leaf spring in SW
leaf spring in SW
(OP)
I was wondering if there was a way to place a leaf spring into a drawing and be able to have it flex when you move a part that is connected to it, or is this beyond the scope of SW. I am trying to model a standard leaf spring suspension, and have run into this little issue. Any help would be appreciated.
WayneCJ7
WayneCJ7






RE: leaf spring in SW
This would essentially out of the realm of Solidworks and into the Realm of CosmosWorks, or another FEA analysis package. (assuming of course you need accurate deflections and things like that.
You can however model two different configurations of the spring (one at ride height, and the other at full jounce for instance) by changing the sketch(s) that define the spring. This would of course assume that you know what those deflections are.
Now to animate them, you have me at a loss, you can show those two positions on a drawing view as an alternate position view, but to animate the flexion of the spring you would most assuredly need to have an fea analysis tool
hope that helps
Regards,
Jon
jgbena@yahoo.com
RE: leaf spring in SW
If you are using SW03, you might be able to insert a marco in the FM that would rebuild your spring after you moved a component.
"The attempt and not the deed confounds us."
RE: leaf spring in SW
Regards,
Jon
jgbena@yahoo.com
RE: leaf spring in SW
In this case, you would not define the spring's radius, but you would probably want to define the springs arc length (by dimensioning the arc length--a handy tool). This will allow a more realistic "flex" of your spring.
Of course, the spring would need to rebuild each time the assembly part (or sketch) is moved, but it would at least flex according to the position of your other part. You would be able to animate this if you wanted to.
The flexing, however, would likely not be an accurate spring flex--but you may not need that, right?
Jeff Mowry
DesignHaus Industrial Design
http://www.designhaus-i-d.com
RE: leaf spring in SW
Another question, how do you get SW to dimension the arc length? I can only get it to do the radius and the angle.
Thanks,
Wayne
RE: leaf spring in SW
Regards
Malcolm Stephens
Have you read "How to Double Your SolidWorks Productivity" yet?
www.DoubleSWX.com
RE: leaf spring in SW
Normally the spring and the deflecting part would share some constraint. Using this method that constraint is replaced by the equation.
Give this a try and let us know your results.
- - -DennisD