Unknown force

Use Unknown Force to calculate the required force, torque, or jack to keep a mechanism in static equilibrium for a given position. All the external influences (gravity, spring, external or joint forces, and so on) are considered. This function finds the unknown force for kinematic chains with one degree of mobility.

It is possible to study a succession of positions by driving a degree of freedom of one of the mechanism joints and by giving the number of positions.

Access:

Ribbon: Dynamic Simulation tab Results panel Unknown Force

Force or Torque or Jack	Specifies the appropriate unknown force type.
Location one	For a force or torque, indicates the application point. For a jack, indicates the first application point.
Location two	For a jack, indicates the second application point. Available only for a jack.
	Flips the direction of the force or torque vector as displayed in the graphics window.
	Fixes the load direction.
	Sets the load direction to vary according to the movement of the part with the application point, that is, to be an associative load.
Kinematics	Displays information about the degree of freedom you want to drive to have a succession of static equilibriums.
Joint	Specifies the joint you want to drive. If you choose a joint with multiple degrees of freedom, the Degree of freedom field is enabled.
Initial position	Displays the initial position of the selected degree of freedom and joint. You cannot change the value in this box.
Final position	Sets the final position of the selected degree of freedom you want to drive and the associated joint.
Degree of freedom	If you select a joint with several degrees of freedom, sets the degree of freedom you want to drive. For example, if you choose a planar joint as the joint you want to drive, choose among the following degrees of freedom: 1 (R), 2 (T), 3 (T).
# of steps	Adjusts the number of intermediary positions. The default is 100.
(More)	Displays additional properties. These properties affect only the appearance of the force or torque vector in the graphics window.
Display	Displays the force, torque, or jack vector in the graphics window and enables the Scale and Color parameters.
Scale	Sets the scale of the vector. Use this option to make all of the vector visible in the graphics window. The default is 0.01.
Color	Opens the Microsoft Color dialog box so that you can select a color for the vector.