How to get mass information (mass, cog and inertias) from a CAD model with a free tool?
Hi all,
Happy 2019 everyone!
I'd like to get the mass information from a CAD model, say a step model, namely the mass (kg), centre of gravity position (m) and the three moments of inertia (kg.m²) at the cog.
I used to work with Femap and this is quite strait forward. I don't have access to this tool any more unfortunately.
I've tried with the free version of e-drawings but the mass information tool seems to be disabled in my free version.
In FreeCAD, I couldn't find a tool to do that.
Does anyone know how to get that information in an easy manner with a free/open software?
Thanks in advance,
Best regards,
Nicolas G.
3 Answers
Hi Nicolas,
I'm not sure of any free software that will supply you with this information, but if you are able to share your data, along with the materials Density, I could provide you with the answers. Assuming this isn't for a Homework question ;-)
SOLIDWORKS will do all that without any problem, and you can get a free one year license: https://grabcad.com/questions/who-wants-a-free-one-year-license-of-solidworks
A free program like MeshLab can do most of that, but I'm not sure if it imports Step files. Mesh lab is geared more towards meshes like stl files.
But, with MeshLab, you can easily get the volume of the part. From there you can calculate the mass (assuming you know the density).
Meshlab will also identify the center of gravity.
I'm not sure about moments of inertia in MeshLab.
FREECAD - Its no a huge learning curve and you will be surprise by what you can achieve with it - and it is free
