Node Creation Methods in StressCheck

There are many methods for creating nodes for manual (hand) meshing of elements. One important distinction should be made to clarify the interpretation of the methods. The Locate method uses only the manual input and/or the location of the cursor pick to identify coordinates in the Model View. All other methods require other objects on the screen to be selected either as reference locations or to indicate an associative attachment.

Associative Methods

The following node creation methods are geometrically associative, meaning elements generated from these nodes will automatically inherit information from the underlying geometry (e.g. geometric curvature, material property assignments, load assignments, etc).

Intersection

Select two boundaries. If both boundaries are curves, or if one is a curve and one is a surface, then a node will be created at the intersection of the boundaries. The node created will be associative. By default, the program assumes that two curves will be selected as the basis for determining the location of the point of intersection. If you wish to select one surface and one curve, hold the Ctrl + Shift keys simultaneously while picking the surface.

Intersection-Multi

The standard intersection method accepts only two boundary objects as input. It is sometimes necessary to attach node object to more than two intersecting boundaries. To accomplish this, use the Intersect-Multi method to select any number of intersecting curves. Use the mouse cursor to highlight all desired intersecting curves, then click the Accept button or hit the Enter key. StressCheck will compute the location of the intersection using only the first two selected curves, but will incorporate all selected curves into the definition of the node for purposes of associativity evaluations. In this way, if a node is defined as an intersection attached to multiple curves, and if any of the curves happen to represent an intersection of surfaces, the node will inherit the associativity to the underlying surfaces for purposes of element construction.

Offset

Select a boundary object and provide an offset value to locate a new node along the boundary object selected. If the boundary is a conic, the offset is measured in degrees. If the object is not conic, or the dimension is a linear dimension, the offset is a fraction of the linear dimension.

Mid-Offset

Select two nodes, two points or two systems that have been created as offsets. A new node will be created midway between the two selected objects. If the selected objects are moved, the location of the Mid-Offset node object will be automatically recalculated.

Point

Use an existing geometric point associated with a geometric body as a reference point for constructing a new node.

Projection

Select an object (point, system or node) to be projected and hold the Ctrl + Shift keys simultaneously to select a boundary on which the object will be normally projected. Then click the Accept button or hit the Enter key. The projection is the shortest distance from the first object to the boundary. If the first object is moved or the boundary is changed, the projection will be recomputed automatically.

Note: multiple objects may be simultaneously projected to multiple boundaries by left clicking until the objects to be projected are selected, holding the Ctrl + Shift keys simultaneously, and then selecting the boundaries on which the objects will be projected.

Non-Associative Methods

The following node creation methods are geometrically non-associative, meaning elements generated from these nodes will not inherit any information from the underlying geometry.

Locate

Create a node in global cartesian coordinate space.

Local

Create an attachment between a node and a local coordinate system by selecting a local coordinate system and specifying the node location in the X, Y and Z input fields.

Delta

Use the selected point, system or node as a reference point and add the specified X, Y, Z coordinate delta supplied to the base coordinate value. The resulting node definition will be associative.

Point

Use an existing geometric point not associated with a geometric body as a reference point for constructing a new node.

Midpoint

Select two objects (points, systems, nodes, or one of each). The new node will be created midway between the two selected objects. If the selected objects are moved, the location of the midpoint node will be automatically recalculated.

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