SolidWorks Motion: 30/06/2015

© Sdalton, ITSligo, 2015

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SolidWorks Motion Simulation In this exercise you will model (or modify) a flywheel then simulate the dynamics of the flywheel. You will then graph various characteristics for the flywheels behaviour and export these results to Excel. The result obtained using SolidWorks are then required to be compared to manual calculation for the same scenario. Each student will be supplied with different variant of the model (see attached) The shallow indentations in the side are provided so that movement will be visible and may be neglected from a ‘moment of inertia’ point of view. The axle may also be neglected. Objective The objective of this exercise is simulate a flywheel and compare the results obtained for angular velocity and angular acceleration with those obtained by manual calculation. Downloading and assembly of components Components are supplied and may be downloaded from the S: drive by copying the folder ME3-flywheel from S:\classes\sean dalton\ Next ensure that the flywheel material is set to steel and note the density. Next modify the flywheel by adjusting the diameter and width to your allocated sizes. (See attached)

Simulation Now that the assembly is ready you are now ready to activate Motion Simulation. To activate SolidWorks motion, select the ‘Motion Study1’ tab/icon at the bottom of the screen. This will activate a timeline which enables various actions to be activated or de-activated at a specific point in time. It also provides the tools necessary to build a simulation.

Once in motion there are 3 categories of motion study.

Animation: Animates the motion taking into account assembly relations.

Basic motion: Animate the motion taking into account collision with other objects etc.

Motion analysis: Allows full analysis of the motion including displacement, velocity and acceleration as well as forces generated. It also allows graphs to be created of all of these parameters.

As we want to do a more technical analysis, motion analysis is the option we require. Select Motion analysis from the drop down. (If motion analysis is not listed see next page).

SolidWorks Motion: 30/06/2015

© Sdalton, ITSligo, 2015

2

If the Motion Analysis option is missing you will need to activate SolidWorks Motion ‘add-in’ using tools menu. Motion analysis is a separate application which runs within Solid Works.

Applying driving motion to the assembly To drive a mechanism at a specified speed we can apply a motor, alternately we may apply a torque.

To apply a torque: Select the Force icon, then under type select the Torque option. Next select the cylindrical surface of the axle of the wheel. This defines both (a) the component being driven and (b) the axis about which the torque is being applied. Next specify the torque value T = 10Nmm.

Finally process the simulation by selecting the calculator like icon shown below.

The simulation will run for the default time of 5 seconds.

Measuring Angular Velocity and Acceleration You are now ready to measure various characteristics of the flywheel. In this case we will measure the angular velocity and angular acceleration. To graph data select the icon shown below.

This will bring up the dialog box shown opposite. To plot displacement, select the following categories.

Displacement/velocity/acceleration.

Angular Velocity

Magnitude

Select the component, i.e. the flywheel. Repeat this process for angular acceleration.

Exporting graphs to Excel You are now ready to export your graphs to Excel. This is achieved by expanding the results tab in the feature manager, right clicking on the plot of interest the select ‘Export to Excel’. Excel will open in the background so in order to see it you will need to minimise SolidWorks.

Note also the graph and the corresponding numbers are on separate tabs in Excel. To improve the graphs appearance you should consider disabling scientific notation on the Y axis. (Switch number display to general)

SolidWorks Motion: 30/06/2015

© Sdalton, ITSligo, 2015

3

Flywheel dims T = 10Nmm

Name Diam Width

80 to 120

20 to 40

Bilal Ahsan 95 20

Barry Bobby 110 22

Brogan Niall 90 34

Conboy Alan 80 34

Conlon Colin 85 28

Cooper Joe 100 34

Feehily Thomas 85 22

Flannery Jamie 115 20

Franz Steffen 100 24

Gannon Daniel 105 30

Gavigan Oran 80 24

Gillespie Declan 115 26

Harte Gary 110 20

Haverty Martin 100 26

Kelly Keelan 80 34

Kelly Patrick 110 24

Kennedy Ray 85 38

Kilgallon Donnchadh 105 38

Loughnane Stephen 100 22

Lydon Sean 110 36

Maire Nathan 115 20

McDonagh Thomas 80 28

Mitchell Sean 85 38

Mullen Adam 80 24

Murphy Nicholas 90 36

Nesbitt Kealan 110 32

Niland Michaela 110 32

North Cian 80 30

O Hagen Sean 95 26

O Toole Stephen 110 26

Perez Juan Carlos 90 22

Rodgers Aaron 85 24

Sheridan Aoife 85 22

Shevlin Jamie 100 24

Skinnader Niall 90 24

Smith Kevin 110 36

Smyth Anthony 110 30

Spirgys Gytis 90 26

Ward Aidan 115 22

Ward Conor 95 20

Winters Jack 85 30

Conlon Damian 115 30

Pons Joan 90 20

Silva Bruno 105 30