Using Siemens NX 11 Software
Assembly example - Tank
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A&M – CAD in mechanical engineering 1 Written by Christophe Leblanc
1 – Introduction.
Copy/Paste the folder of C:\Commun\NX\tank
into your local folder.
Click New. In the New dialog box, select the
Assembly model and name your file
tank_assembly.prt.
Click OK to validate.
2 – Adding a part.
When the Add Component dialog box opens, click
on the Open button (located in the right lower part
of the dialog box) and select the files from the
folder you just copied.
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A&M – CAD in mechanical engineering 2 Written by Christophe Leblanc
The selected files will appear in the file list
of the Add Component dialog box. In this
list, select the file tank.prt and click OK.
Then, the Point dialog box will ask you
where to add the new part. Keep the default
parameters and click OK again.
The tank.prt part should now appear in the
visualization window.
In the Assembly Navigator you can see that
a new element tank has been added. You
can activate/deactivate this element by
clicking on its corresponding check box.
By selecting it and clicking delete, you can
also delete the element if necessary.
Eventually, it is possible to hide or show a
given element by right-clicking on it and
select Hide or Show in the menu.
3 – Setting a constraint.
We will here set the tank in an absolute fixed
position in space.
On the toolbar, click on the tab Assemblies
and then the button Assembly Constraints
.
In the Assembly Constraints dialog box,
select the option Fix in the Constraint Type
field and click on the tank part to apply this
constraint to the object.
You can see in the Constraint Navigator
that a new constraint has been added. You
can activate/deactivate this constraint by
clicking on its corresponding checkbox.
If necessary, it is also possible to delete a
constraint by selecting it and clicking
delete.
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A&M – CAD in mechanical engineering 3 Written by Christophe Leblanc
4 – Adding and moving a part.
In the Assemblies toolbar, click on the Add
button .
In the Add Component dialog box, select the
link.prt part and click OK to add it to the
assembly.
Click the Move Component button
and select the link.
In the Move Component dialog box, select
the Dynamic option in the Transform field.
Then, click on Specify orientation. This
option will make appear a reference frame
on the selected part.
Move manually the link by clicking left
(and then drag) on the arrows or the angles
of the reference frame.
Try to move the link in a similar position as
shown in the figure.
Click OK to validate the new position.
5 – Setting another constraint.
Click on the Assembly Constraints button
.
In the Assembly Constraints dialog box,
select the Touch/Align constraint in the
Constraint Type field with the Orientation
option set to Align.
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A&M – CAD in mechanical engineering 4 Written by Christophe Leblanc
Select the centre line of the link and the
center line of one of the two traversing
holes of the tank.
Click OK to validate.
Finally, move manually the link inside the
holes using the Move Component button
.
The Align constraint will guarantee that the
previously selected two axes will remain
aligned during the manipulation.
6 – Adding and constraining the hinge.
Add the hinge.prt file by clicking the Add
button , and then selecting the
hinge.prt file in the Add Component dialog
box’ list.
Using the Move Component button
, position the hinge
approximately as shown in the figure.
Add a Touch/Align constraint with the
Orientation option set to Infer Center/Axis.
Apply this constraint between the axis of
the traversing circular holes of the hinge
and the axis of the link.
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A&M – CAD in mechanical engineering 5 Written by Christophe Leblanc
7 – Adding and constraining the cap.
Add the cap.prt file by clicking the Add
button , and then selecting the cap.prt
file in the Add Component dialog box’ list.
Using the Move Component button
, position the cap approximately
as shown in the figure.
Add a Touch/Align constraint with the
Orientation option set to Align. First, select
an edge of the rectangular nose of the hinge.
Second, select the corresponding edge of
the traversing rectangular holes of the cap.
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A&M – CAD in mechanical engineering 6 Written by Christophe Leblanc
Finally, add a distance constraint of
0 mm between the face holding the nose of
the hinge and the front face encompassing
the traversing rectangular hole of the cap.
The assembly is complete. You should
obtain something similar as the figure
shown at the beginning of this tutorial.
7 – Interference analysis.
The aim of an Interference/Clearance analysis,
is two determine whether two parts touch
and/or intersect together.
Click on the Clearance Analysis button
and select New Set .
In the Clearance Analysis dialog box, select
the cap and the tank as objects to analyze.
Click OK to validate the set.
The Clearance Browser window will open.
In the Interference sub-tree click on the
check box in order the visualize
interferences.
With an open cap, is there any interference ?
Now, using the Move Component button
, close the tank with the cap and redo
an interference analysis. Is there any
interference?
Do you think that the current design of the cap
and the tank is good for the current open
mechanism? Why (not)?
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A&M – CAD in mechanical engineering 7 Written by Christophe Leblanc
