AssociationClass inherits both Class and Association. Logically, the AssociationClass and the Association are the same semantic entity; however, they are graphically distinct. The AssociationClass symbol can be dragged away from the association relationship line, with a dashed line attached to both the path and the Class symbol

An Association classifies a set of tuples representing links between typed instances. An AssociationClass is both an Association and a Class.

To create an Association between two Model Elements or Classifiers, you create an AssociationClass and then relate the AssociationClass to each Model Element or Classifier through an AssociationNode to Class as Property relationship. For instructions on how to do this, see How to create an Association