Lecture 1, Part 2: SolidWorks Assembly Environment

What are mates for?

They provide the ability to create geometric relationships between assembly components.

What do mates define?

They define the allowable directions of rotational or linear motion of components in the assembly.

What does the coincident mate do?

It position selected faces, edges, and planes coincident to each other.

What does the concentric mate do?

Places the selections so that they share the same center line.

What does the distance mate do?

Places the selected items with the specified distance between them.

What does the perpendicular mate do?

Places the selected items at a 90° angle to each other.

What does the parallel mate do?

Places the selected items (PLANE) at a 90° angle to each other.

In what situation would we use a Point-to-Point Coincidental Mate?

Ball and Socket Joint.

In what situation would we use a Face-to-Face Coincidental Mate

A sleeve that slides across a bar.

Point-on-Axis Coincidental Mate allows for…

One translation and three rotation notions.

Universal Mate

A type of mate that allows for multiple degrees of freedom.

What does the tangent mate do?

Places the selected items tangent to each other.

What does the lock mate do?

Maintains the position and orientation between two components.

What does a cam mate do?

Forces a cylinder, plane, or point to be coincident or tangent to a series of tangent extruded faces.

What does a gear mate do?

Forces two components to rotate relative to one another about selected axes.

What does a rack and pinion mate do?

Linear translation of one component (the rack) causes circular rotation in another component (the pinion), and vice versa.

What does a hinge mate do?

Limits the movement between two components to one rotational degree of freedom.

What does a screw mate do?

Constrains two components to be concentric, and also adds a pitch relationship between the rotation of one component and the translation of the other.

What does a distance mate do?

Used to align an equal distance between the two faces of another component.

What does an angle mate do?

Applied to create a swinging motion between the components.

What does a path mate do?

Constrains a selected point on a component to a path.

I want to align a component with the assemblies origin. How do I achieve this?

Right click the component, invoke the shortcut menu, and select the option you want.

What does the explode PropertyManager do?

It is a tool used to create the exploded state of an assembly.

What does a Explode Line Sketch look like?

It shows parametric axes that display the direction of explosion of the components in the exploded state.

What is the collision detection tool used for?

A tool used to check for collisions between components in an assembly.

What is the interference detection tool used for?

It is an analysis method to check for interference in an assembly.

What data is part of the mass properties window in SolidWorks Assembly environment?

Includes total weight, center of gravity, etc., of an assembly.

What is the point of 3D ContentCentral?

Provides access to 3D models from component suppliers and individuals in all major CAD formats.

What is SolidWorks Toolbox?

An add-in that includes a library of standard parts for use in assemblies.

What is part of material properties?

Properties assigned to components in an assembly that affect cost, weight, and safety factors.