Create Virtual Welds

You can create virtual welds for assemblies in aP Pro (instead of a CAD application). aP Pro supports multiple weld processes, weld types, and weld prep / cleanup processes.

Welding Parts

You can also create welds for edges and holes of a single Sheet Metal or Bar & Tube part. Part-welding processes are included in the Part Assembly secondary process group, and this capability is licensed along with the Welding module.

To weld a part, right-click on a GCD and select Edit Operation, then in the Operation Sequence Selection dialog, define weld processes and types.

Create a virtual weld

Open an assembly, then for each weld you want to create:

  1. Click the Welding tool () in the Component Viewer tool bar. The mouse cursor within the Component Viewer turns into a welding torch, the same as on the Welding button. The weld properties window opens.

  1. Specify the following weld properties:

    • Weld Type: Select the type of the weld. Different weld types are represented with schematic pictures. Move the mouse cursor over a picture to see the name of the weld type.

    • Production Mechanism: Select manual or robotic production mechanism.

    • Weld Width (mm): Enter the width of the weld in millimeters.

    • Weld Depth (mm): Enter the depth of the weld in millimeters.

    • Enable Intermittent/Pattern Weld: Check this box to create a non-contiguous weld. For an intermittent weld, define:
      • Segment Length (mm): The length of a weld segment in the intermittent weld.
      • Pitch (mm): The distance from the beginning of one weld segment to the beginning of the next weld segment.
    • Override Total Length: By default, aPriori automatically calculates the length of a weld, and displays this value in the CAD Reference Length field.

      • You can override this value by clicking the checkbox and entering your own value in the Total Length field.

  1. Click on an edge in the Component Viewer where you want to create the weld. Click Create Weld button. To create a virtual weld consisting of multiple edges, click each edge and then click the Create Weld Button.

Finally, close the weld properties window by clicking Cancel or the red X in the top right corner of the window.

Note: For Spot Welds, select "Spot" as the Weld Type and select an edge or hole to be welded. Adjacent surfaces cannot be selected, and users cannot manually point and click to define individual spot locations. Instead, the spot welds are applied along the selected edge across the entire GCD. To indicate multiple spot weld segments, check Enable Intermittent/Pattern Weld and set the Pitch (the distance between welds). Since each spot is treated as size zero, the pitch defines their spacing. The Number of Segments is calculated as: rounddown(Total Length ÷ Pitch) + 1. For example, an edge of 245 mm with a pitch of 25 mm results in 10 segments: rounddown(245 ÷ 25) + 1 = 9 + 1 = 10 segments.

Edit a virtual weld

  1. Open an assembly.

  1. Highlight a virtual weld either in the Component Viewer or in the GCDs pane.

  2. Right-click the Virtual Weld and select Edit from the menu. The weld properties window is displayed.

    • You can select multiple welds by holding down the Ctrl key or the Shift key and clicking the welds.

  1. Edit the weld properties as required.

  2. Click OK.

To copy virtual welds

You can import welds from other assemblies.

Caution: The source assemblies must have geometry that is very similar to the open assembly; they must be different versions of the same assembly that differ only in a few details or which have different part numbers

  1. Open an assembly.

  2. Click Scenario > Copy Welds From... .

  3. Use the Search window to find and open the assembly with the welds that you want to copy.

  4. At the end of the copy, aPriori generates a Weld Diagnosis spreadsheet report to help you evaluate the success of the copy operation. You can also run this report at any time using the Reports > Spreadsheet Reports menu item - see Spreadsheet Reports.

  5. All existing virtual welds in the destination assembly are discarded and are replaced by the imported welds.

  • The imported welds retain the same weld IDs they had in the source assembly.

  • Any non-virtual (CAD-defined) welds in the target assembly are kept, but they moved to the end of the weld list (they have IDs that start after the imported weld ids).

Copy Limitations

As the two assemblies that the welds are being copied between must be substantially similar, the following limitations apply:

  • Mirrored assemblies are not supported.  Some welds may get copied, but the results reliable.

  • Any weld that has more than about a 30% change in location or size shows varied copy results.

To view virtual welds

  1. Open an assembly.

  1. In the Geometric Cost Drivers pane, click Joining > Welds > Virtual Welds. The list of virtual welds opens.

  2. Click on a virtual weld to display its properties in the GCD pane and to highlight it in the Component Viewer.

To delete a virtual weld

  1. Open an assembly.

  1. Highlight a virtual weld either in the Component Viewer or in the GCDs pane. To select several welds, hold the Ctrl button while you click on welds.

  2. Right-click the Virtual Weld and select Delete (in the Component Viewer) or Remove (in the GCDs pane) from the menu.