DesignSpark Mechanical Online Help

Mass properties

Use the MassAnalysis tool used to display mass properties, or volume information for the solids and surfaces in your design. Properties tool to display volume information for the objects in your design.

If you use the tool on a surface, it will display the total surface area. If there are multiple surfaces on the same plane, the tool displays the total surface area for all the surfaces. To display the surfaces’ individual surface areas, use the Measure tool.

To view mass properties of an object

1. Click MassAnalysis tool used to display mass properties, or volume information for the solids and surfaces in your design. Properties in the Inspect group on the MeasureTools for displaying measurement properties of the edges, faces, and solids in your design. tab.

   With the Select BodyA solid or surface. tool guide active, select a solid in the Structure treeDisplay in the Structure panel that shows you each of the objects in your design. You can expand or collapse the nodes of the tree to view the objects. You can rename objects, create, modify, replace, and delete objects, as well as work with components. or by triple-clicking it in the Design windowArea in the user interface that displays your model or assembly. Also known as Workspace. to display its volume, center of mass, and principle moments and axes.

2. A small origin appears at the center of volume with its axes oriented in the direction of the principle axes. To calculate the principle moments and axes for another point, hold Alt and select an origin to add it to your selection.

   To calculate the actual moment of inertia, multiply the moment measurement by the density of the solid.

   The axis is indicated with x, y, z values; in the figure above, these values are (0, -1, 0). The first number is the red axis of the origin, the second is the green axis, and the third is the blue axis.

3. For beam objects ensure that the MaterialProperty that you can assign to an object, consisting of material name and attributes such as density and tensile strength. Name property is set as appropriate to display the mass and center of mass properties in addition to the volume.

To measure the projected area of an object or objects

1. Click MassAnalysis tool used to display mass properties, or volume information for the solids and surfaces in your design. Properties in the Inspect group on the MeasureTools for displaying measurement properties of the edges, faces, and solids in your design. tab.

2. Click the Select datum plane tool guide.

3. Select the objects you want to measure.

   You can also hold Alt and select the object without using the tool guide.

   The projected area and estimated precision is displayed in the Design windowArea in the user interface that displays your model or assembly. Also known as Workspace..

To measure the properties of a planar section

1. Click MassAnalysis tool used to display mass properties, or volume information for the solids and surfaces in your design. Properties in the Inspect group on the MeasureTools for displaying measurement properties of the edges, faces, and solids in your design. tab.

2. Click the Select Planar FaceSide or other surface of a solid. Some examples are the inside surface of a hole or the six sides of a rectangular solid. See Surface. or SectionDesign2D or 3D model that contains at least one top-level component. mode in which you edit solids by working with their edges and vertices in cross-section. ViewOrientation settings that you can apply to your design, including spin, pan, and zoom. You can adjust these settings individually or you can apply one of the following preconfigured views: Trimetric, Isometric, Top, Bottom, Front, Back, Right, Left. You can also select Snap View and click a face to view it head-on. is cut away to show interior detail. Loop tool guide.

Select a planar area.

MassAnalysis tool used to display mass properties, or volume information for the solids and surfaces in your design. Properties for planar sections are approximated using edge tessellation.

To select a coordinate system

1. Click MassAnalysis tool used to display mass properties, or volume information for the solids and surfaces in your design. Properties in the Inspect group on the MeasureTools for displaying measurement properties of the edges, faces, and solids in your design. tab.

2. Select the objects you want to measure.

3. Click the Select Coordinate System tool guide and select a coordinate system or coordinate system axis.

   The center of volume and moment and axis are measured from the origin/axis chosen rather than the default origin (0, 0, 0).