Chapter 11

Learning Objectives:
• Insert components into an assembly file.
• Create bottom-up assemblies.
• Insert components into a product file.
• Move and rotate components inside an assembly.
• Add constraints to individual components.
• Create top-down assemblies.
• Edit assembly designs.
• Create the exploded state of an assemblies.
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➢ ASSEMBLY MODELING
• The primary method to start a new product file is by selecting File > New from the
menu bar to open the New dialog box.
• From this dialog box, select Product, as shown in Figure A.

The Product option selected Screen display, after starting a new file
from the New dialog box in the Assembly Design workbench
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• Types of Assembly Design Approach

• In CATIA you can create assembly models by adopting two types of approaches.

• Bottom-up Assembly
• The bottom-up assembly is the most preferred approach for creating assembly models.

• Top-down Assembly
• In the top-down assembly design approach, components are created inside the
Assembly Design workbench.
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➢ CREATING BOTTOM-UP ASSEMBLIES

• Inserting Components in a Product file
• When you insert additional components, the Part number conflicts dialog box
is displayed, as shown in the figure.

The Part number conflicts The specification tree

dialog box showing four components
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• If you choose the Rename button from the Part number conflicts dialog box, the Part
Number dialog box is displayed, as shown in the figure.

The Part Number Specification Tree showing four

dialog box components with unique part numbers

• Moving Individual Components

• CATIA allows you to move and rotate the individual unconstrained components inside
the product file without affecting the position and location of the other components.
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• Moving and Rotating by Using the Manipulation Tool

• To translate or rotate any component, choose the Manipulation button from the Move
toolbar; the Manipulation Parameter dialog box is displayed, as shown in the figure.

The Manipulation
Parameter dialog box
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• Moving Components by Using the Snap Tool

Position of components,
after snapping

Geometric elements
selected to be snapped

Position of components, after the

snapping direction is reversed
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• Moving Components by Using the Smart Move Tool

• To invoke this tool, choose the down arrow besides the Snap button to invoke the Snap
toolbar.
• Choose the Smart Move button to invoke the Smart Move dialog box.
• Choose the More button to expand it, as shown in the figure.

The expanded Smart

Move dialog box
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Surfaces to be selected Resulting constraint applied

The partial view of the Smart

Move dialog box with viewer
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• Manipulating Components using the Compass

• The orientation of the components can also be manipulated using the compass
available on the top right corner of the geometry area.

• Applying Constraints
• Fix Component Constraint

• Coincidence Constraint

Central axis of the first Central axis of the second

component to be selected component to be selected
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Coincidence constraint applied Position of the components

between two components after updating
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• Contact Constraint

Planar faces to be selected Position of components, after a

constraint is applied and updated
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• Offset Constraint
• After invoking the Offset Constraint tool, you are prompted to select the first geometric
element for the Offset constraint.
• Select a planar face, circular face, plane, axis, or a point from the geometry area.
• Select a planar face of another component; the Constraint Properties dialog box is
displayed, as shown in the figure.

The Constraint Properties

dialog box
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Faces to be selected Arrows in the same direction

Components after updating

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• Angle Constraint
• To invoke this tool, choose the Angle Constraint button from the constraint toolbar.
• Now, select the two planar faces from the two different components that you need to
place at some angle from each other.
• Once the selection is complete, the Constraint Properties dialog box is displayed, as
shown in the figure.

Constraint Properties dialog box for Angle constraint

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Faces to be selected The orientation of the faces after applying

the Angle constraint and updating
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• Fix Together
• To invoke this tool, choose the Fix Together button from the Constraints toolbar;
the Fix Together dialog box is displayed.

The Fix Together dialog box

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• Quick Constraint
• To apply constraints, choose the Quick Constraint button from the Constraints toolbar.

• Reuse Pattern

The Pin and the Plate having The Pin assembled to one of the
patterned holes instances of the patterned hole
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• After selecting the Coincidence constraint, choose the Reuse Pattern button from
the Constraints toolbar.
• The preview of Pins assembled with all instances of hole is displayed in the
geometry area.
• The Instantiation on a pattern dialog box is displayed, as shown in the the figure.

The Instantiation on a
pattern dialog box
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The assembly after the selected The Specification Tree after creating
component is patterned the component pattern
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• Inserting Existing Components With Positioning

• The Existing Component With Positioning tool is used to insert, position, and apply
constraints to a component in a single operation and is an enhanced form of the Insert
Existing Component tool.

➢ CREATING TOP-DOWN ASSEMBLIES

• Creating Base Part in Top-Down Assembly

The fully expanded Specification Tree

after inserting a part in the product file
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• Creating Subsequent Components in the Top-down Assembly

Two different parts created in a product file Up to surface relation maintained even
and the cylinder extruded up to surface after moving the base downward
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• Creating Subassemblies in Top-down Assembly

• While creating complicated assemblies, you may need to have subassemblies
inside an assembly.

• In CATIA V5, there are two types subassemblies that can be created in the
Assembly Design workbench: Product and Component.

• Product Subassemblies
• Component Subassemblies

The Specification Tree having a product and

a component within an assembly file.
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➢ EDITING ASSEMBLIES
• Deleting Components
• While working in the Assembly Design workbench, you may need to delete
some of the constituent parts and subassemblies.

The Delete dialog box

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• Replacing Components
• In CATIA you can replace an existing component with another component inside
an assembly.

The original component The replaced component

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• Editing Components Inside an Assembly

• You can also edit the features and modify the sketches of the parts of assembly
within the Assembly Design workbench.

• Editing Subassemblies Inside an Assembly

• Editing the Assembly Constraints

• Editing the Constraint Definition

The Constraint Definition dialog box

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The associated and replacing surface Components after editing the offset
for the Offset constraint constraint and updating it
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• Replacing a Constraint

Contact constraint to be replaced Components after applying the

by the Offset constraint Offset constraint
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• Simplifying the Assembly

• While working on large assemblies consisting of a large number of parts and
subassemblies, it is recommended to hide some of the parts to improve the visibility
of other parts and to suppress the parts that are not required at that particular stage
of design cycle.

• Hiding a Component

• The Hide/Show tool is used turn off the display of the selected component of
the assembly.

• Deactivating a Component

• Deactivating the component, removes it temporarily from the assembly.

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• Interference Detection
• The interference is detected using the Clash tool, which is invoked by choosing the
Clash button from the Space Analysis toolbar. The Check Clash dialog box is
displayed, as shown in the figure.

The Check Clash dialog box The Preview window

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• Sectioning an Assembly
• To section an assembly model, choose the Sectioning
button from the Space Analysis toolbar; the Sectioning
Definition dialog box is displayed, as shown in the figure.

The 2D section view of the

complete assembly

The Sectioning Definition dialog box

The sectioning plane

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• Exploding an Assembly
• To explode an assembly, choose the Explode
button from the Move toolbar; the Explode dialog
box will be displayed, as shown in the figure.

The Belt Tightener in the

assembled state

The Explode dialog box

Overlapping components in 3D
explosion of the assembly
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Front view of the exploded Belt Tightener Top view of the exploded Belt
assembly exploded using the 2D option tightener assembly

Figure showing the exploded assembly

with Constrained selected as the type
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❑ Tutorial 1
In this tutorial you will create all the components of the Blower assembly and then
assemble them together. The Blower assembly is shown in Figure A. After creating the
assembly, you will generate the exploded view. The exploded view of the Blower
assembly is shown in Figure B. The dimensions of all components are given in
Figures C, Figure D, Figure E, Figure F, Figure G and Figure H.
(Expected time: 2.5 hrs)

Figure A The Blower Assembly Figure B Exploded view of the Blower

assembly
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Figure C Views and dimensions of Figure D Views and dimensions of

the Upper Housing the Lower Housing
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Figure E Views and dimensions of Figure F Views and dimensions of

the Blower the Motor
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Figure G Views and dimensions Figure H Views and dimensions

of the Cover of the Motor Shaft
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1. Create all components of the assembly as separate part files in the Part Design
workbench.

2. Start a new file in the Assembly Design workbench.

3. Insert the Lower Housing into the assembly as the base component, set its
orientation, and apply the Fix constraint to it at its default location, as shown in
Figure I, Figure J and Figure K.

Figure I First and second elements

to be selected
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Figure J Lower Housing after Figure K The surfaces to be selected

modifying its orientation to apply Contact constraint
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4. Insert the Upper Housing into the assembly

and place it over the lower housing by
applying proper constraints, as shown in
Figure L, Figure M and Figure N.

Figure M Surfaces on which you need

to click to select the central axes

Figure L The surfaces to be selected

to apply Contact constraint

Figure N The surfaces to be selected

for applying Offset constraint
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5. Hide the Upper Housing. Insert and place the blower inside the lower Housing.

6. Now, insert and constrain the Motor, the Motor Shaft, and the Cover refer to Figure O,
Figure P, Figure Q, Figure R, Figure S, Figure T and Figure U.

Figure O Faces to be clicked to Figure P Faces to be selected

select the central axes for applying Offset constraint
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Figure Q Motor Shaft inserted at Figure R Faces to be selected for

its default location Offset constraint

Figure S Position of the Motor Shaft with

respect to the Blower shown from back side
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Figure T Elements to be selected Figure U Various faces to be selected

for applying various constraints for applying the constraints
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7. Turn on the display of the Upper Housing, as shown in Figure V.

Figure V The final Blower assembly

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8. Create the exploded state of the assembly, as shown in Figure W.

Figure W The exploded view of Blower assembly

9. Save the file in \My Documents\CATIA\c11 folder and then close it.
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❑ Tutorial 2
In this tutorial you will create some components of a Press Tool Base assembly using
the top-down assembly approach. The Press Tool Base assembly is shown in Figure
A. The exploded state of this assembly is shown in the Figure B. The dimensions of all
components are shown in Figures C and Figure D. (Expected time: 45 min)

Figure A The Press Tool Base Figure B The exploded state of the Press
assembly Tool Base assembly
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Figure C Views and dimensions of the Figure D Views and dimensions

Top Plate, Guide Pillar, and Guide Bush of the Bottom Plate
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Figure E Views and dimensions of Figure F Drawing views of the Press

the Bottom Plate Tool Base assembly
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1. Start a new product file.

2. Create a new part inside the assembly. Modify its name and create features of the
base component, as shown in Figure G. In this assembly the Bottom Plate will be
the base component.

Figure G The final model of the Bottom Plate

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3. Create the Guide Bush and Guide Pillar as

subsequent components inside the product file, as
shown in Figure H, Figure I and Figure J.

Figure I Sketch of Pad feature for

creating Guide Bush

Figure H Final Guide Pillar

Figure J Final Guide Bush

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4. Guide Pillar and Guide Bush are to be duplicated using the Reuse Pattern tool, as
shown in Figure K.

Figure K Assembly after placing the second

set of Guide Pillar and Guide Bush
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5. Create the Top Plate, as shown in Figure L.

Figure L Sketch of the Pad feature Figure M The final Press Tool
for creating Top Plate Base assembly

6. Save the file in \My Documents\CATIA\c11 folder and then close it.
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❑ Exercise 1
Create the assembly of the Radial Engine shown in Figure A. The assembly in the
exploded state is shown in Figure B. Note that this exploded view is provided only for
your understanding and has not been generated using CATIA. The dimensions of
various parts of this assembly model are given in Figure C through Figure D.
(Expected time: 3 hr 30 min)

Figure A The Radial Engine assembly Figure B Exploded view of the Radial
Engine assembly
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Figure C Positioning of the Figure D Views and dimensions of

Articulated Rods the Master Rod