Creating a Spot

You can create and locate a spot fastener as well as creating a single annotation while creating or editing the spot fastener.

This task shows you how to:

Before you begin: Create a fastener set. Here we created a fastener set whose Process Category is set to Weld and Process Type to Resistance (21).
Related Topics
Creating a Fastener Set
About Spot Fasteners

Create the Spot

You can first create the spot.

  1. Click Spot in the Fastener Creation toolbar.

  2. Select the Fastener Set in the specification tree, if needed.

    Important: You can double-click the Spot icon to activate the repeat mode but it is only available when the Representation is active.

    The Spot Fastener Definition dialog box opens.



  3. Optional: Modify the Identifier set by default.

  4. Optional: Modify the design parameters in the Design tab.

  5. Optional: Modify the Manufacturing parameters in the Manufacturing tab.

  6. Optional: Modify the customizable parameters in the Custom tab.

  7. Optional: Modify the Shape Definition.

  8. Select the location method, for instance:


  9. Define the orientation of the spot by setting the K Axis to either:


    • Same as Surface Material Orientation



    • Opposite to Surface Material Orientation



    Important: To visualize the K axis, the Show Fastener Axis Orientation option should be selected in the Editing Fasteners Graphic Properties of the spot.

  10. Choose whether you want to create a fastener annotation or not.

  11. Click the Propagate to all Fasteners in the Set button so that all the overloaded classifications and shape properties of this spot fastener are propagated to its parent fastener set then to all fasteners contained in the fastener set. Note that a warning dialog box is prompted: click Yes to achieve the propagation and preview the modification in the 3D area (the Propagate to all Fasteners in the Set button becomes grayed out) or No to cancel the operation (the Propagate to all Fasteners in the Set button stays available).

    Warning: This capability does not work on properties that are defined by knowledge rules (Expert or Knowledge Advisor rules). In case of a Knowledge Advisor Rule, the propagation command is cancelled and an error message is prompted. If there is a formula on any spot fastener's property, an error message is prompted asking you to remove the formula or not: click Yes to remove the formula and propagate the value or click No to ignore the attributes having a formula and apply the propagation to the other attributes.

  12. Click OK to create the spot.

    The spot is added to the specification tree under the Spot Fastener Set node.

Locate the Spot

You can use various methods to locate the spot.

Explicit

You can use the Explicit method.

  1. Select a surface or a point where the spot is to be created.

    Tip: You can as well select a circle instead of a point: the center of the circle is computed to get the reference point.

  2. Optional: Click More>> to display the Explicit dialog box:



    You can:


    • modify the spot location by defining new coordinates,
    • modify the material orientation if the reference point do not lie on the surface.

  3. Click OK to validate the changes.

On Point

You can use the On Point method.

  1. Select a point.



    Tip: You can as well select a circle instead of a point: the center of the circle is computed to get the reference point. Note that you cannot select an arc of circle.

  2. Optional: Click More>> to display the On Point dialog box:



    You can:


    • modify the Reference Point type (selected point, coordinates or axis origin),
    • modify the material orientation if the reference point do not lie on the surface.

  3. Click OK to validate the changes.

On Surface

You can use the On Surface method.

  1. Select a surface or a point to indicate the spot location.



    Tip: You can as well select a circle instead of a point: the center of the circle is computed to get the reference point. The spot will then be created on the selected zone, which may not be a support zone of the fastener set.

  2. Optional: Click More>> to display the On Surface dialog box:



    You can:


    • modify the selected Surface,
    Tip: A list of possible surfaces to be selected is available in the drop-down list.

    • modify the Reference Point (selected point, surface middle or coordinates),
    • modify the Direction,
    • modify the distance to the reference point (Dist. To Reference).

  3. Click OK to validate the changes.

On Curve

You can use the On Curve method. The On Curve dialog box is automatically displayed:

  1. Select a Curve.



  2. Optional: Select the Reference Point (Extremity or Middle of the curve).

  3. Optional: Modify the distance to the reference point (Dist. To Reference). You can click Invert to reverse the distance direction from the reference point.

  4. Optional: Define the distance type (Length or Ratio).

  5. Optional: Modify the material orientation if the reference point does not lie on the surface.

  6. Click OK to validate the changes.

    Important: The Repeat object after OK button appears in the Spot Fastener Definition dialog box. Refer to the Repeating Spot Fasteners to create more spots using the currently created spot as the reference.

Point On Parallel Curve On Surface

You can use the Point On Parallel Curve On Surface method. The Point On Parallel Curve On Surface dialog box is automatically displayed:

  1. Select a Curve lying on a surface.

  2. Optional: Select a Surface.



    Important: You can select a published surface from the drop-down list or choose No Selection if the surface to be selected cannot be found and select the desired surface in the 3D geometry.

  3. Optional: Modify the Offset value.

  4. Optional: Modify the Reference Point (Extremity or Middle of the curve).

  5. Optional: Modify the distance to the reference point (Dist. To Reference). You can click Invert to reverse the distance direction from the reference point.

  6. Optional: Define the distance type (Length or Ratio).

  7. Click OK to validate the changes.

    Important: The Repeat object after OK option appears in the Spot Fastener Definition dialog box. Note that when spots are created using the Point On Parallel Curve On Surface location method and providing the Repeat object after OK check box is selected, when you edit and modify the offset value of the reference spot, only this value will be modified (i.e., the offset values of the other created spots will not be changed). Refer to the Repeating Spot Fasteners to create more spots using the currently created spot as the reference.

Intersect

You can use the Intersect method.

  1. Select the first and the second element.

    Elements can either be two curves or a curve and a surface.

  2. Click More>> to display the Intersect dialog box:



    You can:


    • modify the selected elements,
    • modify the material orientation if the reference elements do not lie on a surface.

Important:
  • A single intersection point, which is the default spot location, between the input curves is automatically computed.
  • The fastener's normal vector according to the closest surface is automatically computed.

Bitangent Circle Center

You can use the Buitangent Circle Center method. The Bitangent Circle Center dialog box is automatically displayed:

  1. Select the First Curve and the Second Curve.

    Warning: They must not be parallel.


    The resulting bitangent circle, highlighted in the 3D area, is automatically computed and the default spot location is the circle center.

  2. Optional: Select a support Surface in the drop-down list or in the 3D area if the curves are not coplanar. In this case, the center of gravity of the circle is automatically computed.

  3. Optional: Define the Circle Radius value.

    Important: When several solutions are possible, click Next Solution to move to another solution. When you click OK in the Bitangent Circle Center dialog box, the chosen spot is created, and the next solution is proposed for creation. Click OK to create the second spot and so on until the last solution. You can click Cancel in the Spot Fastener Definition dialog box to create only one spot or to stop the creation of more spots.

  4. Click OK to validate the changes.

Create Spot Fasteners Annotations Automatically

You can automatically create a single fastener annotation during the spot fastener creation or edition.



  1. Specify the type of annotation by activating one of the following options:


    • None: no annotation is created. This option is set by default.

    • Manual: when clicking OK in the Spot Fastener Definition dialog box, the annotation command is automatically launched to let you set the annotation parameters needed to create the annotation.

    • Automatic: a single fastener annotation associated to the created fastener is automatically created after clicking OK in the Spot Fastener Definition dialog box. Each field of the created annotation is automatically set from:


      • the user preference file; i.e. BiW Fastener Annotation parameters will be set from the customization of the last created BiW Fastener Annotation. For example, if Field 1of the previous created BiW Fastener Annotation was set to ID-Process Type, then Field 1 of the BiW Fastener Annotation automatically created will display ID-Process Type of the associated fastener.

      • if no user preference file already exists (i.e. no previously created annotation), the default BiW Fastener Annotation customization specified in the Fst_Standard File for the Field Fi is used, where i=1,..., 4. For example, the default parameter set to Field F1 for a BiW Fastener Annotation through the Fst_Standard File is JEID (specified between <>) or the first specified parameter.



      For more information on customizing the Fst_STD Standard File, refer to Customizing the BiW Fastening Application Standard File.

  2. Click OK to generate the annotation associated to the created spot.

Important:
  • If no annotation plane is not activated before launching the manual/automatic creation of fastener annotations, an annotation plane is automatically created by default parallel to xy plane.
  • The annotation Welding symbol is automatically set when the fastener annotation is associated to a Welding Resistance Spot Fastener.
  • For detailed information concerning fastener annotations, refer to Creating Functional Annotations.

Using the Repeat Mode

You can use the repeat mode to create annotations. If the Repeat object after OK option, (which is available only with the On Curve and the Point on Parallel Curve On Surface options) is selected during the creation of fastener annotations:

  • in case of an Automatic creation: repeated fasteners and their BiW annotations are automatically created after clicking OK in the BiW Fastener Repetition dialog box.
  • in case of Manual creation: the Welding creation dialog box is displayed for the reference spot fastener, then the BiW Fastener Repetition dialog box to create the spot fasteners.
  • the annotations of the repeated fasteners are further created with the same parameters as that of the reference annotation (that is the annotation associated to the reference spot fastener)

Using the Datum Mode

You can use the datum mode to create annotations. Depending on the selection of the Create Datum icon in the Fastener Tools toolbar, the annotation will be created in different ways.

  • In case of an Automatic creation:
    • If the icon is not activated during the automatic annotation creation, the created annotation remains associative to its fastener.
    • If the icon is activated by a single click (i.e. not permanent datum mode), then only the fastener is isolated and the annotation remains associative to its fastener.
    • If the datum mode is activated by a double-click (permanent datum mode), then the fastener and its associated annotation are isolated and the annotation is no longer associative to its fastener. Therefore, modifying the fastener location or fastener parameters has no impact on the datum annotation.
  • In case of a Manual creation: the annotation is created as a datum annotation whatever the activation of the datum mode (simple or double-click).