Model Variants - 3DCS Tutorial Videos

Using Model Variants - Having Multiple Model Setups in the Same Model

Your design process may involve multiple iterations of an assembly model as the design and manufacturing process moves from the earliest concept to a profitable production product. Perhaps you may wish to evaluate different configurations, compare possible cost saving, or compare quality improvements for your existing products.

What tools does 3DCS offer to support your engineering process?

The Model Variants feature is available for users of 3DCS Variation Analyst and 3DCS MVM.

Update moves, measures, or GD&T without losing the ability to run the original version of the model
Audition multiple possible changes to the original model.
Create models, assembly variants, and model iterations efficiently.

Model Variants is a tool to switch between different configurations of active or inactive Move, Tolerance, GD&T, or Measures in your tolerance analysis model. Each configuration is documented in chart form, and easily switched between configurations.

Some tips for setting up Model Variants:

What variants of your assembly do you intend to study?
Identify which Moves, Tolerances, or Measures are different between your Variants.
If you intend to modify a move or a tolerance, copy it instead. That way you can turn the copies on and off to get the value needed for a particular configuration
Label the things which will change so that some identifying variant information appears in the title. For example, “Cover Profile, Plan of Record” for the original GD&T, and “Cover Profile Proposed No. 1”
Your analysis results will show only the moves, tolerances or measurements that are active during that run, so you will be able to identify the configuration being studied.

This video demonstrates the use of Model Variants in 3DCS NX. We compare the original assembly configuration with a potential cost-saving version of a cover. Will the new cover meet our quality requirements for the assembly?