Creating a single connector

The Connector Builder enables you to perform all of the steps involved in modeling a single connector. These steps include:

  • Creating a wire feature between two points or between a point and ground.

  • Creating reference points at either endpoint, and creating a datum coordinate system along the length of the wire.

  • Creating a connector section assignment for the new wire feature.

  • Specifying orientations for either endpoint that the wire feature connects.

Because the Connector Builder creates one connector at a time, you should use it to add a small number of connectors to your assembly. If you plan to define a large number of connectors, begin by adding wire features to the assembly in the Create Wire Feature dialog box. See Creating or modifying wire features for multiple connectors, for more information.

Related Topics
Connectors

  1. From the main menu bar, select ConnectorConnector Builder.

    Tip: You can also start the Connector Builder using the tool in the Interaction module toolbox.

  2. Select the points that you want to connect.

    1. Select the first point and second point for the connector in the viewport.

      Note:

      You can also click Connect to Ground in the prompt area to ground one side of the connector. You cannot connect both points to ground.

      The Connector Builder opens with the points you selected in the Endpoints portion of the dialog box. The first point is highlighted in red and the second point is highlighted in magenta in the viewport.

    2. If desired, click to switch the two endpoints you selected.
    3. If desired, toggle on Create a reference point under either point description to create a reference point at that endpoint when you save the wire feature. If the selected point is a datum point or an interesting point, Abaqus/CAE automatically creates a reference point at that location.

  3. Select a connector section. If desired, click to create a new connector section.

    The connection type is displayed in the editor. For basic, assembled, and complex connection types, you can click to see a schematic drawing of the connection type along with the Abaqus idealization of the connection. For MPC connection types, the motion of the second point is constrained to the motion of the first point. The connection type you select also dictates the initial values selected for the connector orientations. If you change the connector section assignment, Abaqus/CAE resets these orientation settings to the default values for that connection type.

  4. If desired, modify any of the following orientation settings:

    1. Project a datum coordinate system along the axis between the endpoints.

      In the CSYS 1 portion of the dialog box, select the Create CSYS on axis between points option, then select 1, 2, or 3 as the Axis for the new datum coordinate system. Abaqus/CAE may select this option by default for some connection types.

    2. Specify an orientation other than the global coordinate system for the first point for the connector in the CSYS 1 portion of the dialog box. If the connector is not connected to ground and the selected connector section assignment allows you to adjust the second point in the connector, you can specify an orientation for the second point in the CSYS 2 portion of the dialog box as well.

      In either portion of the dialog box, select Specify CSYS, click , then use one of the following methods to select the datum coordinate system:

      • Select a predefined datum coordinate system by name. Click Datum CSYS List from the prompt area, select a name from the list, and click OK.

      • Select a predefined coordinate system in the viewport.

      • For the second point in the connector, select Use CSYS 1 to use the coordinate system defined for the first point at the second point in the connector as well.

      The selected orientation is highlighted red in the viewport. The Connector Builder reappears and displays a description of the coordinate system used for the orientation for the selected point of the connector.

      Tip: You can also create a new datum coordinate system to use by clicking from the CSYS 1 or CSYS 2 portion of the dialog box.

    3. If desired, you can specify for either endpoint an additional rotation about an axis of the datum coordinate system. Select the Specify additional rotation option for one of the points, enter a value for the rotation angle in degrees, and select 1, 2, or 3 for the About axis option. The Specify additional rotation option is available only if you specify a datum coordinate system other than the global coordinate system.

  5. Click OK to save your connector and to close the Connector Builder, or click OK/Repeat to save the assembly-level wire, leaving the dialog box open to create a new wire.