Rotate a part in assembly 1

[Sripri]

How do I rotate any part in an assembly with any of the temporary axis (center of any curve or feature or a consutruction line)and an angle ? I think the three features in the rotate command do not give me what I want to do (I may be missing to look something, but can't figure out myself so far). The rotation triad kind of gives what I want, but, does not gurantee the center of rotation (the axis). I don't know how to align the center of the rotation triad to the axis. Let me know the way. Thanks.

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

Firstly, why not just add regular mates?

To answer your question, if you mean the Free Drag, About Entity and By Delta XYZ options;

Select the Rotate Component icon.
Select the About Entity option and a Select item: field should appear.
In the graphics area, select any edge, vertex or axis around which you want to rotate the part.
Grab the part and rotate.

 

[Sripri]

CorblimeyLimey, Thanks for the reply. I was just able to check this out. Actually, I want to rotate a part like what "About Entity" does, but rotate it by an angle (say 5.9 Deg) from whatever orientation it is now and not free rotate. "By Delta XYZ" gives the option to rotate by angle, but, it rotates about origin. I want to rotate about any axis by a certain angle. How do I do this ?

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

The best way is to apply an angle mate and adjust it to suit.

 

[SBaugh]

YOu don't you add a mate that uses an angle to that face and plane or another part face. If you don't want the mate to show up then you "Use for positioning only" and it places the file in a location and does not add a mate to the assembly... outside of that and CBL comments you can't rotate a component at an angle.

Regards,

Scott Baugh, CSWP

http://www.scottjbaugh.com

"If it's not broke, Don't fix it!"
faq731-376

 

[J-C]

Believe it not it can be done. Right click the part and select "Move with Triad". Then right click the 3d triad tools yellow origin and select "Move to selection" and select the geometry to move it to. You can then drag the "hoops" to rotate and it will snap to even increments....or you can right click the triad again and select "Show Rotate Delta XYZ box" to type in an increment to rotate.

Jason

SolidWorks 2007 SP3.1 on WinXP SP2

 

[Sripri]

Hi all,
Thanks for the replies. Gildashard, actually I have used the "Triad" feature in the past to rotate whatever parts I want, but the problem I see with that is I cannot (problably, I just don't know) excactly orient the center of the triad to where I want to (for instance match the triad center and a center line of a curve). I think, it kind of orients the center, but not exactly, you have to approximately orient it. And, if I want to rotate backwards, I need to pull the triad back (it goes to the centroid of the part every time you leave it) and orient it again, which is not the same place as before. I looked at the help and it doesn't look that the triad can be oriented in a certain place of our choice, everytime. If it (Triad) can be oriented, that is what I want to have. Let me know. Corb, Scott: I prefer not to use angle mates unless I have no other go. Thanks again.

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

When you have the part rotated and aligned, will you be leaving it unconstrained ...just floating in space?

I'm sure you have valid reasons, but I'm curious as to why you would not want to use mates.

 

[SBaugh]

I understand, but they are just used for positioning only and will not add a mate to your assembly and you can get your 5.9 degrees you are looking for... You could have already done it this away as much as this has been discussed.

Regards,

Scott Baugh, CSWP

http://www.scottjbaugh.com

"If it's not broke, Don't fix it!"
faq731-376

 

[TateJ]

I'd really like to see a reply to CBL's last post...
I was about to ask the same question...
but a little more sarcastically.

Windows XP / Microsoft Wireless Optical Mouse 5000 / SolidWorks 2007 SP2.2 / SpaceBall 5000

http://www.Tate3d.com

"Right-click. It's friggin' magic!"... Jack L. Tate
FAQ376 I'm famous.

 

[Sripri]

CBL and others,
In some situations, in an assembly (fully constrained or partially), I need to rotate one or more of the parts with respect to any of the available axis and angle (depending on the case)to see the relative positions of configurations. I don't want to add mate(s) which will add constraints when I want to rotate another part ( I will try scott's suggestion, mates with positioning only. hope it doesn't restrict the part's movement because of the mate). It is like rotating any part(s) relative to others, about any axis and any angle, without having to think about mate situations or adding constraints with a mate. These are done during the study phase of various configurations. Hope my answer makes sense. Also, in some cases i will be rotating couple of parts with respect to one axis and an angle. I guess, in that case I will have to mate each and every one of the part that I am rotating. If I have not made the situation clear, pl. tell me.

 

[TateJ]

...I see.
Yours is a valid approach then.
But MATES are easy to create & delete... especially if you investigate SMARTMATE in the help menu.

Windows XP / Microsoft Wireless Optical Mouse 5000 / SolidWorks 2007 SP2.2 / SpaceBall 5000

http://www.Tate3d.com

"Right-click. It's friggin' magic!"... Jack L. Tate
FAQ376 I'm famous.

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

Sorry, I still don't see the reason not to use mates. You can have multiple mates controlling a parts position and orientation. An angle or distance mate can be adjusted to suit and after the mate has been adjusted it can be deleted or just suppressed for future use. Configs can be used to save suppressing and un-suppressing of mates.

BTW, you still haven't answered whether, after you have the part rotated and aligned, you will be constraining it or just leaving it floating in space?

Layout sketches can also be great aids for attaining correct positioning before the solids are even formed.

 

[Sripri]

Hi all,
Again thanks for all the replies. Mate for positioning only meets my requirement at this time. I am doing kind of layout sketches, but after forming 3D, but, what I will be looking is all interference, clearance and other conditions for the 3-d part(s) in the assembly. So, 2-D won't always help in my case. O.k. if i use mate, can I rotate more than one part at a time ? I guess I will have to add individual mates for each part. right ? Also, i have not fully understood how do I use mates on parts which are not of regular shape and especially are imported as step files? thanks.

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

Add reference planes (or axes or sketches) which occupy a logical position in the irregular shaped part, and then mate using those.

Depending on how you set up the mates, you will be able to move a whole bunch of parts by changing just one mate.

One way to move a group of parts in unison would be to create a sub-assy of the parts, and have mates control the sub-assy's position and orientation.

 

[EEnd]

Forgive me if this is something that you already know, but SolidWorks has the ability to handle a lot of the kinematics for you. If you mate the components together in a manner that mimics the real assembly, then the modeled assembly should have the same degrees freedom as the real one, and you can just drag parts around and watch the others move as needed to satisfy the mate constraints.

Eric

 

[Sripri]

Hi all, I am really trying to end this thread, but it keeps growing. Crob: When I import assemblies from other softwares which were already created, they come without any mate. many times I just move, rotate, study and modify as necessary in SW. In those situations, I prefer to rotate the part I am interested in XY,YZ or ZX co-ordinate to see the relative positions. so, I pick any center line of radius or circle and do the rotation (I can do this in IDEAS for example). In this situation, I know with which centerline and angle i should be rotating the part with. But, if I were to use mates, i have to make sure I make it right. I have not fully understood how to use mates, but when I tried to rotate using two temporary axis, i wanted it to rotate in XY but it did in YZ (for example). I think still have problems. I will investigate more this week. EEND: I use mates for simulating motions, but, I have one problem with that when I have forces at an angle. I will post a separate thread for that after some more trials. Thanks all.