Expressions and Functions for Motion Analysis Forces and Motors
You can use mathematical expressions to define forces or
motor action in a Motion Analysis study. Enter the text for expression
functions in the Expression box
of the Force
or Motor
PropertyManager. You can use only supported
functions when you compose mathematical expressions for motors or
forces.
Expression Function Basics
An expression function is a C-like or FORTRAN-like expression
that returns a single value. You can use any valid combination of simple
constants, operators, results
(for example velocity, acceleration, power, or force plots), and
available supported
functions to compose expressions.
Constants
You can include only integers and real numbers in expressions.
Complex numbers are not supported.
Operators
SolidWorks Motion
includes arithmetic operators with precedence as follows.
|
Symbol: |
Operation: |
Precedence: |
|
** |
Exponentiation |
1 |
|
/ |
Division |
2 |
|
* |
Multiplication |
3 |
|
+/- |
Addition/Subtraction |
4 |
You can include any number of blank spaces in an expression
function. You can include blank spaces to improve the readability of the
function expression. The following are restrictions on using blanks:
SolidWorks
Motion Results
Many of the functions supported
can also use SolidWorks Motion results
as variables.
If you are using a function
that allows the use of a SolidWorks Motion
result as an argument, double-click a result from the list to enter
it in the expression.
You must create a
result before you can use it in an expression.
Limitations
There are some limitations in the definition of functions:
Nesting of functions -
You can nest functions, sub-expressions, or operations for up to ten levels.
For example, FUNCTION = f1(f2(f3(f4))), where f1, f2, f3, f4 are function
sub-expressions, is a syntactically legal function definition. However,
FUNCTION = f1 (f2(... (f11 ) ...) is not a legal definition, since sub-expressions
have been nested eleven levels deep.
Limitations on number of symbols
in a function expression - Do not use more than 1,000 symbols in
an expression. This includes operators, brackets, functions, and numbers.
Limitations on number of elements
to which a function can refer - Do not define a function that depends
on more than 25 standard elements of each type. All expressions you create
must depend on at most 25 parts, 25 forces, and so on.