Creating attachment lines by projecting points

Positioning attachment lines is a three-step process:

  1. Select the points to project.

  2. Project the points onto a source face along a specified direction.

  3. From the intersection of the projected points with the source face, project the attachment lines to the target faces along the normal to the source face for a specified distance or to a specified number of target faces.

You can use attachment lines to define the location of discrete fasteners. For more information, see About fasteners.

Related Topics
Understanding attachment points and lines
About fasteners

  1. From the main menu bar, select ToolsAttachmentLines by Projecting Points.

    Tip: You can also create attachment lines by projecting points using the tool, located with the attachment tools in the Interaction module toolbox. For a diagram of the attachment tools in the toolbox, see Understanding attachment points and lines.

  2. From the current viewport, select the points to project and click Done in the prompt area. You can select vertices, reference points, or attachment points.

  3. From the current viewport, select the source faces onto which the points will be projected and click Done in the prompt area. An attachment line starts where the direction vector intersects a source surface.

  4. From the current viewport, select the target faces that will be intersected by the attachment lines, and click Done in the prompt area. Attachment lines are drawn from the start point normal to the source face and end at the furthermost target face.

    Abaqus/CAE displays the Create Attachment Lines By Projecting Points dialog box. If desired, you can use the dialog box to edit the points and the source and target faces.

  5. From the dialog box, select the method for projecting the points:

    • Choose Proximity to allow Abaqus/CAE to draw a vector from each point to the closest point on the selected faces.

    • Choose Direction to define the vector along which to project the points. Click to choose the Start point and End point of the vector.

  6. To change the target faces, display the Target tabbed page, and do the following:

    1. Abaqus/CAE displays an arrow indicating the direction in which the points on the source faces will be projected to the target faces. Click to reverse the direction of the arrow.
    2. Select the method for determining the length of the projection vector:

      • Choose Maximum projections along direction, and enter the maximum number of target faces to be intersected by the attachment lines.

      • Choose Maximum length of projection vector, and enter the maximum length of the attachment lines.

  7. By default, Abaqus/CAE creates a set that will contain the end points of the attachment lines. If desired, you can modify the set name. Toggle off Create set with name if you do not want to create a set containing the end points.

  8. Click OK to create the attachment lines.

    Abaqus/CAE displays the attachment lines. For information on editing attachment lines, see Editing attachment lines created by projecting points.