Creating a Force Law Excitation

You can use a force law excitation to apply a linear load to a specific point of a product during a simulation. A force is defined according to a direction, a transmission surface (application point), and a magnitude.

Before you begin: Open a kinematics simulation referencing a mechanism in Mechanical Systems Experience.
  1. In the Force Law Excitation dialog box, click the Support box, and select a 3D part or a subproduct in the tree, or in the 3D area.
    The other products are grayed out, and the 3D parts can be edited.
  2. Click the Application box and select a point on the support.

    Tips:
    • You can select the application point before selecting the product. In this case, the product is automatically added to the Support box.
    • You can enter the application point coordinates manually.

    The coordinates of the application point appear under Coordinates.
  3. Select a frame based on an axis system:
    OptionDescription
    Local Frame Specifies the coordinate values according to the local coordinate system of the support.
    Global Frame Specifies the coordinate values according to the global coordinate system.
  4. Click the Direction box and select an edge or a line on the product.

    Tip: You can enter direction coordinates manually.

    In the 3D area, the excitation is represented by a colored arrow in the product's direction frame (x, y, and z axis).
  5. Optional: To apply the force to the opposite direction, click Reverse Direction under Direction.
  6. Select the intensity of the force under Magnitude.
  7. Optional: To specify the magnitude using a formula, right-click the Magnitude box and select Edit formula.

    A formula allows you to include a time parameter so the force magnitude can vary during the simulation.

  8. Click OK to save the excitation.
    The force law excitation is created and added under the Excitations node in the tree.

 

See Also
More help on this topic
Creating a Dynamics Scenario
About Writing Formulas for Law Excitations
Computing and Generating Results