Reference: Assembly glossary
Learn the terminology related to assembly tools, relationships, and objects in the Design workspace in Fusion.
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Design | A document in F3D file format, where you create sketches and bodies to form parts, and create components to form mechanical assemblies. Design data is used as input for simulation and generative design studies, animations, renderings, electronic designs, drawings, and manufacturing setups. |
| Browser | The list in the top left corner of an open design that contains the design's assembly. |
| Assembly | A collection of components that function as a single design, with position, joints, and motion defining the relationships between them. |
| Subassembly | Any component with additional components nested within. The top-level component is the Parent Component. Any component nested within is a Child Component. |
| Component | A container for design elements and geometric objects like sketches, construction geometry, bodies, origins, and other components. You can use components to organize elements of your design. All components can contain an origin, construction geometry, sketches, bodies, and joint origins. |
| Default Component = | The top-level component in every design. In addition to the elements that all components can contain, the default component also contains document settings, named views, and joints for the entire assembly. |
| Internal Component | A component contained entirely within the current design. |
| External Component (xref) | A component contained in a separate design and inserted into the assembly in the current design. It can contain assembly contexts created during Edit In Place. |
| Edit In Place | Activates and lets you edit an external component in context without leaving the current design. |
| Assembly Context | Defines the relationship between components during Edit In Place. |
| Design History | The saved version history of a design. |
| Parametric Modeling | A modeling mode that captures feature parametric features and relationships in the Timeline. |
| Direct Modeling Mode | Direct Modeling Mode lets you explore form and function quickly without committing to specific parametric relationships or assembly structure. |
| Document Settings | A tool in the Browser that contains document settings like unit type. |
| Named Views | A folder in the Browser that contains standard and custom named views for the assembly. |
| Origin | A coordinate system reference point from which geometry originates. Each design has an Global Coordinate System origin in the Default Component, and each component can contain its own origin. |
| Sketch | 2D or 3D geometry with dimensions and constraints that drive the form of solid, surface, and T-Spline bodies in a design. |
| Construction Geometry | Geometry that aids the process of creating sketches and bodies. |
| Body | A single container for a contiguous 3D shape. |
| Relationship | A folder in the Browser that contains all component assembly relationships including Constraints, Joints, Tangent Relationships, Contact Sets, and Rigid Groups. |
| Assembly Constraint | Constrain geometry to position two or more components relative to each other, reduce degrees of freedom in the assembly. |
| Joint | An assembly relationship between two components that defines their relative position and motion. |
| Joint Origin | Defines geometry used to relate a joint's components. |
| Tangent Relationship | An assembly relationship that constrains faces |
| Object | 2D or 3D geometry in the design including curves, lines, sketches, points, faces, edges, vertexes, bodies, and construction geometry. |
| Timeline | The Timeline records each feature you use to create your design and captures its parametric design history in Fusion. |
| Feature | A Feature captures parametric changes to your design in the Timeline. For example, every time you create an Extrude in Parametric Modeling Mode, an Extrude Feature is added to the Timeline. |
| Ground To Parent | |
| Pin | A timeline feature that pins a component in place so it won't move the active design. |
| Initial Position | The position of a component when it was created or inserted into a design. |
| Contact Sets | A way to analyze physical contact between groups of components in motion. |