Generating Swept Volumes

You can create swept volumes to plot the position of three-dimensional products or parts at each step of the simulation. This lets you visualize the space occupied by a mechanism during its simulation.

This task shows you how to:

Before you begin: Run the analysis case of a mechanism. For more information, see Computing Analysis Cases.
See Also
About Swept Volumes

Create Swept Volumes

  1. From the Results section of the action bar, click Swept Volume .
  2. In the Swept Volume dialog box, select the simulation result of an analysis step.

    Tip: You can also select an analysis step in the tree before clicking the Swept Volume command. In this case, the name of the analysis step appears automatically in the Simulation box of the Swept Volume dialog box.

    The products associated with the selected analysis step are listed in the Element(s) to sweep box.
  3. Optional: To modify the list of products to sweep, click Products list and, in the Product List dialog box, select the products to add or to remove from the list.

    To create a swept volume for every moving product, from the Sweep All section of the dialog box, select theSweep all moving products check box.

  4. Optional: Click the Reference product box and, in the work area, select a product.

    Use this option to generate the swept volume of the selected body or bodies according to the relative motion of the reference product. By default, the main product is selected as the reference product.

    Tip: To generate the swept volume of nonmoving elements, select a moving element as the Reference.

  5. Optional: To interpolate the mechanism positions:
    1. Select the Filter positions check box.
    2. In the Precision box, enter a maximum distance value between two positions.
  6. Optional: To include the swept volume in a shell of encompassing cubes:
    1. Select the Enable Silhouette check box.
    2. In the Accuracy box, enter a value in mm corresponding to the width of each encompassing cube used to create the silhouette.
  7. Optional: To create an envelope around the selected bodies:
    1. Select the Enable wrapping check box.
    2. In the Grain box, enter a value for the size of the grain.
    3. Select the type of envelope to create, between a Simple or a Convex envelope.
    4. Optional: To define a simple envelope, specify the Offset ratio.
    5. Optional: Select the Cubic check box to create a cubic envelope.
  8. Click OK.
    The swept volume opens in a new tab.

    Tip: To display the entire volume in the 3D area, from the View section of the action bar, click Fit All In.

Tips:
  • To hide the swept volume generated in the 3D area, in the tree, under the Model node, right-click the Surface element included under the corresponding Geometrical Set and select Hide/Show .
  • To modify the general properties or graphical properties of the element, right-click the element in the tree and select Properties. For more information, see Displaying Properties.