SpaceClaim Online Help

Orienting beams

Use this tool to change the direction of a beam, rotate it around its anchor point, and offset it from its anchor point.

To change a beam's orientation

1. Click Orient in the Beams group on the Prepare tab.

2. Select a beam in the Structure treeDisplay in the Structure panel that shows you each of the objects in your design. You can expand or collapse the nodes of the tree to view the objects. You can rename objects, create, modify, replace, and delete objects, as well as work with components. or Design windowArea in the user interface that displays your model or assembly. Also known as Workspace..

   You can click Display in the Beams group and change the display mode to SolidObject that encloses volume. A surface becomes a solid if it encloses volume. Beams while the Orient tool is active. You may want to do this so you can see the beam.

3. (Optional) Click the Orient to ObjectAnything recognizable by the tools. 3D objects include vertices, edges, faces, surfaces, solids, layouts, planes, axes, and origins. 2D objects include points and lines. tool guide or hold the Alt key and select a reference object, and the beam will be oriented to the projected Z direction of the plane of the selected object.

4. Use the blue arrows to change the beam's orientation:

   • Click the straight blue arrow (X axis) to reverse the beam's direction.

   • Drag the curved blue arrow to rotate the beam around its anchor point.

   • Double-click the curved blue arrow to rotate the beam 90°.

   • Drag the red or green arrows (Y and Z axes) to offset the beam.

Tool guides

The following tool guides help step you through the process. Use the Tab key to cycle through them. As soon as the tool guide switches, the cursor may change to reflect the active guide.

Example

Offsetting a beam along the Y axis.