Imported Geometry / Assy Mates ?

Is there a trick to assembling parts and sub-assemblies from imported
geometry?

I have a project done in MDT back in 2001 that's being ressurected, I've
managed to get a majority of the parts and assemblies opened in SWX
using both Feature Recognition and Geometry recognition. For whatever
reason the top level assembly would not convert so I'm trying to
re-create it using the sub-assy's, but SWX won't Mate the sub-assy's as
it normally does.

If I try to mate plane to plane it'll tell me they're "paralle but
11.562" apart" and can't do it, I get this message on the most basic
mating efforts and am getting nothing but cherries...

The first sub-assy went in OK and I mated it to the Assy planes just
fine, and subsequent parts, don't work.

Am I missing something, or just stupid?

 

WC,

Not really any tricks to it, a plane is a plane. Planes are not part of the
imported geometry. Solidworks creates them relative to the world coordinate
system of the imported part. I'ts very strange that your having problems
mating them. Some times imported geometry will have flat faces that aren't
truly planar (IDEAS and Catia data comes to mind). Sounds like data
corruption of some sort.

What format are you importing with, SAT or IGES ?? SAT is more accurate in
most cases.

Regards

Mark

 

There has been some instances where this has happened. A lot of time
suppressing the mate and then dragging the part closer to where it's
supposed to be and then unsuppressing the mate will correct it. What
version and SP are you on. Not sure when or why it does this but it's a
pain at times.

 

2006sp4.1, I simply opened the .DWG parts/assemblies (Mechanical Desktop4, maybe5) in
SWX and let it roll.

I restarted the SWX assembly from scratch, beginning with smaller subs and working my
way up, rather than using the two "large" assemblies that survived the conversion, so
far mating seems to be working more as it does with 'native' parts.

I'll try the suppress and drag method on the next 'snag'

Thanks

 

Could be that's what was happening sometimes, but if I mate FaceA-FaceA it'll
work, then I'll mate FaceB-FaceB...'does not compute'. If I suppress the
previous FaceA mate, it'll solve the FaceB mate...until I unsuppress the FaceA
mate...then cherries. I seem to be having some luck rebuilding it from
smaller subs, but ... <roll-eyes>

Thanks for the replies

 

I don't believe this has anything to do with the geometry being imported,
it's just SW having its head up its ass. I think this is a SW2006 problem,
but it could have come in earlier. (We never used 2005, but I don't remember
seeing it in 2004.)

Others have given you the basic workarounds. One thing to remember after you
suppress a mate, move the part, and then unsuppress, is to try swapping
directions on one or the other of the mates if you get cherries.

Jerry Steiger
Tripod Data Systems
"take the garbage out, dear"