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how to make these parts interact with each other in assembly
alan_scott
Member Posts: 4 ✭
im looking for help as to how i can get parts in an assembly to interact with each other, im designing a lock. 
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philip_thomas
Member, Moderator, Onshape Employees, Developers Posts: 1,381 
@alan_scott - the mate relation will create a very linear motion. The actual motion is non-linear - the most accurate simulation is one that would be made with tangent mates. Again - outside of a kinematic tool, Onshape does not support intermittent contacts.Philip Thomas - Onshape5
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The good news is that the Onshape high level mates and mate relations can define some very complex mechanisms (there are many radial engines for instance in the public documents). That means that for complex lock mechanisms, you will absolutely be able to simulate them.
What we dont have out-of-box is intermittent contacts. This capability is often associated with a kinematic solution. In the App Store for instance, there are several partners that are likely to perform this type of analysis.
Sometimes, a very easy workaround is to have several sets of mates (one set active, more or more sets suppressed), to simulate the motion of each component at various stages of the mechanisms operation. That way, the changing contacts are represented by different sets of mates.
I hope this helps you.
The last step is a rack_and _pinion mate relation to connect the two.
To read about Onshape mate relations, google "Onshape relations' and click on the top result