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• Top-down Approach
This is the method of assembling the components in which the components of the
assembly are created in the same assembly file and then assembled using the
assembly constraints.
• Bottom-up Approach
This is the method of assembling the components that are created as separate parts in
the Part mode and are saved as .prt files. Once all the parts of an assembly have been
created, the assembly is created in the Assembly mode.
• Placement Constraints
The placement constraints are the constraints that are used to rigidly bind the
components of the assembly to their respective positions in the assembly. These
constraints are also called the assembly constraints.
• Package
It is the state in which the component that is being assembled is not fully constrained
and thus is not rigidly placed at its actual location.
Placement Constraints
The placement constraints are also called assembly constraints and are available in
the Component Placement dialog box that is discussed later in this chapter.
• Automatic
When you choose this constrain, Pro/ENGINEER assumes the constraint and apply it
according to the type of entity selected.
• Mate
The Mate placement constraint allows you to make two selected planes, datum
planes, planar faces, or a combination of datum plane and planar face coplanar with
respect to each other.
• Mate Offset
If you need to keep the two selected surfaces or planes at some distance apart then
you can use the Mate constraint with some offset value. Figure A shows the faces
that are selected to apply the Mate Offset constraint. Figure B shows the component
assembled at an offset distance from the selected surface.
• Align Offset
The Align Offset combination of constraints is similar to the Align Coincident
combination of constraints, with the only difference being that you can also specify the
offset distance between the aligning entities. Figure A shows the faces to align offset
and Figure B shows the components after applying the constraints.
• Tangent
The Tangent constraint is used to make the selected circular face tangent to the
other selected face or plane and at the same time make them coplanar.
• Pnt On Line
The Pnt On Line constraint is used to align the selected datum point or the vertex
on the first part with the selected edge, datum axis, or datum curve on the second
part.
• Pnt On Srf
The Pnt On Srf constraint is used to align the selected datum point or vertex on
the first part with the selected surface or datum plane on the second part.
• Edge On Srf
The Edge On Srf constraint is used to align the selected edge of the first part with
the selected surface or datum plane on the second part.
• Default
The Default constraint is used to assemble the component in the assembly by
aligning the default coordinate system of the component with the default
coordinate system of the assembly.
• Fix
The Fix component to current position button pack the two components and
displays that the two components are fully constrained.
Assembly Datum Planes
The components in the assembly can be placed parametrically or
nonparametrically. If the components are placed using the placement constraints,
it is called parametric assembly and if the components are packaged, it is called
nonparametric assembly.
Generally, it is advised to use the assembly datum planes as the first feature of the
assembly and then assemble the components of the assembly taking the
reference of these assembly datum planes.
Assembling the Components
To assemble the components parametrically, choose the Add
component to the assembly button. The Open dialog box is
displayed. Once you select the part to assemble from the
Open dialog box, the Component Placement dialog box is
displayed.
• Place tab
• Constraints area
Component Placement
dialog box
• Specify a new constraint button
Component Placement
dialog box
Packaging the Components
There are two methods to package a component in an assembly.
The first method is to use the Insert menu in the menu bar. The
second method to package a component is to assemble the
component using the Component Placement dialog box and then
before fully constraining it exit the dialog box.
To package the component, choose Insert > Component >
Package from the menu bar. When you choose this option, the
PACKAGE menu is displayed.
PACKAGE menu
• Add
• Move
• Fix Location
• Finalize
Creating Simplified Representations
Simplified representations can be created using the cascaded menu or by using the
View Manager. The only difference is that using the View Manager you can give a
name for the representation. To create a simplified representation using the
cascaded menu, select a component from the Model Tree and then choose View >
Representation from the menu bar. The cascaded menu is displayed as shown.
Cascaded menu
Figure A Components
excluded from the assembly
• Master Rep
This option is used to redisplay the component in the assembly that was removed from
the display using the Exclude option. When you choose the Master Rep option from
the cascaded menu, the selected component is redisplayed as shown in the figure.
• Assembly Only
The Assembly Only option is used to remove all the
components from the assembly leaving the The Master Representation of
subassembly. an assembly
• Geometry Only
In this type of simplified representation the complete geometry of the components is
displayed in the current model display style. This type of simplified representation
takes a long time for regeneration. The components that are not selected in this type
of representation cannot be modified. However, these components can be redefined.
• Graphics Only
When you choose the Graphics Only option from the cascaded
menu, all the selected components will be displayed in
wireframe as shown in the figure. This type of representation is
generally used for assembling the components inside some
other component.
COMPONENT menu
Suppressing/Resuming the Components
If you do not want certain components of the assembly to appear in the current display
as well as in the drawing views then you can suppress them. To suppress the
components choose Edit > Component Operations from the menu bar. The
COMPONENT menu is displayed. Choose the Suppress option from this menu.
Similarly, the suppressed components can be resumed by choosing the Resume
option from the same menu.
Replacing Components
The existing components of the assembly that are assembled
using the assembly constraints can be replaced with some
other component if necessary. To replace the component,
choose Edit > Replace from the menu bar. The Replace
dialog box is displayed as shown in the figure.
c. Assemble the Bushing with the U-Support by applying the assembly constraints
shown in Figure L. Assembly is shown in Figure M.
e. Assemble the Pivot with the Bushing. The constraints are shown in Figure O.
The assembly is shown in Figure P.
g. Use the constraints shown in Figure Q and assemble the Bracket with the
assembly as shown in Figure R.
m. Create the offset lines in the exploded view of the assembly as shown in Figure W.
b. Apply the assembly constraints (Figure H) and assemble the Casting with the
default datum planes (Figure I).
Figure H Constraints used for assembling Figure I After assembling the Cap with the
the components Casting
c. Suppress the Cap from the assembly.
d. Apply the assembly constraints (Figure J) and assemble the Brasses with the
Casting (Figure K).
Figure J Constraints used for assembling the Figure K Inserting the Brasses in the
components assembly
e. Similarly, assemble the remaining components and then resume the
components that were suppressed earlier. The final assembly is shown in
Figure L.