NX Feature Questions

[HercalloY]

Hi, a little background information before i delve into these relatively minor questions.

I’ve been using NX on and off for a few years now (no major use IMO) and i just wanted to ask a few questions for people with more in depth knowledge about it for two reasons. Firstly because the license that we have is very limited so i can’t use some of the in dept features to check functionality and secondly because even though i’ve read a lot of the help files (and still go thru it often to learn what it can do etc) some of these i haven’t discreetly seen as possible (or if they are, would like a real users explanation in plain English ).

I will compare these to other software (SW) for the reason of clear explanation. So please do not read this as “that is XXX software this is NX” gloves on rubbish. That is not what this is about. I simply wish to see if NX has the features that i find very useful in time saving to get the job at hand done.

1) Assembly Dynamic Motion: is there a dynamic drag motion type feature where assemblies recognise the mates and their applicable constraints/mates so that the user can simply drag a component and the assembly will move accordingly? Yes i’m used to the simplicity of mid range software “just drag and it happens” Note... i have read a bit about this in the help but it appears you have to be in another module specifically for motion and possibly also set up joints on top of assembly constraints to get said motion. But how complex this is or not.. in the real world may not be an issue (aside from the extra cost of licensing).

2) I often create frame structures (often called weldments, but i personally hate that description) of tubes, box section, angle etc and there are dedicated tools for automating total length and exact item QTYs as well as dedicated features for end trimming (like mitre corners etc) and member list/part list creation. Does NX have a feature/module for this style of design? I’ve read the help and It seems to have many routing style modules but i’m not sure if this falls under that or not and if so... with the kind of dedicated features i’m used to. I haven’t seen any as such in the help.

3) Sheet Metal. Not your usual “L” bracket and general brake-press style forming. But does NX have the capabilities to do more complex sheet metal items like Square-to-Round Transitions and all of that style of sheet metal and support proper bend-line functionality? I have read a lot on this but haven’t seen anything specific in this regard.

At the moment we have very limited licensing in a seat of NX4 and one of NX6 for our other branch but if these features are available in 7.5 don’t hesitate to mention as it may give me ammo to push for an upgrade.

Ok that’s all for now. I apologise for the long-ish post. Thank you for your time and knowledge.

 

[JohnRBaker]

As to your first question, yes, it's called (in NX 4.0) 'Reposition Component' and can be found at...

Assemblies -> Components -> Reposition Components...

What you do is select a Component in 'drag' mode and move it and the rest of the Assembly will respond based on the degrees-of-freedom in the constraints. Note that this is critical, components have to be free to move. For example, if you have a shaft in a bushing while you may constrain shaft to align with the bore of the bushing and perhaps even constrain it's movement along it's axis, but if you expect to see it rotate than it much NOT be constrained in a rotational sense. It can be connected to another Component but if you expect joints to rotate they must be unconstrained in that sense. The same for sliders and other 'joint' types.

Note that starting with NX 5.0, if switch from Mating Conditions to the newer Assembly Constraints the name of the function has changed to 'Move Component' and the path to the command is now...

Assemblies -> Component Position -> Move Component...

...but while the dialog is different, the function is basically the same and the 'rules' about degrees-of-freedom are exactly the same.

Now if you wish to capture and playback assembly motions, then you should use Assembly Sequencing which can be found at...

Assemblies -> Sequencing

This is NOT an extra cost module (if you have Assemblies you have Sequencing). You just need to make sure that the option to 'Honor Mating Conditions (Assembly Constraints)' is set to YES before you start assigning motions to your model. And so that you're aware of it (in case you hadn't heard), but Mating Conditions are being phased-out starting with NX 5.0 and by NX 7.5 you will not be able create or edit Mating Conditions, but will have to use Assembly Constraints (Mating Conditions CAN be converted to Assembly Constraints but this is not mandatory as legacy Mating Conditions will remain valid, just not editable).

As for the second item, we do not have a specific module for structural design, but it's possible that we will in the future as more and more of our customers are asking for functionality along these lines. There is some limited capabilities as part of the 'routing' modules, but it's pretty basic, which is to say, very limited.

As for number three, in addition to traditional straight-break sheetmetal, which is included with our normal feature modeling module, there is an extra cost module called 'Aerospace Sheetmetal' which covers more complex shapes and manufacturing processes. We also have extensive capabilities for complex sheetmetal product and die design with respect to automotive type sheetmetal including 'Class A' (i.e. exterior body panels) as well as inner-panels. Of course these are extra cost and geared strictly to automotive applications.

There is more product information at the Siemens website in my signature below.

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Design Solutions
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA

http://www.siemens.com/plm

http://www.plmworld.org/museum/

To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

 

[HercalloY]

Hi John,

Apologies for the late response.

1) Ah yes. I had a play with that and that’s what I was after! I was aware of the assembly mating conditions being phased out.
2) I really hope SIEMENS create a frame/structural feature-set in NX as it’s the one thing I tried to research early on and do a lot of work in that area. Plus the savings in time and accuracy are phenomenal with even the basic feature set of such an area (much like sheet metal or routing etc). Unfortunately from your input I highly doubt there will be anything before NX9 at best.
3) 10-4!
Thanks for your thorough informative post (as always).



PS. Does anyone know how to edit the tag next to user names (Automotive) etc? I can't figure out how to change it!