Learning Forum

[apoerschke]

I am attempting to use AIM to understand the insertion force for a plastic snap fit connector. In the video when the force reaction is initially setup it displays 0.599 N on the displacement face. However the chart shows values on the order of 0.0001 N. Why is there such a big difference? Also both seem to be low compared to reality. I would guess a typical buckle requires >1lb force to insert [4.4 Newton]. Can this method be used to accurately predict the amount of force required to insert a snap fit connector?

[Andrew Stankovich]

apoerschke There does seem to be an issue in the chart that is displayed in the video where it is not showing the sum of the reaction forces, but rather the max elemental reaction force versus pseudo time. If you use a vector result instead of a calculated value and plot the sum of the vectors versus pseudo time you will see the chart reflecting the proper values. As for the magnitude of the insertion force, this value is reasonable for this design. The design only requires about 3N of force to "pinch" the arms of the clip to fit. The coefficient of friction is set to 0.2 so it is reasonable to see an insertion force around 0.6N.