Align Tools: Plate Normal by Connection

Description

Aligns the orientation of selected plate elements based on the orientation of a specified master plate within a set of selected and interconnected elements.

Starting from a master plate element within the selected set, the orientation of elements directly connected to the master plate is aligned to match the master; those elements then transfer their orientation to their own connected elements, and so on, until all interconnected elements have had their orientation aligned. The alignment considers only the topology (i.e., connectivity) of the selected elements, so it can be used for both 2D and 3D faceted shell models.

For the case of a cluster of selected plates with no more than two plates sharing an edge, the tool will successfully align the whole cluster. However, the alignment will fail if edges are shared by more than two plate elements within the selected cluster; i.e., if there are T-junctions. For plate meshes that include T-junctions, the tool can be applied separately on the different component parts, with each application avoiding the selection of T-junctions.

Dialog

Master Plate

The plate element number that is the source of the alignment.

The master element must be part of the set of selected elements.

Common Uses

The direction of the local z axis determines the direction of applied attributes such as normal pressure. The axis is also used for aligning the layup direction of laminated composite plates, and for the extraction of surface stresses.