Editing the position of selected nodes

You can edit the position of one or more selected nodes from a meshed part, a meshed part instance in the assembly, or an orphan mesh. In addition, if you select multiple nodes to edit, you can assign a single value to a particular coordinate for each of the nodes. For example, you can select a group of nodes and assign an X-axis coordinate of 10.0 to each of the nodes. This is particularly useful when you want to position the nodes in the same plane; for example, when defining the mating surface of a cylinder head or engine block.

See Also
What can I do with the Edit Mesh toolset?

Context:

In general, you cannot use the Edit Mesh toolset to edit a dependent part instance; however, you can edit the nodes of a dependent part instance. Abaqus/CAE moves the nodes of the original mesh, and your modifications appear on all dependent instances of the part.

Note:

You can undo or redo the changes you make to nodal position directly from the Undo portion of the Edit Nodes dialog box. The Undo and Redo buttons in this dialog box provide rollback control for nodal position changes only; if you want to undo or redo other mesh editing operations, use the Edit Mesh dialog box. For more information about edit mesh undo, see Undoing or redoing a change in the Edit Mesh toolset.

  1. Enter the Mesh module, and do one of the following:

    • From the Object field in the context bar, select Assembly.

    • From the Object field in the context bar, select Part, and select a part from the list.

  2. From the main menu bar, select MeshEdit.

    Abaqus/CAE displays the Edit Mesh dialog box.

    Tip: You can also display the Edit Mesh dialog box using the tool, located at the bottom of the Mesh module toolbox.

  3. In the dialog box, do the following:
    1. In the Category field, select Node.
    2. From the Method list, select Edit.

      Abaqus/CAE displays the existing nodes. In hidden and shaded mode, only the visible nodes are displayed.

  4. From the prompt area, choose the selection method and select the nodes to edit. For more information, see Selecting the nodes to edit.

    Tip: You can use the Selection toolbar to change the picking behavior. For more information, see Selecting objects within the viewport.

    Abaqus/CAE displays the Edit Nodes dialog box and the minimum and maximum values of the coordinates of the selected nodes along each axis.

  5. If desired, you can enter the new coordinates for the nodes in a datum coordinate system that you have created rather than in the global coordinate system:
    1. At the top of the Edit Nodes dialog box, click Select.
    2. In the viewport, select the datum coordinate system to be associated with the new nodal coordinates. (For more information, see Creating datum coordinate systems.)
  6. To specify the new position of the selected nodes by offset, choose Offsets from the Specification method options, then do one of the following:

    Enter values

    Type the 1-, 2-, and 3-components of the offset from the current location directly into the dialog box.

    Measure offset vector

    Click and pick two points in the viewport. Abaqus/CAE populates the 1-, 2-, and 3-components of the offset based on the components of the vector from your first selected point to your second selected point.

  7. To specify the new position of the selected nodes by coordinates, choose Coordinates from the Specification method options, then do one of the following:

    Enter values

    Type the 1-, 2-, and 3-components directly into the dialog box. A value of As is indicates that the coordinate along a particular axis is different for at least two of the selected nodes; click the arrow to the right of the component field, and select Specify to specify a value.

    Measure coordinates

    Click and pick the new point from the viewport.

  8. If you are editing nodes on the boundary of an Abaqus/CAE native mesh in the Mesh module, Abaqus/CAE first moves the nodes to the new position and then projects them back to the geometry on which they were originally located. As a result, nodes that were located on a surface will remain on that surface but in a different position. Toggle off Project to geometry to move the nodes to their new position independently from the underlying geometry.
  9. Click OK or Apply to move the nodes to the new position. If you click OK, Abaqus/CAE moves the nodes and prompts you to select new nodes to edit. If you click Apply, Abaqus/CAE moves the nodes; however, the nodes remain selected, and you can continue specifying a new position.

    Tip: If you make a mistake while editing nodes, click Undo in the Edit Mesh dialog box to undo the edit. Abaqus/CAE restores the node or nodes to their original position.

  10. Repeat the previous steps as often as necessary to edit additional nodes.
  11. When you have finished editing nodes, click Cancel to close the Edit Nodes dialog box.