About Assembly Symmetry

Assembly Symmetry allows you to generate a default or a customized symmetric product structure from an original one, and lets you manage associative links in position and in structure between the original and the symmetric product.

The customization of symmetry generation allows you to specify what products you wants in the symmetric product structure and how you want them generated and instantiated.

Important:

  • Assembly Symmetry is only available with CATIA Mechanical Design licence (MDE).

  • Flexible product cannot be involved in an Assembly Symmetry.

In this section:

Related Topics
Creating a Default Assembly Symmetry
Creating a Customized Assembly Symmetry
Symmetric Reference Creation Dialog Box
Symmetry Properties Dialog Box
Symmetry Specifications Toolbar
Symmetry Visualization Toolbar

Associativity

Assembly Symmetry keeps some associativity in shape, product structure and positioning.

Shape

  • Any change in a representation is automatically updated.
  • Assembly Symmetry can be isolated in order to disconnect original and symmetric products.
Product Structure
The Track add/remove changes in assembly option allows you to update automatically or not any change in the product structure.
Positioning

  • Assembly Symmetry is generated without positioning.
  • Fix Symmetrically engineering connection can be created or not and is not editable. This engineering connection requires a generating plane.

Specifications

Assembly Symmetry specifications described how you can customize an Assembly Symmetry.


  • Recursively symmetric references: creates recursively symmetric products based on one generating plane for the symmetry. New symmetric products are created except for the position.
  • New symmetric reference: creates a new symmetric product based on one generating plane for the symmetry. A new product is created except for the position.
  • Same reference: creates a new symmetric product from auto-symmetric part or assembly where one of the three reference planes is the plane defining the auto-symmetry.
  • Existing reference: creates a new symmetric product from the Selection Object dialog box (PLM Chooser), where the generating plane will be a natural symmetry.
  • No symmetry: specifies that the original product does not have a symmetric.
  • Symmetry Plane : defines the symmetry plane:
    • XY Plane,
    • YZ Plane,
    • ZX Plane,
    • Undefined Plane: displayed when an Assembly Symmetry creating withSame reference Existing reference specification is edited. In fact the generating plane is never saved in the Assembly Symmetry with these specifications.
    • Important:
      • Defines the constructing symmetry plane of a symmetry reference according to its original.
      • This list displays either the symmetry plane used when you create a symmetry, or the resulting plane of a symmetry.
      • The symmetry plane can be redefined for each product level in the assembly.
  • Instance specifications: applies the specification of the current selected instance to all other instances of the same reference.

    Note:

    This command is only object-action, this means that you must select a product in the Specification Tree in order to run these commands.

Visualization

Assembly Symmetry visualization described options to visualize an Assembly Symmetry during its creation or edition.


  • Views in symmetry: this option links the original selected product window and symmetric window in symmetry, the symmetry plane used is the product structure root.
  • Views in parallel: this option links the original selected product window and symmetric window in parallel.
  • Unselected elements transparency display: this option applies a transparency to all unselected elements.
  • Reframe: this option reframes and displays only the selected element, only if instances of a single reference are selected.