Motion ….Action….Reaction!

Machine design and mechanisms expect parts to move with respect to one another. It would be interesting to see how parts go about swaying, working with one another in tandem. How well they jive will depend upon part material, what causes the motion and how are the parts connected (bolts, springs, weld, glued etc.). Depending on how deep down the rabbit hole you want to go SolidWorks can help with all these functions.

• Assembly      Motion helps simulate motion of parts in      assembly environment. Users can add virtual motors to make the parts move.      This feature does not take into account material definition, or gravity.      Assembly motion looks at mates defined and graphically represents motion.      This feature is useful to create animations, test concept designs.
• Physical      Simulation takes into account assembly mates,      motors, springs, gravity, impact between parts, and weight of individual      parts. Animations created here are useful since they take into account physics      of motion.

• COSMOSMotion is for people who take motion seriously. This helps them to account for implied force, springs, dampers and friction between components, in addition to inertia, gravity acting on the parts. Users can calculate reaction forces, motor power required, torques, displacement, velocity, acceleration, x/y/z position, on all parts. This information can then be leveraged to check if parts can sustain under the motion prescribed. Obviously the solver used is computationally expensive, but since a machine is racking its brains users need not worry.

When to use what?

- Use Assembly Motion to generate animation explaining concept designs.

- Use Physical Motion to check if parts can move as expected in Assembly motion.

- Use COSMOSMotion to design components that make assembly motion possible. Deisgn motors, springs, dampers, size and shape parts and optimize parts for motion.

Rajat Trehan

Product Manager – Design Validation

Computer Aided Technology Inc.

 

Comments

[Alan Bowman]

Can I add icons to the "context toolbar"?