Creating and Editing Mechanisms
Creating and Editing Mechanisms
Mechanism definitions contain Assemblies , Connections , Points and Children . They may also specify Stretches .
Assemblies are collections of one or more parts and/or node sets. The parts may be any permutation of rigid or deformable.
Connections join assemblies together. At present PRIMER contains four connection types: pin , hinge , line and coupler .
Points are optional, and any number may be defined. They are coordinates in space, "tied to" and a property of their parent assembly, that may have restraints in any combination degrees of freedom. If a local coordinate system is defined for a point then any restraints act in that system. Points may also be used to drive movement.
Children are optional. They may be other assemblies or Dummy definitions, and their motion is driven by their parent mechanism. Motion is transmitted in selected degrees of freedom from parent to child.
Stretch definitions are also optional. They allow you to define parts of the structure that are not included in the mechanism itself, but which will be "stretched" by the mechanism's movement. Typical examples might be coil springs in a vehicle suspension.
In addition from V12 onwards PRIMER will automatically determine *DATABASE_CROSS_SECTION definitions that "belong to" assemblies and update their motion with those assemblies, see Applying motion to Database Cross Sections below for more details.
Use ., , etc to select and operate on the relevant items.
When the definition is correct use to save it.