& Construction

Integrated BIM tools, including Revit, AutoCAD, and Civil 3D
& Manufacturing

Professional CAD/CAM tools built on Inventor and AutoCAD
Integrated BIM tools, including Revit, AutoCAD, and Civil 3D
Professional CAD/CAM tools built on Inventor and AutoCAD
Review the types of joints available in Fusion assemblies.
Type:
Tutorial
Length:
5 min.
Tutorial resources
These downloadable resources will be used to complete this tutorial:
Transcript
00:03
In Fusion, there are several available joint types that can be applied to an assembly.
00:08
Each of these types offers different degrees of freedom and includes specific options to refine joint behavior.
00:15
Open the Vise Fusion archive file.
00:19
Fusion uses joints to remove degrees of freedom from components.
00:24
When you select two components and then move them, they move and rotate together.
00:29
At this point, all degrees of freedom between the two components have been removed.
00:35
However, a joint enables you to specify the relationship between the two components.
00:40
By choosing a different joint type after the selection has been made,
00:44
you can release degrees of freedom to incorporate the type of motion that you need in your assembly.
00:50
In this assembly, there are multiple joints already placed.
00:54
In the Browser, expand the Joints folder, and then click its visibility icon to show the joints in the model.
01:01
Different icons represent different types of joint conditions.
01:06
In this case, you see three different types of joints applied:
01:09
rigid, revolute, and slider.
01:16
Begin placing a joint to understand the process.
01:20
On the Design workspace toolbar, Assemble group, click the Joint tool.
01:26
This opens the Joint dialog, where you can choose the position between each component and the type of joint to apply.
01:33
You do not have to select the type of joint you are placing before you start selecting components.
01:39
The dialog prompts you for the snap point for the first component.
01:43
As you place the pointer over the face of a component, you see multiple icons on that face:
01:49
Point icons indicate endpoints.
01:52
Triangles indicate the midpoint of an edge or arc.
01:56
The square icon shows the centroid of the face.
01:59
Crosses show the center of arcs or circles.
02:03
When you move to other faces, you see the same types of icons.
02:08
As you move to edges, based on the direction that you are coming from, as you near certain points,
02:13
you can get the joint origin to align to different faces at the same point.
02:18
For a simple example, on the floating block, select the midpoint of the bottom of the face.
02:24
In Fusion, once a component is selected, you cannot select it again, so it fades, as you see here.
02:31
Rotate the point of view to find another location on the assembly, and then choose another point on another component.
02:38
Select the midpoint to the bottom of the backstop face as the other component origin.
02:43
From here, you can change the joint type, but in this case, keep the Rigid joint.
02:48
The rigid joint keeps all degrees of freedom locked between each component.
02:54
To view the degrees of freedom offered by the other joint types, switch to the Motion tab and select each Type:
03:03
Revolute releases one rotational degree of freedom as an option.
03:07
As an option, you can choose the axis about which you want the degree of freedom.
03:12
Slider introduces one translational degree of freedom.
03:17
As with Revolute, you can choose which axis you want that degree of freedom to be along.
03:22
Cylindrical has one translational and one rotational degree of freedom.
03:28
Pin Slot also has one translational and one rotational degree of freedom, but the rotation is normal to the direction of the translation.
03:36
Planar offers two translational and one rotational degree of freedom.
03:42
Lastly, Ball offers no translational degrees of freedom, but three rotational degrees of freedom.
03:49
As you begin working on your own designs,
03:52
selecting the correct joint will become more natural, but these are concepts to keep in mind as you continue to work with joints.
Video transcript
00:03
In Fusion, there are several available joint types that can be applied to an assembly.
00:08
Each of these types offers different degrees of freedom and includes specific options to refine joint behavior.
00:15
Open the Vise Fusion archive file.
00:19
Fusion uses joints to remove degrees of freedom from components.
00:24
When you select two components and then move them, they move and rotate together.
00:29
At this point, all degrees of freedom between the two components have been removed.
00:35
However, a joint enables you to specify the relationship between the two components.
00:40
By choosing a different joint type after the selection has been made,
00:44
you can release degrees of freedom to incorporate the type of motion that you need in your assembly.
00:50
In this assembly, there are multiple joints already placed.
00:54
In the Browser, expand the Joints folder, and then click its visibility icon to show the joints in the model.
01:01
Different icons represent different types of joint conditions.
01:06
In this case, you see three different types of joints applied:
01:09
rigid, revolute, and slider.
01:16
Begin placing a joint to understand the process.
01:20
On the Design workspace toolbar, Assemble group, click the Joint tool.
01:26
This opens the Joint dialog, where you can choose the position between each component and the type of joint to apply.
01:33
You do not have to select the type of joint you are placing before you start selecting components.
01:39
The dialog prompts you for the snap point for the first component.
01:43
As you place the pointer over the face of a component, you see multiple icons on that face:
01:49
Point icons indicate endpoints.
01:52
Triangles indicate the midpoint of an edge or arc.
01:56
The square icon shows the centroid of the face.
01:59
Crosses show the center of arcs or circles.
02:03
When you move to other faces, you see the same types of icons.
02:08
As you move to edges, based on the direction that you are coming from, as you near certain points,
02:13
you can get the joint origin to align to different faces at the same point.
02:18
For a simple example, on the floating block, select the midpoint of the bottom of the face.
02:24
In Fusion, once a component is selected, you cannot select it again, so it fades, as you see here.
02:31
Rotate the point of view to find another location on the assembly, and then choose another point on another component.
02:38
Select the midpoint to the bottom of the backstop face as the other component origin.
02:43
From here, you can change the joint type, but in this case, keep the Rigid joint.
02:48
The rigid joint keeps all degrees of freedom locked between each component.
02:54
To view the degrees of freedom offered by the other joint types, switch to the Motion tab and select each Type:
03:03
Revolute releases one rotational degree of freedom as an option.
03:07
As an option, you can choose the axis about which you want the degree of freedom.
03:12
Slider introduces one translational degree of freedom.
03:17
As with Revolute, you can choose which axis you want that degree of freedom to be along.
03:22
Cylindrical has one translational and one rotational degree of freedom.
03:28
Pin Slot also has one translational and one rotational degree of freedom, but the rotation is normal to the direction of the translation.
03:36
Planar offers two translational and one rotational degree of freedom.
03:42
Lastly, Ball offers no translational degrees of freedom, but three rotational degrees of freedom.
03:49
As you begin working on your own designs,
03:52
selecting the correct joint will become more natural, but these are concepts to keep in mind as you continue to work with joints.
How to buy
Privacy | Do not sell or share my personal information | Cookie preferences | Report noncompliance | Terms of use | Legal | © 2025 Autodesk Inc. All rights reserved
Sign in for the best experience
Save your progress
Get access to courses
Receive personalized recommendations
May we collect and use your data?
Learn more about the Third Party Services we use and our Privacy Statement.May we collect and use your data to tailor your experience?
Explore the benefits of a customized experience by managing your privacy settings for this site or visit our Privacy Statement to learn more about your options.