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General information about components |
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A component is a part of a model represented by another model.
You can add components both to an assembly, and to a part. Components of an assembly may be parts, assemblies, stock parts, local parts, standard products and models, inserted from the applications. You can insert only stock parts as components into a part.
A component model can be stored in a separate file or in the file of the current model.
•If the component model is stored in a separate file, then the current model does not actually contain the components themselves, but rather references to their files. To transfer such a model to another workplace, it is necessary to transfer component files as well.
Insertion by external reference is used for all components except local ones — parts and stock parts.
•If a component model is stored in the file of the model containing the component, then when the model is transferred to another workplace, the source files of the components are not required to transfer. This method of insertion is used for a local part and a local stock part. It allows you to create a model file, with all its components stored within the same file.
Various methods are used to create components in a model — adding from a file, building in the context of the current model, etc. For more details on methods of creating components...
In the future, if needed, you can replace the source file of a component or several components inserted via an external reference. More about changing the source file...
Components can be coupled with each other or with other objects in the model. Two types of couplings are available: positioning and mechanical. Positioning couplings limit the interposition of objects (for example, make a rod and a hole coaxial), and couplings of mechanical connection set the law of moving objects relative to each other (for example, progressive movement of a nut when a screw is rotating). The creation of couplings is described in the section Coupling components.
One model may be inserted as a component into multiple other models, and vice versa, one model may contain multiple insertions of the same component.
If necessary, you can create components that are mirrored or symmetrical insertions of components already existing in the model. More details on the creation of mirrored and symmetrical components...
In a model containing components, you can perform operations that simulate the processing of the product in assembly. These are usually material removal operations, for example, you can construct a hole that passes through several components. Please note that the result of such an operation is not transferred to the component files, but is stored in the model containing them. If you open the component files, you will see they have no holes. Due to this, you can insert the same component into different models and perform different operations on them. This will not change the component file on the disk.
If you need to reflect changes of a component in all models containing it, you should open and edit the file of this component. Editing a component is possible both "in place", i.e. on the tab of the model containing it (see the section Editing the Component Geometry "In place"), as well as in a separate tab (see the section Editing component geometry in a separate tab). For components stored in the current model, only in-place editing is available.
If necessary, you can reposition component in the model in various ways, as well as copy the component. For more details see the sections Moving, rotating and copying components and Changing position of a component.
If components are parts, you can perform boolean subtraction and union operations on them (see the section Boolean operations on parts).
By default, the components inserted into the model retain their own mass properties and other properties (designation, name, etc.), i. e. those recorded in their files. If necessary, you can set different CMP for the component (see the section Step-by-step instructions to define the material and CMP) and properties (see the section Properties of a model and its objects). This data is not transferred to the component file, but is stored in the model containing it.
In larger assemblies, inserted components may be replaced with mockups. This increases the speed of work with the assembly. For more details on component mockups...
See Also
