Autocad center of gravity

RJ2012

HELLO

Can someone help me locate the center of gravity for my vehicle design? all the parts, dimensions and mass of the parts of the design are known. Is it possible to locate for the COG of it? Thanks!

Jupiter6

The way I always did it in 2D was draw it, REGION it and MASSPROP it. From the massprop, you can drag the figure by the centroid to (0,0).

RJ2012

Hello! Is your method accurate? :) Does the result agree with the calculate/ theoretical ( if theres any) center of gravity? thanks buddy!

AlephZero

It will be as accurate as your CAD model. Most CAD models give a significant underestimate of the total mass of the object, because they don't contain all the "little" components like nuts and bolts that hold the real structure together, the mass of surface finishes like paint, manufacturing tolerances that produce oversized parts, etc.

That type of thing can easily contribute a few percent to the total mass of the real object, and obviously it can change the CG position as well.

RJ2012

Hello AlephZero! thanks for the reply! Do you know a firm (online ) who do modelling and do stuff in AutoCAD, or can you suggest me some readings/ related lit about center of gravity. I keep on looking and looking for different materials for this topic, thank you!

Jupiter6

In 2D, it's more accurate than you'll ever need. Try it out with an oddly shaped piece of cardboard or thin plywood (something with constant thickness). You should be able to balance the cardboard or plywood on a nail at the centroid AutoCAD gives you.