When machining a part, it must be held tight with clamps. The position and shape of the clamps affect the way the part is machined. It is useful to see the clamps during simulation to ensure they do not cause collisions.
You can use solids or STL files to simulate clamps.
To use solids as clamps:
- If surfaces are not displayed in the graphics window, select Home tab > Display panel > Shade Surfaces.
- Select any solids you want to use as a clamp:
- Select a face of a solid in the graphics window.
- Select the name of a solid in the Part View panel.
- Right-click the selected solid and select Use Solids as Clamp from the context menu.
To see if a solid is used as a clamp, right-click the solid to display the context menu. If there is a check mark next to Use Solids As Clamp in the context menu, the selected solid is currently used as a clamp:
If there is no check mark next to Use Solids As Clamp, the selected solid is not currently used as a clamp.
To not use the solid as a clamp, right-click the solid and deselect Use Solids As Clamp from the context menu.
You can set multiple solids as clamps simultaneously. If you try to set or unset multiple solids as clamps and some of them are currently set as clamps, the Use Objects As Clamp dialog is displayed.
Click Use All to use all of the selected solids as clamps.
Click Use None to use none of the selected solids as clamps.
To use STL files as clamps:
- Select any STLs you want to use as a clamp:
- Select an STL in the graphics window.
- Select the name of an STL in the Part View panel.
- Select View tab > Appearance panel > Shade > Shade Selected to shade the selected STLs in the graphics window.
- Right-click a selected STL and select Use STLs As Clamp from the context menu.
To see if an STL is used as a clamp or not, right-click the STL to display the context menu. If there is a check mark next to Use STLs As Clamp in the context menu, the selected STL is currently used as a clamp:
To not use the STL as a clamp, right-click the STL and deselect Use STLs As Clamp from the context menu.
You can set multiple STLs as clamps simultaneously. If you try to set or unset multiple STLs as clamps and some of them are currently set as clamps, the Use Objects As Clamp dialog is displayed:
Click Use All to use all of the selected STLs as clamps.
Click Use None to use none of the selected STLs as clamps.