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10. Construction

*Construction defines auxiliary geometric entities, called constructions, which are used for modelling. Each construction must have a unique name, and duplicate names are not allowed.

*Construction

Define auxiliary geometric entity 

*Construction, TYPE=type Name=name
 ...
Keyword line
  • TYPE=type: Type of construction
    • Spline: Parametric spline
    • Line: Set of construction lines
  • Name=name: Name of the construction

*Construction, Type=Spline

Define spline

*Construction, Type=Spline, Name=name
 x,y,z
 ...
First data line and subsequent data lines
  • x,y,z: Coordinates of sampling points [L] (required)

A parametric spline is constructed using the given coordinates. Splines are used to define the shape of embedded line elements or when defining shapes in *Report, TYPE=LineSensor. At least two sampling points must be defined. The spline is constructed as a parametric cubic spline of the form \((x(t), y(t), z(t))\) using the provided sampling points. t is generated from the accumulated secant length of the given coordinates. The range of t is [0,1].

Example
*Construction, Type=Spline, Name=2spanTendon
  0,  0.         , 0.
 13, -0.8        , 0. 
 26,  0.19411765 , 0.
 30,  0.5        , 0.
 34,  0.19411765 , 0.
 47, -0.8        , 0.
 60,  0          , 0.

*Construction, Type=Line

Define a construction line.

*Construction, Type=Line, Name=name
 x0, y0, z0, x1, y1, z1
 ...
Keyword line
  • Name=name: Name.
First data line and subsequent data lines
  • x0, y0, z0, x1, y1, z1: The coordiantes of start point and end point [L].

The construction line is not used in the analysis functionality. It is a command used to store additional information needed for visualization.

Example
*Construction, Type=Line, Name=name
 0, 0,0, 10, 0, 0
 0,10,0,  1, 0, 0