Connector Options Panel

Use the Connector Options panel to set general connector options as well as options specific to spots, bolts, seams, or area connectors.

Location:
  • Connectors Module
  • Accessed by clicking options in the Spot, Bolt, Seam, and Area panels.
Your settings remain (are not cleared) when you switch subpanels, or even exit the entire Connector Options panel.
Note: When this panel is accessed from one of the other connector panels, leaving the panel returns you to the Connector panel from which it was accessed. If accessed directly from within the Connectors Module, it returns you to the main menu for the module.

General Options Subpanel

Option Action
fail hexa seam or area connector, if This criteria is saved for individual connectors, so that when a realization is performed from the Connector browser connectors will be considered individually.
jacobian <
Fail hexa seam and/or area connectors if the jacobian value is less than the specified value.
aspect >
Fail hexa seam and/or area connectors if the aspect value is greater than the specified value.
equia skew >
Fail hexa seam and/or area connectors if the equia skew value is greater than the specified value.
The default value is 0.8.
consider shell thickness and offset for solid positioning Consider the shell thickness and offset when positioning the connector. When this checkbox is turned off, the connector is realized to the ideal shell position.1

This option influences realization types which use hexa elements like ACMs (spot) or hexa adhesives (seam and area) as the realization body.
shared entity global options During connector realization, connecting elements are created. In order to create a full functional connection, additional entities and collectors may need to be created. These entities and collectors are usually shared among several connectors, therefore they are named shared entities. The shared entity global options determine how to organize shared entities and remove shared entities when they are no longer needed.
auto-register during realization, feabsorb and import
Register all connector related entities during import or when performing realizations or absorptions.
This option must be enabled in order to use one of the cleanup during unrealization or cleanup during deletion options.
cleanup during unrealization
Check if the registered entities of the unrealized connectors are shared among other connectors. If this is not the case, entities that are not shared will be deleted.
cleanup during deletion
Checks if the registered entities of the deleted connectors are shared among other connectors. If this is not the case, the entities that are not shared will be deleted.
angle classification for penta (Mig) and hexa (adhesive) Specify when a penta (mig) and hexa (adhesive) seam connector becomes a B, L, and T connection.


Figure 1. angle classification for penta (Mig) and hexa (adhesive) Example. Angle classifications have been defined for a hexa (adhesive). A B connection will be created when the hexa (adhesive) has an angle between 0° and 10°, a L connection will be created when the angle is between 10° and 30°, and a T connection will be created when the angle is between 30°and 90°.

Spot Options Subpanel

Use the Spot Options subpanel to define options for spot connector projection, link conservation, system definition, and end offset or half-spacing of weld locations.
Option Action
end offset = / half spacing
end offset =
Offset first and last weld locations from the ends of the line by the end offset value.
half spacing
Offset by a value equal to half thee distance between weld locations.
non-normal projection Waive the requirement for a normal projection to enable link candidates to only be found within the connector tolerance.

Typically the link detection requires a valid normal projection to the link candidates (note that an angle of <5° will be considered as normal). If the normal projection is not possible, the realization fails.

By default this option is disabled for spots.



Figure 2.
system definition Allow the creation of coordinate systems along with the creation of simple 1D FE representations. The y-axis is collinear with the 1D element the system is located at.
no system
Do not create a coordinate system.
single system
Create one coordinate system, even if it is a multiple layer connection (several 1D elements in a row), at one end of the 1D element row.
1 sys per layer
Create one coordinate system at one end along with every 1D element created.
2 sys per layer
Create one coordinate system at each end along with every 1D element created.


Figure 3.
links conservation Define whether or not extra links should be stored on a spot or seam connector.
minimum needed links (default)
Reduce link candidates to the links which are needed to perform a valid projection with respect to the specified number of layers during link detection.
For example, in a 3-layer spot connector typically three links are established, even though more than three link entities were selected before and are within the given tolerance. For seam connectors this investigation has to be done per each test point, so that typically the number of links is higher than the number of layers.
re-applying during realizations
Remove unnecessary, defined links during realization. Only the links which already exist in the connector are taken into account.
extra links
Store more link candidates than necessary on a connector. In addition to the number of layers, extra links can be stored per test point. This means with 5 extra links, a 3-layer spot connector can store up to 8 link candidates or a seam (2-layer) with 6 test points can store up to 42 link candidates.
use normal direction of the closest element to determine links Add links to spot connectors based on the normal direction of the closest element.
This option is useful when there are a lot of small components, which may result in the wrong components being determined links.


Figure 4.
orthogonal faces 1 hexa acm Create ACM hexa elements as orthogonal as possible.
This option overrules the normal shell gap option.
Figure 5.
If project hexa faces to shell is also enabled, the shell gap will be forced and, at a minimum, the hexa edges for each hexa pointing from one link to the next will be parallel to each other.


Figure 6.
project hexa faces to shell Investigate and project each individual node, enabling you to expect and accept penetrations.


Figure 7.
In some cases, during ACM (shell gap) spot realization not all nodes of the appropriate hexa(cluster)-side are positioned exactly on the shell. This is due to some simplifications during the projection routine because it is estimated that the shells will not be too curvy and will be pretty plain. Therefore not every node is individually investigated and projected to the same plane as the first one.


Figure 8.
ensure valid projection for shell gap Mark all hexa node projections to a link that are beyond the specified tolerance (0.01*diameter) as an error.
Tip: Enable this checkbox when working with connections that use a contact definition.

Bolt Options Subpanel

Use the Bolt Options subpanel to define options for link conservation when creating or realizing bolts.
Option Action
minimum needed links Reduce link candidates to the links which are needed to perform a valid projection with respect to the specified number of layers during link detection.

For example, for a 3-layer spot connector typically three links are established, even though more than three link entities were selected before and are within the given tolerance. For seam connectors this investigation has to be done per each test point, so that typically the number of links is higher than the number of layers.
re-apply during realizations Remove unnecessary, defined links during realization. Only take into account the links which already exist in the connector.
extra links= Store more link candidates than necessary on a connector.

In addition to the number of layers, extra links can be stored per test point. This means with 5 extra links, a 3-layer spot connector can store up to 8 link candidates or a seam (2-layer) with 6 test points can store up to 42 link candidates.

Seam Options Subpanel

Option Action
discontinuity weld length tol Defines an upper and lower allowed deviation from the requested discontinuity weld length in %.
allow weld longer by (%)
Specifies the upper deviation from the requested weld length.
allow weld shorter by (%)
Specifies the lower deviation from the requested weld length.
links conservation Choose whether or not to store extra links on a spot or seam connector.
minimum needed links (default)
Reduce the link candidates during link detection to the links which are needed to perform a valid projection with respect to the specified number of layers.
For example, in a 3-layer spot connector typically three links are established, even though more than three link entities were selected before and are within the given tolerance. For seam connectors this investigation has to be done per each test point, so that typically the number of links is higher than the number of layers.
extra links
Specify an amount of extra link candidates to store on a connector.
In addition to the number of layers, extra links can be stored per test point. This means with 5 extra links, a 3-layer spot connector can store up to 8 link candidates or a seam (2-layer) with 6 test points can store up to 42 link candidates.
re-apply during realizations Remove unnecessary, defined links during realization. Only the links which already exist on the connector are taken into account.
Note: Only available when link conservation is set to minimum needed links.
link option Select how connectors are linked.
Seam connectors are supposed to connect two links at each test point.
closest (default)
Connect the two closest link candidates during the realization.
This option requires the connector be positioned precisely in the middle of the links, especially when there are other close link candidates around.


Figure 9.
opposite
Search for opposite links on both sides of the connector during realization.
This option is useful when you are confident that the connector will be correctly positioned between the links. The opposite links must be fairly parallel to each other. To control this, specify a normal projection angle deviation. Ideally the two projection vectors are collinear.


Figure 10.
sliver elements at free edges Select how to manage sliver elements in your model that have an element length less than the value specified in the element length field, and that are located at free edges.

Sliver elements are small elements that you may not want in your model.

In the images below, a perfect perpendicular projection resulted in sliver elements. The red elements represent the HAZ elements.


Figure 11. Allow


Figure 12. Prevent by Moving Projection Points


Figure 13. Prevent by Moving Edge


Figure 14. Delete Sliver Elements
element length < Sliver elements in your model that have an element length less than this value will be managed by the sliver elements at free edges option.
washer preservation Select how to modify washer elements close to seams.


Figure 15. Washer Elements Example. Washer elements are colored green.
No washer preservation
Treat washer elements in the same manner as normal elements. Washers are not protected, and could be remeshed along with its surrounding elements.


Figure 16.
Preserve washer, allow remesh
Only remesh the washer elements so that a washer can still be detected.


Figure 17.
Preserve washer, no remesh
Do not modify the washer during imprint realizations.
Note: With this option, nearby seam connectors might fail because of this restriction.


Figure 18.
don't share zone elements Prevent the sharing of zone elements.
To generate seam welds with the desired size of imprinted elements, even if the seam welds are close to each other, imprinted elements can be shared among two connectors.


Figure 19.
max quadsize reduction in % Specify the maximum deviation from the requested imprint quad element size.
By default, this value is set to 30.0%. It can be set from 5.0% to 80.0%.


Figure 20.
max quadskew in degrees Specify the maximum deviation from an ideal right angled quad.
By default, this value is set to 30.0°. It can be set from 5.0° to 45.0°.


Figure 21.
feature angle If the nodes of the mesh are not associated with surfaces, the feature angle is needed to identify the features, which might need to be protected. By default, this value is set to 30.0°. The minimum value is 10.0°. Features will not be protected when they are close to imprint regions.
corner quads If seams are not smooth and contain vertices, a different mesh pattern in those corner may be requested.
double quad corner
Guarantee each quad weld element is attached at its toe to a separate imprint element.
single quad corner, angle
Enable two quad weld elements to share one imprint element at their toes. The angle describes the cases, where this pattern has to be used.


Figure 22.

Area Options Subpanel

Option Action
non-normal projection Abrogate the requirement for a normal projection, so the link candidates only need to be found within the connector tolerance.
By default this option is deactivated for areas. Typically the link detection requires a valid normal projection to the link candidates.
Note: An angle of 5 degrees or less will be considered as normal. If the normal projection is not possible, the realization fails.


Figure 23.
link option Select how connectors are linked.
Area connectors are supposed to connect two links at each test point.
closest (default)
Connect the two closest link candidates during the realization.
This option requires the connector be positioned precisely in the middle of the links, especially when there are other close link candidates around.


Figure 24.
opposite
Search for opposite links on both sides of the connector during realization.
This option is useful when you are confident that the connector will be correctly positioned between the links. The opposite links must be fairly parallel to each other. To control this, specify a normal projection angle deviation. Ideally the two projection vectors are collinear.


Figure 25.

Apply Mass Options Subpanel

Option Action
check for missing link Before re-realizing an unrealized connector, check the links in the connector. If any of the links do not exist, the connector will fail.

Clear this checkbox to rerealize any unrealized connector if at least 1 of the links still exists in the connector.

Fe Config Subpanel

Use the fe config panel to load a custom feconfig.cfg file, or unload a feconfig.cfg file that was previously loaded.

If you load a feconfig.cfg file that contains config types with IDs or names that already exist in the current Engineering Solutions database config list, the duplicated config types will be skipped during the loading process. To overwrite the existing config types with the new config types, select overwrite if a config ID or name exists.

  1. T Connections


    Figure 26. Consider Shell Thickness and Offset for Solid Positioning Disabled. Hexas are positioned around the midplane between the mesh.


    Figure 27. Consider Shell Thickness and Offset for Solid Positioning Enabled. Hexas are exactly positioned around the mid air gap.
    Lap Connections


    Figure 28. Consider Shell Thickness and Offset for Solid Positioning Disabled. Hexas are positioned around the midplane between the mesh.


    Figure 29. Consider Shell Thickness and Offset for Solid Positioning Enabled. Hexas are exactly positioned around the mid air gap.