*beamsectionautoconnectshell

Connects the parts of a shell section.

Syntax

*beamsectionautoconnectshell beam_section_id connection_type connection_tolerance connection_thickness

Type

HyperMesh Tcl Modify

Description

If the part or parts of the shell type beam section specified have gaps between them of equal to or less than the connection_tolerance, one or more “weld” type parts of connection_thickness will be created to bridge the gaps. The “weld” type connections created will span the gap at the closest points between the parts. If the parts are already connected, the gap must exceed the connection_tolerance and then narrow to be equal to or less than the connection_tolerance before an additional connection is created. Additional vertices may be created to position the connections at the most central positions between the joined parts. Note that the addition of these “weld” parts to the section will alter the sectional properties such as the area and moments of inertia.

It is important to note that the shear center and a number of other sectional properties are not calculated for shell type beam sections which have unconnected parts, and will default to the beam center. This command is intended to be used to automatically connect shell beam sections in logical ways so that the true shear center can be found. For example, if you create lines from a section cut of a pair of components which are connected with rigid elements, the lines will lack similar connections and thus a section created from those lines would also be unconnected. This command can be used to reconnect the parts of the section and thus give a more accurate representation of the properties of the cut section.

Inputs

beam_section_id
The ID of the shell beam section to connect.
connection_type
The type of connection to create. Valid values are:
0 - Spot weld
Other types of connections are currently unsupported (such as seam welds).
connection_tolerance
The maximum distance between the parts to be connected. Must be > 0.
connection_thickness
The thickness of the new part created to connect the existing parts. If set to 0.0, the thickness will be equal to the distance between the parts.

Examples

To automatically connect a shell type beam section with ID 1 such that parts closer then 2.0 model units apart are joined with a weld type connection of thickness 1.5:
*beamsectionautoconnectshell 1 0 2.0 1.5

Errors

Incorrect usage results in a Tcl error. To detect errors, you can use the catch command:
if { [ catch {command_name...} ] } {
   # Handle error
}

Version History

11.0.120