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Chain
wayne_sauder
Member, csevp Posts: 546 PRO
in General
I know the subject of chains has been discussed in-depth on the forum and I think I hunted up all the posts related to it. I am wondering if anyone could give me any ideas on ways to simplify this to get better performance? https://cad.onshape.com/documents/b289e23ee832231bdd4a4708/w/7f41f4cdb4df01f33d333bee/e/4be86dd71f7768dd214c69d8
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- Curve pattern in a part studio and make a composite part. This is easiest to make, but it's not accurate in the BOM for the number of chain links, can have lower performance (since you have a bunch of individual parts in a trench coat masquerading as one part), and the chain links don't quite have lined up pins because of where the curve pattern instances the parts.
- Use linear and circular patterns to precisely pattern the chain links around and between sprockets, using one last fastened mate at each sprocket to make sure the links go off in the correct direction to the next sprocket. This is a lot more work than the curve pattern, but the result has an accurate BOM, the assembly may load slightly faster, and you'll know exactly how many turns to tighten your tensioner before you put the whole thing together.
- Model it as a single solid that looks like a narrow and thick belt. This doesn't give any visual accuracy, but it's good enough for checking for appropriate clearances, is very easy to do, and is generally good enough from a functionality standpoint.
For changing the position of the chain, I use configurations for all three methods (either driving changes in the pattern/extrude sketch or in the number of pattern instances in various places). Hopefully, there will be a chain pattern like there is in SolidWorks at some point!Hope this helps!
@alnis is my personal account. @alnis_ptc is my official PTC account.
If you’re at all interested in simulating chain movement — and I want to emphasize simulate — because there was some optical illusion going on (I believe that’s what John called it), then you need to see what John McClary did.
@john_mcclary — HELP ! Where is that post
I'm sure if I had more patience it could be done. But I did the animation illusion instead of an actual chain animation for performance reasons.
If you need to animate other things along side that then you need to use reference parts and relations like I did with the rubiks cube example.
If you do that then you should be able to simulate the chain simultaneously with your sprockets and packages.. But Onshape is not built for complex animation. So you would be better off exporting to another system with a more sophisticated animation tool, like solidworks or possibly fusion?? Not sure really, I only ever animated models with solidworks before.
Maybe one day Onshape will have better built-in animation tools
@russell_gililland, that would be awesome.
While we wait, here is a hybrid solution of real links + the animation illusion.
For the animation to work:
- The chain needs to travel at least one link
- Set the animation to loop
- Set the animation start and stop to line up with your sprocket ratio
- Set the speed to be fast (around 7 steps or so) to make it appear seamless. For this to really be seamless you would need to use a tangent path guide, however I wanted to stick with actual links for this studio
https://cad.onshape.com/documents/713f282c6a0c9a8e90b0ac19/w/f72fa6bbdf5cfa0f320837b5/e/472428fc9d95e354784d8a24?renderMode=0&uiState=63b44df015b392361559d1f6Learn more about the Gospel of Christ ( Here )
CADSharp - We make custom features and integrated Onshape apps! cadsharp.com/featurescripts 💎
It's ok if you just want to show the chain move, but if there are other actions, then that trick becomes obsolete
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMy4j_LYuYo