Mass Property Calculations: Every Part needs to be done

[ddeck]

Is there anyway to get around doing a mass property calculation on every part before you can get the total mass of an assembly? If I don't run the mass property calculation on every part, then I get the Pop-up asking what density to use for undefined parts.

This takes alot of time!

Also, is there anyway to tell an assembly to be a wieght? I would like to do this for some models of off the shelf assemblies.

 

[beachcomber]

Hi ddeck,
I'm not sure if it's the same as in Part files.
For the assembly do you have the option for user-defined properties on the Mass Props menu ? (Im not on SE at the moment so I can't check)
If so, do the update as normal, then check the "User Defined" box and enter your new weight. This should adjust the density to give the correct weight.

As for the first bit, no I don't think there is a way.
You may be able to get hold of a macro that opens each file and does a mass props update, or write one youself in VB. (I might even have a go at that myself)

One way to find the parts that don't have it calculated is to drop a view onto a drawing and then do a BOM for the view. When you have the BOM set it's Properties to 'Atomic List' and the columns to show Filename, Density and Mass, and sorted by Mass in ascending order.
Set the mass readout accuracy to .1234 and update the BOM.
All the parts with a mas of 0.0000 will be at the start of the BOM.
You can then go through the parts and update them.
It can be tedious, but at least it will teach you to do the calc in the part files !!!

bc

 

[ddeck]

where can I write a macro? can I write it in the Excel VB environment? why doesn't solid edge have the "Record" macro option?

 

[donyoung]

Hi,
The message issued by SE is somewhat misleading: the part may have a density
and accuracy set but the calculation of the phys.-properties is never carried
out for some of the parts. But the following may be of some help to avoid this
pop-up in the future (you must change however your workflow a little):

Modify the used templates:
==========================
1. open your normal.par or normal.psm
2. model one simple part
3. Inspect --> Physical Properties
4. deactivate checkmarks for those symbols you don't want to see in the part
5. set the density to a value that will fit most of the time
6. UPDATE
7. set checkmark user defined properties
8. Quit with Close
9. delete the model to have an empty file
10. Save the file into your templated folder under a new name


For each *NEW* part the following must be carried out once
==========================================================

Using the modified template and having created at least ONE part
calculate the phys.-props as follows:

1. change the density if neccessary either within the variables or
during the phys-props dialog
2. get into phys-props calculation and unset the checkmark 'user defined props'
the button's caption will change from OK to Update
3. LMB on OK

4. optional Save the file now

That's all. On save SE will now update the mass a.s.o.

Note: updating only the phys-props of part won't mark the file as modified, you must
do a save.

donyoung

 

[mfrayser]

You can write an addin (using VB, C, etc) to capture the save event and trigger a physical property update. That way, each time a 3D file is saved, its mass will get updated.

 

[donyoung]

an Addin is not neccessary. Once the phys-props have been calculated SE will continue to update them on every
save of that file (at least it does in V14)

dy

 

[fwc]

To set the density in the template file,

1. Click on Tools > Options...
2. Click Part Properties tab from the Options dialog box.
3. Fill in the necessary information in the fields.
4. Save the template file.

I would save templates with different density settings.

fwc

 

[fredericmenage]

Hi,

In V17, you can simply have a a material defined in your templates using the material table (Tools menu). This way you can create parts and not worry about forgetting to update the physical properties. After creating your asm, go to Inspect/Physical properties, click 'update' and 'yes' to the message (enter a value if there are parts for which you didn't use a template with a material defined in matl table) and the weight will be correct. (V17 up5)

Fred

 

[ddeck]

Thanks for all the reply, I'll give some a try.