Welcome to this Ansys How To Series video. In this video, we will focus on learning how
to use the Move tool in SpaceClaim. The Move command is a simple, yet powerful,
tool in the SpaceClaim toolbar. It allows you to reposition a selected object, or multiple
objects, by translating in a straight line along one of 3 directions, or rotating about
3 different axes. This is the basic explanation of what the
Move tool does. In reality, it contains quite a few additional features, and mastering its
use is a key piece to becoming an advanced SpaceClaim user.
In this video, we will work through several different examples for you to get a better
understanding of the many capabilities contained within the Move tool.
Ready? Let’s go!
Open “How-To-Move.scdoc”.
Let’s start the Move tool and have a look at the layout.
Like most tools in SpaceClaim,
the icons within the model space represent various different modes or actions the tool can perform.
The panel under the Structure Tree on the left side of the window contains
the Move tool options. To use the Move tool, we need to start by
reviewing the selection tool. It’s critical that we select the item or items we intend
to move correctly, or we risk making unintended changes to the model.
The Move function can be applied to nearly any type of entity that exists within SpaceClaim.
This includes points, curves, edges, faces, surfaces, solid bodies, and more. Selection
of these items is as simple as point and click. For very small items such as points or vertices,
it may be more effective to zoom in, then click and drag a box around the point to select it
There is one item type that requires a little
more attention to detail when selecting, and that is the assembly component. An assembly
component has additional “parent” information besides just the visible geometry. This includes
a unique world origin, mass properties, appearance information, etc, but the most important with
regards to a change in position is the component’s unique world origin. Think of it as the “center”
or “zero” point of the individual component. The assembly has its own, separate, world origin.
The world origin can be used to define the
direction of a force, the acceleration of gravity, or what side a certain manufacturing
process will begin on. This is critical information for engineering simulations, or when the model
is machined in real life. Suffice to say that we don’t want to make unintended changes.
The component information is not automatically selected when triple clicking the body or
using the box selection method.
Furthermore, if we do move the body and not the entire
component, its position relative to its unique world origin will change, affecting things
like the coordinates of the center of mass, and its moment of inertia values.
We have two options for moving a component properly. The first is to simply select the component
entry in the Structure Tree. This is fast and effective when the Structure Tree is small.
With a large list of components, or an assembly with various levels of subcomponents, this
is not effective. A better approach in that case is to use the Select Component mode from
the Move tool menu. With this active, we can simply click on a body and ensure that the
entire component is automatically selected. Now that we’ve learned how to select exactly
what we intend to move, we can examine the tool’s capabilities.
As mentioned at the start of the video, we have options for translation and rotation.
These can be done manually, or by entering exact values. You may have noticed that the
reference point for these values is at the center of the Move tool.
This point can be repositioned to various different locations to alter the outcome of
the move operation. For example, it can be placed on an outside face to make one body
flush with another. It can also be placed on an edge or a point
to serve as an axis of rotation.
The Anchor option will allow you to click an item and place the Move tool
on it, rather than manually clicking and dragging it to that location.
If none of the 3 axes on the Move tool are pointing in the desired direction for translation,
we can use the Move Direction option. After activating this option, we can click a reference
item such as an edge or plane to help define the Move direction.
Move Along Trajectory can be used to move an object along a path such as a sketched
curve . The item being moved does not need to be directly on the path in order to follow it.
Move Radially About Axis allows us to position
items closer or further from a common center axis.
The Fulcrum option gives us the ability to move an object or objects about a fixed point.
This can also be used to explode assembly components. Select one object to remain stationary.
In this case we’ll use Select Component and click and drag a box around the stack
of rings and the post, then drag the Move handle in the positive Z direction.
The last two options in the Move tool menu are some of the most useful.
The Up To option allows us to snap the center point on the Move tool to a selected item’s exact location.
This works for points, planar faces, and to make items coaxial.
It’s an extremely efficient way to reposition an item, but it only moves the model along
the X, Y, or Z directions. It does not handle rotation.
Orient to Object allows us to rotate the model
to match the orientation of a selected object. The selected reference objects will then be
parallel, but they are not required to be in contact. However, this option only becomes
active under one condition. To activate Orient to Object, we must select only one of the
translation handles on the Move tool. Before doing this the option is unavailable, because
it would be impossible to match the three active directions on the Move tool
to a single reference item selection.
The Move Options panel contains several other
settings that can be quite useful. Symmetric Move allows us to move multiple
items simultaneously about a central reference. This can be useful when increasing the size
of a cut or the spacing between objects. The Ruler tool can be used to measure the
offset to a selected object and drive the move using that dimension.
Enter XYZ coordinates can be used to quickly position the item using coordinates in (X, Y, Z).
As always, the center of the Move tool, indicated by the yellow sphere,
or blue cube if it has been anchored,
will be the point that moves to those coordinates.
In the check boxes below, the most commonly used option is Create Patterns, which will
automatically create a pattern once we complete the initial move operation. Options will appear
for the total spacing and the count of pattern instances.
A quick way to duplicate items is Move copy.
By holding Ctrl while clicking and dragging the Move tool, it’s possible to duplicate
the selected item. This works for nearly any entity in SpaceClaim, and can be executed
while translating or rotating.
One last thing to keep in mind is that the
Move tool and the Pull tool share many of the same characteristics.
For instance, you can use the Move tool to translate a face and extrude material much like the Pull tool would.
You can also use the rotation handles to add a draft angle to a face, and if you
select the perimeter of a face and rotate it, you can add twist.
These are just some of the many functions that make the Move tool so useful.
So, let's summarize. The move tool allows you to translate, rotate, or essentially move
one or more bodies in the working space. It also allows you to rapidly create copies or
patterns of the selected objects. The move tool can also be used to modify geometry.
The final result depends on the anchor point location and the part selected.
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