Aligning Holes in Assemblies

[Nadir]

Amongst my users I have two distinct camps with regard to how holes should be aligned in assemblies. Some say that it is best to use insert to line holes up in two adjacent parts i.e. a panel with bolt holes onto an aperture with matching bolt holes. The rest say that you should align the axes. Now to me the first method seems counter intuitive and the insert command is for placing a shaft in a hole. Does anybody have any other ideas?


How do you assemble parts with aligned holes?


Cheers


Nadir

 

[jvidal]

I prefer to use axis.
I don't have any specific reason for that other than "That's how I've always done it."

 

[sanjeevkar1]

I always try to assemble the component as it would be genuinely assembled in the workshop. <?:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" />
I use insert where there is pin to go in the hole. Or a bearing to be assembled on shaft. But I always try to pick axis in these cases.

 

[csusie]

If you insert and the holes are not equi-distant then you
get a failure (which might be a good thing). If you align
the axis they dont have to be equi-distant, which may give
you a false sense of security, because it will not fail.

Thats my 2 cents

 

[kdem]

The purpose of Insert is to make the axes of revolved surfaces coaxial which is what Corey eluded to in his post. Aligning axes doen't necessarily mean they will be coaxial.

 

[Nadir]

Yes some people like the fact that if you use insert you get a failure if the axes are not equidistant. Myself I have always checked and double checked the alignment. Also there are other ways to ensure the axes are equidistant (there may be situations where you have no way of relating the dimensions).

 

[kwillo]

My preference is to insert. I figure it's better to get a failure in Pro/E than to get the parts made and then find that holes are not coaxial.

 

[Mindripper]

I always align the axes. Yeah, it's the way I've always done it going back twelve years. I think it was more stable in previous versions of Pro/E, but it probably doesn't make any difference now.


But I think there is one detail that adds some robustness to your alignment. If you'relining upa hole made in Hole Tool (which I hope all users are making use of by now),I think it's betterto pick the thru hole on a cbored hole. If you pick the cbore axis (or cylindrical surface), I think you'll get an assembly alignment failure if you change it to a simple hole or a threaded hole at a later time: the cbore axis (and it's cylindrical surface) go away.

 

[mardeb]

...or for something completely different you could create a simple skeleton to control the placement of the holes in both parts, and publish the axes to the parts. Guaranteed alignment, but a bit more complex.