Are you new to SolidWorks and wondering how to use assembly? Assembly is a powerful feature in SolidWorks that allows you to create complex designs by combining multiple parts together. In this tutorial, we will guide you through the process of using assembly in SolidWorks and help you get started on your design journey.
Creating a New Assembly
To begin, open SolidWorks and click on “New” to create a new document. From the options, select “Assembly” and click “OK”. This will open a new assembly document where you can start building your design.
Importing Parts
To start assembling your design, you need to import the individual parts that make up your assembly. You can do this by clicking on the “Insert Components” button from the toolbar or by going to “Insert > Component > Existing Part/Assembly”.
Browse and select the parts you want to include in your assembly, and click “Open”. The parts will be imported into your assembly document.
Positioning Parts
Once the parts are imported, they will appear in the graphics area of your assembly document. To position them correctly, use the Move/Copy feature.
Select a part by clicking on it, then go to Edit > Move/Copy. A dialog box will appear where you can specify the translation and rotation values for the selected part. Use this feature to align and position each part as desired.
Making Connections
Now that you have positioned your parts, it’s time to establish connections between them. SolidWorks provides various options for connecting parts such as mates, coincident constraints, concentric constraints, and more.
Mates
The Mate feature allows you to define relationships between parts, such as coincident, parallel, perpendicular, and tangent. To add a mate, select two parts that you want to connect, then go to Insert > Mate.
A mate dialog box will appear where you can choose the type of mate and specify its parameters. Repeat this process for all the required connections in your assembly.
Organizing Your Assembly
To keep your assembly organized and easy to navigate, you can create subassemblies. Subassemblies group related parts together and simplify the overall design structure.
Creating Subassemblies
To create a subassembly, select the parts that you want to include in the subassembly and go to Insert > Component > New Part/Assembly. This will create a new assembly document with the selected parts. You can then position and connect these parts within the subassembly document using the techniques mentioned earlier.
Finalizing Your Assembly
Once you have assembled all the parts and created any necessary subassemblies, it’s time to finalize your design. Review your assembly for any errors or inconsistencies by using SolidWorks’ built-in tools like MateXpert, which checks for mating errors or missing references.
Saving Your Assembly
To save your assembly, go to File > Save As and choose a location on your computer. Select a suitable file name and click “Save”. SolidWorks will save your assembly as a .sldasm file format.
In Conclusion
Congratulations! You have learned how to use assembly in SolidWorks.
By following these steps, you can create complex designs by combining multiple parts together. Remember to position and connect your parts using mates, create subassemblies for better organization, and review your design before finalizing it. SolidWorks offers a wide range of features and tools to enhance your assembly workflow, so don’t hesitate to explore and experiment with different options.