Applying assembly joints

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When applying joints in your Fusion assembly,

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it is important to understand several foundational concepts,

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which include selecting an appropriate joint origin,

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the selection order when placing a joint between components, and the use of grounding a static component in the design.

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For this example, open the Supercharger Fusion archive file.

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You can see that this is a complex assembly,

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but as with all assemblies, there are only a handful of types of joints that keep it all together.

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First, review the joints.

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In the Browser, click the visibility icon next to the Joints folder, to show the various joints.

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As you can see in the model, it is mainly revolute and rigid joints.

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Expand the Joints folder, and you see the many revolute and rigid joints used.

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For rotating machinery or anything that has wheels or cams, this is not uncommon.

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Many assemblies are bolted together, where rigid joints work well, and many have spinning parts, which use revolute joints.

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Some of the components are not properly located in the design, so the next step is to put components where they belong.

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To begin, from the Assemble group, click the Joint tool.

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You can also use the J keyboard shortcut.

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First, select the component that you want to move, or in this case, the rear cover.

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Orbit around the model to view the flat face of the cover.

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As you move the pointer along this face, you see several options to select from.

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A simple choice is to select a bolt center, so click the center of the upper right bolt hole.

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After selecting it, the component fades, as it is no longer available for selection.

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Orbit and find the associated bolt hole in the housing to fit it to.

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When you select this hole, the component moves into place and animates the type of joint that is currently active.

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For this type of component placement, a rigid joint should be used.

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Change to the Motion tab and set the Type to Rigid.

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Now, when you preview the motion, you see that the two components shake, because they are held in place.

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If one moves, the other moves.

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Back on the Position tab, you could consider offsetting a distance to create space for a gasket, but for now, leave the offset at 0.

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Taking a closer look, you see that the bolts for the drain and the filler are still out in space.

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Even though this is a simple assembly, Fusion does not automatically assume that you want the cover with two bolts attached,

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because you might grab something entirely different, such as an entire engine assembly.

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For speed, performance, and clarity,

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Fusion only moves the component on which you select the first joint origin and connects it to the component with the second joint origin.

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That is why other components fade out, even though they are not necessarily attached directly to the second component.

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Once you are satisfied with the joint placement, click OK, and all the bolts return to their proper positions.

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Next, you need to place the bolt to hold the gear on the upper shaft.

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The gear is behind the housing you just moved, so this probably should have been done first,

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but there is no need to undo the last joint.

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Instead, you can take advantage of visibility options while working with the Joint tool.

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Hiding the component could also have been done ahead of time,

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but to demonstrate the flexibility of Fusion, start the Joint tool again by pressing J.

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Rotate and zoom closer to the bottom of the bolt head where you see modeled threads.

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Finding the exact center by clicking around this edge could be challenging.

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Sometimes components are tight, or elements available for joint origins are close together, making it hard to select the right one.

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To simplify this process, click an open area on the face that you want to align a joint origin to.

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The joint origin options are then visible only on that face, making it much easier to find the center.

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Select the center, and the component fades out.

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Now, you need to select the washer at the end of the shaft, which is under the rear cover.

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From the Browser, hide the Rear cover by clicking its visibility icon.

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Next, select the hole in the washer, and the bolt slides into place.

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Change to the Motion tab, set the Type to Rigid, and then click OK.

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The assembly is complete.

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With the cover remaining off, click a gear and drag to test the mechanism, and notice that the entire model moves, which is not correct.

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The Position tools are also added to the toolbar, providing an opportunity to capture this new position or revert to the original.

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In this case, click Revert Position.

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The problem is that there are no grounded components.

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While grounding is not always necessary, you need to ground a component to test a mechanism inside the assembly.

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A good rule of thumb is to ground a component that is either stuck to the floor or bolted to something else.

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In this case, the housing fits that description.

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Select the housing, which highlights in the Browser.

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Right-click it and select Ground to Parent.

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The icon changes to show that the component is grounded.

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Now, selecting a gear enables you to turn it and see how the mechanism was developed using joints in Fusion.