About Cam-Follower Connections
Click
to access the
Cam-Follower Connection Definition dialog box and create or edit a cam-follower connection.
Define a cam-follower connection by specifying surfaces or curves on two bodies. You do not have to define special cam geometry before you create the cam-follower connection.
If you want to allow your cam-follower connection to separate during a drag operation or analysis run, you must select the Enable Liftoff option on the Properties tab. If you have a Mechanism Dynamics license, you can define friction coefficients and a coefficient of restitution for cams with liftoff.
Keep the following points in mind when defining and using cam-follower connections:
• You can use cam-followers in dragging operations.
• The software defines cams as extending infinitely in the extrusion direction.
• A cam-follower connection does not prevent the cam from tipping. You must add additional joints to one of the parts to prevent tipping.
• Each cam can have only one follower. If you want to model a cam with multiple followers, you must define a new cam-follower connection for each new pair, selecting the same geometry for one of the cams in each connection if necessary.
For example, you are modelling a cam-follower connection made up of a cylinder that rolls along an L-bracket. You want to ensure simultaneous contact between the cylinder and both the horizontal and vertical portions of the bracket at the point where the cylinder reaches the right angle of the L-bracket. To do this, make one cam-follower connection between the cylinder and the horizontal bracket plate, and a second cam-follower connection between the cylinder and the vertical bracket plate.