In this section, we will apply the profile center advanced mate to generate the assembly shown in the following diagram. All of the parts needed for this assembly are available for you to download with this chapter. Note, in the screenshot, both the circular and hexagonal parts are in the center of the faces indicated by the numbers 1 and 3: 

To generate the assembly, we can perform the following steps: 

1. Download all of the parts linked to this part and input them in an assembly file. Have the triangular prism as the fixed base part. 
2. We will first start by generating the mate between the hexagonal and side 1 in the triangular prism. We will first select two profiles from each part, as indicated in the screenshot. Then, click on Mate: 

3. This will apply the standard mate, Coincident, by default. Scroll down the Mates PropertyManager. Expand the Advanced Mates title and select the Profile Center mate. 

4. This will drive the parts together for a preview. We might need to adjust the objects in the PropertyManager, expand the Advanced Mates heading and select the Profile Center mate, as highlighted in the screenshot. This will show us a preview of the mate. Note that the hexagonal became stationed at the center of side 1 of the triangular prism. Note that there are more options under the mate that we can use to orient the parts to each other:

 Here is an explanation for all of the options available in this case:

• • Offset distance: The distance field allow us to have a certain distance to separate the two profiles. You may enter a random number in the field to see a preview of the effect. 
  • Flip dimension: This relates to the distance field explained in the previous point. It will flip the distance measurement to the other side. You may try checking the box to see the effect of the option. In this exercise, the offset distance is zero so the option will not make a difference. 
  • Lock rotation: This option only applies when the matted face is circular. Having this option checked will stop the circular profile from rotating. 
  • Orientation: This option allows us to change the orientation of the centered profile. This option is activated where there is a countable number of orientations in which our profiles can be centered in relation to each other. In this exercise of a hexagonal and a square profile, the profiles can be centered in four different rotational orientations. Click on the arrows until you get the orientation position you require.
  • Mate alignment: This will flip the two mated surfaces to opposite sides of each other.  

5. After fixing all of the requirements, click on the green checkmark to apply the mate. 
6. We can follow steps 2-5 again to center the circular profiles for the disk part with face 3 of the triangular prism. Note that, in the PropertyManager, the Lock rotation option will now be available. After this step, our assembly will look similar to the following diagram, which matches the initial assembly drawing:

One aspect to note is that the profile center mate will only work on circular or polygonal profiles. In the preceding exercise, faces 2 and 4 do not have a regular polygonal profile because the profiles are not continuous. As a result, we will not be able to use the profile center command with those sides.

This concludes this section on the advanced mate, profile center. We covered its definition and how to use it. Next, we will cover the two advanced mates, symmetric and width.