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Associative Casting/Machining files
6

Associative Casting/Machining files

Associative Casting/Machining files

(OP)
Hi,

How are associative Casting/Machining files created?
Could somebody place the steps that should bi followed?
How is the link between casting and machining maintained?

Thanks a lot!

CAD 2015

RE: Associative Casting/Machining files

There are 42 steps involved, CAD2015.

Got a minute...?


Proud Member of the Reality-Based Community..

To the Toolmaker, your nice little cartoon drawing of your glass looks cool, but your solid model sucks. Do you want me to fix it, or are you going to take all week to get it back to me so I can get some work done?

RE: Associative Casting/Machining files

(OP)
I was thinking about the main ones......
How is the link between casting and machining maintained?
Should I create an assembly file with the casting file as a component?

CAD 2015

RE: Associative Casting/Machining files

For tasks like that, I would recommend that you look into the creation of 'Promotions' or 'Promoted Bodies'. While some might suggest using WAVE, in this case, Promotions will work better.

John R. Baker, P.E. (ret)
EX-Product 'Evangelist'
Irvine, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:

The secret of life is not finding someone to live with
It's finding someone you can't live without

RE: Associative Casting/Machining files

(OP)
Thank you, Mr. Baker!

CAD 2015

RE: Associative Casting/Machining files

(OP)
It looks like I do need to create an assembly file (for the machined part), either using Wave or Promote Body.........
Am I on the right path?

CAD 2015

RE: Associative Casting/Machining files

Yes, you can only Promote a body into an Assembly by selecting a Body (Solid or Surface) in one of the Components of that Assembly. Please keep in mind, that once you've created the Promotion, that unlike WAVE-linked bodies, you must keep the Assembly(s), even if you have a series of Promoted Bodies going from one Assembly level to another, maintaining the Assemblies is necessary. With WAVE-linked Bodies, while the only practical mechanism to get access to the part models from which WAVE-linked objects can be identified, once the links are created, the Assembly used in the process is not absolutely necessary that that be kept around. Now it's recommended that you do keep the Assemblies, not because without them the WAVE-links will fail, just that if you need to add more objects to a linked scheme, it's easier to do if the original Assemblies are around to provide the environment to do so.

John R. Baker, P.E. (ret)
EX-Product 'Evangelist'
Irvine, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:

The secret of life is not finding someone to live with
It's finding someone you can't live without

RE: Associative Casting/Machining files

(OP)
Great answer!

CAD 2015

RE: Associative Casting/Machining files

What we do is put the RM part as a component in the Machining part. We do the "Wavelink" inside the machine part. Then we turn the reference set to the RM part as empty and set it to reference. We also remove the RM component from the machine part model reference set. We do this because, it makes it a lot easier to manage different part numbers to make from these existing parts. I have attached a set of NX 10 RM and Machine per the way we do it today. This is what makes NX great. More than one way of doing things.

RE: Associative Casting/Machining files

(OP)
SDETERS,

Can you resend the link in NX 9, please?

CAD 2015

RE: Associative Casting/Machining files

Whether you are manufacturing dies, molds or part machining it is quite easy. I think our designers use wave linked geometry more than promote. In the mold design work flow we wave link a body, make any adjustments such as machining stock, adding/deleting/modifying features, scaling, etc-, then proceed onward as usual. If you are part machining it's even more simple as you can program tool paths directly on the wave linked body. The wave linked body/sheets/curves are associated to the original model so you can change that model as well and your link model will have it. We typically leave the original model as is from the customer and manipulate the downstream data. From a cam standpoint NX is quite powerful and it enables me to get more work done than my coworkers using other software; I'm frequently manipulating models for those guys!

In summary, about 40 steps less than a previous poster stated.
wink

10.0.3

RE: Associative Casting/Machining files

(OP)
SDETERS,

I am grateful for your replies.
Thanks to you, I can satisfactory handle links between casting and machining files.
It is such a relief to meet such kind people like you, like Mr. Baker and like Tingsryd.
Thank you all.

CAD 2015

RE: Associative Casting/Machining files

(OP)
Tingsryd,

I got your last sentence: same counting, 42-40=2
bigsmile

CAD 2015

RE: Associative Casting/Machining files

(OP)
Another question for Mr. Baker:

1) When should we use "Promote Body" and when "WAVE Geometry Linker"?
2) What makes one better than the other, in an given environment?


Thanks


CAD 2015

RE: Associative Casting/Machining files

I've already commented about the fact that for the task that you're trying to perform, the 'Promotions' are generally the best approach. WAVE is best when you wish to share or 'link' topology of one model with another. For example, if you wish to align the holes on a frame with the holes of a bracket, I would use WAVE to link the centers of the holes in the bracket using the points to locate the holes in the frame. However, in the case of where you're in essence 'replacing ' one manifestation of a model with another, such as to define the manufacturing steps, like the machining of an as-cast or as-forged part so that it represents the as-finish machined part, I would use Promotions because first you need to deal with the complete body and second, at each level the parent part is no longer needed, only the child which is then modified by adding additional modeling features.

Just remember, with promotions you get a copy of the entire body, there are no other options. While with WAVE linking you can pick and choose the type and amount of 'objects' that you wish to share or link into another model.

Anyway, I hope that helps.

John R. Baker, P.E. (ret)
EX-Product 'Evangelist'
Irvine, CA
Siemens PLM:
UG/NX Museum:

The secret of life is not finding someone to live with
It's finding someone you can't live without

RE: Associative Casting/Machining files

(OP)
It does.......
The samples that you placed to argue your options were very effective, bringing fully comprehension.
Thank you!

CAD 2015

RE: Associative Casting/Machining files

From John's description We always use Wavelinks. When we go from a casting to a machine we also reference not only the "body" but also the coordinate systems and other geometry. This way if a raw material feature that needs machines moves in the raw material the machine feature will move also. Everything is referenced to each other.

RE: Associative Casting/Machining files

One downside of using promotions is that if the link gets broken, there is no real way to edit the link to fix it. In my experience, promotions seem a bit more stable, but I have seen broken links where the work was lost.

www.nxjournaling.com

RE: Associative Casting/Machining files

(OP)
Thank you.

CAD 2015

RE: Associative Casting/Machining files

If you're not creating a drawing of the casting, all of this linking is not worth the effort, IMO. Go ahead and model the casting exactly as it would come out of the mold, then in that same file you can create your machining profiles as needed. If you require a casting model, just suppress the machining features or use Make Current Feature on your last casting feature and export out when needed.

If you do require drawings of the casting, then yes, the linking is more than likely your best bet. In the past I used both Promotion and WAVE linking to create a machined part. I created my casting with all of the machining profiles needed in the casting file, created a new file for the machined part, added the casting as a component, promoted it, then WAVE linked the machining profiles and did the machining Booleans. All revisions, whether casting or machining, were made in the casting model (the WAVE linked machining profiles updated when changed in the casting).

Probably about half a dozen ways to accomplish the same thing.

Tim Flater
NX Designer
NX 9.0.3.4 Win7 Enterprise x64 SP1
Intel Core i7 2.5GHz 16GB RAM
4GB NVIDIA Quadro K3100M

RE: Associative Casting/Machining files

(OP)
Thanks a lot, Xwheelguy!

CAD 2015

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