Detecting Virtual Bolt Locations and Applying Virtual Bolts

You can search shell and solid parts in the model for potential virtual bolt locations. You can define the bolt properties to apply at locations chosen from the search results.

Before you begin: You must have one or more parts with concentric (or nearly concentric) holes. For detection on shells, the holes do not need to be circular.
See Also
About Virtual Bolts
About Engineering Connections in Simulations
In Other Guides
Creating Simulation Features
Support Selection
  1. From the Connections section of the action bar, click Virtual Bolt Detection .
  2. Choose the Search domain using one of the following methods:
    • From the 3D area or the tree, select the entities directly.
    • From the context menu, select one of the following options:
      Option Description:
      Meshed supports Includes only parts with meshes in the search domain.
      Note: After you use this option, you can select additional features from the model; these features are appended to the list.
      All geometries Includes 2D and 3D features from ordered geometrical sets in addition to the regular 2D and 3D geometry.
      All visible geometries Excludes hidden geometries.

    Tip: You can use the context menu to review and edit the list of features included in the search domain.

  3. From the Geometry options, select one of the following:
    OptionDescription
    All Include both 2D and 3D parts in the search.
    Shell Include only 2D parts in the search.
    Solid Include only 3D parts in the search.
  4. Choose the Placement method:
    OptionDescription
    Free Finds all bolt locations in the search domain that meet the specified search criteria.
    Point Finds all bolt locations located near selected placement points that meet the specified search criteria.
    Line Finds all bolt locations located near selected placement lines that meet the specified search criteria.

    For more information on the placement methods, see Automatic Detection.

  5. Optional: For detection on shell parts, select Circular only to restrict the search to circular holes.
  6. If you selected the Point or Line placement method, specify a Tolerance within which the specified placement geometry must be to the bolt location.
  7. Edit the minimum and maximum values for the Diameter/Height, which limits the size of the holes in which to place bolts.
  8. If you are including noncircular holes, edit the minimum and maximum values for the Width, which limits the width of the holes in which to place bolts.
  9. Specify the Tolerance on matching hole size.

    The detection tool includes pairs if the difference between the hole diameters is within this tolerance.

  10. Edit the minimum and maximum values for Length.

    The detection tool finds locations where both the hole diameter and the distance between the layers are within the specified ranges.

    If you selected the Line placement method, you can use the from geometry option, which uses the length of the selected lines.

  11. Specify the Maximum offset between holes.

    The detection tool includes pairs if the offset of the hole axes is within this tolerance.

  12. Specify the Maximum angle between axes.

    The detection tool includes pairs if the angle formed by the hole axes is within this tolerance.

  13. Click Edit properties to review or edit the properties of the virtual bolts that are created.

    For more information about virtual bolt properties, see Defining Virtual Bolts.

  14. Optional: Enter a Prefix to append to the name of any simulation connections created by the app.
  15. From the Creation location options, select one of the following:
    OptionDescription
    One engineering connection for all connection properties Creates a single engineering connection for all detected virtual bolts.
    One engineering connection per connected parts Creates or selects engineering connections based on which parts are connected.
    One engineering connection per connection property Creates an engineering connection for each different connection property.
    In current finite element model Creates connection definitions in the current finite element model for any detected fasteners.
  16. Optional: Select Create Automated Specification to save the detection tool options so that you can easily regenerate the connections after a model change. For more information, see About Automated Specifications for Connections.

    This option is available only if you do both of the following:

    • Set the Search domain option to Meshed supports.
    • Set the engineering connection Creation location to In current finite element model.

  17. Click Find holes.
    A list of possible virtual bolt locations appears.
  18. In the table of search results, use the right-click menu to modify the proposed virtual bolts. The options are Edit, Locate, and Delete.

    Tip: You can click a single row in the table, or use Ctrl + click or Shift + click to select multiple rows.

  19. Optional: Repeat Steps 2 through 9 and click Find holes again to locate additional virtual bolt locations.
    Support locations found using the changed options are added to the table. New matches are marked with an asterisk (*). You can modify the new selections as described above.
  20. Click OK.

Virtual bolts are created at all the locations you chose.