Contact Model Assignment Table (CMAT)

The Contact Model Assignment Table (CMAT) controls the assignment of contact models and their associated properties to newly created contacts and also provides the detection distances used by the contact-creation procedure. The CMAT consists of an ordered set of slots (populated with cmat add command) along with a default slot for each contact type (set with the cmat default command). Each slot contains a contact model and its properties and methods [1] , and each non-default slot also contains a PFC range. Whenever a contact is created, it is mapped into one of the slots in the CMAT, and the information in that slot is used to assign the contact model and its associated properties and methods. The slot mapping proceeds as follows:

1. Each non-default slot is visited in order, and if the contact is within its range, then that slot is selected.

2. If no slot has been selected, then the default slot corresponding with the contact type is selected.

The CMAT can also be applied to a range of existing contacts with the cmat apply command. CMAT entries can be modified with the cmat modify command and removed with the cmat remove command. The tutorial example “Using the CMAT” demonstrates basic and advanced usage of the CMAT to construct complex systems.

• commands

Endnotes

[1]

If contact methods are used, they supersede the property assignment, and property inheritance may be turned off depending on the specifics of the contact model implementation.