I'm sure you guys and gals can generate quite lengthy lists of similar that would be hard to track down without history.
RE: How to aproach large and disorganised assemblies in solidworks ?
Don't fix or have 'them' fix it
Nelson
SW Premium 2011
64 bit SP4.0
Intel Xenon X5650 @2.67GHz
2.66 GHz 11.9 GB of RAM
RE: How to aproach large and disorganised assemblies in solidworks ?
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