how can you list all the parts mass from within an assembly?

[adrj]

It does not seem possible to list (from mass properties) the individual weights of parts contained within an assembly. This would be particularly useful for checking parts had correct density/mass in large assemblies. I know it is possible to set up a BOM with a mass property but this will cause me problems as the parts do not have mass properties assigned as attributes. Is there no way of changing the format of the data presented in assembly mass properties window to include the parts breakdown? It surly must access this data to calculate the overall mass of the assembly!

 

[BBJT]

When you select the mass properties icon you can remove the assembly from the selection and select any part and it will give you the mass for that particular part. I think that is what you are looking for. BBJT CSWP

 

[adrj]

I realise that this can be done but with over 200 parts this is tedious. I wish to see all individual parts' mass in the mass prop' window in one go. Then it would be possible to check through to see if any parts had dubious densities or the weights looked incorrect. This is possible with no effort in the likes of Pro/E and Ideas

 

[BBJT]

Yeah I figured thats what figured you ment after I hit ssubmit. I chaecked in 2003 and it works the sames as 2001Plus. This would be a good enhancement request. BBJT CSWP

 

[RawheadRex]

If you wanted to put a little time into it, it's possible to write VB program that does this. Theoretically one could do a recursion sub-routine which goes through and reads the mass properties value from each part and dumps it into a text file or something similar.

The base code for traversing through an assembly is included with SolidWorks (in the API help file and the Visual Basic examples folder located in the SolidWorks installation directory). It ought to be extensible without a much effort.

Chris Gervais
Mechanical Designer
American Superconductor