Understanding Interfaces
In previous releases of Pro/ENGINEER, Mechanica would assume all assembly components mated together or with coincident surfaces should be merged to function as a single body. Users now have the ability to change the default behavior. The Default Interface between assembly components can be set to:
- Bonded: All components that are mated together or with coincident surfaces will be merged. Users who want specific surfaces to remain free of each other or to endure contact forces can assign a free or contact interface respectively.
- Free: All Components are free as individual bodies. Mechanica will not prevent interpenetration between components except along surfaces that have been assigned a contact or bonded interface.
- Contact: Mechanica will create contact regions along all surfaces that meet the separation gap and angle criteria. The surfaces will not be merged, but interpenetration will be prevented and contact forces calculated if the user runs a contact analysis. Surfaces that should be merged should have a bonded interface assigned.
Best Practices
Determining the default interface more appropriate for your model depends largely on how much time you want to spend assigning interfaces. For instance, if most components in the model are bonded together, and only one pair of components have contact between them, then it would be prudent to set the default to bonded and assign contact interfaces where needed. Conversely, if most of the components in the model should have contact interfaces between components, then the default should be set to contact and then bonded interfaces should be assigned where needed.
