Design Journal Written Report

File Name: Air Engine Assembly exploded (Drawing below)

Description: Modified assembly notes

Author: Mick Harvey 13/04/2009

There are many ways in which the operator / programmer can modify an assembly once it has been finished rather than complete the operations again. One of the main ways is to open the final assembly and then change dimensions via the use of the individual model detailed within the feature manager tree an example can be seen overleaf.

The feature manager tree is clearly detailed showing the break down of the parts within the assembly. I have opened the Air Engine Piston component and then detailed the sketch within the revolve command. The operator would then be able to use the zoom to area command to show the part in greater detail. The piston radius could then be altered and then saved to suit the requirement set by the tutor for this first assignment. I have been tasked with completing the assembly model and then making dimensional modifications to the parts detailed below;

Air Engine Piston;

Air Engine Body; and

Air Engine Pin.

I decided not to use this method of modification as I preferred to open the original created model and modify the part via the feature manager design tree. The reason behind my decision was that I didn’t want to be confused by all the parts within the assembly when trying to modify the part as requested by the lecturer. The task was to modify;

Air Engine Body bore from 20 mm to 22 mm;

Air Engine Piston diameter from 20 mm to 22mm; and

Air Engine Piston Pin length from 16.5 mm to 18.5 mm Please see the screen shots detailing my sequence of operations.

Having opened the Air Engine Piston Model and highlighting sketch number 2, I then clicked the edit sketch tab by right clicking the mouse to bring up the menu. The dimension that requires modification can then be quickly changed / modified to 22mm from the original 20mm dimension.

The assembly must then be rebuilt by clicking the traffic light symbol within the top task bar and then most importantly saved. By doing this the drawing will be automatically amended.

Having modified the Air Engie body I then moved on to the Air Engine Piston and altered the raduis of the revolve command from 10mm to 11mm as below;

Amended drawing dimension

The drawing dimensions of both the top and main diameters were changed to R11 (22mm) and R10.5 (21mm).

Having completed this operation I discovered a minor problem which I had to resolve to ensure the model was rebuilt correctly. The location pin extrution holes were now incorrect. I quickly changed the extrusion dimension to a through all commnand on both direction 1 and direction 2. An example can be seen below;

The assembly must then be rebuilt by clicking the traffic light symbol within the top task bar and then most importantly saved. By doing this the drawing will be automatically amended. The final part to be modified was the Air Engine Pin. I opened the part as previously described and amended the extrusion length to 18.5 mm from 16.5 mm rebuilding the assembly and then saving my work.

An exploded view drawing detailing the component amendments was then created using the standard drawing template I created during a classroom tutorial.