Working with datum planes in Pre/Post

Pre/Post offers limited support for datum planes. You can include existing CAD datum planes when you create a FEM file. You can also create new datum planes in Pre/Post.

Including existing datum planes in a FEM file

Use the Datum Planes check box on the Geometry Options dialog box to include any existing datum planes in the idealized part and FEM file.

Note:

You can use the Include Datum Planes customer default to control whether the software automatically includes the existing CAD datum planes in the idealized part and FEM files.

Creating new datum planes

Use the Datum Plane command to create, edit, and use datum planes. Datum planes are helpful, for example, when you need to define the direction of a vector.

The software stores any new datum planes that you create in Pre/Post with the part data in the Part Navigator.

The datum planes that you create in Pre/Post are more limited currently than the datum planes that you create in the Modeling application. Datum planes that you create in Pre/Post are:

• Fixed in their location.

• Not associated to the polygon geometry.

In Pre/Post, the following datum plane creation methods have limited support for polygon geometry:

• With the Inferred method, you cannot select polygon edges or polygon faces to define the plane. You can use existing points, datum planes, curves, and coordinate systems.

• With the Curves and Points method with the Curves and Points and Point and Curve/Axis subtypes, you cannot select polygon edges as the reference geometry.

• With the Tangent method, the Tangent subtype is the only subtype that is supported in Pre/Post. Additionally, you can select points and datum planes only as the reference geometry.

• With the On Curve method, you can select curves only. You cannot select polygon edges.

Using datum planes to project and reflect elements and nodes

You can use datum planes in a number of Pre/Post commands as the target geometry. For example:

• You can use the Project Element and Project Node commands to project the new elements or nodes onto a selected datum plane. For example, in the Element Copy and Project dialog box, when you specify the target face, select Datums from the Type Filter List and then select the datum plane.

• You can use the Reflect Element and Reflect Node commands to reflect new nodes or elements onto a selected datum plane. For example, in the Node Reflect dialog box, when you specify the reflection plane, select Datums from the Type Filter List and then select the datum plane.

Where do I find it?

Datum Plane command

Application	Pre/Post
Prerequisite	A FEM, assembly FEM, or Simulation file as the work part and displayed part
Command Finder	Datum Plane

Include Datum Plane customer default

Menu	File→Utilities→Customer Defaults
Location in dialog box	Simulation→Pre/Post→General→FE Model Create tab→CAD Construction Geometry group

Quick links

Command reference

Pre/Post video examples

Bulk Entry Descriptions

Simcenter 3D tutorials

Browse Simcenter 3D help by product area

Working with datum planes in Pre/Post, Simcenter 3D 2021.1 Series

© 2020 Siemens

window.mainLanguage="en_US"

window.delivId=""

window.projectId=""

MathJax.Hub.Config({ TeX: { extensions: ["autoload-all.js"] }, tex2jax: { displayMath: [ ] }, "SVG": { scale: 125 } });