Nonlinear passive elements in Simscape Multibody

Hello,

I am working on a project which requires to model nonlinear spring and damper. I am using Simscape Multibody. Is there any way to connect nonlinear passive elements to cylindrical joint ? Or is there any other way at all ?

Thanks in advance

Answer 1

[Athul Prakash]

Hi Jakub,

I understand that you want to use a non-linear spring or damper in a multibody project.

There is no non-linear spring or damper in Simscape Multibody at this time, so here are a couple of things you can try:

1) Get it from Foundation Library and Interface it:

• Both non-linear spring and non-linear damper are available in Simscape > Foundation Library > Mechanical > Translational.
• These elements can’t be connected directly to Cylindrical Joint, you need to make an interface block in between.

• Refer to this Documentation page on how to interface between two domains:

https://www.mathworks.com/help/physmod/sm/mech/ug/combining-one-and-three-dimensional-mechanical-elements.html

• You can also find a similar example of interfacing in the Joint Limits and Friction Methods in a Hinge model (linked below), in the Simscape Multibody Multiphysics Library.

https://ww2.mathworks.cn/matlabcentral/mlc-downloads/downloads/e58f7056-4a80-11e4-9553-005056977bd0/ed48773f-ff83-48c0-8e06-7add7737c2e2/previews/Simscape_Multibody_Multiphysics_R17a/Examples/Hinge/html/html/sm_ssci_hinge_hardstop.html

(I’m referring to method-1 of that example.)

2) Build a custom Simscape Block

• Simscape lets you make your own custom blocks for such cases. The Documentation page linked below can guide you in doing so:

https://www.mathworks.com/help/physmod/simscape/customization.html?s_tid=CRUX_lftnav

Good Luck.