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UnDerstanDIng ParametrIc DesIgn
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7
Assembly Modeling Best Practices
Once you’ve created part files, you will put them together to build an assembly. And when you
do, you want to build it to be as stable as possible, so that if you move, replace, or remove a part,
the rest of the assembly will not fall apart. There are two parts to an assembly: links to the com-
ponents it is made of and the geometric information about how those parts fit together. Basic
assemblies are not much more than that, and understanding those two concepts will go a long
way toward building stable assemblies.
un D e r s t a n D Fi l e li n K i n g a n D re l a t i o n s h i p s
The assembly file can be thought of as an empty container file to start. Once you place the first
part in the assembly, the assembly file contains a link to that part file. When you place a second
part and fit it to the first, the assembly then contains links to the two files and the information
about how those files go together. If you decide to rename the first part file, and do so using
Windows Explorer, the assembly file will still be looking for the file by the old name. When this
happens, you will be prompted with a file resolution dialog box, asking you where the file went.
You can then browse and manually point the assembly to that file, and it will record the new
name in its internal link. If you decide to move the second part file to some other folder than its
original, the assembly file might again prompt you to find it manually, depending on the folder
structure. It should be your goal to never need to resolve file links manually, and understanding
this part of how assemblies work is the first step in doing so. In the coming chapters you will
learn how to set up Inventor properly so it can find your files without issue.
al w a y s ma i n t a i n at le a s t on e gr o u n D e D co m p o n e n t
To understand how grounded parts help you build stable assemblies, you should first under-
stand a little about the assembly model browser. Figure 1.7 shows the model browser for an
assembly model of a small hobby-type CNC router.
The model browser shows an assembly named Router Base at the top and under it three other
assemblies named Y-Axis Assembly, X-Axis Assembly, and Z-Axis Assembly. The Z-Axis Assembly
is expanded in the browser so you can see the parts it is made of as well. You should note that the
Figure 1.7
The model browser
showing the model
tree of an assembly
named Router.iam
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