Adding constraints
All but Custom Constraints use Heads Up Display (HUD) and grips to define the inputs easily. More complex settings are available in the dialog boxes. When you select Use HUD in Application option in the Frame Analysis Settings dialog box, Heads Up Display is used as default input method.
Constraints are defined in the global coordinate system.
The available constraint types are:
To add a structural ( fixed,
pinned,
floating, or
custom) constraint:
On the ribbon, click the constraint command for the type of constraint you are adding.
Note: You can also right-click the Constraints nodein the browser and select the appropriate constraint type from the context menu.
Select beam or node to position the constraint. Drag the glyph to specify the offset. You can define offset using absolute or relative values. The HUD always corresponds to the currently selected grip. Enter an exact value of the given parameter directly.
To display a corresponding dialog box, right-click in the graphics window, and select More Options.
In the dialog box, the select command is active so you can immediately select the constraint location. Select node or beam as the origin of the constraint.
For complex cases, you can define the constraint with all the detailed information. Select a beam or node, and click the Custom command. In the dialog box, define degrees of freedom of displacement and rotation, and so on.
Select OK to add the constraint and close the dialog box.
To apply a custom constraint
Custom constraint enables you to customize all parameters of the constraint (position, orientation, degrees of freedom for rotation and displacement on beam or node).
To set the custom constraint values, use the Custom Constraint dialog box, or drag the grips in the graphics window. Heads Up Display input is not available.
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