Beam Section Orientation

In the definition of a 1D property, you can orient the beam section by selecting a geometry. You can select a point, a line or a surface.

Related Topics
Creating 1D Properties
1D Property Section Types

Orientation Using a Point

You can orient the beam section by selecting a point.

The orientation point gives the orientation of the Y-direction for any wire frame at any point: X is fixed tangent to the wire frame and in the direction of the oriented wire frame. To visualize particular axis on each element after a computation, right-click the property set in the specification tree, select Generate Image, and select the Local axis symbol image.

Warning: Avoid creating an orientation point that is tangent to the line or the curve.

Orientation Using a Line

You can orient the beam section by selecting a line.

When referencing a straight line, the system tends to make this line be the Y-axis of the beam with the following algorithm: the X-axis is always chosen as being along the element in the direction of its generation (which is the direction of the geometry). A vector direction w is extracted from the line. The cross product X*w is the Z-axis and the cross product Z*X is the Y axis.

Important:
  • If the selected line is perpendicular in the right direction to the beam element, it is then the Y-axis.
  • You cannot select curved lines because it would not make sense to extract a direction from a curved line.

Orientation Using a Surface

You can orient the beam section by selecting a surface.

When referencing a surface, the system tends to make the Y-axis of the beam perpendicular to the surface with the following algorithm: the center of gravity of the beam element is projected on the surface on a point P. The normal to the surface at point P is computed and is taken as the vector direction w on which the operation described in the Lines paragraph is computed.