Introduction

In 2024, I posted the blog Managing Flexible Assemblies on the Platform that detailed the ability of the platform to manage this type of assembly that mimics the movement of the structure when there are dynamic relationships in the design. A flexible component is a product set that uses a Positional Mechanical Reference (PMR) where one, several, or all of its child components can be repositioned once the flexible component is instantiated in an assembly.

Enhancements in the 3D Navigator and the CATIA V5 integration in 23x and subsequent releases properly display these types of relationships visually as there prior releases only exposed flexible assemblies in their defined positions as illustrated below. 

Summary of the enhancements for flexible assembly support

Accurate Display - Flexible assemblies (Positional Mechanical Reference) are now displayed correctly in web 3D viewers, ensuring consistency with native applications like 3DExperience CATIA and SOLIDWORKS.

Context-Specific Positions - Users can set different positions for the same instance based on its context.

Widget Preference PMR display is not active by default but can be enabled through a widget preference.

Note:  Volumic operators (e.g., volume filter, section cut) and certain apps (e.g., 3DPlay, 3DCompose) do not fully support flexible assemblies.

3DNavigate PMR support is restricted to the 3DNavigate widget, ensuring proper geometry display during transitions.

Let’s review these enhancements of 3DNavigate and CATIA V5 integration, in the video below that shows the following assembly which contains multiple flexible sub-assemblies: