MASSPROP (Command)

Calculates and displays the mass properties of selected regions or 3D solids.

Find

Regions

The following table shows the mass properties that are displayed for all regions.

Mass properties for all regions
Mass property	Description
Area	The surface area of 3D solids or the enclosed area of regions.
Perimeter	The total length of the inside and outside loops of a region. The perimeter of a 3D solid is not calculated.
Bounding box	The two coordinates that define the bounding box. For regions that are coplanar with the XY plane of the current user coordinate system, the bounding box is defined by the diagonally opposite corners of a rectangle that encloses the region. For regions that are not coplanar with the XY plane of the current UCS, the bounding box is defined by the diagonally opposite corners of a 3D box that encloses the region.
Centroid	A 2D or 3D coordinate that is the center of area for regions. For regions that are coplanar with the XY plane of the current UCS, this coordinate is a 2D point. For regions that are not coplanar with the XY plane of the current UCS, this coordinate is a 3D point.

If the regions are coplanar with the XY plane of the current UCS, the additional properties shown in the following table are displayed.

Additional mass properties for coplanar regions
Mass property	Description
Moments of inertia	A value used when computing the distributed loads, such as fluid pressure on a plate, or when calculating the forces inside a bending or twisting beam. The formula for determining area moments of inertia is area_moments_of_inertia = area_of_interest * radius 2 The area moments of inertia has units of distance to the fourth power.
Products of inertia	Property used to determine the forces causing the motion of an object. It is always calculated with respect to two orthogonal planes. The formula for product of inertia for the YZ plane and XZ plane is product_of_inertia YZ,XZ = mass * centroid_to_YZ * dist centroid_to_XZ This XY value is expressed in mass units times the length squared.
Radii of gyration	Another way of indicating the moments of inertia of a 3D solid. The formula for the radii of gyration is gyration_radii = (moments_of_ inertia/body_mass) 1/2 Radii of gyration are expressed in distance units.
Principal moments and X,Y,Z directions about centroid	Calculations that are derived from the products of inertia and that have the same unit values. The moment of inertia is highest through a certain axis at the centroid of an object. The moment of inertia is lowest through the second axis that is normal to the first axis and that also passes through the centroid. A third value included in the results is somewhere between the high and low values.

3D Solids

The following table shows the mass properties that are displayed for 3D solids.

Mass properties for solids
Mass property	Description
Mass	The measure of inertia of a body. The density is always a value of 1.00, so the mass and volume have the same value.
Volume	The amount of 3D space that a solid encloses.
Bounding box	The diagonally opposite corners of a 3D box that encloses the solid.
Centroid	A 3D point that is the center of mass for solids. A solid of uniform density is assumed.
Moments of inertia	The mass moments of inertia, which is used when computing the force required to rotate an object about a given axis, such as a wheel rotating about an axle. The formula for mass moments of inertia is mass_moments_of_inertia = object_mass * radius axis 2 Mass moments of inertia unit is mass (grams or slugs) times the distance squared.
Products of inertia	Property used to determine the forces causing the motion of an object. It is always calculated with respect to two orthogonal planes. The formula for product of inertia for the YZ plane and XZ plane is product_of_inertia YZ,XZ = mass * dist centroid_to_YZ * dist centroid_to_XZ This XY value is expressed in mass units times the length squared.
Radii of gyration	Another way of indicating the moments of inertia of a solid. The formula for the radii of gyration is gyration_radii = (moments_of_inertia/body_mass) 1/2 Radii of gyration are expressed in distance units.
Principal moments and X,Y,Z directions about centroid	Calculations that are derived from the products of inertia and that have the same unit values. The moment of inertia is highest through a certain axis at the centroid of an object. The moment of inertia is lowest through the second axis that is normal to the first axis and that also passes through the centroid. A third value included in the results is somewhere between the high and low values.

The following prompts are displayed.

Select objects

Use an object selection method to select either regions or 3D solids for analysis. If you select multiple regions, only those that are coplanar with the first selected region are accepted.

Write analysis to a file

Specify whether you want to save the mass properties to a text file. By default, the text file uses a .mpr file extension.