Calculate the Mass of an Assembly

General

  • You can calculate the mass and moments of inertia for an assembly model with the Mass function.
  • You can calculate the mass of all parts or only visible parts from the model.
    • If you calculate the total weight of all parts visible in the model, mass is also calculated for those parts that are not collected on the assembly's parts list.
  • When calculating the weight of an assembly, the so-called non-modeled parts (extra parts) are not taken into account.
  • After the calculation, the center of gravity mark is added to the model, which is also visible in the model's feature tree under the item Configurations:
    • Gravity center followed by the weight of the model.
  • You can hide and show the gravity center of the model by pressing the G key, which also hides all other auxiliary geometry (e.g. guide lines, auxiliary planes and cross-sections).
  • In a drawing, you can get the gravity center symbol for the projection you want by selecting the projection and the function Properties and selecting Gravity center.
  • The text of the gravity center symbol in the feature tree turns red when the weight calculation needs to be updated.
  • Zoom to the gravity center symbol by selecting Gravity center from the feature tree and select the context-sensitive function Zoom or press the Z key.

Basics of Assembly Model Mass Calculation

The weight calculation of an assembly model is based on:
  • The weight of the items of the archived part and subassembly models, if they have been transferred to the item database d_COMPONENTS.
  • The weight calculation of local parts (e.g. profiles) and parts whose items have not been transferred to the item database is based on their volume and default density, which is the density of steel, i.e. 7850 kg/m3.
  • The default density of the main raw material used by the company can be set in File > System Preferences > Mechanical Engineering > Mechanical tab, in the field Density.
    • Note that this setting affects all workstations using the same server.
  • If Vertex G4 is connected to the product data management system Vertex Flow, the mass calculation gets its data from the item structure in Flow.

Calculate the Mass of an Assembly Model

  1. Select the function Mass or
    • select the context-sensitive function Other Exports > Mass Calculation.
    • The program opens the dialog box Mass Calculation.
  2. Select the options for mass calculation.
  3. Click Apply to perform the calculation.
    • The program calculates the weight of parts and subassemblies, and the total weight of the assembly, and lists them in dialog box.
  4. If necessary, you can copy the result of the calculation by painting the result and using the function pair Copy - Paste.
  5. Click OK to exit the calculation .

Calculation results

The result of the calculation is saved in the model and displayed
  • In the feature tree after the Configurations section: Gravity center XXX kg.
  • In the archive data of the assembly model.
  • In the archive data of the assembly drawing.

The program calculates the location of the gravity center in relation to the absolute origin point of the model, unless the measuring point of the gravity center is separately selected from the model with the mass calculation function Click Origin Point.

You can also update the result of the calculation by selecting Gravity center in the feature tree and the context-sensitive function Refresh.