Creating attachment points by picking or reading from a file

You can position attachment points by picking each point from the viewport or by reading the coordinates of the points from a file. If desired, you can create the attachment points by projecting the specified points onto a selected face. You can use attachment points to define the location of point-based fasteners. For more information, see About fasteners.

Related Topics
Understanding attachment points and lines
About fasteners

  1. From the main menu bar, select ToolsAttachmentPoints From File/By Picking.

    Abaqus/CAE displays the Create Attachment Points dialog box.

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

  2. From the dialog box, use one of the following methods to enter the coordinates of each attachment point in the table:

    • Select to pick a point from the part or assembly in the viewport. You can select any existing point from the part, including vertices, datum points, interesting points, reference points, and orphan mesh nodes. You can also enter the X-, Y-, and Z-coordinates of the point in the text field that appears in the prompt area.

    • Click to read an ASCII file containing the X-, Y-, and Z-coordinates of each point.

    • Click to delete the selected row from the table.

    For more information, see Entering tabular data.

    If the attachment points are created on a part, the coordinates you provide are relative to the part's coordinate system. If the attachment points are created on the assembly, the coordinates are relative to the assembly's global coordinate system.

  3. To project the specified points onto a selected face, display the Projection tabbed page, and do the following:

    1. Toggle on Project onto faces.
    2. Click , and select the faces onto which the points will be projected. The faces can be planar or nonplanar.
    3. 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.

    For more information, see Understanding the projection methods.

  4. By default, Abaqus/CAE creates a set that will contain the attachment points. 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 attachment points.

  5. Click OK to create the attachment points.

    Abaqus/CAE displays the attachment points. You cannot modify attachment points; you must delete the points and create new points.