To Enter Preferences for Static Analyses
Use the Preferences tab on the Analysis Definition dialog box to specify general information for static analyses.
Use the Locked entities area to specify locking and disabling constraints for the analysis. You can lock bodies and connections, disable/enable connections or delete locked entities. Locking bodies fixes the position of one body relative to another during the defined analysis. Locking connections removes the motion associated with their degree of freedom. A disabled connection is temporarily suppressed and is ignored by the analysis.
Use the Initial configuration area to select a starting point for your static analysis. The configuration describes the relative orientation of the parts and bodies in your mechanism. Select one of these options:
• Click Current to use the positions of the bodies in the screen configuration.
• Click Snapshot to select a snapshot saved using the Drag dialog box. Only the position of bodies in your mechanism is used from a selected snapshot. Any constraints saved in the snapshot are ignored.
Use the Maximum step factor area to change the maximum step size for your static analysis. If your model includes very large accelerations, you may get more accurate results by using a smaller step size. You must clear the Default check box and enter a real number between 0.0 and 1.0. This factor limits the largest step size used to find a static configuration.
You can run the analysis immediately after defining it. When you click Run, the analysis definition is checked for errors in the same way as when you click OK. The defined analysis is run but is not added to the model. When you click OK, the software finishes the definition, creates the analysis, and adds the analysis definition to the model.