Adopting a top-down modelling approach to effectively plan your assemblies with proper structure, naming conventions, and modularity requirements, ensures a solid foundation for your designs right from the start. In a recent webinar, Ben Muston, Senior Application Engineer at LEAP provided a deep dive into the top-down design approach, explaining what it is, the problems it help designers avoid and the benefits it provides.
Here we have provided key highlights from the webinar to help you get started with top-down design, including a live demonstration by CAD veteran and long time Creo user Rohan Primrose, Principal and Design Consultant at Equipe Design & Consulting.
In this first clip, Ben looks back to an earlier best practices session on circular references (covered in this post), recapping how they can occur and the problems they can cause. He goes on to explain how the top-down design method can help to avoid them and ensure a smooth, error-free design process.
In the next clip, Ben provides an overview of the top-down design process, walking through each of the stages from conceptual engineering through to ultimately populating the assembly. This approach allows you to carefully plan your reference structure which will greatly improve model regeneration performance and help you to avoid common pitfalls.
In part three, Ben explains the Master Model Technique which uses a regular design part as the basis for the geometry of the assembly design. This approach is available with a regular Creo license.
Following on from the Master Model Technique, Ben explains the additional capabilities the Advanced Assembly Extension (AAX) which enables, specifically the Skeleton Model which allows designers to pass along essential design information from one subsystem or assembly to another.
- Product structure
- Locations of interfaces between components
- 3D space claims
- Connections and mechanisms
This method ensures a robust design with the design information communicated smoothly throughout the assembly.
To finish up, Rohan Primrose, Principal and Design Consultant at Equipe Design & Consulting provides a hands-on demonstration of top down design in action, using a real-world application to showcase how to apply these techniques to your projects for better, faster, and more flexible designs.
We trust you found this information helpful. Top down design in one of the most powerful CAD tools available, leading to improved design quality, reduced time to market, and enhanced collaboration across your team. Additional resources to help you get started are listed below and you can always reach out to the LEAP PTC team if you would like us to help.
PTC Learning Connector:
https://learningconnector.ptc.com/
- A Basic ptc.com account is required for access
- ANYONE can create this
Links to materials recommended for follow-up:
- Skeletons
- Copy and Publish Geometry
- Simplified Reps
- Multi-body
- Interchange Assemblies
- Merge/Inheritance