Chain Animation in SolidWorks

As all of you know that I have created videos showing how to create a chain animation in Autodesk Inventor in the past and now a days working on SolidWorks and exploring its designing capabilities as well as my learning capacity with the aforesaid software. So I searched and found a popular similar looking animation done with SolidWorks.. I gave away it a try but I think my workstation is not much faster to run the final animation. It was not so smooth… hopefully in future I would be able to run this animation in my own way and make a simplified video so every body can understand when I get time…..

I am adding video transcription here so the people who are watching it may get some help by me in the meanwhile…….

 

Video Transcription

1. Here is video how to create an animated chain in SolidWorks.
2. The chain itself is just one single part.
3. It is based upon a layout sketch.
4. Here I have created some sketch entities and converted into spline using fit spline command.
5. Then creating the chain link using the sketch block so it is easy to move around it and attaching the centre line to the this path.
6. Then in couple of features make a more realistic link.
7. And create a second link also using the sketch block attaching the centre line to the first link and also to the path.
8. And then create the second link with given other features.
9. Then using a curve driven pattern with this first link it’s a body, and remember to uncheck the merge result for the second link so we have two or several multi bodies.
10. And create the second curve driven pattern with a second link and that is because it will take to corner in a much better way.
11. Then we move the chain into an assembly.
12. Create a new part as a block and supress everything but the sketch path.
13. Attach this block using the path mate.
14. Here use the percentage and one edge is only needed.
15. And then in the animation create it to from 0 to 100 percent.
16. Here is a 5 second animation and test that block will move around in a smooth speed around this path.
17. And that’s it now it can attach to first link going through to sketch and using sketch relation to this block the vertex the edge is here should be attached to the first link that will push around the chain link around the path.
18. And that’s it now we can unsuppress everything and the chain will update on the position of this cube the help geometry.
19. We also add some chain wheels using tool box and also adjust their position so it will start in between wheels.
20. Some dimensions to look out for, do this before this animation is to check some dimension about the distance from the chain into the centre and measure using centre to centre that distance and also the distance between the links from the chain wheel that is the another dimension to look out for.
21. And that basically it …..attached so everything will rotate the chain wheels and also attaching a motor with a correct speed of the chain and just saved animation I often between 30 to 50 frames per second for a smooth animation and that’s it.
22. And now the chain will update and you have a realistic chain animation.

The newly created new animation on chain by us can be watched on following link….

Chain-Inventor Studio (Upgraded Design) - Autodesk Inventor 2013

Nisheeth Srivastava…