Modeling latch mechanism

silvio_20423
silvio_20423 Altair Community Member
edited October 2020 in Community Q&A

Hi everybody,

 

in my model a rectangular panel is deployed rotating on a hinge actuated by a torsional spring. At a definite angle I would like to have the panel latched.

What is the best possible way  to model such a mechanism?

Thank you!

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Answers

  • Beta
    Beta New Altair Community Member
    edited August 2018

    hi, 

     

    Please refer to the tutorial MV-2021: Simulating an Automotive Door Closure Event

     

    You can use a template to define a multi-section simulation. 

  • silvio_20423
    silvio_20423 Altair Community Member
    edited August 2018

    Thank you,

    I am on it!

     

    Do you have suggestions how to avoid convergence issues when, for instance, swichting off a revolute joint and switching on a fixed joint between the two bodies?

    Thank you 

  • Beta
    Beta New Altair Community Member
    edited August 2018

    hi,

     

    the convergence issues are caused by different reason from inappropriate setup to non-physical behavior or flexible body out of linear range. Base on what I understand about your problem, I think you need to avoid the non-physical behavior and friction. switching on or off a joint actually does not affect the convergence issues so much.

  • silvio_20423
    silvio_20423 Altair Community Member
    edited August 2018

    Thank you Toan for your reply,

    In my model I have only rigid bodies with contacts, joined with torsion springs and revolute joints. As the joint reaches an angle, say 90°, to simulate latching, the simulation is stopped with sensors, the revolute joint is deactivated and the fixed joint is activated. My idea is that the discontinuity there makes the DSTIFF not converge.

    I sorted it out by using for a short lapse VSTIFF integrator, right after the joint swap, then changing back to DSTIFF.

    My intention is now to see if I get stable results with different timesteps and integration tolerances.

     

     

  • silvio_20423
    silvio_20423 Altair Community Member
    edited August 2018

    Now I have a more pressing question now, if you know how to solve it.

    When the last revolute joint the (one between GROUND BODY and the first PANEL) is deactivated, and the FIXED one is activated, the PANEL snaps back to its initial position at time 0!

    How can I fix it in the current position?

  • Altair Forum User
    Altair Forum User
    Altair Employee
    edited August 2018

    Hi @silvio

    Not sure what you mean back the panel snaps back to an initial position at time zero. Can you post an image?

     

    Do you see any warnings in the log file?

  • silvio_20423
    silvio_20423 Altair Community Member
    edited August 2018

    Hi Prakash,

    thank you for the reply.

     

    The panel reaches 90deg position, then the fixed joint with Groundbody is supposed to activate. It does, but it is activated in the initial configuration, at 0deg. the panel is back blocked in its initial position. I wanted to fix the panel to the Groundbody in its CURRENT position.

     

    I sorted it out right now, by using a Motion_Joint with rotational displacement equal 90deg which activates with the sensor. It makes the job of the fixed joint.

  • Beta
    Beta New Altair Community Member
    edited August 2018

    Hi,

     

    In my opinion, You only need to activate the fixed joint. Deactivate the revolute joint seem inappropriate to me. If you worry about the over-constraint issue, try to use in-plane joint instead.

     

    About the initial position problem,  Glad to know you fixed it. Just for your reference, If you want to restrain the displacement of joints in a certain range, try to use Bistop function in expression. 

  • Altair Forum User
    Altair Forum User
    Altair Employee
    edited August 2018

    Well, deactivating revolute joint will not harm, but the results are questionable. 

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