Lesson 2 - Assemblies Page 1 of 8

Lesson 2 - Assemblies
An assembly is a combination of two or more parts, also called components, within one SOLIDWORKS
document. You position and orient components using mates that form relations between components.
In this lesson, you build a simple assembly based on the part that you created in Lesson 1.
This lesson discusses the following:
Adding parts to an assembly
Moving and rotating components in an assembly
Creating display states in an assembly

Creating the Base Feature

You can use the same methods that you learned in Lesson 1 to create the base for a new part.

1. Click New (Standard toolbar) and open a new part.

2. Click Shaded with Edges on the View toolbar.

3. Click Extruded Boss/Base (Features toolbar) and select the Front plane.

4. Sketch a corner rectangle beginning at the origin.

5. Click Smart Dimension (Dimensions/Relations toolbar) and dimension the rectangle to 120mm x
120mm.

6. Click Exit Sketch (Sketch toolbar) to exit the sketch.

The Boss-Extrude PropertyManager and a preview of the extrusion appear.

7. Under Direction1:
a. Set End Condition to Blind.

b. Set Depth to 90.

8. Click to create the extrusion.

9. Click Fillet (Features toolbar) and select the four edges shown.

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10. In the PropertyManager, under Fillet Parameters, set Radius to 10.

11. Click to fillet the selected edges.

Completing the Base Feature

Next, you shell the part.

1. Click Shell on the Features toolbar.

The Shell PropertyManager appears.

2. Select the front face of the model.

The face is listed in Faces to Remove in the PropertyManager.

3. Under Parameters, set Thickness to 4.

4. Click .

5. Save the part as Tutor2.

Creating a Lip on the Part

In this section, you use the Convert Entities and Offset Entities tools to create sketch geometry. Then you
create a cut to make a lip to mate with the part from Lesson 1.

1. Click Zoom to Area (View toolbar) and drag-select to a corner of the part, as shown.

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2. Click Zoom to Area (View toolbar) again to turn off the tool.

3. Select the front face of the thin wall.

The face is highlighted.

4. Click Extruded Cut (Features toolbar).

A sketch opens on the selected face.

5. Click Convert Entities (Sketch toolbar).

The outer edges of the selected face are projected (copied) onto the sketch plane as lines and arcs.

6. Click the front face again.

7. Click Offset Entities (Sketch toolbar).

The Offset Entities PropertyManager appears.

Completing the Lip on the Part

1. In the Offset Entities PropertyManager, under Parameters, set Offset Distance to 2.

The preview shows the offset extending outward.

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2. Select Reverse to change the offset direction.

3. Click .
A set of lines is added to the sketch, offset from the outside edge of the selected face by 2mm. This
relation is maintained if the original edges change.

4. Click Exit Sketch (Sketch toolbar) to exit the sketch.

The Cut-Extrude PropertyManager appears.

5. Under Direction 1, set Depth to 20.

You might need to click Flip side to cut to place the cut on the outer face of the part.

6. Click .
The material between the two lines is cut, creating the lip.

7. Click Zoom to Fit (View toolbar).

Changing the Color of a Part

You can change the color and appearance of a part or its features.

1. Right-click the Tutor2 icon at the top of the FeatureManager design tree.

2. On the context toolbar, select Appearances , and then select tutor2 .

3. In the PropertyManager, under Color, select a color on the color palette, then click .

4. Save the part.

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Creating the Assembly

You can create an assembly by using the two parts.

1. If tutor1.sldprt is not open, click Open (Standard toolbar) and open the part that you created,
or browse to drive letter:\Users\Public\Public Documents\SOLIDWORKS\SOLIDWORKS
version\samples\tutorial\lesson2\tutor1.sldprt.

2. Click New on the Standard toolbar, click Assembly, then click OK.
The Begin Assembly PropertyManager appears.

3. Under Part/Assembly to Insert, select Tutor1.

A preview of Tutor1 appears in the graphics area, and the pointer changes to .

4. Click Keep Visible in the PropertyManager to insert more than one component without having to
reopen the PropertyManager.

5. Click in the graphics area to place Tutor1.

6. In the PropertyManager under Part/Assembly to Insert, select Tutor2.

7. Click in the graphics area to place Tutor2 beside Tutor1.

8. Click .

9. If required, click Zoom to Fit .

10. Save the assembly as tutor. The .sldasm extension is added to the file name. If you see messages

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about rebuilding the assembly and saving referenced documents, click Save All and Rebuild and save
the document.

Mating the Components

In this topic, you define assembly mating relations between the components, making the components align
and fit together.

1. Click Mate (Assembly toolbar).

The Mate PropertyManager appears.

2. In the graphics area, select the top edge of Tutor1, then select the outside edge of the lip on the top of
Tutor2.

The Mate pop-up toolbar appears, and the components move into place, previewing the mate. In the

PropertyManager, under Mate Selections, the edges are listed in Entities to Mate .

If the Mate pop-up toolbar does not appear, select Show popup dialog under Options in the
PropertyManager.

3. On the Mate pop-up toolbar:

a. Click Coincident as the mate type.

b. Click .
A coincident mate appears under Mates in the PropertyManager.

The position of Tutor2 is not fully defined. It has some degrees of freedom to move in directions that
are not constrained by mates.

4. Test degrees of freedom by moving the components:

a. In the graphics area, select the Tutor2 component and hold down the left mouse button.

b. Drag the component to observe the available degrees of freedom.

Adding More Mates

1. Select the rightmost face of one component, then select the corresponding face on the other component.

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2. On the Mate pop-up toolbar, click Coincident , then click .

Another coincident mate appears under Mates in the PropertyManager.

3. Repeat steps 1 and 2, but select the top faces of both components, to add another coincident mate.

4. Click twice to close the PropertyManager.

5. Save the assembly.

Using Display States

You can change the display settings of the components and save the settings in a display state.

1. At the top of the FeatureManager design tree, to the right of the tabs, click Show Display Pane .
The Display Pane shows the different display settings (appearances, transparency, etc.) of each
component.

2. Right-click anywhere in the Display Pane and click Add Display State .

3. Enter a name and press Enter.

4. Move the pointer over Tutor2 in the FeatureManager design tree, then:

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a. Move the pointer into the Display Mode column.

b. When the pointer changes to , click, then select Hidden Lines Visible .

5. Click Hide Display Pane .

6. Right-click and click Display State-1.

The assembly returns to its original display state.

Congratulations! You have completed this tutorial.

Return to the tutorials overview page.

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