Rotate Panel

Use the Rotate panel to rotate entities around an axis in space.

Location: Tool page

The axis of rotation can be selected in several different ways, and the entities rotated can include an entire model or only portions of it.

Do not use the Rotate panel to rotate a dummy. Doing so corrupts the tree structure and produces incorrect results when you reposition the dummy. Instead, use the Dummy panel.

To undo a rotation, rotate the entities in the opposite direction without changing the axis or angle: one click of rotate - undoes one click of rotate + and vice-versa.

Local coordinate system axes can be specified using the vector selection option.

When rotating components, all of the geometry (lines, surfaces, points) and elements (nodes) contained in the selected component are automatically rotated.

Rotating nodes or elements does not change connectivity or continuity of a mesh.

Rotating only some of the nodes in an element may distort the element.

Rotating surfaces may affect edge topology (shared edges may become free edges).

Rotating elements or surfaces independently will break any associations between the surfaces and the elements (nodes) created on them. Rotating in the opposite direction as described for "undoing" a rotation will not restore these associations. Lost associations can be restored via the Node Edit panel.

Panel Options

Option Action
entity selector Select entities for translation.
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 axis of rotation.
  • The axis chosen may be one of the global coordinate system axes (x-axis, y-axis, or z-axis), or a vector.
  • When using the vector option, you can specify the vector from a coordinate system (global or local) or a vector entity created via the Vectors panel.
  • When using the N1, N2, N3 option you can either define a vector using two nodes (N1 and N2) or a plane (N1, N2, N3) in which case the positive direction is defined by the normal to the plane using the right-hand rule.
  • A base node is required because it defines the location of the axis of rotation. If you do not specify one while using the N1, N2, N3 method, N1 is used as the base node.
angle Specify the number of degrees (positive or negative) that you want the selected entities to rotate each time you click rotate + or rotate -. Click this field twice to access the built-in calculator.
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
rotate + Rotate the selected entities in the positive direction of the rotation axis by the specified angle. Repeated clicks are cumulative.
rotate - Rotate the selected entities in the negative direction of the rotation axis by the specified angle. Repeated clicks are cumulative.
return Exit the panel.