What are SmartMates in SolidWorks?

How are SmartMates used?

When the references are added to an assembly, the mates are automatically created. SmartMates are used when these mates need to be created after the component is placed within the assembly, or when there are some assembly components not often reused or inserted in assemblies.

What is a driven MATE in Solidworks?

You can set mate dimensions as driven, so that the value is influenced by other moving components in the assembly. By default, mate dimensions are driving dimensions. For the following mate types you can change the dimensions to driven: Distance and distance limit.

What does mating do in Solidworks?

Mates create geometric relationships between assembly components. As you add mates, you define the allowable directions of linear or rotational motion of the components. You can move a component within its degrees of freedom, visualizing the assembly’s behavior.

How do I create a smart component in Solidworks?

To make a component smart:

1. Create an assembly containing: …
2. Position the components and apply mates.
3. Click Make Smart Component (Assemblies toolbar) or click Tools > Make Smart Component.
4. Set options in the Smart Component PropertyManager.

How do you add magnetic mates?

To enable magnetic mates, click Tools > Magnetic Mate ON/OFF .

…

Example – Magnetic Mates

1. Create a ground plane (floor).
2. Add a connection point to the first (straight) train track.
3. Add a connection point to the second (curved) train track.
4. Insert the tracks into the assembly and use magnetic mates to attach them.

What is a mechanical mate?

Mechanical mates include cam-follower, gear, hinge, rack and pinion, screw, slot, and universal joint mates. Contents. Cam-Follower Mates. A cam-follower mate is a type of tangent or coincident mate. It allows you to mate a cylinder, plane, or point to a series of tangent extruded faces, such as you would find on a cam …

What is Mate controller?

Mate Controller is a tool within SOLIDWORKS that lets users manipulate some mates within an assembly. These can be used to show a sequence of movements. Positions can be saved to form steps without the need for configurations. These saved positions can then be saved as animations.

How do you use mechanical mate?

To set up the mate, you simply need to select a linear edge or line on the rack component, and then a cylindrical face or circular edge on the pinion component. The mate will then relate the motion based on either the pinion pitch diameter or the rack travel distance.

What is a mate reference?

Mate references specify one or more entities of a component to use for automatic mating. When you drag a component with a mate reference into an assembly, the SOLIDWORKS software tries to find other combinations of the same mate reference name and mate type.

How do you mate two points in Solidworks?

Simply hold down Ctrl and select the two entities you wish to mate. The supported mate types are all standard mates (Concentric, Coincident, Equal, etc), as well as some advanced mates (Profile Center, Symmetric and Width) and some mechanical mates (Cam and Slot).

What are the different mates in SolidWorks?

Standard mates include angle, coincident, concentric, distance, lock, parallel, perpendicular, and tangent mates. Advanced mates include limit, linear/linear coupler, path, profile center, symmetry, and width mates.

How do I edit a mate in SolidWorks?

To modify a mate:

1. Expand the Mates folder in the FeatureManager design tree. …
2. In the PropertyManager, select the mate to edit and change the options. …
3. To replace one entity with another, click the entity to replace in the Mate Selections box, press Delete, then select the new entity.
4. Click .