Creating a Spring (Tutorial)

Creating a Spring

1) Select a single straight edge that you want to make into a spring.

2) Click 'Create Spring' on the spring toolbar to use the spring tool. If you do not see this toolbar, go to View > Toolbars and make sure that 'Spring' is checked.

3) You should now see a window like the one below. You can change the settings using the boxes.

Radius - The total radius of the spring to create. Enter a value followed by a unit (e.g. 5.5m, 50cm, or 7")*.

Spring Thickness - The diameter of the material. Enter a value followed by a unit (e.g. 5.5m, 50cm, or 7")*.

No. of Windings - The number of turns along the length of the spring. Enter an integer value.

Smoothing - How smooth to make the spring, from very low to very high. More smoothed springs take longer to make and can slow down your system.

Delete Centre Line - Specifies if the line you originally selected should be kept or deleted.

4) Click 'Create' to make the spring according to your settings.

4) Use the Paint Bucket Tool to apply a colour to your new spring.

Note: When you create a stretched spring that is not parallel to one of the model axes, its cross-section may be warped slightly. To avoid this, make stretched springs parallel to the model axes and rotate them into position.

Examining Existing Springs

1) Select a spring group to view the properties of.

2) Click 'Get Spring Attributes' on the spring toolbar.

3) A dialog box like the one below will then display key properties of the selected spring.

*Valid units are ',",m,mm and cm.

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