Contacts Panel

The Contacts panel allows you to specify the attributes of a contact force between two bodies. Each body is represented by a set of graphics entities. The graphics entities could be a point, a set of curves, or the outer surfaces of the bodies depending on the type of contact that is chosen.

To add a Contact, right-click the icon on the toolbar.

add_contact_dialog_mv

From the Add Contact dialog, select a Contact type from the drop-down menu (3D RigidToRigidContact, 2D RigidToRigidContact, or PointToDeformableSurfaceContact), and click OK.

The corresponding Contacts panel is displayed.

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Contacts panel - 3D Rigid to Rigid Contact

contacts_panel_2d_rigid_to_rigid_mv

Contacts panel - 2D Rigid to Rigid Contact

contacts_panel_pointtodeformablesurface_mv

Contacts panel - Point to Deformable Surface Contact

The Contacts panel contains the following contact types:

3D Rigid to Rigid Contact	Use this type of contact to capture contact forces between rigid bodies moving relative to each other in a 3D frame.
2D Rigid to Rigid Contact	Use this type of contact to capture contact forces between rigid bodies moving relative to each other in a 2D plane.
Point to Deformable Surface Contact	Use this type of contact to capture contact forces between a deformable surface and a sphere of radius (r), where the sphere belongs to a second body. Flexbody to flexbody or flexbody to rigid body contact can be modeled by creating many of these entities where the set of spheres represent a discretization of the second body’s outer surface.