FunctionBay Technical Support Site | RecurDyn Contact - Becoming an Experienced User, 1st Episode: 2D / 3D Contact Objects

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RecurDyn Contact

RecurDyn has a great advantage regarding contact objects, which are the most important elements in multi-body dynamic modeling.

Most mechanical systems have contact objects, so it is very important to calculate contact objects quickly and accurately.

This is why contact objects are one of the important elements used to evaluate the performance of dynamics software.

In RecurDyn, you can define contact objects easily and calculate them quickly and accurately. It, also, has a library of various contact objects, allowing you to perform modeling that suits your purpose.

However, first-time RecurDyn users find the various contacts objects to be rather confusing, and have difficulty figuring out which objects to use.

This section explains the characteristics of each contact object and provides tips on which ones to use in which situations.

First, let us introduce 3D and 2D contact objects. Contact objects in RecurDyn can basically be classified as 3D and 2D contact objects.

contact-basic-tip-3dcontact-and-2dcontact

3D Contact

In short, a 3D contact object defines the contact between three-dimensional shapes and a 2D contact object defines the contact between curves.

In most cases, you may need to use 3D contact objects.

The most widely used 3D contact objects are solid contact objects and geo surface contact objects. These two contact objects will be described in more detail in the technology tips that follow. (Primitive 3D contact objects will also be described in more detail in the technology tips that follow.)

2D Contact

Sometimes, the contact between two bodies can be described using the curve-to-curve contact due to a joint. In this case, you can perform a faster analysis using 2D contact objects.

The following model can be expressed using 3D contact objects. However, as the top and bottom bodies do not move in the Z-direction due to the joints, it can also be expressed using the curve-to-curve contact between the bodies. The most widely used 2D contact object is a geo curve contact object.

3D Contact Example Model Download

contact-basic-tip-3dcontact-example

<A Model Expressed with a Solid Contact Object, which is a 3D Contact Object>

2D Contact Example Model Download

<A Model Expressed with a Curve-to-Curve Contact Object, which is a 2D Contact Object>

In summary, RecurDyn contact objects can be classified as 3D and 2D contact objects. A solid contact object is the most widely used 3D contact object. A geo surface contact object is the most widely used 2D contact object.

If you use 2D contact objects for modeling as in the cam model shown above, you can perform the analysis faster.

You may use curve constraints such as PTCV or CVCV as shown in the following FAQ.

How can I reduce the time required to analyze a model that includes contacts (PTCV, CVCV)?

If you want to know more about RecurDyn Contact, please refer to the below articles