u/jonhoz

I’m having trouble mating a nacelle to a wind turbine tower. Both parts share the same connection design: a circular pattern of extruded bolts on the tower and a matching pattern of holes on the nacelle base (similar to the hub assembly/axle I attached).

The Problem:

1. I apply a Coincident mate between the two flat faces (successful).
2. I apply a Concentric mate between one bolt and its corresponding hole (successful).
3. When I try to apply a second Concentric mate to align the rotation, SolidWorks returns an "Over-defined" or "No solution found" error.

What I’ve checked:

• Measurements: I have verified the Bolt Circle Diameter (BCD) and the center-to-center distances on both sketches. They match perfectly.
• Planarity: Both mating faces are perfectly flat and perpendicular to the bolt axes.
• Instance Count: The number of bolts and holes is identical, and the angular spacing is consistent.

If I force the mate, the assembly breaks. I’ve attached screenshots. Is there a way to attach the files here? Does anyone know if this is a known precision bug or if there is a specific way to mate large circular patterns to avoid this?

Thanks in advance! (yes, I used AI to make this text)