Appendix A DesignModeler Quick Reference

Appendix A
DesignModeler Quick Reference
A-1 Basic Mouse Operations
[5] Middle-clickdrag: rotation. [3] Sweep: continuous selection [2] Control-click: add to or remove from selection [1] Click: single selection. [6] ControlMiddle-clickdrag: pan.

[7] Scroll-wheel: zoom in/out.

[8] Right-click-drag: box zoom.

[4] Right-click: open context menu.

Following mouse operations [1-8] can be applied on entities of the graphics area (A-2[5]) or the <Tree Outline> (A-2[3]).

[1] Click: Single Selection

Click the left mouse button on a single entity. The entity becomes selected (highlighted).

[2] Control-Click: Add to or Remove from Selection

While holding down the control-key, left-click the mouse button on an entity. If the entity hasn't been selected, it adds to the selection set. If the entity has already been selected, it is removed from the selection set.

[3] Sweep: Continuous Selection

While holding down the left mouse button, move the mouse cursor over entities. The entities becomes selected.

[4] Right-Click: Open Context Menu

Click the right mouse button on the graphics area or an object in the model tree, you will see a pop-up menu. The available commands in the menu depend on the context of the operation, therefore it is called a context menu. Some of these commands can also be found in the pull-down menus or toolbars.

[5] Middle-Click-Drag: Rotation

The graphics can be rotated by moving your mouse over the graphics area while holding down the middle mouse button.

[6] Control-Middle-Click-Drag: Pan

The graphics can be panned by dragging your mouse while holding down both control-key and the middle mouse button.

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[7] Scroll-Wheel: Zoom In/Out

The graphics can be zoomed in/out by simply rolling forward/backward your mouse wheel. Shift-middle-click-dragging (dragging your mouse while holding down both shift-key and the middle mouse button) has the same effect.

[8] Right-Click-Drag: Box Zoom

Click the right mouse button on the graphics area, move the mouse cursor to form a rectangular box, and the area enclosed by the box will be enlarged to ll the entire graphics area.

Part I 2D Sketching A-2 Sketching Environment

When starting up <DesignModeler>, you will see several areas [1-7] in its GUI (graphic user interface). On the top are pull-down menus and toolbars [1]; on the bottom is a status bar [7]. In-between are several "window panes" [2-6]. Separators [8] between window panes can be dragged to resize the window panes. You even can move or dock a window pane by dragging its title bar. Whenever you mess up the workspace, pull-down-select <View/Windows/Reset Layout> to reset the default layout.
The <Tree Outline> [3], displaying a "model tree" (discussed in A-13), shares the same area with the <Sketching Toolboxes> [4]; you can switch between these two "modes" by clicking the "mode tab" [2]. The <Details View> [6] shows the detail information of the object that currently highlighted in the <Tree Outline>. The graphics area [5] displays a model if you are in <Modeling> mode, or displays a sketch if you are in <Sketching> mode.
The status bar [7] contains instructions on completing each operations. Look at the instruction whenever you wonder about what actions to do next. The coordinates of your mouse pointer are also shown in the status bar; they are sometimes useful.

[1] Pull-down menus and toolbars.

[5] Graphics area.

[4] <Sketching Toolboxes> in <Sketching> mode.

[3] <Tree Outline>, in <Modeling> mode. [8] separators allow you to resize the window panes.

[2] Mode tabs.

[6] <Details View>.

[7] Status bar

Appendix A DesignModeler Quick Reference

A-3 View Controls

View control tools contained in the toolbars (A-2[1]) which are useful when you are working on either 2D sketching or 3D modeling are summarized in [1-10]. These tools [1-10] are numbered according to roughly their frequency of use. Note that more convenient mouse shortcuts for <Pan>, <Zoom>, and <Box Zoom> are available (see A-1[6-8]). Additional view controls which are usually useful only for 3D modeling are given in Section A-14.

[3] <Pan>. Click to turn on/off this mode. When turning on, you can click-and-drag on the graphic area to pan the graphics.

[2] <Zoom to Fit>. Click this tool to t the entire graphics in the graphic area.

[7] <Next View>. Click this tool to go to next view.

[1] <Look At>. Click this tool to make current sketching plane rotate toward you.

[5] <Zoom>. Click to turn on/ off this mode. When turning on, you can click-and-drag upward or downward on the graphic area to zoom in or out.

[4] <Box Zoom>. Click to turn on/off this mode. When turning on, you can click-anddrag a box on the graphic area to enlarge that portion of graphics.

[6] <Previous View>. Click this tool to go to previous view.

[8] These tools work for either <Sketching> or <Modeling> mode.

[9] <Undo>. Click this tool to undo what you've just done. Multiple undo's are allowed. This tool is available only for the <Sketching> mode.

[10] <Redo>. Click this tool to redo what you've just undone. This tool is available only for the <Sketching> mode.

A-4 Sketching Planes

A sketch must be created on a sketching plane, or simply called plane; each plane may have multiple sketches on it. In the beginning of a <DesignModeler> session, three planes are automatically created: <XYPlane>, <YZPlane>, and <ZXPlane>. Currently active plane is shown on the toolbar [1]. You can create new planes as needed [2]. There are many ways of deriving a new plane [3], which are demonstrated in the exercises of this book.

[1] Currently active plane is shown here.

[2] Click <New Plane> to create a new plane.

[3] You can choose many ways of deriving a new plane.

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A-5 Sketches
A sketch consists of points and edges; edges may be straight lines or curves. Dimensions and constraints may be imposed on these geometric entities. As mentioned (A-4), multiple sketches may be created on a plane. To create a new sketch on a plane on which there is yet no sketch, you simply switch to <Sketching> mode and draw any geometric entities on it. Later, if you want to add a new sketch on that plane, you need to click <New Sketch> [3]. Only one plane and one sketch is active at a time [1, 2]: newly created sketches are added to the active plane, and newly created geometric entities are added to the active sketch. When a new sketch is created, it becomes the active sketch. [3] Click <New Sketch> to create a sketch on the active sketching plane.

[1] Currently active sketching plane.

[2] Currently active sketch.

[4] Active sketching plane can be changed using the pull-down list, or by selection from the <Tree Outline>.

[5] Active sketch can be changed using the pulldown list, or by selection from the <Tree Outline>.

A-6 Sketching Toolboxes

When you switch to <Sketching> mode by clicking the mode tab (A-2[2]), you will see the <Sketching Toolboxes> (A-2[4]). The <Sketching Toolboxes> consists of ve toolboxes: <Draw>, <Modify>, <Dimensions>, <Constraints>, and <Settings> [1-5]. Most of the tools in the toolboxes are self-explained. The best way to learn these tools is to try them out one by one. During the tryout, whenever you want to clean up the graphics area, pull-down-select <File/ Start Over>. Some tools need further explanation, as described in the following subsections.

[1] <Draw> toolbox.

[2] <Modify> toolbox.

[3] <Dimensions> toolbox.

[4] <Constraints> toolbox.

[5] <Settings> toolbox.

Appendix A DesignModeler Quick Reference

A-7 Auto Constraints1, 2

By default, <DesignModeler> is in <Auto Constraints> mode, both globally and locally. While drawing, <DesignModeler> attempts to detect the user's intentions and try to automatically impose constraints on the points or edges. The following cursor symbols indicate the kind of constraints that will be applied:







C
P
H
V
//
T


R
- The point is coincident with a line. - The point is coincident with another point. - The line is horizontal. - The line is vertical. - The line is parallel to another line. - The point is a tangent point. - The point is a perpendicular foot. - The circle's radius is equal to another circle's.

[1] By default, <DesignModeler> is in <Auto Constraints> mode, both globally and locally. You can turn them off whenever cause troubles.

Both <Global> and <Cursor> modes are based on all entities of the active plane (not just the active sketch). The difference is that <Cursor> mode only examines the entities nearby the cursor, while <Global> mode examines all the entities in the active plane.
Note that while <Auto Constraints> can be useful, they sometimes can lead to problems and add noticeable time on complicated sketches. Turn off them if desired [1].

A-8 <Draw> Tools3

Line by 2 Tangents
Select two curves, a line tangent to these two curves will be created. The curves can be circle, arc, ellipse, or spline. [1] <Draw> toolbox.

Oval
The rst two clicks dene the two centers, and the third click denes the radius.

Circle by 3 Tangents
Select three edges, then a circle tangent to these three edges will be created. Remember that an edge can be a line or a curve.

Arc by Tangent
Click a point on an edge, an arc starting from that point and tangent to that edge will be created; click a second point to dene the other end point of the arc.

Spline
A spline is either rigid or exible. The difference is that a exible spline can be edited or changed by imposing constraints, while a rigid spline cannot. After dening the last point, you must right-click to open the context menu, and select an option [2]: either open end or closed end; either with t points or without t points.

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Construction Point at Intersection

Select two edges, a construction point will be created at the intersection.

Delete Entities
There are no tools in the <Sketching Toolboxes> to delete entities. To delete entities, select them and right-click-select <Delete>. Multiple selection methods (e.g., control-selection and sweep-selection, see Section 2.1-6 and 2.2-12[2]), can be used to select entities.

Abort a Tool
To cancel a tool in any of toolbox, simply press <ESC>.

[2] Right-click and select one of the options to complete the <Spline> tool.

A-9 <Modify> Tools4

Corner
Click two entities, which can be lines or curves, the entities will be trimmed or extended up to the intersection point and form a sharp corner. The clicking points decide which sides to be trimmed.

[1] <Modify> toolbox.

Split
This tool split an edge into several segments depending on the options [2]. <Split Edge at Selection>: you click an edge, the edge will be split at the clicking point. <Split Edges at Point>: you click a point, all the edges passing through that point will be split at that point. <Split Edge at All Points>: you select an edge, the edge will be split at all points on the edge. <Split Edge into n Equal Segments>:You specify the value n, and select an edge, the edge will be split equally into n segments.

Drag
Drag a point or an edge to a new position. All the constraints and dimensions are preserved.

[2] Context menu for <Split> tool.

Cut
It is the same as <Copy>, except the originals are deleted.

Move
It is equivalent to a <Cut> followed by a <Paste>.

Replicate
It is equivalent to a <Copy> followed a <Paste>.

[3] Context menu for <Spline Edit>.

Duplicate
It is equivalent to <Replicate>, except the entities are pasted on the same place as the originals and become part of the current sketch. It is often used to duplicate plane boundaries.

Spline Edit
It is used to modify exible splines. You can insert, delete, drag the t points, etc. For details, see the reference4.

Appendix A DesignModeler Quick Reference

A-10 <Dimensions> Tools5

Semi-Automatic
This tool will display a series of dimensions automatically to help you fully dimension the sketch.

[1] <Dimension> toolbox.

Edit
Click a dimension name or value, it allows you to change its name or value.

A-11 <Constraints> Tools6

Fixed
It applies on any entity to make it fully constrained.

Horizontal
It applies on a line to make it horizontal.

[1] <Constraints> toolbox.

Vertical
It applies on a line to make it vertical.

Perpendicular
It applies on two edges to make them perpendicular to each other.

Tangent
It applies on two edges, one of which must be a curve, to make them tangent to each other.

Coincident
Select two points to make them coincident. Select a point and an edge, the edge or its extension will pass through the point. There are other possibilities, depending on how you select the entities.

Midpoint
Select a line and then a point, the midpoint of the line will coincide with the point.

Symmetry
Select a line or an axis, as the line of symmetry, and either select 2 points or 2 lines. If select 2 points, the points will be symmetric about the line of symmetry. If select 2 lines, the lines will form the same angle with the line of symmetry.

Parallel
It applies on two lines to make them parallel to each other.

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Concentric
It applies on two curves, which may be circle, arc, or ellipse, to make their centers coincident.

Equal Radius
It applies on two curves, which may be circle or arc, to make their radii equal.

Equal Length
It applies on two lines to make their lengths equal.

Equal Distance
It applies on two distances to make them equal. A distance can be dened by selecting two points, two parallel lines, or one point and one line.

A-12 <Settings> Tools7

[1] <Settings> toolbox.

[2] You can turn on the grid display. [3] You can turn on the snap capability.

[4] If you turn on the grid display, you can specify the grid spacing.

[5] If you turn on the snap capability, you can specify the snap spacing.

Appendix A DesignModeler Quick Reference

Part II 3D Modeling A-13 Modeling Environment

In the rst part, we overviewed 2D sketching tools and skip tools relating to 3D manipulations, such as 3D view controls [1-3] and entities selection [4-6]. These tools will be covered in this second part. Also on the toolbar are a series of tools to create 3D features [7]; these tools are also discussed in this part.

[4] Selection lters.

[5] Extend selection.

[3] Rotation.

[2] Isometric view.

[7] Tools to create 3D Features6.

[1] Triad. [8] Model Tree [6] Selection panes.

Model Tree
The <Tree Outline> contains an outline of the model tree [8], the structure of the geometric model. Each leaf and branch of the tree is called an object. A branch contains one or more objects under itself. A model tree consists of planes, features, and a part branch. The parts are the only objects that are exported to <Mechanical>. Right-clicking an object and select a tool from the context menu, you can operate on the object, such as delete, rename, duplicate, etc.
The order of the objects is relevant: <DesignModeler> renders the geometry according to the order. New objects are normally added one after another before the parts branch. If you want to insert a new object BEFORE an existing object, right-click the existing object and select <Insert/...> from the context menu. After insertion, <DesignModeler> will re-render the geometry again.

A-14 3D View Controls

Triad8
On the bottom right corner of the GUI is a triad (A-13[1]), a useful tool. Click any of the triad arrows, the view will be oriented such that it is normal to that arrow [1]. If you move the mouse on the negative side of an arrow, you will a black arrow shows up [2]; this black arrow represents the negative direction of that arrow. Clicking black arrows has the similar effect as the colored arrows, which represent positive directions.

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Accompanying the three triad arrows is a small cyan sphere. When you rotate the model (Section 4.4-3), the triad arrows and the small sphere will rotate accordingly. The sphere represents a point located at an "isometric axis," collection of points having the same coordinates in all three axes. Its initial position is (1, 1, 1). Thus, if the sphere coincides with the origin, that means your view is an isometric view [3]. When the sphere does not coincide with the origin, clicking the sphere will reorient the view to become isometric [4].

[1] Click an arrow will orient the view normal to that arrow.

[3] If the cyan sphere coincides with the origin, that means the view is an isometric view

Isometric View9
As mentioned, the small cyan ball represents an isometric direction and initially it is (1, 1, 1). In 3D space, there are totally 8 such directions. For examples: (-1, 1, 1), (1, -1, 1), etc. These are all isometric views. When you click <Isometric View> tool (4.4-1[2]), the view will reorient to the isometric view closest to the current view, and the small cyan ball will move to new location accordingly. This tool let you override the initial isometric direction.

[2] A black arrow represents the negative direction of a colored arrow.

[4] Click the cyan sphere to return to the isometric view.

Rotate with Mouse Wheel

Hold the middle mouse button down while move around the graphic area, you can rotate the model [5]. It is convenient but sometimes not enough. (Also see A-1[5].) [5] Hold the middle mouse button down while move around the graphic area, you can rotate the model. Also see A-1[5].

Rotate with <Rotate> tool10

The <Rotate> tool (A-13[3]) gives you more controls for rotating the model. After activating the <Rotate> tool by clicking it, the mouse cursor becomes one of the four shapes [6-9], and the type of rotation depends on the location of your mouse cursor [10].
By default, the model center is the center of rotation. You can set the center of rotation (a red sphere) by clicking over the model. The red sphere will stay in the middle of the graphics window.
To restore the center of rotation to the model center, click anywhere in the graphics window away from the model. This will re-center the model in the middle of the graphics window.

[10] The type of rotation depends on the location of the cursor.

[6] Free rotation. [7] Roll, rotation about screen Z-axis. [8] Yaw, rotation about screen Y-axis.

[9] Pitch, rotation about screen X-axis.

Appendix A DesignModeler Quick Reference

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A-15 Mouse Cursor

Various mouse cursors are use to indicate the current operation [1]. An overview of these cursors might be helpful.

[1] A list of mouse cursors.

A-16 Selection
Selection Filters11
By activating a selection lter (A-13[4]), you can make one of four type of entities (points, edges, faces, and bodies) selectable. By right-clicking the graphic area, selection lters can also be accessed through the context menu, where additional lters are available [1]. Multiple lters can be activated at the same time.

[1] More selection lters can be accessed through the context menu.

Extend Selection11
Using the current selection as seed, these tools allow you to extend the seed to include various additional edges or faces into the selection set [2-5].

[2] Extend the current selection to include adjacent tangent edges or faces.

[3] This is equivalent to executing <Extend to Adjacent> innite times.

[4] Extend the current selection to include all of adjacent blend faces.

[5] Extend the current selected faces up to boundaries dened by selected edges.

Selection Panes12
When you select an entity by clicking your mouse on the model, and if more than one entity lies under the mouse cursor, the graphics window displays a stack of rectangles in the lower-left corner (A-13[6]). The rectangles are stacked in appearance, with the topmost rectangle representing the visible (selected) entity and subsequent rectangles representing entities underneath the mouse cursor, front to back. These rectangles are aliases of selectable entities, that is, highlighting and picking these rectangles are identical and synchronized for the selectable entities.

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A-17 Parts and Bodies13

The last branch of the model tree contains the bodies and parts of the model [1]. This is the only geometric entities that will be attached to <Mechanical> for simulations.
A body is entirely made of one kind of material and is the basic building blocks of a model. A 3D body are either a solid body, a surface body, or a line body.
A part is a collection of same type of bodies. All bodies in a part are assumed to be bonded one another. In <Mechanical> parts are meshed independentlythis is the most important concept about the part. Within a part, the boundary nodes are shared between contacting bodies.
A model may consist of one or more parts. Since parts are meshed independently, mesh at the boundaries between parts is not necessarily compatible. In <Mechanical>, connections14 (e.g., contacts, joints) among parts must be established to complete a model.

[1] Bodies and parts.

A-18 Feature-Based 3D Bodies Modeling

A 3D body is created by combining various features. Features can be classied into two categories: base features and placed features.

Base Features
Base features are also called sketched features because they are created by rst drawing one or more sketches, and then "growing" to 3D features by means of extrusion, revolution, sweeping, or lofting. A newly create base feature can add to or subtract material from the existing bodies.

Placed Features
Some features have predened shapes and behaviors. To add these features to existing bodies, all we have to do is to specify where we want to place these features, along with a few other settings. Therefore, these features are called placed features, for examples: blends, chamfers.

A-19 Base Features15

Extrude
The tool is used to extrude a sketch along its normal direction to create a 3D body. The extrusion may be symmetric or asymmetric to the sketching plane. The extrusion depth may be a xed value, through all bodies (used only for cutting the material), up to a face, or up to a surface. A face is a bounded region and has a nite area while a surface is an unbounded region and has innite area. A surface is often the extension of a face.

Revolve
The tool is used to revolve a sketch about an axis to create a 3D body. An angle of revolution can be specied.

Appendix A DesignModeler Quick Reference

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Sweep
The <Sweep> can be thought of a generalization of <Extrude>. The tool is used to sweep a prole along a path to create a 3D body. Both the prole and the path must be dened using sketches.

Skin/Loft
The <Skin/Loft> can be thought of a generalization of <Sweep>. It takes a series of proles to create a 3D body by tting through them. The proles must be dened using sketches.

A-20 Placed Features15

Thin/Surface
The tool is used to convert a solid into a thin solid body or a surface body. Typically, you will select one or more faces to remove, and then specify a thickness. If the thickness is a positive value, then a thin solid body is created. If the thickness is zero, then a surface body is created.

Blend
The tool is used to create rounds or llets on edges, or on vertices. The radius of the rounds or llets may be xed or variable.

Chamfer
The tool is used to create chamfer faces on edges.

On-line References
1.
ANSYS Help System>DesignModeler>2D Sketching>Auto Constraints 2.
ANSYS Help System>DesignModeler>2D Sketching>Constraints Toolbox>Auto Constraints 3.
ANSYS Help System>DesignModeler>2D Sketching>Draw Toolbox 4.
ANSYS Help System>DesignModeler>2D Sketching>Modify Toolbox 5.
ANSYS Help System>DesignModeler>2D Sketching>Dimensions Toolbox 6.
ANSYS Help System>DesignModeler>2D Sketching>Constraints Toolbox 7.
ANSYS Help System>DesignModeler>2D Sketching>Settings Toolbox 8.
ANSYS Help System>DesignModeler>Viewing>Model Appearance Controls>Triad 9.
ANSYS Help System>DesignModeler>Viewing>Rotation Modes>Isometric View 10.
ANSYS Help System>Mechanical>The Mechanical Application Basics>The Mechanical Application Interface>Triad and Rotation Cursors 11.
ANSYS Help System>DesignModeler>Selection>Selection Toolbar 12.
ANSYS Help System>DesignModeler>Selection>Graphical Selection>Depth Picking 13.
ANSYS Help System>DesignModeler>3D Modeling>Bodies and Parts 14.
ANSYS Help System>Mechanical>Mechanical Objects Reference>Connections 15.
ANSYS Help System>DesignModeler>3D Modeling>3D Features