Assembly Modeling Fundamentals

Create Assembly models by placing existing components into an assembly, and by creating other components in place within the context of the assembly.

An Autodesk Inventor assembly model is a collection of parts and subassemblies that function as a single unit. Parts and subassemblies are connected by assembly relationships. Relationships control component placement and DOF (Degrees of Freedom).

A Weldment assembly is an extension of the assembly modeling environment. In a weldment, you can model welds and add machining features before and after weld features.

For more information, see About the Weldments environment.

Assembly Modeling Workflow

To create an assembly in Inventor, insert components into an assembly or create parts and subassemblies inside an assembly file. Then, use commands to define relationships, position, and DOF. Edit the individual components without leaving the assembly file.

Note: Some companies define the coordinate origin in the top-level assembly as an absolute point in space from which all other components are positioned. You can reposition assembly components as needed by specifying an offset from the coordinate origin. To specify the offset, right-click the component, select iProperties, and select the Occurrence tab. Ground the component after you set the absolute value when using this method.

Subassemblies are a group of parts that function together as a single unit. When you insert an assembly in another assembly file, it is referred to as a subassembly. Select components in the browser and use the Demote option in the context menu to create an assembly component without leaving the parent assembly.

Example: An air-cylinder assembly that is inserted into other assemblies and used in multiple positions is a subassembly.

To complete an assembly model, apply the assembly features. Assembly features are cut operations that often describe specific manufacturing processes such as post-machining, match drilling, or pinning. Assembly features reside in the assembly, not the individual component files.

Tip: Use a multibody part to create shared features.