Sketching ellipses

Use the ellipse tool from the Sketcher toolbox to draw ellipses based on a center point, an axis endpoint, and an arbitrary point whose distance from the first axis determines the length of the second axis.

See Also
Sketching simple objects
Creating construction geometry
Modifying objects
Undoing and redoing sketching actions

Context:

An example of using the ellipse tool from the Sketcher toolbox is shown here:

You should take care positioning points while sketching because this positioning can affect the quality of your mesh. The center point and the first axis point in the sketch become vertices of the part you are creating. In turn, when you mesh your model in the Mesh module, Abaqus/CAE converts these vertices into fully constrained seeds and places nodes at their location. For information on how to subsequently move vertices, see Dragging Sketcher objects.

You cannot edit the size of an ellipse by moving its vertices. To edit the size of an ellipse, create a radial dimension and then edit that dimension. The radial dimension for an ellipse includes both the major and minor radius.

  1. From the Sketcher toolbox, select the ellipse tool . For a diagram of the tools in the Sketcher toolbox, see The Sketcher tools.

    Abaqus/CAE displays prompts in the prompt area to guide you through the procedure.

  2. Click at the desired location of the center of the ellipse.
  3. Move the cursor to the endpoint of the first axis of the ellipse.

    Abaqus/CAE displays an ellipse that could be created using the current cursor position to define the major axis and rotation.

  4. Click a point to define the endpoint of one axis. The point that you select can be either the major or minor axis endpoint.

    Tip: If necessary, you can use the text box in the prompt area to enter the precise coordinates of the center and the first axis endpoint of the ellipse. For more information on precisely defining geometry, see Specifying precise geometry.

    Abaqus/CAE sets the rotation of the ellipse and the endpoint of the first axis.

  5. Click a point to define the length of the second axis. The point you select defines the distance from the first axis to the end of the second axis. The point does not need to lie on the second axis, and it cannot lie along the first axis since this would create a second axis of length 0.

    Abaqus/CAE creates the ellipse.

  6. To create more ellipses, repeat the above steps beginning with Step 2.
  7. When you have finished creating ellipses, do one of the following:

    • Click mouse button 2 anywhere in the Abaqus/CAE window.

    • Select any other tool in the Sketcher toolbox.

    • Click the cancel button in the prompt area.