Manufacturers working in Design for Assembly (DfA) are always on the lookout for a way to simplify the assembly process, reduce their costs and improve efficiency, so we introduced the Assembly Inspect tool into BricsCAD Mechanical. While traditionally, engineers would test a product's assembly feasibility during the prototype stage – often resulting in the need for multiple iterations and increased costs – those who use BricsCAD Mechanical can benefit from the Assembly Inspect Tool.
Developed in a collaboration between Bricsys and Flanders Make, the Assembly inspect tool is a native, in-depth assembly evaluation tool that allows mechanical design engineers to validate their assembly during the design phase. The tool simulates the assembly process and asseses various assembly criteria, comprehensively evaluating the assembly's capabilities and helping designers to identify and remedy potential design errors early on. This ensures that the assembly process is efficient, leading to fewer problems in the production phase.
Let's take a closer look at how the tool works.
Validating assemblies in BricsCAD Mechanical
In this example, you can see the Assembly Inspect Tool in BricsCAD Mechanical applied to a crusher assembly. Use the BMASSEMBLYINSPECT command to open the tool. You can specify an assembly sequence you want to inspect, and review the sequence quickly using the respective thumbnails and “eye” icons.
The applicable assembly criteria are shown for every step, and are specified in the routine.
Evaluate assembly criteria
You can evaluate all the criteria for every step in a single batch, or if you want to take a more granular approach, you can use the “Inspect” button next to each criterion and step.
Once the Assembly Inspect Tool has completed its calculation, it shows you any potential assembly issues. Then, you can delve into the details to understand where the issue is, and how to fix it.
Test range of motion
In this example, we examined the tool's range of motion in Step 2. When we look closer, we can see that there's no issue as the fastener can be fixed using the long arm, and the short arm can be used for the final few rotations.
During Step 3, we can see that there is no 360 degree range of motion, so while this step may be feasible as is, we can improve how efficient and ergonomic for the assembly operator by providing a different tool.
Gravitational stability
The tool also allows you to investigate the gravitational stability criterion. In Step 6, you can see that the grille component is unstable, so once the assembly operator loosens the part, the grille will fall.
Watch the video!
If you're curious and want to see the Assembly Inspect Tool in action, tune in to the Bricsys YouTube channel to see a demonstration.
Try BricsCAD Mechanical
Trial BricsCAD Mechanical for free for 30 –days and see how tools like Assembly Inspect will set you on the fastest path to production!
