DesignSpark Mechanical Online Help

Groups

You can create a group from any set of selected objects. When storing Ruler DimensionsValues or expressions you enter for precise control during the creation or modification of a design. You can dimension every element, from lines in sketches to faces of solids. See Ordinate dimensions, Progressive dimensions, Ruler dimension. for the PullTool used to distort or deform geometry. Use the Pull tool to offset, extrude, revolve, sweep, draft, and blend faces; or to round, chamfer, or extrude edges. When converting a sketch to 3D, pulling a line creates a surface and pulling a surface creates a solid. or MoveA tool used to translate or rotate geometry. tool in a group, keep in mind the following list of other information that will be stored in the group.

• Active tool

• MoveA tool used to translate or rotate geometry. tool placement

  • The MoveA tool used to translate or rotate geometry. tool initially places itself (for ease of quick moving) with respect to the oriented bounding box of the selected items

• Selected objects

• Sub-selections that affect the behavior of the tool

• Active ruler dimension

• Anchor reference for the active ruler dimension

For example, insofar as Group creation goes, a MoveA tool used to translate or rotate geometry. tool can be anchored to an edge of a face and oriented in a direction. This stores the selection, the edge, and the orientation direction. Subsequently, a selected axis of the MoveA tool used to translate or rotate geometry. handle can have a ruler dimension to a dimension reference. This stores the MoveA tool used to translate or rotate geometry. handle axis and the ruler dimension. Any re-invocation of this group will attempt to re-setup the tool, the selection, any options, and ruler dimensions, according to how the group was saved.

When using groups to store MoveA tool used to translate or rotate geometry. and PullTool used to distort or deform geometry. Use the Pull tool to offset, extrude, revolve, sweep, draft, and blend faces; or to round, chamfer, or extrude edges. When converting a sketch to 3D, pulling a line creates a surface and pulling a surface creates a solid. operations as described above, choose references appropriate to your design intent and the likelihood of any of the required references being present on re-invocation.

You can use groups in combination with the DS Mechanical API to change these parameters, or use them as a way to indicate to others your design intentions about which sort of changes you expect them to make to your design.

Scope

GroupsSets of objects that appear in the Groups tab. You create a group from any set of selected objects. Information such as Selection, Alt+selection, move anchoring, axis, and ruler dimension is all stored with the group. can be saved for the root part or for its children. To change the scope at which groups are displayed, select Root Part or Active Part in the drop-down list near the top of the GroupsSets of objects that appear in the Groups tab. You create a group from any set of selected objects. Information such as Selection, Alt+selection, move anchoring, axis, and ruler dimension is all stored with the group. panel. This allows you to see groups that are in children components without opening the component in another window.

Importing Groups from External Components

GroupsSets of objects that appear in the Groups tab. You create a group from any set of selected objects. Information such as Selection, Alt+selection, move anchoring, axis, and ruler dimension is all stored with the group. in external components of an assembly do not show up at the Root Part level of the assembly. Because they are not visible at the Root Part level, they do not automatically get exposed in ANSYS. You can import groups from external components by doing the following:

• Right-click on an External component in the Structure Tree of an assembly
• If Import ComponentObjectAnything recognizable by the tools. 3D objects include vertices, edges, faces, surfaces, solids, layouts, planes, axes, and origins. 2D objects include points and lines. in a design, including the top-level design component. Each component consists of any number of objects, such as solids and surfaces, and can contain sub-components. You can think of a component as a "part." Components can be saved as a separate file. An external component is another design inserted as a component of your design. Making the component independent prevents changes from being made to the external component file. You can also create an external component by saving a component as a separate file. See Lightweight components, AssemblyHierarchy of components and subcomponents showing relationship within a design, as shown in the Structure tree. In manufacturing, a unit fitted together from manufactured parts. See Assembly tool, Component GroupsSets of objects that appear in the Groups tab. You create a group from any set of selected objects. Information such as Selection, Alt+selection, move anchoring, axis, and ruler dimension is all stored with the group. appears in the context menu, the component contains groups
• Click the command to copy the groups from the external component into the Root Part (i.e. the assembly)

External component groups will now be exposed in ANSYS.

Keep in mind the following:

• Modifications to the copied groups are at the assembly level
• If you redefine the copied group (at the assembly level), the original group will not get redefined
• To redefine the groups in the external component, make it the Active ComponentObjectAnything recognizable by the tools. 3D objects include vertices, edges, faces, surfaces, solids, layouts, planes, axes, and origins. 2D objects include points and lines. in a design, including the top-level design component. Each component consists of any number of objects, such as solids and surfaces, and can contain sub-components. You can think of a component as a "part." Components can be saved as a separate file. An external component is another design inserted as a component of your design. Making the component independent prevents changes from being made to the external component file. You can also create an external component by saving a component as a separate file. See Lightweight components, AssemblyHierarchy of components and subcomponents showing relationship within a design, as shown in the Structure tree. In manufacturing, a unit fitted together from manufactured parts. See Assembly tool, Component and make the changes

Driving dimensions and Named selections

When you select an object with a dimension property, you have the option of creating a Driving DimensionAnnotation on a drawing showing measurement of an edge or face. Use the Dimension tool to add measurements to your design, drawing sheet, or 3D markup. group. These groups are added to the Driving DimensionsValues or expressions you enter for precise control during the creation or modification of a design. You can dimension every element, from lines in sketches to faces of solids. See Ordinate dimensions, Progressive dimensions, Ruler dimension. folder. Driving dimensions include offset distance (faces with an offset relationship), round radius, and ruler dimensions. You can change the dimension in the groups panel, and the geometry will change. These saved groups can be used for API-driven modification and can be sent to ANSYS.

• Creating a driving dimension with Pull (offset)

• Creating a driving dimension with Move (translation or rotation)

• Creating a driving dimension with the Select tool (round radius and distance between offset faces)

You may choose to create a Named Selection group whether or not a dimension property exists. If a dimension property is not available, you may create only a Named Selection group. These groups allow you to save selection sets to easily recall them.

To create a Named Selection group

1. Select any set of 3D objects.

2. Click Create NS in the GroupsSets of objects that appear in the Groups tab. You create a group from any set of selected objects. Information such as Selection, Alt+selection, move anchoring, axis, and ruler dimension is all stored with the group. panel or press Ctrl+G.

   The group appears in the Named Selections list with the default name. Click in white space to accept the default, or start typing to rename the group.

   Mouse over the group to highlight the objects in the group and click the group to select them. Properties and other information, such as the selected axis for the last MoveA tool used to translate or rotate geometry. rotation, are saved with the group.

Working with the Groups tree

• Drag a group in the GroupsSets of objects that appear in the Groups tab. You create a group from any set of selected objects. Information such as Selection, Alt+selection, move anchoring, axis, and ruler dimension is all stored with the group. panel to change its position in the list. Group order is important because they are changed from top to bottom when the change is initiated in an external application.

• You can sort the GroupsSets of objects that appear in the Groups tab. You create a group from any set of selected objects. Information such as Selection, Alt+selection, move anchoring, axis, and ruler dimension is all stored with the group. by right-clicking on Named Selections or Driving DimensionsValues or expressions you enter for precise control during the creation or modification of a design. You can dimension every element, from lines in sketches to faces of solids. See Ordinate dimensions, Progressive dimensions, Ruler dimension. at the top of the tree.
• A round group is also created each time you fill a round and is saved in the Filled Rounds folder. You can reattach a group of rounds as long as some portion of the original edges (or faces that bordered the edges) still exists in your design.

To create a coaxial group

1. Select two coaxial cylindrical faces on a solid.

   The cylindrical faces must be on the same solid.

2. Right-click and select Create CoaxialRelationship between faces that share the same center of rotation. If you check the Coaxial FaceSide or other surface of a solid. Some examples are the inside surface of a hole or the six sides of a rectangular solid. See Surface. GroupsSets of objects that appear in the Groups tab. You create a group from any set of selected objects. Information such as Selection, Alt+selection, move anchoring, axis, and ruler dimension is all stored with the group. box in the Display tab, faces that share an axis are indicated with blue shading. Group.

   The group is added in the FaceSide or other surface of a solid. Some examples are the inside surface of a hole or the six sides of a rectangular solid. See Surface. GroupsSets of objects that appear in the Groups tab. You create a group from any set of selected objects. Information such as Selection, Alt+selection, move anchoring, axis, and ruler dimension is all stored with the group. folder in the GroupsSets of objects that appear in the Groups tab. You create a group from any set of selected objects. Information such as Selection, Alt+selection, move anchoring, axis, and ruler dimension is all stored with the group. panel. A relationship is created between the cylindrical faces, so the faces remain coaxial when you change the faces. If you move one of the faces, the other will move with it.

To edit a driving dimension

1. Select the driving dimension from the GroupsSets of objects that appear in the Groups tab. You create a group from any set of selected objects. Information such as Selection, Alt+selection, move anchoring, axis, and ruler dimension is all stored with the group. PanelSections of the user interface that initially appear along the left side of the application window and include: Structure panel, Layers panel, Selection panel, Groups panel, Options panel, and Properties panel. You can dock and detach these panels.. The current value should appear next to the Type.

2. Click the value. A dimension box should appear.

3. Type the new value for the dimension and press Enter.

   The driving dimension is updated in the Design windowArea in the user interface that displays your model or assembly. Also known as Workspace.. You can follow these steps to change round radii, offset distance, and ruler dimensions.

To reattach a round

1. Right-click one or more round group in the GroupsSets of objects that appear in the Groups tab. You create a group from any set of selected objects. Information such as Selection, Alt+selection, move anchoring, axis, and ruler dimension is all stored with the group. panel.

2. Select Reattach RoundRounded corner at the intersection of two lines or edges. Round refers to an exterior corner; an interior corner is known as a fillet. Rounds and fillets are both called rounds. See Fillet, Constant-radius round, Variable-radius round. from the context menu.

To explode a group

1. Select the group in the GroupsSets of objects that appear in the Groups tab. You create a group from any set of selected objects. Information such as Selection, Alt+selection, move anchoring, axis, and ruler dimension is all stored with the group. panel.
2. Right-click and select Explode from the context menu.

Each group will be placed in its own group. The new group names are based on the parent group. For example, a group named "Group" will explode into "Group 1", "Group 2", etc.

 

To delete a named group

1. Select the group in the GroupsSets of objects that appear in the Groups tab. You create a group from any set of selected objects. Information such as Selection, Alt+selection, move anchoring, axis, and ruler dimension is all stored with the group. panel.

2. Press the Delete key or right-click the group and select Delete Group from the context menu.

   If all of the objects that comprise a group are removed from the design, the group is automatically deleted.

To merge two or more named groups

1. Select two or more Group from the GroupsSets of objects that appear in the Groups tab. You create a group from any set of selected objects. Information such as Selection, Alt+selection, move anchoring, axis, and ruler dimension is all stored with the group. panel.

2. Right-click a group and select Merge from the context menu.

   The groups will be merged to a single group, taking the name of the last group selected.

To rename a named group

1. Right-click the group in the GroupsSets of objects that appear in the Groups tab. You create a group from any set of selected objects. Information such as Selection, Alt+selection, move anchoring, axis, and ruler dimension is all stored with the group. panel.

2. Select Rename from the context menu.

3. Or, select the group and press F2

4. Enter the new name for the group and press Enter.

To replace objects in a named group

1. Select any set of 3D objects.

2. Right-click a group and select Replace from the context menu.

   You can only replace groups in Named Selections.

To add objects to a named group

1. Select any set of 3D objects.
   You may also select another Group from the GroupsSets of objects that appear in the Groups tab. You create a group from any set of selected objects. Information such as Selection, Alt+selection, move anchoring, axis, and ruler dimension is all stored with the group. panel.

2. Right-click a group and select Add from the context menu.

To subtract objects from a named group

1. Select any object that is part of a named group.
   

2. Right-click the group name in the GroupsSets of objects that appear in the Groups tab. You create a group from any set of selected objects. Information such as Selection, Alt+selection, move anchoring, axis, and ruler dimension is all stored with the group. panel and select Subtract from the context menu.