Forming a New Assembly from Existing Components

You can form a subassembly from components (individual parts or subassemblies) that are already in the assembly, which move the components down one level in the assembly hierarchy.

Before creating a new subassembly, you can specify the default behavior for saving it, either as a separate external assembly file or as a virtual component within the parent assembly file. Click Tools > Options > System Options > Assemblies and select or clear Save new components to external files.
Recommendation: Position and mate at least one of the components before you begin, then select that component first.

All the components must be at the same level within a single parent assembly.

To form a new assembly from existing components:

  1. In the graphics area or the FeatureManager design tree, Ctrl + select the components.
  2. Do one of the following:
    • Right-click one of the selected components, and select Form New Subassembly.
    • Click Insert > Component > Assembly from [Selected] Components.
      To form a subassembly from components contained in a folder in the FeatureManager design tree, right-click the folder and click Form New Subassembly.
    Depending on your Assemblies option setting, one of the following occurs:
    • The new subassembly is saved as a virtual component within the parent assembly.
    • The Save As dialog box appears, so you can save the new subassembly in its own assembly document. Browse to a different folder if required, enter a File name, and click Save.

    A new subassembly is inserted at the level where the selected components are located, and the components move into the new subassembly.

Example

In this example, assembly A contains components P1 and P2.

Select P1 and P2 to form a new subassembly, S1.
Instead of referencing the individual component documents P1 and P2, assembly A references the subassembly document S1.

Any mates that exist between components P1 and P2 move from the Mates folder of assembly A to the Mates folder of subassembly S1.