9

Spring Dynamics Object 401
End Point Method group
Fr ee Spring —Choosethiswhenusingthespringas
a simple object that’s n ot b ound to other objects or
used in a dynamics simulation.
Bound to Object Pivots—Choose this when binding
the spring to two objects, using the buttons
described next.
Binding Objects group
Use these controls to pick the objects to which the
spring is bound . "Top" and "Bottom" are arbitrary
descriptors; the two bound objects can have any
positional relationship to each other. To complete
the binding, select two binding objects, and then
click Bound to Object Pivots.
Each end p oint of the spring is defined by the
center of the overall diameter and the center of the
wire. Thisendpointisplacedatthepivotpoint
of the object to which it is bound. You can adjust
therelativepositionofthebindingobjecttothe
spring by tr ansforming the binding object while
theAffectObjectOnlybuttonisturnedoninthe
Hierarchy > Pivot panel.
Top (label)—Displaysthenameofthe"top"binding
object.
Pick Top Object—Click t his button a nd then select
the "top" object.
B ottom (la bel)—Displaysthenameofthe"bottom"
binding object.
Pick Bottom Object—Click this button and then
select the "bottom" object.
Free Spring Parameters group
Height—Use this field/spinner to set the
straight-line height or leng th of the spring when it
isnotbound.Thisisnottheactuallengthofthe
spring’s wire.
Common Spring Parameters g roup
Diameter—The overall diameter of the spring, as
measured at the center of the wire. (The diameter
of the wire itself has no effect on this setting.)
Tu rns—The number of full 360-degree turns in
the spring.
CCW/CW—Specifies whether the coils of the spring
arecounterclockwise(CCW)orclockwise(CW).
Automatic S egments—Choose this option to force
each turn of the spring to contains the same
number of seg m ents, as specified in the Segs/Turn
spinner. Thus, if you increase the number of turns,
the number of segments also increases.
Segs/Tur n—This spinner lets you specif y the
number of seg ments in each 360-degree turn of
the spring.
Manual Segments—When this option is chosen,
the length of the spring contains a fixed number of
segments, no matter how many turns i n t he spring.
Thus, a s you increase t he number of tur ns, you
must manually increase the number of segments
to maintain a smooth curve.