Mass Properties

Mass property calculation was one of the first features implemented in CAD/CAM systems.

Curve length
Cross-sectional area Centroid of a cross-sectional area Surface area Centroid of a surface area Volume Centroid of a volume

Mass
Center of mass First moment of inertia Second moment of inertia Products of inertia

Ken Youssefi

Mechanical Engineering dept.

Transformations - Translation
Geometric transformations are used in modeling and viewing models. Typical CAD operations such as Rotate, Mirror, zoom, Offset, Pattern, Revolve, Extrude, are all based on geometric transformations.
Translation all points move an equal distance in a given direction.

P* = P + d x* = x + dx y* = y + dy z* = z + dz

Ken Youssefi

Mechanical Engineering dept.

Transformations - Rotation
Rotation This operation requires an entity, a center of rotation, and axis of rotation Rewriting in a matrix form x* y* = z*
cos() -sin() sin() cos()

0 0 1

x y z

P* = [ Rz] P 1 0 0 0
cos() -sin() sin() cos() sin()

[ Rx] =

Point P rotates about the z axis x* = x cos() y sin() y* = x sin() + y scos() z* = z

Ken Youssefi Mechanical Engineering dept.

cos() 0

[ Ry] =

1 -sin() 0

0
cos()

P* = [ R] P
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Curve Length
Consider the curve connecting two points P1 and P2 in space.

The exact length of a curve bounded by the parametric values u1 and u2, it applies to open and closed curves.
Ken Youssefi Mechanical Engineering dept.

Cross-Sectional Area
A cross-sectional area is a planar region bounded by a closed boundary. The boundary is piecewise continuous To calculate the area A of the region R, consider the area of element dA of sides dxL and dyL. Integrate over the region.

The centroid of the region is located by vector rc.

The length of the contour is given by the sum of the lengths of C1, C2,..Cn.
Ken Youssefi Mechanical Engineering dept.

Surface Area
The surface area As of a bounded surface is formulated the same as the crosssectional area. The major difference is that As is not planar in general as in the case of B-spline or Bezier surfaces.

For objects with multiple surfaces, the total surface area is equal to the sum of its individual surfaces.

Ken Youssefi

Mechanical Engineering dept.

Volume
The volume can be expressed as a triple integral by integrating the volume element dV

The centroid of the object is located by the vector rc.

The volume Vm of a multiply connected object with holes is given by,

Ken Youssefi

Mechanical Engineering dept.

Mass

Mass & Centroid

The mass of an object can be formulated the same as its volume by introducing the density.

dm = dV
Integrating over the distributed mass of the object,

m=

dV
m

Assuming the density remains constant through out the object we have,

m= Centroid

dV = V
V

Same formulation as for volume, replace volume by mass.

Ken Youssefi

rc=

r dm
m

m
8

Mechanical Engineering dept.

First Moment of Inertia

First moment of an area, mass, or volume is a mathematical property that is useful in various calculations. For a lumped mass, the first moment of the mass about a given plane is equal to the product of the mass and its perpendicular distance from the plane. So the first moment of a distributed mass of an object with respect to the XY, XZ, and YZ planes are given,

Substituting the centroid equation, we obtain,

Ken Youssefi

Mechanical Engineering dept.

Second Moments of Inertia

The physical interpretation of a second mass moment of inertia of an object about an axis is that it represents the resistance of the object to any rotation, or angular acceleration, about the axis. The area moment of inertia represents the ability of the object to resist deformation.

The second moment of inertia about a given axis is the product of the mass and the square of the perpendicular distance between the mass and the axis.
Ken Youssefi Mechanical Engineering dept.

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Products of Inertia
In some applications of mechanical or structural design it is necessary to know the orientation of those axis that give the maximum and minimum moments of inertia for the area. To determine that, we need to find the product of inertia for the area as well as its moments of inertia about x, y, and z axes.

Ken Youssefi

Mechanical Engineering dept.

11

Mass Properties CAD/CAM Systems

CAD systems typically calculate the mass properties discussed so far. Even a 2D package (AutoCAD) calculates some of the mass properties. You are responsible for setting up the correct and units for length, angles and density

SolidWorks

Determine the mass properties

Ken Youssefi Mechanical Engineering dept.

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Mass Properties - SolidWorks

Option button allows you to set the proper units

Ken Youssefi

Mechanical Engineering dept.

13

Mass Properties Unigraphics NX5

Calculates volume, surface area, circumference, mass, radius of gyration, weight, moments of area, principal moment of inertia, product of inertia, and principal axes.

2D Analysis Calculates and displays geometric properties of planar figures. This function analyzes figures after projecting them onto the XC-YC plane (the work plane). True lengths, areas, etc., are obtained.

Ken Youssefi

Mechanical Engineering dept.

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Mass Properties Unigraphics NX5

Calculates principal moment of inertia, circumference, are and center of gravity of Sections. Primarily, used for automotive body design.
Ken Youssefi Mechanical Engineering dept.

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Mass Properties Unigraphics NX5

When the software analyzes the selected bodies, the information window displays the analysis data. The following table provides a brief explanation of the information.
Area/Volume/Mass Obtains the total face area, volume and mass of a 3D object.

Centroid/1st Mom
Moments of Inertia Products of Inertia Principal Axes/Moments

Obtains the center of mass, or Centroid.

Obtains the moment of inertia for certain 3D objects of uniform density about specified axes. The Products of Inertia, along with the Moments of Inertia, form the inertia tensor, and are important in rotational dynamics. The Principal Axes/Moments is an orthogonal system of three axes through the center of mass such that the three products of inertia relative to the system are all zero. Calculates the radius of gyration. Displays the calculated data for all of the Mass Properties options previously discussed in the Information window.

Radius of Gyration Information

Relative Errors

Are estimates of the relative tolerances achieved in calculating the mass properties. Often the relative errors are less than the specified relative tolerances, indicating that the mass property values are correct to within tighter tolerances than those specified. If only a single accuracy value is specified, then +/Range Errors are given.
Mechanical Engineering dept.

Ken Youssefi

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Mass Properties Unigraphics NX5

Measure Bodies

Output

Ken Youssefi

Mechanical Engineering dept.

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