In the Input parameters section of the dialog, select the elements you would like to re-orient, then decide whether you want to reverse the orientation of the selected elements or align them with the reference element.
In the Reference section of the dialog, select the reference element, then decide whether you want to use all elements connected with it, or only the connected elements with the same orientation.
Note: Many of the mesh tools involve selecting or manipulating nodes. Ensure that the nodes in the part are visible and selectable by activating the required layers in the Layers pane.
Note: Flip orientation will orient each element opposite to the element's original direction. Align orientation will orient all elements in the same direction as the reference element.
Dialog elements
- Elements to edit
- Specifies the elements whose orientation is to be aligned or flipped. You can specify the elements using one of the following methods:
- Enter the element numbers manually with the letter "T" preceding each number and a space between each number. For example, T20 T21 T23.
- Apply any one or combination of the standard selection techniques in the model display window to select the required elements, for example, single entity selection, banding selection, selection expansion, selection by properties or layers, selection of a previously saved selection list.
- Select a reference element in the text box below and then click Search to either select all elements connected to the reference element or all connected elements with the same orientation.
- Reference
- Specifies an element to serve as a starting point when selecting connected elements to be edited, and/or an element providing a reference orientation when aligning element orientations.
To use the Reference text box to search for elements to be edited, click on a reference element in the model display area, select either All elements connected to reference element or Connected elements with the same orientation and then click Search. The elements found in the search are automatically listed to the Elements to edit text box.
To use the Reference text box to align element orientations, specify the elements to be oriented in the Elements to edit text box, click in the Reference text box to activate it and click on the reference element in the model, select the Align orientation action and then click Apply.
- All elements connected to reference element
- Select this option if you want to search for all elements connected to the selected reference element, regardless of their current orientation.
Tip: This option provides a quick means of selecting all elements in the model and then aligning their orientation.
- Connected elements with same orientation
- Select this option if you want to search for all elements connected to the reference element that currently have the same orientation as the reference element.
Tip: This option provides a quick means of selecting a large group of elements for which you want to flip the orientation.
- Search
- Click this button to initiate the search for elements connected to the specified reference element. The elements found are automatically listed in the Elements to edit text box at the top.
- Flip orientation
- Select this option if you want the orientation of all elements listed in the Elements to edit text box to be reversed, that is, to change from red to blue, or blue to red in the orientation plot.
- Align orientation
- Select this option if you want the orientation of all elements listed in the Elements to edit text box to be aligned to the element specified in the Reference text box.