BasicFEA

Scale panel

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Scale panel
Scale panel

Use the Scale panel to increase or decrease an entity’s dimensions. Scaling can be proportional or non-proportional.

Notes

•	When working with cylindrical or spherical coordinate systems, the x scale represents the radial direction. Scaling options for angle axes are removed, meaning that In cylindrical systems the y scale = option disappears, and in spherical systems both y scale = and z scale = disappear.

•	To undo scaling, select the opposite function without changing the scaling factors or origin. Each click of scale + reverses a click of scale - and vice versa.

•	When scaling components, all of the geometry (lines, surfaces, points) and elements (nodes) contained in the selected components are automatically scaled.

•	If you don’t select a node for the scaling origin, the global or local coordinate system’s origin is used.

•	Since scale factors act as multipliers or divisors, they cannot be zero, and a factor of one produces no change in the corresponding direction. Decimal factors are acceptable and can be helpful when converting a model to different units of measurement.

•	Non-uniform scaling can distort meshes and models. Uniform scaling can distort meshes if only some of an entity’s nodes are scaled.

Subpanels and Inputs

There are no subpanels on the Scale panel. All inputs and command buttons are located on the main panel.

Panel Inputs

Input

Action

entity selector

Used to select entities for scaling. Valid entity types include nodes, elements, components, lines, surfaces, groups, points, blocks, solids, and connectors.

When you select nodes or elems, click the switch to change the selection mode.

nodes

Select individual nodes.

faces_edges_nodes

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.

faces_edges_faces_nodes

2D faces ext

Select all of the nodes on a 2D face that contain discontinuities.

faces_edges_2d_face_ext_nodes

loops

Select all of the nodes on continuous free edges that make a closed loop simultaneously, such as the perimeter of a hole.

Only valid for SHELL elements.

faces_edges_loops_nodes

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.

Only valid for SHELL elements.

faces_edges_free_edges_nodes

free edges ext

Select all of the nodes on free edges of elements that contain discontinuities.

Only valid for SHELL elements.

faces_edges_free_edges_ext_nodes

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.

Only valid for SHELL elements.

faces_edges_edges_nodes

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.

Only valid for SHELL elements.

faces_edges_edges_ext_nodes

elems

Select individual elements, or select all of the elements contained by a component or on a surface.

faces_edges_entities

faces

Select all of the elements on 2D and 3D faces.

If there are discontinuities on a 2D face, then only the elements inbetween the discontinuities will be selected.

faces_edges_faces

2D faces ext

Select all of the elements on a 2D face that contain discontinuities.

faces_edges_2d_faces_ext

origin

Entities scale based on their position relative to an origin node. Click node twice to type in a node id, or click once and then click in the graphics area to set the origin node.

coordinate system

Choose between coordinate system types. Use global system to scale entities relative to the global coordinate system; Use local system to scale entities relative to a specific local coordinate system.

•	Local systems can be rectangular, cylindrical, or spherical.

•	When no node is selected as the origin, the selected system’s origin serves as the origin.

•	Local systems are created in the Systems panel.

x scale =

Type in the factor by which the selection will scale in the selected system’s x direction. See the notes below for more details.

y scale =

Type in the factor by which the selection will scale in the selected system’s y direction. See the notes below for more details.

z scale =

Type in the factor by which the selection will scale in the selected system’s z direction. See the notes below for more details.

face angle / individual selection

Face angle

The face angle is the 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.

Only available when the entity selector is set to nodes or elems and the selection mode is set to faces, 2d faces ext, free edges, free edges ext, edges, or edges ext.

Individual Selection

Select individual elements on a face or select individual free/shared edges of elements.

Only available when the entity selector is set to nodes or elems and the selection mode is set to faces, free edges, or edges.

edge angle

Splits 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.

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

The following action buttons appear:

Button	Action
uniform	Click this button to open a text box, then type the desired scaling factor. The x scale, y scale, and z scale fields automatically change to this value so that the scaling is proportional.
scale+	Increases the selection’s dimensions relative to the coordinate system and origin chosen. The scaling factor acts as a multiplier — so, for example, a factor of 2 doubles the selection’s dimensions.
scale-	Decreases the selection’s dimensions relative to the coordinate system and origin chosen. The scaling factor acts as a divisor — so, for example, a factor of 2 halves the selection’s dimensions.
return	Finalizes the current scaling and exits the panel.