A SIMULIA e-Learning Resource
Created using SIMULIA V6R2013x
Hello,
This is the fourth tutorial in the series of SIMULIA V6 ExSight R2013x tutorials.
To access the previous tutorials, use the following links.
Tutorial 3 - Assign FEM Representation, Materials and Section Properties
Tutorial 2 - Materials
Tutorial 1 - FEM Representation and Mesh
You can also access the previous tutorials by clicking Previous at the bottom of this post.
What are Connections?
Connections help in establishing a relation between different components in an assembly. Connections can also be used to link a component to the environment.
There are three different types of connections that affect an ExSight simulation.
1. Engineering Connections (EC) define how different components in an assembly are linked to each other or to the environment by creating a set of Position Constraints. These position constraints are grouped together to form an engineering connection. If you create various position constraints to assemble 2 parts relative to each other, V6 will try to group these constraints and will create a specific type of connection. These connections can be defined while assembling a product in the Assembly Design workbench. Following is an example,
In the above picture, three position constraints have been created to assemble the rubber and steel components in the rubber mount assembly. All position constraints that have been created are coincidence constraints – Axis-axis, Face-Face and an Edge-Edge constraint. This combination of position constraints resulted in creating a Rigid engineering connection. Similarly, different combinations of position constraints will result in the automatic generation of other engineering connection types. Once an engineering connection is created, it will be available in the specification tree (press F3 to hide/show the tree).
Note: If you set the engineering connection type before defining the position constraints, make sure the combination of constraints you create is compatible with the connection type. If not, V6 will produce an error message saying that the type of connection created is inconsistent.
2. Simulation Connections (SC) are available in ExSight to define how different components interact with each other during a simulation.
So, you might be wondering – If simulation connections can define how different components interact, then why do we need engineering connections?
The reason engineering connections are important is because an EC is required to define a SC. If you create a SC in a model that has predefined ECs, then depending on the SC you create, certain ECs can be linked to the new SC.
To link a new SC with an existing EC, choose the Select existing option while creating a SC in ExSight.
For example, in the picture below, a SC has been created using an existing Rigid EC.
This might lead to another question – What if my model has no engineering connections? Does that mean that I cannot create any simulation connections? That doesn’t sound right!
If you’re model had no ECs, you can create SCs associated with a unique type of EC called a Free Engineering Connections (FEC). A free engineering connection is a special type of EC that lets you define a relation between two components without any predefined positioning constraints. Unlike a normal EC, a FEC CANNOT be created in the Assembly Design workbench. To create a FEC, choose the Create EC option while creating a SC in ExSight.
In the above picture, a new FEC (Free.3) has been created and the SC is associated with it.
Tutorial video
The files required to complete this tutorial is available in https://swym.3ds.com/#post:16612.
Below is an annotated video that shows how to create a simulation connection by creating a new free engineering connection.
References
SIMULIA V6 Training class "Introduction to ExSight"
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