CATIA Tutor

Creating Constraints

1 Creating Dimensional/Geometrical Constraints

Here we will see how to set dimensional or geometrical constraints between one, two or three elements. The constraints are in priority dimensional. Use the contextual menu to get other types of

constraints and to position this constraint as desired. Select the Constraint icon from the Constraint toolbar. Select a first element. Select a second element. Accordingly dimensional constrain will appear between two selected elements. For editing, double-click the constraint you wish to edit.
2 Creating a Contact Constraint

This task shows you how to apply a constraint with a relative positioning that can be compared to contact. You can either select the geometry or the command first. This constraint can be created between either two elements. These constraints are in priority: concentricity, coincidence and

tangency. Select the Constraint Contact icon

from the Constraint toolbar (Constraint Creation subtoolbar) for giving Contact Constraint.

3 Creating Constraints via a Dialog Box

Multi-select the elements to be constrained. Click the Constraints Defined in Dialog Box icon from the Constraint toolbar. The Constraint Definition dialog box appears indicating the types of constraints you can set between the selected elements (selectable options). These constraints may be constraints to be applied either one per element (Length, Fix, Horizontal, Vertical) or constraints between two selected elements (Distance, Angle, Coincidence, Parallelism or Perpendicular). Multi-selection for Constraints is available. If constraints already exist, they are checked in the dialog box, by default.

4 Auto-Constraining a Group of Elements

The Auto Constraint command detects possible constraints between the selected elements and imposes these constraints once detected. Select the profile to be constrained. Click the Auto

Constraint icon from the Constraint toolbar. The Auto Constraint dialog box is displayed. The Elements to be constrained field indicates all the elements detected by the application. The Reference Elements option allows you to select references to be used to detect possible constraints between these references and the elements selected. Once the profile is fully constrained, the application displays it in green. Click OK to constrain the sketch.