Assembling with extruded materials

[Anonymous]

I'm sure it has already been answered, but I can't find the right terminology to find a related post.  I have years of experience in Pro-E, so am probably a bit stuck on it's terminology.  I have done it thousands of times (literally) in Pro-E but can't figure it out in Fusion 360.  Granted, it has been several years since I had that job, so the step-by-step is a bit rusty.

I am using extruded aluminum (80/20) to create a machine frame.  In Pro-E, I could draw a single part, such as a 20x20mm extrusion, and change the length of the extrusion within the assembly without changing the underlying part file.  I could use the same original part file for any length, and the original part file wouldn't be impacted at all.  If the profile itself changed a bit (such as adding or changing a fillet), I could alter the part file and all assemblies would update accordingly.

So far, I have created the profile as its own part, but the only way to change the length in an assembly is to open the original file and change the length parameter.  This means If I am using a 200mm length and a 250mm length, I need two nearly identical parts...

Is there a way to "publish" or "import" a parameter such as length which is accessible at the assembly level, and can be changed in the assembly without altering the underlying part?

[TrippyLighting]

Nope. What you are referring to is called configurations in several other CAD packages such as Solid Edge, Solid Works and Geomagic Design. 

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[jeff_strater]

Or, this could be what some CAD products call Assembly Features - where you make an assembly-specific change to a common part.  Fusion also does not support assembly features, though, unfortunately.

However, you can do something like you want, by creating a design that contains just your profile sketch.  Then, you can create designs that reference that component, and extrude it to different lengths.  So, you can have a 6 in version, an 8 in version, etc.  It's not quite as nice as true configurations, or assembly features, but it will allow you to go back and edit the profile sketch, and have all of the versions of the component update.

Jeff