COUPLER

Bulk Data Entry Defines a coupler connecting two or three joints.

Format

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10)
COUPLER COID JID1 TYPE1 RATIO1 JID2 TYPE2 RATIO2    
  JID3 TYPE3 RATIO3            

Example

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9) (10)
COUPLER 3 1 T 2.0 4 R 1.0    

Definitions

Field Contents SI Unit Example
COID Unique coupler identification number.

(Integer > 0)

  
JIDi Joint identification numbers.

No default (Integer > 0)

  
TYPEi Type. 3
TRA
Translational motion
ROT
Rotational motion

No default

  
RATIOi Coefficients of the coupler constraint equation.

Default = 1.0 (Real)

  

Comments

  1. COUPLERs are only valid in a multibody solution sequence.
  2. At least JID1 and JID2 need to be defined.
  3. The type is optional, if the Joint is revolute or translation; but if the joint is cylindrical, the type should be set to TRA to denote that the translational motion is coupled or ROT to specify that the rotational motion is coupled.