Interactions are objects that you create to model mechanical relationships between surfaces that are in contact or closely spaced. Mere physical proximity of two surfaces on an assembly is not enough to indicate any type of interaction between the surfaces.
You will define the following interactions:
An interaction called HingePin-hole that defines the contact between the part instance Hinge-hole-1 and the pin.
An interaction called HingePin-solid that defines the contact between the part instance Hinge-solid-1 and the pin.
An interaction called Flanges that defines the contact between the two flanges.
Each of these interactions requires a reference to an interaction property. Interaction properties are collections of information that help you to define certain types of interactions. You will create a mechanical interaction property that describes the tangential and normal behavior between all surfaces as frictionless. You will name this property NoFric and use it in all three of the interactions.
In this procedure you will create a mechanical contact interaction property.
To create the interaction property:
In the Model Tree, double-click the Interaction Properties container to create a contact property.
The Create Interaction Property dialog box appears.
In the Create Interaction Property dialog box:
Name the property NoFric.
In the Type list, accept Contact as the default selection.
Click Continue.
The Edit Contact Property dialog box appears.
From the dialog box's menu bar, select Mechanical
Tangential Behavior and accept Frictionless for the friction formulation.
Click OK to save your settings and to close the Edit Contact Property dialog box.
In this section you will create three mechanical surface-to-surface contact interactions. Each interaction will refer to the interaction property that you just created. You are given the option to define the interactions either automatically or manually. Please follow the instructions for one method or the other. If you choose to try both, be sure to delete or suppress any duplicate contact interactions that result.
To create the interactions automatically:
From the main menu bar, select InteractionFind contact pairs.
In the Find Contact Pairs dialog box, click Find Contact Pairs.
Five potential contact pairs are identified.
In the Contact Pairs region of the dialog box:
Click the name of each contact pair to highlight it in the viewport. This will allow you to familiarize yourself with the contact interactions that have been chosen.
Contact pairs are defined between the rounded end of each hinge flange and the flat face opposite it. These contact pairs are not necessary. Thus, delete them (to delete a contact pair, select it and click mouse button 3; from the menu that appears, select Delete).
Identify the contact pair between the hinge with the hole and the pin. Rename the interaction HingePin-hole.
Identify the contact pair between the solid hinge and the pin. Rename the interaction HingePin-solid.
Rename the remaining interaction Flanges. If necessary, switch the master and slave surface designations so that the surface associated with the hinge with the hole is the master surface and the one associated with the solid hinge piece is the slave surface (click mouse button 3 on the surface name; from the menu that appears, select Switch surfaces).
Tip: You can view the master and slave instance names to aid in the surface designation. Click mouse button 3 anywhere on the table, and select Edit Visible Columns. From the dialog box that appears, toggle on Master instance name and Slave instance name.
Accept all default settings except for the contact discretization. Select the column heading labeled Discretization, and click mouse button 3. From the menu that appears, select Edit Cells. In the dialog box that appears, select Node-to-surface, and click OK.
Click OK to save the interactions and to close the dialog box.
To create the interactions manually:
In the Model Tree, click mouse button 3 on the Interactions container and select Manager from the menu that appears.
The Interaction Manager appears.
From the lower-left corner of the Interaction Manager, click Create.
The Create Interaction dialog box appears.
In the dialog box:
Name the interaction HingePin-hole.
Select Initial from the list of steps.
In the Types for Selected Step list, accept the default selection of Surface-to-surface contact (Standard).
Click Continue.
The Region Selection dialog box appears containing a list of the surfaces that you defined earlier.
Note: If the Region Selection dialog box does not appear automatically, click the Surfaces button on the far right side of the prompt area.
In the Region Selection dialog box, select Pin as the master surface, and click Continue.
From the buttons in the prompt area, select Surface as the slave type.
In the Region Selection dialog box, select Inside-h as the slave surface, and click Continue.
The Edit Interaction dialog box appears.
In the dialog box:
Accept the default Sliding formulation selection of Finite sliding.
Change the discretization method to Node to surface.
Accept the default Slave Adjustment selection of No adjustment.
Accept NoFric as the interaction property. (If more properties were defined, you could click the arrow next to the Contact interaction property field to see the list of available properties and select the property of your choice.)
Click OK to save the interaction and to close the dialog box.
The interaction that you created appears in the Interaction Manager.
Use the same techniques explained in the previous steps to create a similar interaction called HingePin-solid. Use Pin as the master surface, Inside-s as the slave surface, and NoFric as the interaction property.
Create a similar interaction called Flanges. Use Flange-h as the master surface, Flange-s as the slave surface, and NoFric as the interaction property.
From the Interaction Manager, click Dismiss to close the manager.