SolidWorks 2011 Assemblies Bible - Matt Lombard [108]
View Mates is a useful tool for investigating mating relationships between parts, especially in assemblies that have evolved over time or assemblies that someone else built and that you must understand well enough to work with.
Using the View Mate Errors window
The View Mate Errors window looks identical to the View Mate window, but it only shows mates that have error or warning flags. It shows all of the mates with errors in the entire top-level assembly, not just for the selected component. The View Mate Errors window is only available from the RMB menu, and only on components where there are mate errors. It is only available for single selections, never for multiple components. Figure 13.6 shows this window.
FIGURE 13.6
Using the View Mate Errors window to troubleshoot mate problems
Using the MateXpert
The MateXpert tool helps you troubleshoot assembly problems. You can access the MateXpert by right-clicking a mate with an error, or from the Tools menu. Do not confuse the MateXpert with the AssemblyXpert; the MateXpert does not have an icon, and only deals with mates.
This example intentionally creates a problem in the Bike assembly so that you can see how the MateXpert deals with issues that arise. The problem created here is the same as the one from earlier in this chapter, which forced the seat post to be concentric with the stem. After clicking the Diagnose button in the MateXpert, you see the result shown in Figure 13.7.
FIGURE 13.7
Using the MateXpert to diagnose problems
The MateXpert returns three possible problems in the Analyze Problem panel of the PropertyManager. In this case, the only mate in the assembly that has the red error marker is Concentric14; the rest of the mates just display the yellow warning triangle. Notice at the bottom that SolidWorks correctly identifies the one red marker mate as a mate that is not satisfied.
This tool returns a lot of information, some of it you may find more useful than others. When troubleshooting assemblies you should use whatever set of tools you feel give you the best information for fixing the problem. If you are working through a tangle of mate errors, you may want to use other troubleshooting methods before you rely too heavily on the MateXpert. Or possibly give the MateXpert a glance to see if it points out something you had missed before you try a more robust method.
Keep in mind that users have reported in earlier versions of SolidWorks that the MateXpert was responsible for automatically flipping alignment on certain types of mates. While it is not clear if mates continue to flip, flipping of several types of entities continues to be a problem throughout the SolidWorks software, for entities such as sketches, planes, and other directional controls in certain features. If you encounter this problem, you might be able to regain some control over the automatic flipping by using the setting at Tools⇒Options⇒Assemblies⇒Prompt Before Changing Mate Alignments on Edit.
Editing mates
You can edit mates using the same Mate PropertyManager that you used to create the mates. You access this PropertyManager by right-clicking a mate and selecting Edit Feature from the menu. The Mate PropertyManager for an existing mate is shown in Figure 13.8.
FIGURE 13.8
Editing a mate with the original Mate PropertyManager
One of the advantages of using this method to edit mates is that you can change the type of mate simply by selecting it in the PropertyManager. This is different from features such as the Fillet where, once you select a fillet type and create the feature, you cannot edit it later and change the type of fillet.
If you want to replace the mated entities, you can delete the one you want to change from the Mate Selections selection box and