Cylinder

  1. If the Graphics panel is not currently displayed, select the desired graphic by clicking on it in the Project Browser or in the modeling window.
    The Graphics panel is automatically displayed.
  2. Click the Body collector and select a body from the modeling window, or double click the Body collector to open the Model Tree (from which the desired body can be selected).
    Note: If the selected graphic is a pair entity, first distinguish between the Left and Right tabs in the panel, and then edit the properties. When defining a pair graphic, use pair entities for Body, Origin, etc.
  3. Click the Point collector (under Origin) and select a point from the modeling window, or double click the Point collector to open the Model Tree (from which the desired point can be selected).
  4. Click the Point collector under Direction and select a point at the other end of the cylinder, or, using the drop-down menu next to the collector, select Vector and choose the vector that defines the axis of the cylinder.
    If Point is used instead of Vector, the axis of the cylinder is the vector passing through the two points.
  5. Click the Properties tab.
  6. Choose how to define the length of the cylinder from the drop-down menu in the top-left of the panel.
    Choosing Length will prompt you to enter a value while choosing Autolen will turn the option off.
  7. Define the distance by which the origin of the cylinder is offset from Point 1 by entering a value for Offset.
  8. Choose how the cylinder graphic will be capped.
    Option Description
    Cap both ends The hollow cylinder graphic is closed at both ends.
    Cap beginning The hollow cylinder graphic is closed at the end specified by the first point.
    Cap end The hollow cylinder graphic is closed at the end specified by the second point.
    No caps The cylinder graphic is not capped.
  9. Click the MaterialProperty collector and select a material property to associate with the graphic.
  10. Enter a value for the radius at both ends of the cylinder.
    Tip:
    • Activating the Material inside check box sets the normals such that the graphic will act like a solid object. This option applies to when a graphic is used within a contact entity.
    • The refinement level sets the mesh coarseness level for MotionView. MotionView will use a tessellation scheme to represent the graphic object during solution.
  11. Click the Inertia Properties tab and review the mass and center of mass coordinates for the graphic.