PEM is a brand of fasteners produced for sheet metal applications by Penn Engineering. Many of these fasteners are designed to be inserted into a sheet metal part and become a “self clinching” semi-permanent insert in the sheet metal part.

When these fasteners are added to a sheet metal part, they effectively make the part an assembly and allow the fasteners to be called out in a bill of materials (BOM). Autodesk Inventor supports the use of these special fasteners within an assembly through the Bolted Connection Component Generator or through placement from the Navigate in Content Center.

NoteSheet metal fasteners are not added as a feature of the sheet metal part model, they are added as components in an assembly which contains the sheet metal part.

Procedures

Use sheet metal fasteners in assemblies

From within an assembly which contains sheet metal components, you can add sheet metal fasteners using one of two methods:

Use sheet metal fasteners in a bolted connection

The bolted connection generator supports the use of self-clinching nuts in bolted connections involving sheet metal components.

Specify the placement of a bolted connection using the steps defined hereand begin populating the bolted connection.
Select the appropriate bolt (or screw) and washers.
To select a sheet metal nut, click the: Click to add a fastener text. In the selection dialog box, you must have the All option selected in the Standard drop-down menu and Sheet Metal Nuts selected in the Category drop-down menu. Click to select a sheet metal nut.
Finish populating the bolted connection and click OK.

NoteThe bolted connection generator does not support the creation of connections using studs or standoffs. Refer to the placement of these types of fasteners from the Content Center as discussed in the following section.

Place sheet metal fasteners from content center

The PEM category in Content Center provides four families of components: Nuts, Standoffs, Studs, and Other. Place these sheet metal fasteners into your assembly using the same steps for placing other Content Center components:

On the ribbon, click Assemble tabComponent panel Place from Content Center.
Navigate to a sheet metal fastener family located under the PEM category.
Select a component by performing one of the following:
- Select a component family and click OK.
- Double-click a family.
Select the appropriate class and size of component to place.
Click OK to return to your assembly with the selected component attached to your cursor.
Select a location within your assembly and click to place the sheet metal fastener.

NoteIf you do not see a PEM category in your list of component categories in Content Center, you may need to configure your Project file by adding the Inventor PEM library. Additional information on setting up and using the Content Center can be found here.

Inventor

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