Delete Panel

Use the Delete panel to delete data from a model database, preview and delete empty collectors, and preview and delete unused property collectors, material collectors, or curves. You can also delete an entire model database, if you wish to start with a clean database.

Location: Tool page or 1D page > Connectors module

Empty Entities

The following entities can be empty:
  • component collectors
  • load collectors
  • system collectors
  • sets
  • groups
  • assemblies
  • vector collectors
  • output blocks
  • load steps
  • beam section collectors
  • control volumes for OptiStruct
  • multibodies

Unused Entities

The following entities can be unused:
  • systems
  • properties
  • curves
  • materials

Any curve that is used only by a plot is considered to be unused. A curve is considered to be used if it is attached to something, such as a load or material.

Entity-Specific Options

If you choose surfs, you can also choose to delete any solids and/or elements associated with the surfaces. When deleting associated solids, edges will be removed where the deleted surface was connected, if possible, regardless of whether there was a solid or not.

If you choose connectors, you can also choose whether to delete only the connectors, or the connectors and their realized FE.

If you choose solids, you can also choose to delete any bounding surfaces and/or elements associated with the solids.

Panel Inputs

Option Action
entity selector Select the entity to delete.
When you select elems, click the switch to change the selection mode.
elems
Select individual elements, or select all of the elements contained by a component or on a surface.


Figure 1. 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 2. Example: Faces Selection
2D faces ext
Select all of the elements on a 2D face that contain discontinuities.


Figure 3. Example: 2D Faces Ext Selection
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.

Command Buttons

Button Action
delete entity Delete the selected entity.
reject Reject the selection; nothing is deleted.
delete model Delete the entire model regardless of the current selection.
preview empty Display any empty collectors.
preview unused Display unused collectors.
return Exit the panel.