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Assembly mate errors after opening a drawing 2016 SP05, Flexible Mates??

Question asked by Jim Moses on Mar 21, 2018
Latest reply on Mar 21, 2018 by Alex Lachance

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Hi all,

I have a rather large assembly file that contains 7 sub assemblies 4 of which have several configurations that relate to several top level configurations, Now in my default configuration or the one I will be using for my drawing I do have 1 flexible mate.

Now as I stated this seems to rear its lovely head every time I open the top level drawing file, now everything comes in lightweight so not sure if that is part of the issue, but I seem to have to toggle the flexible mate and some of the time the errors go away, other times it induces mate errors in other sub-assemblies and once I go to those no errors present, though I did just have a mate that flipped, not sure why, but I flipped it twice and all was good again.

Has anyone else had this issue?

I have tired to be careful not to over constrain anything with too many mates, but maybe some has a idea, as this model is a deliverable to a customer and would rather it not blow-up on them, or the next guy who has to make changes

All of this is on a local hard drive

Regards,

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Jim Proctor Mar 21, 2018 10:58 AM

You may want to see how the assembly looks when loaded as Resolved. We have large assemblies where when loaded lightweight there are components hanging out in space or flipped around a coincident mate. When same assembly is loaded Resolved, all components stay in place. I have reported this to our VAR but they say this is a "limitation" of lightweight mode.

Too bad that perhaps the most useful tool for dealing with large assemblies is not reliable.

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Jim Moses @ Jim Proctor on Mar 21, 2018 12:33 PM

That is kind of what I am thinking as well, just getting annoying to have thing all blown up

may have to check with our local var and see what they say.

Thanks,

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Dan Golthing Mar 21, 2018 11:55 AM

why do you have a flexible mate on the configuration for the drawing? Then you might not be able to predict what your drawing looks like if the flexible mate moves.

Can you have a configuration that is fixed, and therefore more predictable, for the drawing?

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Jim Moses @ Dan Golthing on Mar 21, 2018 12:47 PM

Hi,

The flexible mates are on some of the assemblies, showing a cylinder at a given part handling position, on my drawings I have this fixed at mid part position, so nothing is moving on the drawing just it has sub-assemblies set to flexible so I didn't have to add a configuration to the cylinder and then the sub-assembly that contains the cylinder showing the cylinder in the part position, hence leaving both the cylinder free or Flexible and the sub-assembly free or Flexible so I can then constrain them at the top level assembly showing part at nominal, highest and lowest position all using the free or Flexible configuration, other wise I would need to have 3 minimum in both the cylinder and the sub-assembly, and like most companies we use purchased components models like cylinders for a number of assemblies, so suddenly you need a cylinder model with configurations for every .1 of inch or more which is not really patical, let alone trying to keep track of.

Sorry if I am coming off wrong, just want you to understand the reasoning for the whole flexible mates, as they do fun things to a models and drawings so I was suspecting it might have something to do with my issues maybe not, but I have seen similar issues in the past.

Regards,

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Alex Lachance Mar 21, 2018 12:41 PM

If your assembly is flexible, you generally need to set it to rigid and back to flexible for the flexibility to come back. I don't know why but SolidWorks forget that an assembly is flexible when you close it.

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Jim Moses @ Alex Lachance on Mar 21, 2018 12:50 PM

Yeah I have done this but, I would figure by now that this shouldn't still be like that, I know the earlier versions you would always have to toggle mates and constraints to get the errors to go away, just never had it only show up in the drawing and have that drive it back thru the assembly files

Regards,

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Alex Lachance @ Jim Moses on Mar 21, 2018 12:53 PM

The lightweight is probably what is causing your issue when you open the drawing. I never work with lightweight for many reasons such as this one, though that is a personal opinion.

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7 Replies

Jim Proctor Mar 21, 2018 10:58 AM
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You may want to see how the assembly looks when loaded as Resolved. We have large assemblies where when loaded lightweight there are components hanging out in space or flipped around a coincident mate. When same assembly is loaded Resolved, all components stay in place. I have reported this to our VAR but they say this is a "limitation" of lightweight mode.

Too bad that perhaps the most useful tool for dealing with large assemblies is not reliable.
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- Jim Moses @ Jim Proctor on Mar 21, 2018 12:33 PM
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  That is kind of what I am thinking as well, just getting annoying to have thing all blown up
  
  may have to check with our local var and see what they say.
  
  Thanks,
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Dan Golthing Mar 21, 2018 11:55 AM
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Correct Answer
why do you have a flexible mate on the configuration for the drawing? Then you might not be able to predict what your drawing looks like if the flexible mate moves.

Can you have a configuration that is fixed, and therefore more predictable, for the drawing?
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- Jim Moses @ Dan Golthing on Mar 21, 2018 12:47 PM
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  Hi,
  
  The flexible mates are on some of the assemblies, showing a cylinder at a given part handling position, on my drawings I have this fixed at mid part position, so nothing is moving on the drawing just it has sub-assemblies set to flexible so I didn't have to add a configuration to the cylinder and then the sub-assembly that contains the cylinder showing the cylinder in the part position, hence leaving both the cylinder free or Flexible and the sub-assembly free or Flexible so I can then constrain them at the top level assembly showing part at nominal, highest and lowest position all using the free or Flexible configuration, other wise I would need to have 3 minimum in both the cylinder and the sub-assembly, and like most companies we use purchased components models like cylinders for a number of assemblies, so suddenly you need a cylinder model with configurations for every .1 of inch or more which is not really patical, let alone trying to keep track of.
  
  Sorry if I am coming off wrong, just want you to understand the reasoning for the whole flexible mates, as they do fun things to a models and drawings so I was suspecting it might have something to do with my issues maybe not, but I have seen similar issues in the past.
  
  Regards,
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Alex Lachance Mar 21, 2018 12:41 PM
Mark Correct
Correct Answer
If your assembly is flexible, you generally need to set it to rigid and back to flexible for the flexibility to come back. I don't know why but SolidWorks forget that an assembly is flexible when you close it.
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- Jim Moses @ Alex Lachance on Mar 21, 2018 12:50 PM
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  Correct Answer
  Yeah I have done this but, I would figure by now that this shouldn't still be like that, I know the earlier versions you would always have to toggle mates and constraints to get the errors to go away, just never had it only show up in the drawing and have that drive it back thru the assembly files
  
  Regards,
  Like • Show 0 Likes0
  Actions
  - Alex Lachance @ Jim Moses on Mar 21, 2018 12:53 PM
    Mark Correct
    Correct Answer
    The lightweight is probably what is causing your issue when you open the drawing. I never work with lightweight for many reasons such as this one, though that is a personal opinion.
    Like • Show 0 Likes0
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Assembly mate errors after opening a drawing 2016 SP05, Flexible Mates??

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