Dynamic Material

Use the Dynamic Material command to change rigid body shapes during simulation, to replicate material being fed into a production system or deformation processes.

You can:

• Create a continuously growing rigid body, while imitating flexibility, to more accurately simulate a material being fed into a production system.
• Use the Speed Control and Position Control commands to control the feed rate or position of the dynamic material during a simulation.

You can also select a dynamic material as the actuator's control object and then use runtime parameters to develop automation controls.

Example

You can assign a speed control actuator to a dynamic material and then add it to the Runtime Inspector. During a simulation, you can edit the position runtime parameter on the Inspector tab to control the dynamic material.

Use dynamic material runtime parameters to control Expressions that change the shape of the dynamic materials to simulate a deformation process. You can add a dynamic material to the Runtime Inspector and view the parameters of a continuous material, or of segments of cut dynamic materials.

Simulating realistic materials

You can create the following dynamic material types:

• Along Guide — Use a section curve to define the shape of dynamic materials and a guide curve to direct the material during simulation. You can simulate the production of nonlinear materials, such as metal pipes, plastic rods, and rubber hoses. Select a closed section curve to sweep into a solid body, or an open section curve to sweep into a sheet body, and then extrude the section curve using guide curves and an initial length to direct the dynamic material during simulation.

• Box — Create rectangular dynamic materials to simulate the production of planar materials, such as paper and sheet steel. Select a rigid body face to change its size, such as length, width, or height, during simulation.

• Cylinder — Create cylindrical dynamic materials whose shape and orientation you can control using expressions with dynamic material runtime parameters.

• User Defined — Create dynamic materials with more complex geometry, such as those defined by a combination of rigid body faces, vectors, and face offsets. Use one or more selected rigid body faces, vectors, and offsets to set the shape and orientation, and the direction of material flow during simulation.

Runtime parameters

You can use the dynamic material runtime parameters to control the length, rate of production, and dynamic material orientation with the following commands:

• Position Control
• Speed Control
• Runtime Parameter
• Runtime Expression
• Signal Adapter
• Signal
• Operation

For complex simulations, you can test and optimize the physics solver options and parameters to improve the simulation behavior with the Mechatronics Concept Designer Preferences command.

Where do I find it?

Application	Mechatronics Concept Designer