A 1D spring support can be applied to nodes, edges or surfaces of a model.
What Does a 1D Spring Support Do?
- An edge or surface 1D spring support applies nodal springs (elastic boundary elements) to each node on the edge or surface.
- A 1D spring support applies a stiffness to a node to resist either translation or rotation in or about a single specified vector direction. A new node is actually added to the model. The specified degree of freedom is restricted on this new node. An element is created between this node and the node on the model to which the 1D spring support is applied. This element is oriented along the specified vector. The element acts like a translational or torsional spring, depending on the type of support specified (translation or rotation). The stiffness value refers to the stiffness of this spring. The magnitude of the translation or rotation of the node on the model depends on this value. A high stiffness allows very little, or no, movement of the node. A low stiffness allows the node to move considerably.
- The difference between a 1D spring support and a general constraint (boundary condition) is that you can view the force or moment present in the 1D spring support, which is based on the spring equation, F=kX. The greater the boundary displacement, the greater the spring force. In the Results environment, use the Linear Results Menu pull-out menu. The force or moment displayed acts along the vector specified.
How to Apply 1D Spring Supports
If you have nodes, edges or surfaces selected, you can right-click in the display area and select the Add pull-out menu. Select the Nodal 1D Spring Supports, Edge 1D Spring Supports or Surface 1D Spring Supports command. You can also click the 
Setup 
Constraints 1D Spring Support ribbon command. Edge 1D spring supports can only be applied to parts that originated from CAD solid models or 2D Mesh Generation.
Determine if you want the support to resist translation or rotation by selecting the appropriate radio button in the Type section. Specify the direction of the element in the Direction section. Specify the stiffness of the elastic boundary element in the Stiffness field.