Lab 9: Importing CAD Geometry

Transcription

1 Page 1 Lab 9: Importing CAD Geometry Objective This lab will explain 2 methods that can be used to import CAD geometry from a CATIA V4 Model. The first method assumes all of the V4 Geometric and Kinematic sets are contained in the same *.model file. The V4 Geometry will be automatically imported by converting the V4 Kinematic Set to a V5 Kinematic model. The second method allows for importing the V4 Geometry when no Kinematic Set is present, or for preserving the features in the geometry for modification in Virtual.Lab. Goals The goals of this lab are to learn: How to open a CATIA V4 model. How to check the V4 Model for the presence of a Kinematic Set. How to import V4 Geometry by converting a V4 Kinematics Set How to import V4 Geometry so that the features can be modified in Virtual.Lab

2 Page 2 Starting Virtual.Lab Motion Starting up the Virtual.Lab software To start the Virtual.Lab environment: 1. Double-click on the Virtual.Lab icon on your desktop. Check for required Licenses 1. Tools Options General LMS Licensing. 2. Make sure CATIA-V4 Interface (VL-GEO.16.2) and CATIA V5 Kinematics Transfer (VL-MOT.20.3) are checked. 3. If not checked, select those 2 options, close dialog and restart Virtual.Lab Importing By Converting V4 Kinematics Opening the required documents 1. Open a new Motion document by selecting Start Motion Mechanism Design. 2. To edit the Product1_ROOT Product Document, Right-Click the Product1_ROOT branch from the model Specification Tree, Select Product1_ROOT object Open in New Window. Once this step is complete, minimize the Motion Analysis document. 3. To open the V4 Model in Virtual.Lab, select File Open from the Main Menu. Select the file ENGINE.model, this file will be found in the C:\Training\CAD_import directory. Select Open to close the File Selection window and load the model. 4. Use Window Tile Vertically to place the documents side by side.

3 Page 3 Check for Presence of Kinematics Set in V4 model The Kinematics will be one of the branches in the V4 model that can t be expanded. If we don t know the name of the V4 Kinematics set, we can use this info to narrow our search. 1. Expand the V4 Specification Tree by double clicking on Master in the ENGINE.model window. 2. Look for a branch that doesn t start with * and can t be expanded. Only one branch satisfies these conditions. 3. To confirm, right click on the branch labeled ENGINE_KINEMATICS, and choose Properties. The resulting window will show information about the V4 Kinematics Set. Click OK to close this window

4 Page 4 Convert V4 Kinematics model to V5 1. In the ENGINE.model window, Drag and drop ENGINE_KINEMATICS to the Applications branch under Product1 in the Product1 window.

5 Page 5 2. This will create parts out of the CATIA V4 Geometric Sets. The parts will be created as solids without history (result solids). 3. The V4 model can be closed now. Click anywhere in the ENGINE.model window to activate it, then from the Main Menu, select File Close Convert V5 Kinematics to Virtual.Lab Motion Document Additional steps are necessary to assign the Geometry that was created from the CATIA V4 model to bodies within the Mechanism Model. Virtual.Lab Motion has been developed to ease the transition of a CATIA V4 Kinematic Model to a working Mechanism Model. These steps are provided in this section. 1. Minimize the Product document window and maximize the Motion Analysis Document window. 2. From the Virtual.Lab Main Menu, select Insert Kinematics Mechanism. 3. Below the Product1_ROOT Constraints Applications Mechanisms branch of the Specification Tree, Select the EINGINE_KINEMATICS_V5, DOF=0 branch. The conversion status bar will appear in the bottom right-hand corner of the Model Display window.

6 Page 6 4. This operation will create new bodies, joints and constraints under the Analysis Model branch of the specification tree, duplicating the information in the V5 Kinematics model Importing V4 geometry to solids with history In the last section it was shown that if a V4 Kinematics Set is present, the model can be converted automatically, but parts created by this process are without history. This is fine if accurate mass properties are the only required data from the solid geometry. This would not be sufficient if the part needed to be modified within the new V5 Part documents. To end up with a Specification Tree for the solid, we need to manually copy the *SOL in the V4 model to a Virtual.Lab Part Document. Opening the required documents 1. Save and close all open documents. 2. Open a new Part document by selecting File New Part OK. 3. To open the V4 Model in Virtual.Lab, select File Open from the Main Menu. Select the file ENGINE.model, this file will be found in the C:\Training\CAD_import directory. Select Open to close the File Selection window and load the model. 4. Use Window Tile Vertically to place the documents side by side. Copy and Paste Special the *SOL from V4 to Virtual.Lab 1. Expand the V4 Specification Tree by double clicking on Master in the ENGINE.model window. 2. Expose the V4 *SOL by expanding the MASTER CRANK SOL branch. 3. Select *SOL2. Right Click on the highlighted *SOL and select Copy from the pop-up menu 4. Paste Special in the new part by clicking on Part1 in the Part1 window, Right Click and select Paste Special from the pop-up menu. 5. In the Paste Special window select CATIA_SPEC then OK

7 Page 7 6. To update the part, Right-Click on Part1 in the Specification Tree and selecting Local Update in the pop-up menu 7. This has created a new Vitrual.Lab part with editable features. This part document can now be inserted as an existing component into any Motion model. Conclusion Congratulations! You have practiced two methods for importing V4 geometry into Virtual.Lab. One method requires a V4 Kinematic set to be present, but created solids without history. The second method doesn t require a Kinematic set, and creates solids with editable features, but requires copying one part at a time. The tasks you have learned: How to open a CATIA V4 model. How to check the V4 Model for the presence of a Kinematic Set. How to import V4 Geometry by converting a V4 Kinematics Set. How to import V4 Geometry so that the features can be modified in Virtual.Lab.