Top Down Assembly Modeling

Release Wildfire 2.0

Note: Comprehensive Modeling Assignment

This is a 30 point assignment as such takes the place of the final
exam.

Four Plate Mold Base, Inner Two Plates

• Begin by modeling up the LOWER MOLD BASE. (Material: AISI 4130 STEEL)
Overall plate size is 8 by 5.
Use relations to keep the datum planes centered inside the base.
Create counter bores using the Sketcher option in the Hole Feature Option.
Through holes have a diameter of 0.75.
Holes are located 2 inches and 3.438 inches from center.
The counter bore (from the bottom side) has a diameter of .875 and
is .125 deep.
These are patterned, which is why there are two 2 Holes reference
shown in the figure below.

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• After finishing this part, begin an assembly. Insert - Component – Assemble
the part above.
Mate the Lower Mold Base FRONT to ASM_FRONT, TOP to ASM_TOP,
and RIGHT to ASM_RIGHT.

• We now wish to create a part, called the Upper Plate and is made of AISI 4130
Steel, that is fully referenced to the Lower Mold Base.
To begin a part that references geometry in an assembly, select Insert -
Component – Create

Select Locate Default Datums and Three Planes. Select the

planes as directed on the next page. Spin the Lower Mold Base so
the top surface of the plate is facing the front as shown below. This is
to make it easier to select surfaces.

Show all of the assembly features in the model tree by choosing Settings –
Tree Filters - Features. This will allow you to choose the datums from the
model and not from the assembly.

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o o You are prompted to Select first plane, which will also be used as a
sketching plane. Pick the top surface of the plate (the one that is facing
“front” at this point).
o o The next prompt is to Select horizontal plane (will be ‘TOP’
reference when sketching). Pick the MODEL Front datum plane.
o o The final prompt is to Select vertical plane to be used for
placement. Select the MODEL Right datum plane.
o o You get a message that the Component has been created
successfully. The components that are being referred to are the new
datum planes for the Upper Plate. These are shown below.

Right click on Mold_Base_2.PRT in the model tree and select Activate. If

there is no Activate pick, this means the component is already active.

Create a solid protrusion as shown on the following page using Insert –

Extrude to create solid geometry.

Use Edge - Single. to define the edges of the rectangular

block now being created.

Notice that you are looking at the initial base from the “bottom” side. This is
because the system is going to do a “Mate” when it automatically sets the
constraints for locating the new component being created in context. Since

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protrusions extrude out of the screen by default, the extrusion direction will
need to be re-defined.

Select the edges of the existing part to place reference lines. Sketch the
Upper Plate using existing edges of the Lower Mold Base as well as the
inside diameter circles as guides. The sketched lines will be aligned with the
Lower Mold Base.
The protrusion will be Blind, use a depth of 1.375.
Redefine the Direction

After finishing, the result should be as shown below.

Testing your result:

Select Edit and pick on the protrusion on lower mold base, Mold_Base_1 (not
on the upper mold base). Dimensions appear as shown.

Change the 8 dimension to 16. Regenerate.

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 Both parts change to reflect the updated dimensions as shown on the
following page. Since the holes were referenced from the center datums,
they did not move.

If the mold did not regenerated correctly, fix it so it does. When it

regenerates correctly change the 16 back to an 8.
• It is possible to create a part with out starting from datum planes. The Shoulder
Bushing will be used as an example.
Start to create a part as before, except use Create Features

This component is now Active, it is not necessary to activate it.

Create a Revolved Protrusion , but when prompted to select the sketching

plane, pick on the Datum icon to create a datum on the fly.
Use the axis of the initial hole in the Lower Mold base as well as the
Frontal Datum for references. Set the angle to 0.
Sketch the revolved feature.
Note that the inner bore is the only thing that needs to be
dimensioned. Other edges are aligned to existing through hole
and counter bore.

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 o o Upon selecting Done, the shoulder bushing is created.

The model tree will appear similar to the following:

After doing three Insert - Component – Assemble operations with the Shoulder
Bushing, Aligning surfaces and axis, the Shoulder Bushings are now located in the
Lower Mold Plate (shown upside down with the Upper Plate hidden).

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• • Turning our attention back to the Upper Plate, the holes in the base must
have a counter bore in the top surface. If you select File – Open to open the file,
it will not appear in the working directory since it has not been saved yet. To
activate the part window, select File – Open – pick in the Look In box and select
In Session.

• • Pick on the Upper_Plate file to open

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• Create a hole (Coaxial) representing the counter bore making sure to use the
upper surface of the plate for reference purposes.
o The upper surface is opposite the side that has DTM3 associated with it.
o Remember, DTM3 is mated to the top side of the lower mold base.

The hole diameter is .875 with a depth of .25.

You can use Edit – Feature Operations - Copy – New Refs - Select –
Dependent to locate the other three counter bores. The only new reference
that needs be chosen during this operation is the axis on the through holes.
All other dimensions remain the same.
Jumping back to the assembly, the screen appears as:

Modifying the long dimension of the lower mold base to 10 will result in:

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 o o The holes will not change until dimensional modifications are made to
the location on the Lower Mold Base. (The Lower Mold Base is shown
upside down in the figure below for visibility purposes.)
Notice how these holes were created for this particular
model. Since they were patterned in two directions, if
dimensional modifications are to be made to both the 6.876
and 3.438 dimensions they must be made simultaneously.

• • Leader Pin creation.

o o The Leader Pins were created in exactly the same way as the
Shoulder Bushings. Note the sketch below. The definition of the pins
requires no dimensions at all. The entire part is a function of the two
mold bases and the bushing.

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Screen Capture and print the following two images as shown:

Finished leader pin assembled into the other three holes.

Changing:

The length of the base from 8 to 12.

The location of the holes (from center) from 3.438 to 5.438.
The distance between the holes from 6.876 to 10.876.
The thickness of the Upper Plate from 1.375 to 2.75.

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Results in:

Screen Capture and print the above image

Create and turn in drawing files for the bushing and ejector pin.

Notice the only view available in the part file is the Default. (Front, Side, Top,
etc., are missing.)
When creating the drawing file,
o select Empty with Format
o select the Browse button and select a_horiz_english.frm.
o if an assembly file is open, make sure the appropriate part file is listed in
the Default Model box. If not, use the Browse button to locate the
appropriate file.

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 o Enter Part name, drawn by, material, and part number.
o Add the front view.
Change Type to Preferences. (See figure below)
Change Default Orientation to User Defined.
Edit the appropriate X or Y coordinate.

Select OK.
o Add adjacent view(s).
When finished, change the Default View back to isometric. (Utilities,
Environment – Default Orient – Isometric.)

Make sure your drawings are properly dimensioned! Part

of the grade on this assignment will be the dimensioning of
the parts!

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