Box

There are three ways in which a box graphic (or cuboid) can be defined based on the location of the graphic reference frame about which the graphic is being created. The dimensions for the graphic are also specified using this reference frame.

The figure below shows the various box graphic options and settings that are available in MotionView:

Figure 1.

1. If the Graphics panel is not currently displayed, select the desired graphic by clicking on it in the Project Browser or in the modeling window.
   The Graphics panel is automatically displayed.
2. From the Connectivity tab, use the Type drop-down menu to select a type for the box graphic.

   Option	Description
   Center	The center box graphic has its origin of the reference frame about which the box is defined located at the geometrical center of the box.
   Corner	The corner box graphic has the origin of the reference frame located at any one of the eight corners of the box.
   Face Center	The face center box graphic has its origin located at the center of one of the faces.

   Note: If the selected graphic is a pair entity, first distinguish between the Left and Right tabs in the panel, and then edit the properties. When defining a pair graphic, use pair entities for Body, Origin, etc.
3. Click the Body collector and select a body from the modeling window, or double click the Body collector to open the Model Tree (from which the desired body can be selected).
4. Click the Point collector (under Origin) and select a point from the modeling window, or double click the Point collector to open the Model Tree (from which the desired point can be selected).
5. Use the orientation options to orient the coordinate system.
6. Define the graphic properties.
   1. Click the Properties tab.
   2. Enter the dimensions of the box graphic by providing values for LengthX, LengthY, and LengthZ.
      In the case of a face center box, LengthZ is automatically determined by the distance between the origin and reference point for the Z axis (the two points that define the Z axis of the reference frame).
   3. Select the material property to be associated with the graphic.
   Tip:

   • Activating the Material inside check box sets the normals such that the graphic will act like a solid object. For contacts outside of the box, activate on this option. If the contact is to be detected from inside the box, deactivate this option.
   • The refinement level sets the mesh coarseness level for MotionView. MotionView will use a tessellation scheme to represent the graphic object during solution.
7. Click the Inertia Properties tab and review the mass and center of mass coordinates for the graphic.