Hi, all.
I'm working on a motion analysis with a heavy die spring (20lb). I'm wondering if there is a way to model the geometry (and mass) of this spring; I think the dynamic behavior of the system is being influenced by the relatively heavy mass of the spring. I have found ways on these forums to animate the coils, but can Solidworks Motion help me to analyze the dynamic behavior of the spring itself, given the properties of it?
Thanks in advance,
Alison
Can you give us more advice on your system? I'm not too fimilar with the motion analysis, so I'm not sure what features it has. However, you are correct that the mass of the spring does effect the fundamental mode of the system, but the effect depends on how much the spring weights compared to the rest of the system. If you have a mass-spring system with a block of mass m, and spring of stiffness k, and a spring weight of m', then the fundamental mode of the system is:
w = [k/(m+m'/3)]^(1/2)
If your system (aka the block) has a much greater mass than the spring (m >> m'), then you could probably ignore the effect of the spring's weight.