Setting a Mechanism's Nominal Position

You can specify that the configuration of the mechanism at the end of the simulation should be saved as the permanent configuration of the model.

When you create an assembly, you are defining the original—or nominal—configuration of the model. For mechanisms the nominal configuration is based on the engineering connections in the model. In particular, the values assigned to controlled constraints in an engineering connection determine the relative distance or angle between two components of the model.

When you simulate a mechanism, you are changing the values for the controlled constraints. The options in the Apply to Nominal toolbar control whether or not these changes are permanent:

  • Transient Mode: In transient mode the changes to the controlled constraints are not permanent. The mechanism returns to its original configuration when you finish reviewing the simulation.
  • Nominal Mode: In nominal mode the changes to the controlled constraints are permanent. The configuration of the mechanism at the end of the simulation is stored as the new nominal configuration of the model.

You must select the appropriate mode before closing the Simulation Player. If you select Nominal Mode, you must subsequently perform a PLM Update to update the affected engineering connections with the new controlled constraint values.

Important: If you selected Nominal Mode, the final configuration of the mechanism is kept at the end of the simulation. However, after you perform a PLM Update, the configuration of the model's components can be modified. The PLM Update process updates the entire product, thus taking into account the changes to the controlled constraints as well as the synchronization of other contextual links that can affect the configuration (position and shape) of the product's components involved in the mechanism.

You cannot modify the nominal position of mechanisms defined on subproducts in the specification tree. Therefore, the Nominal Mode is not available in the following situations:

  • The current mechanism is not under the root prouct in the specification tree.
  • The current mechanism contains a positional mechanical reference (PMR) with controlled constraints.

Warning: If several mechanisms include the same engineering connection, changing the nominal position of this connection in one mechanism also changes the nominal position of the other mechanisms.