
Multibody Modeling Workflow
Assemble Multib
ody Model
Once you have cre
ated the rigid body subsystems, you can assemble the
subsystems into
a mechanism or machine. In a m echanism or machine, joints
and constraint
s provide well-defined degrees of freedom that constrain rigid
body motion. Tw
o types of motion are po ssible:
• Rotation abou
toneormoreaxes
• Translation a
longoneormoreaxes
Connect Joints
To assemble
rigid b ody subsystems into complete multibody systems, connect
the with joi
nts. SimMechanics provides a library with fourteen joint blocks.
Each block p
rovides a different number and/or type of mechanical degrees o f
freedom. E
xactly two rigid body fram es connect to each joint, with each frame
belonging
to a different rigid body.
Joints ar
e com po sed of joint primitives — elementary joints that you can
combine t
o create more complex joints. SimMechanics contains three joint
primitiv
es:
• Prismat
ic — one translational degree of freedom along an axis
• Revolut
e — one rotational degree of freedom about an axis
• Spheri
cal — three concurrent degrees of freedom about three axes
The fol
lowing table identifies the joint primitives associated with each joint.
Prismatic Primitives
0
1
23
0
Weld Joint Prismatic
Joint
Rectangular
Joint
Cart
esian
Joi
nt
1
Revolute
Joint
Cyl
indrical
Joi
nt
Planar
Joint
—
Revolute
Primitives
1-21
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