Creating Initial Velocities

Initial velocities represent the velocities at the nodes throughout a body at the start of an analysis. You can apply knowledgeware techniques to control the value of an initial velocity (for more information, see Applying Knowledgeware).

Initial velocities can be applied in Explicit Dynamics analysis cases. Initial velocities are most often applied to volume or part supports, but you can also apply them to point masses by selecting the associated points/vertices as the supports.

This task shows you how to create an initial velocity on geometry.

  1. Click the Initial Velocity icon .

    The Initial Velocity dialog box appears, and an Initial Velocity object appears in the specification tree under the Fields objects set in the Initialization step.

  2. You can change the identifier of the field by editing the Name field.

  3. Select the geometry support (vertices, volumes, or parts). Any selectable geometry is highlighted when you pass the cursor over it. You can select several supports to apply the field to all supports simultaneously.

    The Supports field is updated to reflect your selection.

  4. Enter the translational velocity components for the selected supports. The translational velocities are associated with the global, rectangular Cartesian axis system.

  5. Right-click on the text field for a translational velocity component to add knowledgeware controls (for more information, see Applying Knowledgeware).

  6. Select a straight edge or arc to define the axis of rotation, and enter the rotational velocity of the selected support about the axis.

  7. Click OK in the Initial Velocity dialog box.

    Symbols representing the applied field are displayed on the geometry.