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Energy chain cable guide simulation DMU Kinematics

I am designing a system with some linear actuators with a stroke of approximately 1000 mm. I want an energy chain to guide the cables in my simulation. I came across a video on how to do this in Solidworks, however I can't find anything on how to do this in Catia V5.

Here is the video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcNtK8GZY9o

Does anyone know if this is also possible in Catia V5? If yes, can you give me a quick summary which commands I have to use for that.

Thanks in advance!
 
I think a Chain Pattern was used in the SolidWorks video to create and animate the energy chain. I don't think CATIA has a similar capability.

With CATIA you would have to insert each link individually into an assembly and then constrain each link to the next link as well as to the path of the chain. That's a lot of work, and chances are the animation would really be slow. (I think I would just show the first and last link of the chain and fake all the other links)
 
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I think a Chain Pattern was used in the SolidWorks video to create and animate the energy chain. I don't think CATIA has a similar capability.

With CATIA you would have to insert each link individually into an assembly and then constrain each link to the next link as well as to the path of the chain. That's a lot of work, and chances are the animation would really be slow. (I think I would just show the first and last link of the chain and fake all the other links)

Thanks for your reply. I already tried it to do it with each link individually, however I am not able to link each chain to the path of the chain. I am trying to do this while I am in assembly design. I made the path by making a sketch, and exporting it in the generative shape design. After exporting it, I joined the parts of the path. However, when I am in assembly I can't constrain the links of the chain with the path. What am I doing wrong?
 
Is the curve representing the path of the chain is in it's own, unique CATPart file?

And are you using Point-Curve joints for each link to follow the path?

Could you attach a picture, so we can see what you have, please
 
Thanks for your reply. How can I link a chain component to a sketch in assembly design. Should I make 2 axis systems on the chain and link these 2 axis systems with the path that I want to follow. At the moment, I am not able to move it in DMU kinematics, because I have to many command, or I have an overconstrained system. What is the best option to do this? I saw some tutorial on the internet about a chain of a bicycle, however they do not really explain how to do this.
 
chain.jpg

This is what I want. (but then with a longer chain) The bottom part is just fixed. The end of the chain is attached to the bottom part and to the slider. The slider is able to move in the rail of the fixed part. The middle points of the chain links should follow the path I drawed.

If it is possible, I also want to move the path itself, because the curve of the spring should move with 0.5 times the speed of the slider.
 
... How can I link a chain component to a sketch in assembly design. Should I make 2 axis systems on the chain and link these 2 axis systems with the path that I want to follow...

(not sure what you mean by "2 axis system", unless you mean a plane)

Here's how I would define the chain mechanism:

The Joined sketch defining the path should be in it's own CATPart file and instanced in the assembly.

Each chain link should be have a Revolute joint to the next chain link.

Each chain link should have a point, and each point should have a Point-Curve joint to the path

The Path part will have a Sliding joint with the bottom part, and another Sliding joint with the top part.
 
At the moment, I am not able to move it in DMU kinematics, because I have to many command, or I have an overconstrained system. What is the best option to do this?

You might want to make a little assembly of the just the chain parts, and use this assembly to figure out the joints needed to make the chain work.
 
Thanks for your help. It worked.

I found a tutorial on youtube which helped me a lot: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxXwrJc8Q2w&t=160s. I did almost exactly the same as in the video.

The struggle I had was that strange things happened when I tried to move the path alongside the fixed base part. So I made a small square and used this square for the slide movement. After that I fixed the path to the square. This worked for me. So, in the end I had only 2 commands to simulate the complete chain.

So thanks for the help, this Thread can be closed.
 

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