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.