COSMOSMotion allows you to export reaction force results in a form suitable for import by many Finite Element Analysis (FEA) programs, where you can predict the component stresses and deflections.
Most FEA applications require that any forces applied to a Finite Element Model are distributed over the entire geometry; a force at a general 3D location in space is not supported. COSMOSMotion allows you to define the bearing surfaces for entities that produce reaction forces (like joints) and for entities that are in themselves forces (such as Action/Reaction Forces).
All COSMOSMotion entity property dialog boxes contain an FEA tab. On each of these tabs, you can select faces or edges on the part where the entity is attached. These faces and/or edges become the bearing surface for the forces calculated by COSMOSMotion. When the force data is transferred to the FEA application, the forces and moments are distributed onto the selected faces and edges.
You can choose to define the bearing surface at the time you create an entity or at the time you export the results to the FEA application. Once the bearing surface is defined, it is used for subsequent transfers to the FEA application.
To export to FEA:
Place the model in the position you want to analyze. Only one frame of data can be exported to the FEA Application at a time.
Right-click the Motion Model node and select Export FEA or, from the Motion menu, point to Export Results, and then select To FEA. If entities with undefined bearing surfaces exist, the Unassigned Load Entities dialog box appears.
For joints or joint primitives that were generated from SolidWorks mates, select Derive Joint Load Entities from Mates to use the geometry that was originally used to create the mate as the bearing surface for these entities. If the entities listed here are not joints that were created from mates, select the entity and specify the bearing surfaces.
Select Apply after each entity.
Once you've defined all of the bearing surfaces, select OK.
Enter the output file name or select Browse to select a file name. The frame number is appended to the file name specified.
Output the current frame by selecting Save Current Frame, or a range of frames by selecting Save Frame Range. The range is specified using the Start, End, and Step parameters.
When the frames have been output, select Close to close the dialog box.
See the CosmosWorks documentation for information on using the loads.