Plate

Use Plate Wizard to auto-generate a rectangular, circular or semicircular plate structure composed of Plate Elements.

From the Main Menu select Structure > Wizard > Base Structure > Plate.

Shortcut key: [Ctrl]+[Shift]+Z

 Input tab

Type
Enter the shape (rectangular, circular or semicircular) of the plate structure to be created.

B
Enter the width of the plate structure.

H
Enter the height of the plate structure.

R
Enter the radius of the plate structure (circular or semicircular).

Show Dimensions
Display the dimensions entered in the Wizard Window.

Material
Enter the material property to be used.
Click to add a new material property or modify an existing material property.

Thickness
Enter the thickness to be used.
Click to add a new thickness or modify an existing thickness.

 Edit tab

Type
Select the shape of an opening (none, rectangle or circle) in the plate structure to be created.

Size of Divisions
Enter the division spacing of the plate structure.

Number of Divisions
Enter the numbers of divisions in the plate structure, in both x & z directions.
The numbers of divisions apply only when there is no opening.

Size
Enter the maximum size (side length) of a plate element.

m, n
For a rectangular plate structure, enter the numbers of divisions for the width (m) and height (n).

Db, Dh
Enter the distances between the center of the plate structure and the center of the opening.
Enter the distances in the directions of the width (Db) and height (Dh).

b, h
For a rectangular opening, enter the width and height.

r
For a circular or semicircular opening, enter the radius.

Show Sub-dimensions
Display the dimensions of the opening.

 Insert tab

Insert Point
Enter the coordinates of the insert point where the origin point of the created plate structure will be located in the existing model with respect to the GCS (UCS).
Alternatively, click the entry field and click the position of the insert point in the working window to enter the desired coordinates rather than typing in the entry field.

Rotations
Enter the rotational angles, Alpha, Beta and Gamma, that will define the orientation of the plate structure in GCS X, Y and Z respectively.

Merge Duplicate Nodes
Select the option whether to merge overlapping nodes between the existing model and the nodes pertaining to the newly created plate structure.

 : Set a tolerance for merging nodes.

Intersect Frame Elements
Select the option whether to divide the existing elements at the nodes pertaining to the newly created plate, which are in contact with the existing elements in the existing model.

 : Set an intersecting tolerance to allow for the division of elements.

Origin Point
Set the origin point of the newly created plate structure. This point is displayed in red in the Wizard Window.

Show No.: Display the node numbers making up the created plate structure.