Defining anchors

You can define an anchor system to indicate where part deflection is measured from. You can use one, two or three nodes to define the anchor. Typically, three nodes are used. When three nodes are used, the system is typically called an Anchor Plane or Reference Plane.

Initially, deflection plots are defined with Best Fit. Best fit minimizes the deflection, from every node on the part, so the part looks like it is shrinking to its center. Anchors are applied to represent how the part is measured for a warpage tolerance or assembly.

1. Under the Warp results in the Study Tasks pane, select a deflection result.
2. Ensure the model is at a suitable rotation for setting three nodes that define an anchor. If three nodes are used, they must not be co-linear.
3. Click (Results tab > Warpage panel > Visualize). The Warpage Visualization Tools dialog appears.
4. Optional: Click New and enter an Anchor Plane Name. Click OK.
   
5. Choose the three nodes on your model you want to specify the anchor plane. You can enter the node values manually, or click on the model.
   • The first node picked is the anchor point. This node is constrained in all directions (X, Y, Z).
   • The second node picked is constrained to move only in the X direction.
   • The third node picked is constrained to move in both the (X and Y ) direction.
6. Click Apply if you have entered the node values manually.

Note: You should carefully consider the position of the anchor plane when viewing warpage results. In areas that are distant from the anchor plane, the calculated deflections may comprise an in-plane shrinkage component as well as out-of-plane warpage.

Tip: You can drag the anchor plane nodes about the part to update the anchor plane in the warpage result display.

Tip: Click and hold down the Shift key while dragging your mouse cursor either up or down to increase or decrease the size of the anchor icons ().

Tip: To display the anchor plane, in the Deflection tab of the Plot Properties dialog, select Show Anchor Plane.