9.1.

Nodes
Thissectiondescribesvarioustasksrelatedtothedirectgenerationofnodes.Topicsinclude:
Definingnodes
Generatingadditionalnodesfromexistingnodes
Maintaining(list,viewanddelete)nodes
Movingnodes
Rotatinganode'scoordinatesystem
Readingandwritingtextfilesthatcontainnodaldata
Youcanuseanyofthemethodsdescribedinthefollowingtabletodefinenodes.
Table9.1:DefiningNodes

Define

Command

GUI

individualnodesinthe
activecoordinate
system[ ]

MainMenu>Preprocessor>Modeling>Create>
Nodes>InActiveCSor>OnWorkingPlane

anodeatanexisting
keypoint

NKPT

MainMenu>Preprocessor>Modeling>Create>
Nodes>OnKeypoint

1.IfusingANSYSinteractively,youcandefineaworkingplanesnapincrementandusepicking
[N,P]togeneratenodesgraphically.(Formoreinformationontheworkingplane,see
.)

Using

WorkingPlanes

Onceyouhavecreatedaninitialpatternofnodes,youcangenerateadditionalnodesusingthe
methodsdescribedinthefollowingtable.
Table9.2:GeneratingAdditionalNodesfromExistingNodes

Command

GUI

generatealineof
nodesbetweentwo
existingnodes

FILL

MainMenu>Preprocessor>Modeling>Create>
Nodes>FillbetweenNds

generateadditional
nodesfromapattern
ofnodes

NGEN

MainMenu>Preprocessor>Modeling>Copy>
Nodes>Copy

Command

GUI

generateasetofnodes NSCALE
fromapatternof
nodes

MainMenu>Preprocessor>Modeling>Copy>
Nodes>Scale&Copyor>Scale&Move

generateaquadratic
lineofnodesfrom
threenodes

QUAD

MainMenu>Preprocessor>Modeling>Create>
Nodes>QuadraticFill

generateareflected
setofnodes

NSYM

MainMenu>Preprocessor>Modeling>Reflect>
Nodes

transferapatternof
nodestoanother
coordinatesystem

TRANSFER MainMenu>Preprocessor>Modeling>
Move/Modify>TransferCoord>Nodes

defineanodeatthe
CENTER
centerofacurvatureof
anarcofnodes[ ]

MainMenu>Preprocessor>Modeling>Operate>
Scale>Nodes>Scale&Copyor>ScaleMove

MainMenu>Preprocessor>Modeling>Create>
Nodes>AtCurvatureCtr

1.Ifalocalcylindricalcoordinatesystemisdefined[CS]atthecenterofcurvature,youcanuse
theFILLcommand(MainMenu>Preprocessor>Modeling>Create>Nodes>Fill
betweenNds)togenerateadditionalnodesonthearc.Ifaradiusofcurvatureisgiven,the
centerofcurvatureisautomaticallycalculatedtobealongtheperpendicularbisectorofthe
NODE1NODE2lineintheplaneofNODE1,NODE2,andNODE3.
Youcanuseanyofthemethodsdescribedinthefollowingtabletomaintainnodes.
Table9.3:MaintainingNodes

Maintenance
listnodes

1
deletenodes[2]

displaynodes[ ]

Command
NLIST

GUI
UtilityMenu>List>Nodes
UtilityMenu>List>PickedEntities>Nodes

NPLOT

UtilityMenu>Plot>Nodes

NDELE

MainMenu>Preprocessor>Modeling>Delete>
Nodes

1.NodenumberswillalsobedisplayedinEPLOTdisplays(UtilityMenu>Plot>Elements)for
nodesattachedtoelements,ifyouhaveissuedtheproper/PNUMcommand(UtilityMenu>
PlotCtrls>Numbering).
2.Deletinganodealsodeletesanyboundaryconditions(suchasdisplacements,forces,etc.)as
wellasanycouplingorconstraintequationscontainingthedeletednode.
YoucanmoveanodebyoverwritingitwiththeNcommand(oranyothernodegenerating
command)orbyusingoneofthemethodsinthefollowingtable.

Table9.4:MovingNodes

Command

GUI

modifyoneorallofthe NMODIF
coordinatesdefininga
node

MainMenu>Modeling>Preprocessor>Create>
Nodes>RotateNodeCS>ByAngles

moveanodetoan
intersectionof
coordinatesystem
surfaces

MainMenu>Preprocessor>Modeling>
Move/Modify>Nodes>ToIntersect

MOVE

MainMenu>Preprocessor>Modeling>
Move/Modify>RotateNodeCS>ByAnglesor>
SetofNodesor>SingleNode

UsetheNDIST(MainMenu>Preprocessor>Modeling>CheckGeom>NDdistances)
commandtocalculatethedistancebetweentwonodes.
Youcanuseanyofthemethodsdescribedinthefollowingtabletorotateanode'scoordinatesystem.
ThenodalcoordinatesystemisparalleltotheglobalCartesiancoordinatesystembydefault.See
formoreinformation.

NodalCoordinateSystems

Table9.5:RotatingaNode'sCoordinateSystem

RotateaNodal
CoordinateSystem
intotheactive
coordinatesystem

Command
NROTAT

GUI
MainMenu>Preprocessor>Modeling>Create>
Nodes>RotateNodeCS>ToActiveCS
MainMenu>Preprocessor>Modeling>
Move/Modify>RotateNodeCS>ToActiveCS

bydirectioncosines

NANG

MainMenu>Preprocessor>Modeling>Create>
Nodes>RotateNodeCS>ByVectors
MainMenu>Preprocessor>Modeling>
Move/Modify>RotateNodeCS>ByVectors

byangles

N,
NMODIF

MainMenu>Preprocessor>Modeling>Create>
Nodes>InActiveCSor>OnWorkingPlane
MainMenu>Modeling>Preprocessor>Create>
Nodes>RotateNodeCS>ByAngles
MainMenu>Preprocessor>Modeling>
Move/Modify>RotateNodeCS>ByAnglesor>
SetofNodesor>SingleNode

9.1.1.ReadingandWritingTextFilesThatContainNodalData

Youcanreadatextfilecontainingnodaldata.ThisabilitycouldbeusefulifyouareimportingASCII
nodaldatafromanothermeshgenerator,aCAD/CAMprogram,oranotherANSYSsession.Youcan
alsowritesuchanASCIIfileforexporttoanotherprogram(whichmustbeabletoreadthisANSYS
file)ortoanotherANSYSsession.Youwillnotnormallyneedtoreadorwritenodaldataina
standardANSYSmodelgenerationsession.Ifyoudoneedtoreadorwritenodaldatayoucanuse
anyofthemethodsdescribedinthefollowingtable.
Table9.6:ReadingandWritingFilesContainingNodalData

Command

GUI

specifyarangeof
nodestobereadfrom
anodefile

NRRANG

MainMenu>Preprocessor>Modeling>Create>
Nodes>ReadNodeFile

readnodesfromafile

NREAD

MainMenu>Preprocessor>Modeling>Create>
Nodes>ReadNodeFile

writenodestoafile

NWRITE

MainMenu>Preprocessor>Modeling>Create>
Nodes>WriteNodeFile

Release17.0SASIP,Inc.Allrightsreserved.