Creating Analysis Steps

You can create analysis steps to define and run different simulation scenarios for a mechanism.

This task shows you how to:

Before you begin:
  • Open or create a mechanism representation to simulate.
  • Create an analysis case.

Create Analysis Steps

Before you begin:
Important: Before previewing or computing the simulation of a mechanism, specify the following elements:
  • For a kinematic step , create at least one driver with a function on a joint.
  • For a dynamic step , define the mechanism gravity, or create at least one driver with a function on a joint.
  1. From the Simulation section of the action bar, click Analysis Step .
    A new analysis step appears in the tree, under the current Analysis Case.
  2. In the Analysis Step dialog box, select the type of analysis step to create:
    OptionDescription
    Dynamics Defines a dynamic action during the simulation of the mechanism.
    Note: By default, a dynamic step is created.
    Kinematics Defines a kinematics action during the simulation of the mechanism.
    Note: Mass, moments of inertia, forces, and torques are not considered during the computation of a kinematic step.
  3. In the Step Simulation Time section, select a mode to define the duration of the analysis step.
    OptionDescription
    Duration Number of seconds between the beginning and the end of the simulation step.
    End Time Number of seconds between the nominal time of the mechanism; that is 0s, and the end of the simulation step.
  4. Enter a duration or end time value in seconds.
  5. In the Result Output Settings section, select one of the following sampling methods for the computation of the results:
    OptionDescription
    Rate Frequency of the output expressed in Hz.
    Number of Points Number of equidistant points to create throughout the step.
    Step Size Size of the output interval for the time step. The step size is expressed in seconds.

    During the computation of the analysis case, the accuracy of the result interpolation depends on the output interval specified between time steps.

    Tip: Enter a smaller step size to reduce the interval between two time steps during the computation and to obtain a more precise interpolation of the results.

    Note: You can also specify a smaller tolerance for dynamic simulations in the mechanism settings to obtain more accurate results during the computation. For more information, see Setting Mechanism Preferences.

    The computation time increases when you reduce the step size or increase the tolerance value for dynamics simulations.

  6. Enter a value for the selected sampling method.
  7. Select the start time for the output sampling of the step.
    OptionDescription
    Simulation start Starts the output sampling at the beginning of the simulation.
    Time Starts the output sampling at a specific time. Enter a value in seconds.
  8. Select the end time for the output sampling of the step.
    OptionDescription
    Simulation end Stops the output sampling at the end of the simulation.
    Time Stops the output sampling at a specific time. Enter a value in seconds.
  9. Click OK.

Edit Analysis Steps

  1. In the tree, do one of the following:
    • Double-click an analysis step.
    • Right-click an analysis step, and, select Definition from the object menu.
  2. Edit the analysis step parameters.
  3. Click OK.