How Do You Do a Pierce Relationship in SolidWorks?

When working with assemblies in SolidWorks, it is often necessary to define relationships between different components. One commonly used relationship is the Pierce relationship, which allows you to define that two components penetrate each other. This article will guide you through the steps to create a Pierce relationship in SolidWorks.

Step 1: Open the Assembly

To begin, open the assembly file in SolidWorks where you want to create the Pierce relationship. Make sure all the relevant components are already inserted into the assembly.

Step 2: Activate the Mates Toolbar

In order to access the necessary tools for creating relationships, you need to activate the Mates toolbar. To do this, go to View > Toolbars > Mates. The Mates toolbar will appear on your screen.

Step 3: Select Components

In order to create a Pierce relationship, you need to select two components that you want to penetrate each other. Click on one component and then hold down the Ctrl key while clicking on the second component. Both components should now be selected.

Step 4: Create a Mate

With both components selected, click on the “Pierce” icon on the Mates toolbar. A pop-up window will appear where you can adjust additional settings for your Pierce relationship if needed.

Name: You can give a name to your Pierce relationship for better organization and identification.
Mate alignment: You can choose how the two components should align with each other. The available options include concentric, parallel, and perpendicular.
Allow multiple instances: If you have multiple instances of the same components, you can choose whether to apply the Pierce relationship to all instances or only to the selected components.

Step 5: Apply the Mate

After adjusting the settings, click on the “Apply” button to create the Pierce relationship between the selected components. The two components will now be penetrated, and SolidWorks will automatically calculate and apply any necessary constraints to ensure they remain in position.

Step 6: Verify and Edit

Once the Pierce relationship is created, it is essential to verify that it behaves as intended. You can perform assembly motion studies or simulate different scenarios to ensure that the penetration is accurate and stable.

If you need to make any changes to the Pierce relationship, select it in the FeatureManager Design Tree or in the graphics area and edit its properties using either right-clicking or using SolidWorks’ PropertyManager.

Conclusion

The Pierce relationship in SolidWorks allows you to define that two components penetrate each other in an assembly. By following these steps, you can easily create a Pierce relationship between selected components. Remember to adjust any additional settings if necessary and verify that your Pierce relationship behaves as intended.