Part III: Working with Assemblies
Schemes that you may want to use for suppressing parts need to have configurations that isolate
functional areas of an assembly, configs that remove the fasteners or purchased components, con-
figs that remove complex parts, configs that only leave the parts used in in-context relations, con-
figs that suppress patterns and assembly features, assembly configs that use simplified part configs,
configs that show the assembly in different positions, or variations of the assembly using different
part configurations.If you suppress the “ground” part or any part that connects groups of parts, keep in mind that this
can cause other parts to float in space unattached. Obviously this is not a good situation, and you
should avoid it if possible. One way to avoid it is to use an assembly layout sketch and mate the
parts to the sketch instead of to the ground part.Aside from components, other items can also be suppressed to improve performance, such as
assembly features and component patterns. Do you really need to see all those parts patterned
around the assembly to work on it in a simplified representation? You may be able to suppress the
parts. If you feel that you cannot suppress parts, then consider at least using Display States to hide
parts that are needed to complete the parametrics but do not need to display.Performance
The biggest killer of assembly speed is the circular reference. You can make circular references in a couple of
different ways, but they are usually the result of mixing history-based functions (mates, in-context sketch rela-
tions, feature references) with non-history-based functions (parts shown in the Assembly FeatureManager). This
enables you to create partial or complete loops of references, where A references B, which references A. These
are a particular problem with in-context references, which are discussed in more depth in Chapter 16. n
Configuring SpeedPaks
SpeedPaks are described in more detail in Chapter 12. A SpeedPak is a configuration that uses only
selected faces and bodies to represent an entire subassembly, instead of opening all the parts in the
assembly. In fact, a SpeedPak stores the geometry in the assembly file so it doesn’t have to open
any part files at all.Part of the reason I mention SpeedPak in the configuration chapter is that it is a form of configura-
tion, essentially a derived configuration; another reason is that SpeedPaks are configurable. So you
can have top-level assembly configurations that call on subassemblies to use their SpeedPaks. That
can be of significant help with very large assembly performance.Using part configurations for speed
I have discussed simplified part configurations in Chapter 10, and they can consist of configs with
cosmetic features such as small fillets and extruded text, or other cosmetic details that are sup-
pressed. Assembly configurations can use different part configurations, which, for example, would
enable you to make an assembly config called “Simplified,” and in it reference all the Simplified
part configurations.