SmartMates Overview
The SmartMates functionality saves time by allowing you to create commonly-used mates without using the Mate PropertyManager.
SmartMates Procedures
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Desired Mate Action
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What to Do
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Mate two components already in the assembly.
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Press Alt and drag the face of one part onto the face of another. (See Types of SmartMate for details.)
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Mate a new component while adding it to the assembly.
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Drag a part from another window onto another part in the assembly. (See Types of SmartMate for details.)
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Fully mate a commonly-used component while inserting it in the assembly.
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Drag a part withmate references from Windows Explorer or the Design Library into the assembly. This method can fully mate a new component, but you must set up mate references beforehand.
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Types of SmartMates
The mates added by the SolidWorks application depend on the situation.
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In most cases, the application creates one mate. The type of SmartMate created depends on the geometry used to drag the component, and the type of geometry onto which you drop the component.
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The application creates multiple mates under certain conditions:
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If the application finds circular edges to mate, it creates a peg-in-hole SmartMate.
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If the application finds circular edges and a circular pattern that matches on both components, in addition to the peg-in-hole SmartMate, it adds a concentric mate to line up the patterns on flanges ( useful for pipe fittings).
Mate References
For parts that you typically mate the same way every time, you can set up Mate References to define the mates used and the part geometry being mated.