Drag Panel

Use the Drag panel to create a surface and/or mesh by dragging a series of nodes or lines, or to create elements by dragging selected elements. The selected entities are dragged along the specified vector creating a mesh, surface, or elements along that vector.

Location: 2D and 3D pages

Drag Elements and Nodes

Figure 1. Nodes Dragged. The first image shows the selected nodes. The second image shows the nodes dragged.
Figure 2. Elements Dragged. The first image shows the selected elements. The second image shows the elements dragged.


Figure 3. Elements Created Using Drag+ with a Positive Bias Intensity Value


Figure 4. Elements Created without Element Biasing

Drag Geoms Subpanel

A line segment can be used if desired.

The order in which the nodes are selected determines the connectivity of the mesh generated.
Option Action
entity selector Select the nodes/lines to drag.
vector selector Specify the direction along which to drag the nodes/line.
distance = / distance = N2- N1 Select which method to use for the distance to drag. If you select distance = , enter a value in the field.
mesh method
mesh, keep surf
Creates a surface from the selected entities and then generate a mesh on the created surface. The created surface is retained along with the mesh.
mesh, dele surf
Create a surface from the selected entities and then generate a mesh on the created surface. The created surface is then deleted and only the corresponding mesh is retained.
mesh w/o surf
Create a mesh between the selected entities using linear interpolation without creating a surface.
surface only
Create a surface from selected entities, but do not create a mesh. You can use the resulting surface to perform any desired geometry cleanup functions or automeshing.

Drag Elems Subpanel

When one-dimensional elements are dragged, two-dimensional elements are generated. When two-dimensional elements are dragged, three-dimensional elements are generated. Three-dimensional elements are ignored by the drag operator.
Option Action
entity selector Select the elements to drag.
vector selector Specify the direction along which to drag the elements
distance = / distance = N2- N1 Select which method to use for the distance to drag. If you select distance = , enter a value in the field.
on drag = Specify the number of elements which should be generated along the drag.
bias style Select a biasing style.
bias intensity Specify how strong the biasing effect is. Larger numbers create stronger bias.

Command Buttons

Button Action
drag + Drag the selection in a positive direction.
drag - Drag the selection in a negative direction.
reject Click reject immediately after the surface, mesh, or elements have been created.

To re-create the surface, mesh, or elements, click drag+ or drag- a second time without changing any of the input data. The input entities used to create the surface, mesh, or elements are restored provided that no data have been selected since they were created.
return Exit the panel.