Force

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Force

The purpose of Force Force application is to deform a compliant part when applied to a modeling point connected to an FEA mesh node. The part must be constrained, therefore a clamping, joining, or a LockDOF move will be applied to the part prior to the FEA Force Application.  Once a concentrated force is added to the model and Nominal Build is executed, the nominal locations of the points in the model will see the effects of applied nominal force.

 

This move requires a mesh file and stiffness matrix loaded for the part.

 

Inputs

Select the Force icon Force to get the Force Move dialog box:

 

Force Dialog

 

Name: The move name must be unique to the model.

Description: This is an optional explanation of what the move does.

Help: The Help button is context sensitive; it will open the Help Manual at required topic page.

Activate the Smoothing

Object Features: These are the points where the force will be applied. The number of points can be from 1 to n.

Amount: This is the force value applied to each point.

Same Direction based on first object: If checked all points will use the first point's direction. If unchecked each point can vary along its own Associated Direction.

Dir. Type: Sets the direction of deformation for Object points and it has the following options, similar to the direction options available in the other MTMs: Type In, Two Pt, Normal, AssocDir (picks up the associated direction of the Object point), and TwoPtDir.

Note: Check the CATIA settings for the measurement units used for the force.

 

Outputs

The result of this routine will be the deformed part. The part shown below is positioned at points O1, O2, and O3. A force is applied at the forth corner. The force pulls the flange and deforms the part from the original shape (black contour) to the final shape (shown in orange).

 

Compliant_Mod_Force2

Deformation propagates to other feature points on the part and to the parts connected to it.

 

Process

Select the Force move icon Force and choose the location for the move to be created. This move must be at a product level, at least one level above the part.

Add or Remove points using the plus FEA_inital_plus and minus FEA_inital_minus buttons.

Set the correct direction for each point if necessary.

Use the Features button to display the points on the screen and verify if their location and direction are correct.