Creating Combined Masses

This task shows you how to create a combined mass. A combined mass is a linear combination of existing masses.
A combined mass is created under an existing mass set.

You can reuse combined mass specifications in several computation cases.

Only available with the ELFINI Structural Analysis (EST) product.

Open the sample14_1.CATAnalysis document from the samples directory.

  1. Click Combined Masses in the Masses toolbar.

    The Combined Masses dialog box appears.

    • Name: lets you modify the name of the combined masses.

    • Analysis Sets: lets you select the mass set you want to combine. This field gives you the total number of selected mass sets.

      • You cannot select a mass set belonging to the current case (the current case is the one in which you create the combined masses).

      • You cannot select a mass set belonging to a sub analysis in the case of an analysis assembly.
        To do this, you have to create an assembled mass and then create the combined mass by selecting the assembled mass.

      To select a mass set, you can either select it directly in the specification tree or you can use the Edit > Search... menu.

      • Index: gives you the identification number of the selected mass set.

      • Selected Masses: gives you the name of the selected masses.

      • Coefficient: lets you associate a coefficient to the selected masses.
        You can edit the Coefficient value using the Edit Coefficient contextual menu.

        • You can change the coefficient value of several lines.
          To do this, multi select the desired lines in the dialog box, right-click and select Edit Coefficient.
        • You can also directly edit the coefficient value.
          To do this, select the desired line, click the Coefficient value, modify the value. and press Enter.
        • You can enter a negative coefficient.

      • Path: gives you the path of the selected masses.
        You can hide or show the path of the selected mass set using the Show Path contextual menu.

  2. Select in sequence the masses you want to combine.

    In this particular example, select:

    • Masses.1 set under the first Frequency Case

    • Masses.2 set under the second Frequency Case.

  3. Select the first line in the dialog box.

    When you select one or several lines, the number of selected lines appears in the dialog box.

  4. Right-click the selected line.

    You can access the following contextual menus:

    • Edit Coefficient: lets you modify the combination coefficient of the selected mass set.

    • Delete: lets you delete the selected line from the list.

    • Delete All: lets you delete all the content of the list.

    • Show Path: lets you hide or show the path of the selected mass set.

  5. Select Edit Coefficient.

    The Parameter dialog box appears.

  6. Enter 3 and click OK.

  7. Select the second line, right-click it and select Edit Coefficient.

  8. Enter 2 and click OK.

    The Combined Masses dialog box is updated:

  9. Click OK.

    A Combined Masses.1 object appears in the specification tree.