Reflect Panel

Use the Reflect panel to reflect portions of a model about a plane, changing the selected portion into a mirror image of itself.

Location: Tool page

Undo a reflection by clicking reflect again without changing any other settings.

Nodes located on the plane of reflection are not equivalenced. This function is available in the Edges panel.

Loads, constraints, and systems attached to the reflected structure move to the new location of the parent entity, but they are not reflected.

Local coordinate systems can be used to define the plane of reflection by using the vector option and selecting one of the vectors defining the local system.

Reflecting surfaces separately from the nodes or elements built on them breaks association with those nodes/elements. Reflecting surfaces back to their original position will not restore these associations, but they can be restored via the Node Edit panel.

When reflecting a component, all of the geometry (lines, surfaces, connectors, and points) and elements (nodes) contained in each component are reflected with the component, and associations are maintained.

Panel Options

Option Action
entity selector Select entities for reflection.
When you select nodes or elems, click the switch to change the selection mode.
Nodes
nodes
Select individual nodes.


Figure 1. Example: Nodes Selection
faces
Select all of the nodes on 2D and 3D faces. If there are discontinuities on a 2D face, then only the nodes inbetween the discontinuities will be selected.


Figure 2. Example: Faces Selection
2D faces ext
Select all of the nodes on a 2D face that contain discontinuities.


Figure 3. Example: 2D Faces Ext Selection
loops
Select all of the nodes on continuous free edges that make a closed loop simultaneously, such as the perimeter of a hole.
Important: Only valid for SHELL elements.


Figure 4. Example: Loops Selection
free edges
Select all of the nodes on free edges of elements. If there are discontinuities on an edge, then only the nodes on the free edges inbetween the discontinuities will be selected.
Important: Only valid for SHELL elements.


Figure 5. Example: Free Edges Selection
free edges ext
Select all of the nodes on free edges of elements that contain discontinuities.
Important: Only valid for SHELL elements.


Figure 6. Example: Free Edges Ext Selection
edges
Select all of the nodes on free edges or shared edges (butt joints, L/corner joints, and T-joints) of elements. If there are discontinuities on an edge, then only the nodes on the edge inbetween the discontinuities will be selected.
Important: Only valid for SHELL elements.


Figure 7. Example: Edges Selection
edges ext
Select all of the nodes on free edges or shared edges (butt joints, L/corner joints, and T-joints) of elements that contain discontinuities.
Important: Only valid for SHELL elements.


Figure 8. Example: Edges Ext Selection
Elements
elems
Select individual elements, or select all of the elements contained by a component or on a surface.


Figure 9. Example: Elems Selection
faces
Select all of the elements on 2D and 3D faces. If there are discontinuities on a 2D face, then only the elements in between the discontinuities will be selected.


Figure 10. Example: Faces Selection
2D faces ext
Select all of the elements on a 2D face that contain discontinuities.


Figure 11. Example: 2D Faces Ext Selection
plane selector Define the plane of reflection.
  • When using the N1, N2, N3 option you can either define a plane (N1, N2, N3) or define a vector using two nodes (N1 and N2), in which case the reflection plane is normal to the specified vector.
  • Use other vectors (coordinate system axes or vector entities) to define the reflection plane. In such cases the plane is normal to the selected vector.
A base node is required because it defines the location of the plane. If you do not specify one while using the N1, N2, N3 method, N1 is used as the base node.
Bar Elements Choose a method for reflecting bar elements.
Maintain Z-Axis Direction


Figure 12.
Maintain Element Connectivity


Figure 13.
Note: Available when selecting elements or components using the entity selector.
face angle / individual selection
face angle
Angle between the normal of facets that share an element edge. A facet can either be a shell element itself, or one of the faces of a solid element. The normal of triangular facets is that of the plane defined three corner vertices. Whereas, the normal of quadrilateral facets is calculated by taking the cross-product between its two diagonals. This special treatment for quadrilaterals is because a warped shape does not lie completely on a plane.
individual selection
Select individual elements on a face or select individual free/shared edges of elements.
edge angle
Split edges that belong to a given face. When the edge angle is 180 degrees, edges are the continuous boundaries of faces. For smaller values, these same boundary edges are split wherever the angle between segments exceeds the specified value. A segment is the edge of a single element.
Important: Only available when the entity selector is set to nodes and the selection mode is set to free edges, free edges ext, edges, or edges ext.

Command Buttons

Button Action
reflect Move the selected entities about the plane of reflection.
return Exit the panel.