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How to align a part of an assembly with the XY plane

ferran

New member
Hello,

I have assembled several parts, all of them part of one product now; but it is not parallel nor perpendicular to the XYZ axes.

I thought aligning any part's surface with any of those main axes would be easy, but I am having a hard time doing so.

What is the ideal or easy way to do it?





Please do tell me if my question is too confusing and I will improve it. I am using CATIA V5R19.

Thank you very much,

Ferran
 
1. apply a FIX constraint to the part containing the Axis

2. apply a COINCIDENT constraint between the XY plane of the fixed part, and the other part(s).
 
Thank you for your quick reply, MrCATIA.

The problem is, the axes I want them to be aligned with are the ones from the program, the main ones at the top-right side of the screen.

(Having the whole product aligned with the basic 3 axes of the program will make it easier to do analyses on the structure afterwards.)


Regards,

Ferran
 
Ferran,

If I understand your problem, I think I can take you through the steps to get your parts aligned with with compass axis (which I think is aligned to the axis of your assembly).

Before we start, right-click on the red dot on the compass and verify none of the options are checked. If anything is checked, uncheck it.

1. Open the assembly. Check the constraints to see if there are any FIX constraints in the assembly - if there are; delete all FIX constraints.
2. Insert a New Part into this assembly, and make sure you choose "NO" to define the new origin at the assembly origin.
3. Immediately after inserting the new part, use the FIX icon to lock the position of this new part.
4. Use Properties to rename this part "TEMPORARY"
5. Add a Coincidence constraint between the Axis System of the Temporary part and Axis System in the main part of your assembly. Updating the assembly should align this main part with the compass orientation.
6. With the main part aligned, add a FIX constraint to lock the main part's position.
7. Delete the Temporary part, including it's FIX constraint and it's Coincidence constraint. Do not delete the FIX constraint for the main part.
8. Add additional assembly constraints to postion other parts relative to the main part.

CATIA Tip: every assembly should contain at least one fixed component.
 
Last edited:
Dear MrCatia,

thank you very much; for the solution and the tip. You just taught me a lesson on thinking outside of the box when struggling with assemblies.



Regards,

Ferran
 

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