To Analyze Mass Properties
1. Click > . The Mass Properties window opens. Quick is the default analysis type.
2. Click one of the following options:
◦ Solid geometry—Compute the mass properties of the model.
◦ Quilt / Body—Select a body or a closed quilt to compute its mass properties.
| You can also select a construction body and compute its mass properties. The mass properties report also lists construction bodies and empty bodies. |
3. Click in the Coordinate system collector and select a reference coordinate system. The name of the selected coordinate system appears in the collector. Select the Use Default check box to use the default coordinate system.
| To clear the contents of the collector, right-click in the collector and click Remove. |
4. When the assigned material is invalid, you need to assign another material or modify the existing material. See the following table for some examples
Case | Steps to perform |
---|
The material assigned to body or part is invalid (that means, it has empty density) and you want to assign another material from the library. | a. Right-click a body, click Assign Material. The Assign Material dialog box opens. b. Click Other. The Materials dialog box opens. c. Add materials and click OK. The Materials dialog box closes. d. In the Assign Material dialog box, click the drop-down arrow and select a material. e. Click OK. The Assign Material dialog box closes. |
No material is added, and you want to use the default material PTC_SYSTEM_MTRL_PROPS to calculate mass properties. | a. Click Material Definition. The Material Definition dialog box opens. b. Define the density and other material properties and click OK. The Material Definition dialog box closes. |
5. Optionally, in the Mass Properties dialog box, change the relative accuracy in the Accuracy box. The default accuracy value is 0.000010.
| Part accuracy must not be less than 1/100th of the mass property accuracy. |
6. Click Preview. The result the analysis appears in the area at the bottom of the Mass Properties dialog box
| The level of mass properties calculation depends on the configuration option mp_calc_level. |
The following table describes the values of this configuration option in Part mode:
Value | Description |
assembly_only | Calculates mass properties of the part and reports them along with the summary of bodies included. |
all_models | Calculates mass properties of the part and reports them along with the summary of bodies included and their details. When the report is longer than 2,000 characters, it is not shown on screen, a.m_p file is written to your working directory. Bodies with no mass are not included in the report. |
7. Click
to view the report of the analysis in the INFORMATION WINDOW.
8. Optionally, to save the analysis feature, perform the following steps:
a. At the bottom of the Mass Properties dialog box, select the Saved analysis type.
| The Saved type of analysis is used to dynamically update the analysis while modeling. |
b. Optionally, in the box adjacent to the list, rename the analysis.
9. Optionally, to create an advanced analysis feature, perform the following steps:
a. At the bottom of the Mass Properties dialog box, select the Feature analysis type.
b. Optionally, in the box adjacent to the list, rename the analysis.
c. Click the Feature tab to create or change feature options of the current analysis, if required. You can access the feature options, such as parameters or datum features only when you select a feature type of analysis
10. Click OK to complete the analysis or Cancel to cancel the analysis. Alternatively, click Repeat to start a new analysis.