Onshape Assemblies

Quickly create detailed assemblies with efficient mates, standardized hardware, top-down design, assembly motion, and much more.

What are CAD assemblies?

A CAD assembly is a digital model that represents a complex product or system in a virtual environment. Often comprised of individual parts and sub-assemblies with specifications of their own, these assemblies are essential in mechanical design. They enable engineers to simulate and analyze the functionality, fit, and movement of a product, ensuring precise control over dimensions, materials, and relationships between components. This facilitates procurement, analysis, and much more, helping move the process from concept to manufacturing.

Key Features

Advanced Mating Features

Onshape's mates streamline assembly creation by allowing high-level kinematic relationships, reducing build time and fragility. Users can define precise positioning, offsets, limits, and pattern parts based on distance and/or shape recognition. Then use gear, screw, rack-and-pinion, and other relationships to properly represent coupled motion.

 

 

Integrated Standard Content

Onshape transforms the tedium of hardware insertion with its innovative approach; the built-in library is accessible to all users, and streamlines the insertion process by auto-sizing fasteners to fit, and positioning them accurately. Enhance BOMs with company-specific metadata for fasteners. Then modify fastener stacks on the fly; while auto-adjusting for new additions, ensuring accurate assembly management.

In-Context Design

Experience Onshape's innovative in-context design, where you can create parts within assemblies, capturing snapshots for reference. It ensures perfect fit and clearances by allowing moving parts to reference others dynamically. With a robust reference system, updates are seamless and predictable, eliminating lost or broken links.

Explore More

Start your project off right with this curated selection of assembly-focused Tech Tips and instructional videos.

Video
Creating Assembly Configurations
05/21/2019
In this webinar, we look at the various tools and techniques for creating configurations at the assembly level in Onshape.
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Tech Tip: 5 Things You Can Do With Mate Connectors in Onshape Part Studios
04/06/2021
Don’t let the name fool you, Mate Connectors are so much more! Learn 5 quick tips on using Mate Connectors in Part Studios.
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mated parts in an assembly
Tech Tip: How to Copy and Paste Parts in an Assembly
08/09/2022
In this Onshape Tech Tip, you will learn how to use the copy and paste function for mated parts in an assembly.
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Tech Tip: Add and Mate Parts in Assemblies Using Onshape’s Snap Mode
11/22/2022
Onshape’s Mate Connectors and Snap Mode make it simple to define relationships between components while adding new parts to an assembly.
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Beer tab in Onshape
Tech Tip: Using Custom Features and the Parametric Replicate Tool
02/01/2022
In this Tech Tip, learn how to get the most out of Onshape's FeatureScript, the Attractor Pattern custom feature and the Parametric Replicate tool.
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A 3D model
Tech Tip: How to Add Metadata to Standard Content in Onshape
06/20/2023
Learn how to edit metadata for Standard Content to ensure consistency in part numbering schemes for your company.
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Learn how easy making Assemblies in Onshape can be

Learning Center
Documentation

Got Questions?

For more answers or to ask a question yourself head over to the Onshape Forum.

Yes you can! Onshape has robust tools for designing in the context of the assembly. Check out our Managed In-Context Design training course.

Mates in Onshape are different than mates in old CAD systems. Many assemblies require only one Onshape Mate between any two instances, as the movement (degrees of freedom) between those two instances is embedded in the mate.

Data from most systems import via a universal format like ACIS, JT, STEP, IGES, Parasolid, OBJ, or STL. To import a SOLIDWORKS assembly, use the Pack & Go tool.

Onshape enables the viewing of models in a physical environment through the use of augmented reality. Place and view a model (part or assembly) in your physical space. Viewing models with augmented reality is view only; the model cannot be edited. In addition, an immersive spatial computing experience is available on Apple Vision Pro, via the Onshape Vision app.

Administrators can create and modify custom properties to be used in the BOM. Please refer to the help documentation for additional details.

Yes we do! More than we can fit here, but please read this help article to understand the steps and recommendations for dealing with complex and large designs.
Javier Ibáñez Technical Director De Antonio Yachts

"Onshape’s built-in version control saves us considerable time, but more than anything, it just gives us peace of mind."

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