Apply constraints between components Produce exploded view of the assembly
TUTORIAL 1 This tutorial takes you through the creation of your first assembly. You construct the Oldham coupling assembly:
Copying the Part files into a new folder
1. Create a folder named Oldham_Coupling at the location NX 10/C3. 2. Copy all the part files constructed in the previous chapter to this folder.
Opening a New Assembly File
1. To open a new assembly, click File > New; the New dialog appears.
2. Click Assembly in the Template group.
3. Click OK; a new assembly window appears. In addition, the Add Component dialog appears.
Inserting the Base Component
1. To insert the base component, click Open button in the Part section of the Add Component dialog. 2. Browse to the location NX 10/C3/Oldham_Coupling and double-click on Flange.prt. 3. On the Add Component dialog, select Positioning > Absolute Origin in the Placement section. 4. Under the Settings section, select Reference Set > Entire Part. 5. Click OK to place the Flange at the origin.
There are two ways of constructing any assembly model.
Top-Down Approach Bottom-Up Approach
Top-Down Approach You open the assembly file, and then construct components files in it.
Bottom-Up Approach You construct the components first, and then add them to the assembly file. In this tutorial, you construct the assembly using this approach.
Adding the second component
1. To insert the second component, click Assemblies > Component > Add on the ribbon; the Add Component dialog appears. 2. On the Add Component dialog, click Open button in the Part section. 3. Browse to the location NX 10/C3/Oldham_Coupling and double-click on Shaft.prt. 4. Under the Placement section, select Positioning > By Constraints. 5. Under the Settings section, select Reference Set > Entire Part. 6. Click OK on the Add Component dialog; the Assembly Constraints dialog appears.
After adding the components to the assembly environment, you have to apply constraints between them. By applying constraints, you establish relationships between components. You can apply the following types of constraints between components. Touch Align: Using this constraint, you can make two faces coplanar to each other. Note that if you set the Orientation to Align, the faces will point in the same direction. You can also align the centerlines of the cylindrical faces.
Concentric: This constraint makes the centers of circular edges coincident. In
addition, the circular edges will be on the same plane.
Distance: This constraint provides an offset distance between two objects.
Fix: This constraint fixes a component at its current position.
Parallel: This constraint makes two objects parallel to each other.
Perpendicular: This constraint makes two objects perpendicular to each other.
Fit: This constraint brings two cylindrical faces together. Note that they should have the same radius.
Bond: This constraint makes the selected components rigid so that they move together.
Center: This constraint positions the selected component at a center plane between two components.
Angle: Applies angle between two components.
Align/Lock: Aligns the axes of two cylindrical faces and locks the rotation.
7. On the Assembly Constraints dialog, select Type > Touch Align.
8. Under the Geometry to Constrain section, select Orientation > Infer Center/Axis. 9. On the Assembly Constraints dialog, uncheck the Preview Component in Main Window option. 10. Click on the cylindrical face of the Shaft. 11. Click on any cylindrical face of the Flange. 12. Under the Geometry to Constrain section, select Orientation > Align. 13. Click on the front face of the shaft.
14. Rotate the flange and click on the slot face as shown in figure.
15. Click on the YZ plane of the Shaft.
16. Click on the XY plane of the Flange.
17. Click OK to assemble the components.
Checking the Degrees of the Freedom
1. To check the degrees of freedom of a component, click Assemblies > Component Position > Show Degrees of Freedom . 2. Click on the Flange to display the degrees of freedom.
You will notice that the Flange has six degrees of
freedom.
Fixing the Flange
1. To fix the flange, click Assemblies > Component Position > Assembly Constraints on the ribbon. 2. On the Assembly Constraints dialog, click Type > Fix. 3. Click on the Flange, and then click OK. 4. On the ribbon, click View > Orientation > More > Refresh . 5. To view the degrees of freedom, click Show Degrees of Freedom on the Component Position group and select the Flange and Shaft.
You will notice that there are fully constrained.
Hiding the Flange
1. To hide the Flange, click on it and select Hide from the contextual toolbar.
Adding the Third Component
1. Click Add on the Component group. 2. On the Add Component dialog, click the Open button. 3. Double-click on the Key.prt. 4. Click OK. 5. On the Assembly Constraints dialog, select Type > Touch Align. 6. Under the Geometry to Constraints section, select Orientation > Align. 7. Click on the front face of the Key and front face of the Shaft. 8. Click on the XY plane of the Key.
9. Click on the face on the shaft as shown in figure.
10. Under the Geometry to Constrain section, select Orientation > Touch. 11. Click on the side face of the Key and select the face on shaft as shown in figure.
6. Click OK.
Showing the Hidden Flange
1. To show the hidden flange, click View > Visibility > Show All on the ribbon.
Hiding the Reference Planes, sketches, and Constraint symbols
1. To hide the reference planes, sketches, and constraint symbols, click View > Visibility > Show and Hide on the ribbon. 2. On the Show and Hide dialog, click the hide icons in the Sketches, Datums, and Assembly Constraints rows.
3. Click Close on the dialog.
Saving the Assembly 1. Click File > Save > Save; the Name Parts dialog appears. 2. Type-in Flange_subassembly in the Name box and click the Folder button. 3. Browse to NX 10/C3/Oldham_Coupling folder and then click OK button twice. 4. Click File > Close > All Parts.
Starting the Main assembly
1. Click File > New on the ribbon. 2. On the New dialog, click the Assembly template. 3. Type-in Main_assembly in the Name box and click Folder button. 4. Browse to NX 10/C3/ Oldham_Coupling folder and then click OK button twice; the Add Component dialog appears.
Adding Disc to the Assembly
1. Click the Open button. 2. Double-click on Disc.prt. 3. Under the Placement section, select Positioning > Absolute Origin. 4. Set Reference Set to Model. 5. Click OK to place the Disc at the origin.
Fixing the Disc to the Origin
1. Click Assemblies > Component > Assembly Constraints on the ribbon; the Assembly Constraints dialog appears. 2. On the Assembly Constraints dialog, select Type > Fix. 3. Select the Disc and click OK. Placing the Sub-assembly 1. Click the Add button on the Component group. 2. Click the Open button. 3. Double-click on Flange_subassembly.prt. 4. On the Add Component dialog, select Positioning > By Constraints. 5. Click OK; the Assembly Constraints dialog appears. 6. Set Type to Touch Align 7. Set Orientation to Touch. 8. Click on the face of the Flange as shown in figure.
9. Click on the face of the Disc as shown in figure.
10. Set Type to Concentric.
11. Click on the circular of the Flange. 12. Click on the circular edge of the Disc.
13. Click OK to assemble the subassembly.
Placing second instance of the Sub-assembly
1. Insert another instance of the Flange subassembly. 2. Apply the Touch Align and Concentric constraints. Note that you have to click the Reverse Last Constraint button while applying the Concentric constraint.
Saving the Assembly
1. Click Save on the Quick Access Toolbar, or click File > Save.
