Surface Centroid

[mloew]

Is it possible to get a centroid of a surface from Pro/E? I could not find a way to output the centroid for use in an analysis feature. I ended up thickening the surface and doing model mass properties and extracting the mass center. I want to avoid the use of solid features if possible. Any solutions out there? Thanks in advance!

Pro/ENGINEER Wildfire 2.0




Best regards,

Matthew Ian Loew


Please see FAQ731-376 for tips on how to make the best use of Eng-Tips Fora.

 

[asmenut]

What you did is the only thing possible in Pro-Engineer (and every CAD/CAE software I know of. The reason is although the surface may reflect a 2 dimensional output, the centroid / center of gravity / center of mass is a 3 dimensional resultant. The component must have volume (mass) in order to define the CG properly.

Now depending on the geometry involved (i.e. square/rectangle/circle/beam...) you can calculate the CG, but if you are looking at complex geometry (your surface), you are better off thickening it to a nominal thickness (.001) and extrapolating the results.

 

[RocketRonnie]

Having a solid feature seems to be the only way, but try the following:
Create two copies of the surface.
Thicken one of the copies.
Create the Analysis feature.
Thicken the second copy surface as a cut.
Now you are left with your original surface (no solid features) and a centroid.
Not exactly best practice but it works.