Hello PrePoMax user,
I would like to simulate a rod connected to a clevis bracket through a ball joint. My idea is to replace the ball joint with two rigid body elements with the same coordinate of the reference point and then constraint the translation of the two points together.
Do you know if it is possible to use this method or is there a better approach to my problem?
Thanks
babias
Yes, that should work. Give it a try. How do you want to constrain the translations of the two reference points ?
Thank you for the reply. The problem is that I cannot find a way to constraint the two reference nodes. Tie should not work because it needs two surfaces. Do you know how to do that?
EDIT: Can a rod or a spring with infinite stiffness work?
Equation constraint should work. It’s not available in PrePoMax but you can add it using keywords.
Hi Babias,
A clevis bracket only allows rotation on one axis, right ? (See picture). Just one degree of freedom. The ball joint is completely free to rotate ¿isn’t it?. ¿What is the purpose to connect a Clevis to a ball joint?
Could you post a hand drawing of what you are planning to do? I don’t quite understand what you mean. Are you maybe modeling a Knee?
R.C. Hibbeler
Hi Anys,
No, I am trying to model some components of a suspension system of a car. The components are similar to these ones in the picture:
With clevis bracket I mean a bracket with this shape (maybe the name is not correct):
Its purpose is to sustain, through a screw, the ball joint.
It’s a typical hinge with only 1 rotational degree of freedom. So you should constrain the other two rotational DOFs as well in that simplified model (or include the geometry of the connection and apply contact).
In my example the bracket holds a spherical joint, so all thje 3 rotational DOFs are free.
Ok, then you know what to do to model this in CalculiX.
