Defining Virtual Pins

You can apply a virtual pin connection to simulate a cylindrical pin inside the cylindrical faces of a rotating outer part.

See Also
About Virtual Pins
In Other Guides
Support Selection
  1. From the Connections section of the action bar, click Virtual Pin .
  2. Optional: Enter a descriptive Name.
  3. Select supports to create a free engineering connection, or toggle on Select existing to select an existing connection from a list of engineering connections in the model.

    If you select an existing connection, your support selections are limited to the part instances used when the engineering connection was created.

  4. If necessary, change the supports.

    The following supports are valid:

    • Support 1: one or more faces of cylindrical holes.

      You can select a single part with one or more cylindrical holes, for example a hinge plate, but multiple holes must be axially aligned.

    • Support 2: one or more faces of cylindrical holes.

    You can use the context menu in the Connection Manager to reuse supports from an existing connection. However, supports can be reused only if they meet the requirements of the current connection type.

  5. Optional: Enter a value for the Torsional stiffness.

    Torsion is the twisting of an object due to an applied torque. By default, the pin has a very small amount of elasticity for torsion (rotation about its axis). You can use the Torsional stiffness value to change this default elasticity.

  6. Specify the Coupling type:
    OptionDescription
    Kinematic Directly couples edge or face supports to the motion of a reference point.
    Continuum distributing Couples the displacement and rotation of the fastening points to the average displacement of the nodes.
    Structural distributing Couples the displacement and rotation of the fastening points to the average displacement and rotation of the nodes.
  7. Optional: Click Update Mesh to see the mesh created for the pin.
  8. Click OK.