Mass analysis w/o Advanced Assemblies

[DMiller01]

I am using NX 6.0.2.8 and do not have the Advanced Assemblies module. I still hope that I can at least determine the weight of an assembly and the location of its CG.

I can assign a material to a body thru Tools-Material Properties. I can add entries for new materials and I can add entries for a specific part like a gear motor but I hope that there is a more effective way to assign a density to a part (or body).

Thanks,

 

[JohnRBaker]

All of the Mass Property commands and analysis as well as having the system automatically calculate and update the weight of your models as controlled by Save Options, is available WITHOUT the need for an Advanced Assemblies license.

With respect to Mass Properties, there are only a few things Advanced Assemblies will provide for you, however one of them would probably be useful in your situation and that is the ability to 'Assert' (assign manually) the weight of a component, such as those purchased gear boxes. This would allow you to simply assign the model the weight as given to you in the vendor specification rather than having to reverse-engineer an appropriate mass density to get the same result when the system calculates the weight of the bodies.

The other weight related feature which Advanced Assemblies provides you is the ability to set a 'check' to warn you if a part weights more or less than some set amount. Now in all honesty, with the advent of being able to create Measurements in the Expression system as well as the addition of setting Requirements where you can check Expression values against user-defined criteria, you could easily set-up your own 'weight checks' without having the purchase an Advanced Assemblies license.

Now as to your other question, if you're really going to have to reverse-engineer, as it were, the mass density needed to get a certain weight for a purchased item, you're correct, using the Material Library to assign that mass density could become a bit tedious, therefore in cases like that, once you know the needed mass density, just go to...

Edit -> Feature -> Solid Density...

...directly assign a mass density value to the bodies representing your purchased items.

John R. Baker, P.E.
Product 'Evangelist'
Product Design Solutions
Siemens PLM Software Inc.
Industry Sector
Cypress, CA

http://www.siemens.com/plm

http://www.plmworld.org/museum/

To an Engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

 

[jerry1423]

Here is a few previous threads that go thru some other nice things that you can do the the weight of a component, including displaying it on a drawing:

http://www.eng-tips.com/viewthread.cfm?qid=262171

http://www.eng-tips.com/viewthread.cfm?qid=261682

http://www.eng-tips.com/viewthread.cfm?qid=261593