Adding adjacent objects to a selection

If you have already selected one or more objects, you can expand your selection to include all adjacent objects of the same type. Adding adjacent objects is an alternative to using drag-select or the angle method (see Drag-selecting multiple objects, and Using the angle and feature edge method to select multiple objects, respectively) to quickly select multiple objects. Selecting adjacent objects allows you to expand your selection in all directions, regardless of the shape of surrounding features or the angle at which objects are joined. It also allows you to pick multiple areas of interest in a model and expand the selection set in each area at the same time.

See Also
Selecting objects within the current viewport
Using the chain method to select edges in the Sketcher

To add adjacent objects to the current selection, click mouse button 3 over an existing selected object and select Add Adjacent Entities. Abaqus/CAE expands your selections to all adjacent objects of the same type, including objects that are not included in the current display. If necessary, Abaqus/CAE adds the newly selected objects to the current display group to make them visible. Adjacent objects are defined in terms of the currently selected entities as follows:

  • Edges that share a common vertex with one or more selected edges

  • Vertices that share a common edge with one or more selected vertices

  • Faces that share a common vertex or edge with one or more selected faces

  • Nodes that share a common edge with one or more selected nodes

  • Elements that share a common element edge or node with a selected element