I’m looking for somethng simple just to get the basics since I’ve never used the gravity simulation in SolidWorks before.
I’ve played around with it a bit this past week, but can’t grasp the concept of how to make something simple work the way it should.
(Re: I click on things & experiment to fumble my way through it just to see if it would work, & it doesn’t get me the results I want)
I’m guessing there are parameters I need to set to be able to simulate, but I don’t know how.
Elgin,
I love talking about Physics and SolidWorks can simulate physics. So I made the bowl and ball for you and created the assembly files for simulation: http://blogs.solidworks.com/teacher/2009/01/gravity-simulat.html
You must think about the mates - this is where you start. How the mates behave will transfer over to the physical simulation.
Also, if you create the profile of the bowl in the XY plane, you will have to turn on the temporary axis. Select “Physical Simulation”. Then when you select the Gravity from the Motion Manager tab, select the temporary axis which looks like a vertical line. The arrow must point downward (the ball must fall). Physical Simulation is included in all versions of SolidWorks. Also, I suggest the tutorial, “Assembly Motion” that shows how to apply a motor to a 4 bar linkage.
For more mechanical system simulation you will need “COSMOSMotion” . You will need to turn on COSMOSMotion in Tools, AddIns. There are a series of model files under COSMOS Motion folders that show slider, cam, and other mechanical conditions.
Also, if you are new to finite element analysis (FEA) there is a nice series of exercises for simple stress at www.simulationxpress.com
Marie, thank you! This is very helpful.
The next thing I need to do it try to duplicate what you have created here with the mates & the physical simulation.
I do have one question though with this specific representation.
Why does the ball move at a constant rate?
Shouldn’t it eventually come to rest at the bottom of a bowl with actual gravity represented?
Also, thinking about this year’s challenge specifically, would there be a possible way to not add mates other than a possible collision detection, & make a group of balls fall in the bowl from a height above it & see how they would naturally come to rest - or at least an estimate of how many would fit in there without overflowing?
I tend to ask a lot from this software, & thus “hack it” (so to speak) to make it do what I want, or be as close to possible most times.
(ie: My group in class made a Geneva Wheel “kinda” work in 2001 in Solidworks before the Advanced Mates came into the software. It was quite interesting to say the least how it was supposed to work, & how it actually worked. :yikes: )
Also, as a side note, this is not an urgent request of information, so if other pressing issues come up, feel free to take care of those first.
This is just for my own personal reference, & the need to want to take my knowledge of this part of the software to a new limit.
You are correct in that the ball should come to a stop - if there was friction. You need COSMOS motion for friction to play into account. Here is a summary of the types of animation, physical simualtion, and kinematic analysis in SolidWorks.
Use Animation to create presentation-worthy animations for motion that does not require accounting for mass or gravity.
Use Basic Motion to create presentation-worthy approximate simulations of motion that account for mass, collisions, or gravity.
Use Motion Analysis to run computationally strong simulations that take the physics of the assembly motion into account. This tool is the most computationally intensive of the three options. The better your understanding of the physics of the motion you require, the better your results. You can use Motion Analysis to run impact analysis studies to understand component response to different types of forces.
