Common Controls

There are the following types of controls:

• Selector Control;
• Selection List;
• View List;
• Single Load Selector;
• Multiple Loads Selector;
• Description Control;
• Labels;
• Filter/Sort by;
• Label Plotter;
• Export;
• Data Conversion Control;
• Limits Control;
• Material Parameters Control;
• Rename Multiple;
• Common Commands.

Selector Control

The Selector Control is a very powerful tool which helps to make an elemental or nodal selection.

The Selection represents a set of conditions that are performed one by one to get entity IDs.

Condition = Operation + Condition Type + Entity IDs;

- add all entities to the selection;

- add entities by condition;

- add entities by rules:

Add Elements

• Elements - select elements by using the standard selection tools;
• Select members by Element(s) - select elements on the model to find beam/sub members from Beam Member Finder Tool that contain at least one selected element. All elements from found beam/sub members will be added to selection;
• Select Buckling Plates by Element(s) - select elements on the model to find plates from Panel Finder Tool that contain at least one selected element. All elements from found plates will be added to selection;
• Select Welds by Element(s) - select elements on the model to find welds from Weld Finder Tool that contain at least one selected element. All elements from found welds will be added to selection;
• Elements by Text - select elements by rules defined in Condition by Text;

Add Nodes

• Nodes - select nodes by using the standard selection tools;
• Nodes by Text - select nodes by rules defined in Condition by Text;

Condition by Text

Select nodes/elements by known ids or all nodes/elements by Type (e.g. Materials, Welds etc.). Example of selecting all nodes/elements from materials 1 and 2:

All Types:

• Elements - select elements by ids. For nodal type of selection all nodes from selected elements will be added to selection;
• Materials - all nodes/elements from selected Materials;
• Properties - all nodes/elements from selected Properties;
• Nodes - select nodes by ids. For elemental type of selection all elements attached to selected nodes will be added to selection;
• Constraint - all nodes/elements from selected Constraints;
• FEM Loads - all nodes/elements from selected FEM Loads;
• Beam Members - all nodes/elements from selected Beam Members;
• Welds - all nodes/elements from selected Welds;
• Joints - all nodes/elements from selected Joints;
• Sections - all nodes/elements from selected Sections;
• Beam Sections - all nodes/elements from selected Beam Sections;
• Connections - all nodes/elements from selected Connections;

- remove entities from the selection by using the standard selection tools.

- exclude entities using the standard selection tools;

- remove all selection conditions;

- move condition up;

- move condition down;

- store selection conditions to the component;

- edit condition (double click on the condition);

- remove selected conditions;

- preview the selection;

- preview only selected entities.

There are 4 types of operations:

• Add (+);
• Remove (-);
• Exclude (x) - remove entities from the selection, won't be added;
• Reselect (U) - take common entities from the current selection and condition ids.

16 main condition types can be distinguished:

• Components;
• Materials;
• Properties;
• Named Selections;
• Joints - select joints by common recognition selection rules;
• Beam Members - select beam member or sub-member for Y/Z or Torsional directions by common recognition selection rules;
• Beam Sections - select beam sections by common recognition selection rules;
• Sections - select sections by following rules:

Select sections by common recognition selection rules.

Group Elements between two sections of the same type:

Include Section Elements in Selection - include/exclude elements of selected sections in selection.

• Connections - select connections by common recognition selection rules.

• Welds - select welds by following rules:

- By Rule - select welds by the following rules:

Rule Types - set predefined or custom options (e.g. Weld Ends + Intersections + Tips);

Welds - all recognized welds;

Weld Exceptions - elements that were defined as non-welded (e.g. flange to web connection of rolled beam that was modeled as plate);

Weld Tips - elements of the non-welded structure at the free ends of the weld (weld shear influence);

Plate Free Edges - all shell elements with free edges;

Weld Ends - weld elements at both ends or free ends of the weld;

Weld Parts - welded or non-welded parts of the weld;

Weld Intersections - all or common elements at the weld intersections;

- By Weld Type - select welds by the following weld types:

Weld Type - set options to select L, Tee, Butt, Cross or Custom welds;

Weld Parts Count - welds where weld parts count matches set rule;

Angle Between Weld Parts - welds where angle between weld parts matches set rule (e.g. for Butt weld it is 0 deg.);

- Select welds by common recognition selection rules.

• Property Type - select elements based on the property type. E.g. Beam, Mass, Rigid, etc.;
• Property Shape - select elements by the shape type, standard or Nastran. E.g. circular bar, T Section, etc.;
• Element Topology - select elements by the element topology. E.g. Line, Tri, Quad, etc.;
• Add Visible - add all entities visible on the screen;
• Additional Rules (are described below in details);
• Recent - show list of recently created conditions:

• Import from Components - select conditions to import form the existing components to current selection.

There are 8 additional conditional types:

• Coordinates - pick entities of the model by equal/more-equal/less-equal coordinate rules;
• Planes - select all elements in the Plane (XY, YZ or ZX);
• Add Attached - add elements that are connected to the elements from the selection;
• Add Attached (by All Nodes) - add elements that are attached by all nodes to current selection (e.g. add beam elements to plates);
• Inversion - remove currently selected elements from the selection and adds all elements that were not in the selection;
• Plates with free edges - add to selection plates which have at least one edge with not connected elements to it;
• Stiffeners - select all beam elements that are connected to shell elements with 2 nodes;
• Surface Elements - pick reference elements and search all elements with normal collinear to selected.

All conditions work in a similar way except Inversion. The condition editor displays the dialog where an operation type has to be defined and a list of IDs/Types/Shapes:

Inversion = all entities - current selection ids.

Search - contains useful commands to navigate and filter items in the list:

ID - navigates to respective id in the list;

Filter - filter names in the list. Filter is case insensitive and checks if an item contains Filter Word.

Show (All, Selected Only, Not Selected Only) - change visibility between selected and not selected items in the list

Warning:

Selection proceeds condition in order - from up to down. Changing the order of the condition will change the resulting selection.

Selection Examples

Complete Model

All elements with the material "1..AISI 4340 Steel" are selected.

The Selection has 2 conditions. First all elements with the material "1..AISI 4340 Steel" are selected. Second condition invert selection - all elements minus elements that have already been selected (from the material ID = 1).

All elements with the property "3..BEAM Property (Rectangular Bar)" are selected.

All elements with the element type = "2..Bar" are selected.

The Selection has 2 conditions. The first one is to add elements with all nodes that are in range X[15.5;25]. The second is to reselect (pick out common ids from the current selection and condition) elements with property "3..Beam Property (Rectangular Bar)".

The selection has 2 conditions. First, add all elements with the element type = "2..Bar". The second condition is to add elements with all nodes that are in range X[6;12] and Y(3;7).

The example demonstrates the exclude operation. The first condition excludes all elements with the property "1..Bar Property (Circular Bar)". The second condition adds all entities to the selection. Exclude operation completely removes entities from the selection. It can be considered as the remove operation that is always performed in the end.

Common Recognition Selection Rules

All recognition items (beam members, connections etc.) can be selected using the following rules:

• From List - select recognition items from list;

On Components - select recognition items if any element of the item belongs to selected components;

Elements by Text - select recognition items by using Condition by Text;

Select by Elements - select recognition items by selecting elements on the model. Recognition item will be selected if any element of the item will belong to the selected elements.

Operations with conditions

It is possible to perform extra operations with existing conditions using the context menu:

Preview/Highlight entities from only selected conditions on the model;

Export as component… - create a new component with a selected conditions;

Copy to components… - create same selected conditions in chosen components.

Selection List

Selection List control allows creating several selections at once. It is used in the places where multiple items of the same type but with different selections can be created (report tables/plots, thickness plot tool) or results based on a set of selections (components extreme table, mass and COG table).

- add custom selection:

- edit selection;

- remove selection;

- preview chosen selections on a model;

- highlight chosen selections on a model;

- move chosen selections up;

- move selected selections down;

- add All Elements/Node selection.

Add multiple selections simultaneously:

- components:

From List - The list with all available components be displayed:

All selected components will be added to the list as the separate selection.

Components Condition - select components to be included:

Include Content of Components - include each created condition in the selection of selected components as separate selection. Component will be included as separate selection if any condition is included;

Note: Content of components includes only conditions based on list of selected items (e.g. materials, welds from list or element type/shape conditions etc.)

- named selection;

- model entities:

Materials and Properties Conditions allow to pick all materials/properties on selection and exclude not necessary items:

- recognition tools entities:

Beam Members - select beam/sub members by common recognition selection rules;

Beam Sections - select beam sections by common recognition selection rules;

Panel Sections - select sections by common recognition selection rules;

Welds - select welds by common recognition selection rules;

Connections - select connections by common recognition selection rules;

View List

- add view;

- edit view;

- edit multiple views;

- rename selected view;

- copy selected views;

- remove selected views.

Single Load Selector

Single Load Selector allows picking you Individual Load, Load Set, Load Group or Fatigue Group from the existing Jobs. Use Search field to filter loads in the list by text.

Multiple Loads Selector

A Multiple Load Selector allows to select few Individual Loads, Load Sets, Load Groups or Fatigue Groups from the existing Jobs.

Recent Loads - select the recently used combination of loads (max 8 combinations in the list);

All Loads - select all possible loads;

All Individual Loads - select all possible individual loads;

All Load Sets - select all possible load sets;

All Load Groups - select all possible load groups;

All Fatigue Group - select all possible fatigue groups;

Note: For the items that require using only one Job, the loads only from that job will be selected;

Note: Recent loads list is changed only when the loads are selected manually;

Note: The loads, that cannot be used in the current context will be banned from being selected;

- opens the window to select the loads manually:

The load list contains the loads from all included Jobs.

- include/exclude all possible loads;

- include/exclude all Individual Loads;

- include/exclude all Load Sets;

- include/exclude all Load Groups;

- include/exclude all Load Group Contents;

- include/exclude all Fatigue Groups.

Amount of included/excluded loads is automatically updated and displayed in the title of the respective button.

Check/uncheck IL/LS/LG/LG Content/FG to include/exclude all Individual Loads/Load Sets/Load Groups/Load Groups Content/Fatigue Groups from the list.

LG Content - available for tables that are built on multiple loads (flow table, summarized forces over loads). In this case, only items of the selected load group will be included in the table but not load group itself.

Use Search field to filter loads in the list by text.

- clear all filters;

- exclude all loads.

Description Control

Description Control allows adding a single line or multi-line comments.

By default, a comment is added in the text field as a single line.

To switch to multi-line editor press or Arrow Down (on keyboard).

To close multi-line editor press or Esc.

Labels

Labels control is used to put extra labels for result plots over the recognition items or min/max values over the selection:

Note: The control is available for criteria/contour plots for result categories and check plots.

Display By list:

None - no labels are shown by default;

Members - put a label of the absolute maximum value at the center of each beam member from the Beam Member Finder;

Note: Sub members are used instead of beam member if they exist. Sub-members are taken from a torsional length;

Plates - put a label of absmax value at the center of each plate from the Panel Finder;

Stiffeners - put a label of absmax value at the center of each stiffener from the Panel Finder;

Members - put a label of absmax value at the center of each beam or sub beam member from torsional direction of the Beam Member Finder;

Welds - put a label of absmax value at the center of each weld from the Weld Finder;

Min/Max - put the labels with the min/max values on the selection defined in a plot;

Min - put a label with a min value on the selection defined in a plot;

Max - put a label with a max value on the selection defined in a plot;

Note: All elements from the welds, plates, stiffeners, and members should be included in a selection of plot to display labels for them.

Filter - filter label values using Limits Control. It is available for members, plates, stiffeners and welds type only;

Panel Finder Coordinates - put labels with coordinates of the recognized sections of selected type in the Panel Finder. It is possible to skip the section labels to avoid overlaying if they are very close to each other by increasing One label every value:

Font Size - size of all labels on the plot (section coordinates and results).

Filter/Sort by

Control is used to display filtered values in the table and sort them in the selected Order. Any calculation parameters of the check can be sorted/filtered in the table.

For filter, it is also possible to display only entities only when all the calculation parameters are above the Value, not only selected one.

Order - sorts values in ascending or descending order for selected parameter.

Note: The last parameter of the check is selected automatically for sorting in the descending order.

Buckling Factor Overall > 1 is sorted in descending order:

Label Plotter

Label plotter is used to display the selected Components/Materials/Properties with different colors and labels:

To limit plot change selection - only common elements from the selected items in the list and Selection will be displayed.

Note: If selection is changed - the list of items will be refilled automatically so only items that exist in the selection will be visible.

For Label Typeoptions there are 3 variants: Id, Title or Id, and Title;

Font size - font size of displayed labels;

Labels Orientation - put labels from the top-left to the bottom-left (Vertical) or from the top-left to the top-right (Horizontal);

Labels Top-Vertical Offset, % - sets vertical offset in % of the window size from the top;

Labels Per Row - the maximum labels amount displayed in a single row. It is enabled only when Labels Orientation = Horizontal.

Show only Elements from Selected Components - displays only common elements from the selected items in the list and a Selection if turned ON. Displays all elements of a Selection if turned OFF:

All/None - select/deselect all items in the list.

Based on Selection - selects items in the list by common elements from custom selection using Selector Control.

Press to display a plot:

Export

Export selected items in the list to single or separate components/named selections.

As One Component/Named Selection - create single component/named selection with all selected items in the list;

Each Item as Component/Named Selection - create separate component/named selection for each selected item in the list.

Data Conversion Control

It is possible to use Averaged or No Averaged results. Use Corner Results and Average type is defined by default and can't be changed (these options can be modified for others CAE).

Limits Control

Filter elements/nodes selection based on the result criteria (type): Below, Above, Between, Outside. If Absolute Value option is set, the absolute result value is compared to the selected criteria:

Material Parameters Control

Yield Stress and Tensile Strength of materials is used in calculations of standards and it is important to set the values for all materials of the model to avoid inappropriate results.

Control displays amount of materials where Yield Stress and/or Tensile Strength equals zero:

If count > 0, then press to edit Yield Stress and Tensile Strength:

Press Update from Ansys to read properties from Ansys for selected materials.

Note: Some standards use only Yield Stress in calculations. Tensile Strength in this case is not necessary to be set.

Rename Multiple

Rename multiple items is available for all collections in Navigation Tree (e.g. Views, Jobs, Standards etc.) except the model-related collections (e.g. Materials, Properties etc.)

- copy only titles of selected items to clipboard;

Note: Ctrl+C key combination will copy all selected items with Id and Title.

- paste titles from clipboard to all items starting from the first selected in the list. Ids are not pasted.

Note: Use Ctrl+V key combination to paste the titles starting from the first selected item in the list.

Common Commands

Remove Multiple - select multiple items to be removed from the collection:

ID - navigate to the respective item id;

Filter - filter items in the list (case insensitive);

Show - filter items by type:

• All - display all items in the list;
• Selected Only - display only items that are selected;
• Not Selected Only - display only items that are not selected;

- apply current type to the list (e.g. when Show = Not Selected Only and few items have been selected - pressing the button will hide recently selected items);

Renumber - renumber all items in a collection starting from ID = 1.

Warning:

Renumbering the result items where the results can be stored to the files (jobs, loads, checks, standards) will lead to results clearing with a confirmation message since they are linked to the files by their IDs.