In this method, the curve is translated along the direction vector so that it is in front of the element origin. The tangent to a point closest to the element origin is projected on the element x-y plane to compute the material orientation.
It can be a better choice in cases where a sharp change in orientation is undesirable.
The plane mesh model’s orientation shown in the figure below demonstrates the functionality.
The plate has a fiber layer that has the strands following a spline curve.
The translated curve tangent method uses this curve and translates it along a selected edge; in this case it is the length of the plate.
When the spline curve passes through the centroid of each element, the orientation tangent to the curve at that point would be assigned to the element.