Sketching lines and polygons

Use the line tool from the Sketcher toolbox to draw lines, connected lines, or polygons.

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

Context:

The following figure shows how you draw lines, connected lines, and polygons by clicking the locations shown, in the order indicated below:

You should take care positioning points while sketching because this positioning can affect the quality of your mesh. Points in the sketch become vertices of the part you are creating or modifying. 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.

  1. From the line tools in the Sketcher toolbox, select the connected lines 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. To construct a simple line, click the two end points. To construct a connected line or a polygon, click each vertex.

    Tip: If necessary, you can use the text box in the prompt area to enter the precise coordinates of the vertices of the line. For more information on precisely defining the line, see Specifying precise geometry.

    The line or polygon appears as you click a vertex or enter the coordinates.

  3. To complete the line or polygon, click mouse button 2.

    Tip: If you make a mistake while constructing a connected line or a polygon, click the Undo tool in the Sketcher toolbox to delete the most recent line segment. If you make a mistake in an earlier segment, you can delete the incorrect segments using the Delete tool and redraw them with the line tool.

  4. To create more lines or polygons, repeat the above steps beginning with Step 2.
  5. When you have finished creating lines and polygons, 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.