Parametrism & symmetric duplicates 2

[pamakela]

Hi,

I am working on a model in NX which is about to get 4 similar parts in 4 corners of the product. Is it possible to create just one of them, and then have NX make parametric duplicates into the remaining 3 positions in 3D-space?

The gist of it all is that I would like to continue editing the original one and then have all the other duplicates either lose or acquire features as I go along adding/removing them to/from the original body. This way, I would only need to edit the original and the others would just update accordingly. I remember seeing a function that sounded something like "Pack features" but was that anything to do with what I want to accomplish?

Note that I'm NOT working in assembly mode in this case!

 

[PSI-CAD]

Hi,

If your part in a corner is a body you can use instance geometry (rotate) before unite operation.

Or you need to use pattern face in synchronous modeling, then select faces with region option.

I hope this help


Regards
Didier Psaltopoulos

http://www.psi-cad.com

 

[Xwheelguy]

The above solution is quite valid and worth trying first, however there is another method involving Group Features to which you may have been referring in regards to the Pack Features portion of your post.

If memory serves me correctly, you would create all of your features for the one corner area, then start the Group Feature and add the features you want to array into the group. When finished, you would array the Group Feature rather than all of the individual features. You may go back and add/remove features from the group as needed. It's been a while since I've used Group Feature, but I seem to recall it being finicky with Booleans (maybe blends, I cannot recall) - to the point that I may have had to perform Booleans outside of the Extrude & Revolve commands rather than as part of those feature types. This may have changed since I used it last, so feel free to experiment with any Booleans. Note that you will need to include any blends and chamfers in the group, as they were not able to Blend All Instances of a Group Feature (at that time - again, it might be different now).

Hope all that makes sense.

Tim Flater
NX Designer
NX 7.5.4.4 MP2
WinXP Pro x64 SP2
Intel Xeon 2.53 GHz 6GB RAM
NVIDIA Quadro 4000 2GB

 

[pamakela]

Thanks for the replies! I now remember Pack Features was actually called Group Features. The way this approach would work is indeed as Xwheelguy explained it.