Animation takes guesswork out of mechanism design

Sept. 21, 2000
WorkingModel 4D from MSC.Software, Los Angeles, provides such realistic animations of complex mechanisms that are more likely to convince budget watchers to fund proposed projects.

Working Model 4D from MSC.Software, Los Angeles, produced the photorealistic and accurate mechanical prototype for a lift mechanism. Suspa's Lasch says the software made easy work of sizing three internal springs.

An integrated system of solid modeling, motion, and stress analysis lets designers be more certain their mechanisms will work as intended before building expensive physical prototypes.

"The software is helping us reach a goal of only one prototype per design," says Jeff Lasch, an engineer with Suspa Inc., Grand Rapids, Mich., a manufacturer of gas springs, dampers, locking gas cylinders, and hydraulic-lift systems. The software keeps the design team from shuttling between the engineering department and the tool shop with iterations. Lasch says implementing the motion-FEA software has reduced the time he spends on a design because he no longer has to wait to see if the physical prototypes work.

After modeling a particular design in SolidWorks, Lasch seamlessly brings an assembly into the mechanism modeler to simulate its motion, and calculate and display dynamic forces for finite-element stress analyses. "The software lets us consider the dynamic nature of a problem and simulate the entire assembly, rather than only a part or a small subassembly as hand calculations would allow," says Lasch. Dynamic analysis leads to more accurate FEA results than would be possible by guessing at loads. In addition, the system's simplicity makes it practical to apply several times in the design loop.

Photorealistic imaging in the software also helped secure funding for a project that would have been difficult to describe in 2D prints alone. The model of one production machine, for example, involves several slides, grippers, and a welder, all moving in a precisely choreographed sequence. "Showing managers a working digital design and the accurate mechanical modeling to back it up earned us the go-ahead for the project," says Lasch.

--

About the Author

Paul Dvorak

Paul Dvorak - Senior Editor
21 years of service. BS Mechanical Engineering, BS Secondary Education, Cleveland State University. Work experience: Highschool mathematics and physics teacher; design engineer, Primary editor for CAD/CAM technology. He isno longer with Machine Design.

Email: [email protected]

"

Paul Dvorak - Senior Editor
21 years of service. BS Mechanical Engineering, BS Secondary Education, Cleveland State University. Work experience: Highschool mathematics and physics teacher; design engineer, U.S. Air Force. Primary editor for CAD/CAM technology. He isno longer with Machine Design.

Email:=

Sponsored Recommendations

Drive systems for urban air mobility

March 18, 2025
The shift of some of our transport traffic from the road to the air through urban air mobility is one of the most exciting future fields in the aerospace industry.

Blazing the trail for flying robots

March 18, 2025
Eight Bachelor students built a flying manipulator that can hover in any orientation and grasp objects. The drone is even more maneuverable than a quadrocopter and was designed...

Reachy 2: The Open-Source Humanoid Robot Redefining Human-Machine Interaction

March 18, 2025
Reachy 2 was designed to adapt to a wide variety of uses thanks to its modular architecture.

maxon IDX: The plug-and-play solution

March 18, 2025
IDX drives combine power with small space requirements - a brushless BLDC motor combined with an EPOS4 positioning controller and a gearhead inside a high-quality industrial housing...

Voice your opinion!

To join the conversation, and become an exclusive member of Machine Design, create an account today!