Importing Moments

Importing moment from a text file means importing and mapping moment data from a text or excel file. Moments can be imported on surfaces, exclusively.

This capability is only available if you installed the ELFINI Structural Analysis product.

This task shows you how to import moments from a text file on a surface.

You can use the sample55.CATAnalysis document from the samples directory for this task.

Before You Begin:
Go to View -> Render Style -> Customize View and make sure the Shading and Outlines options are active in the Custom View Modes dialog box.

1. Click the Imported Moment icon

.
The Imported Moments dialog box is displayed.

	`Name`
	`Supports`
	`Axis System`: The `Axis System Type` combo box allows you to choose between `Global` and `User` Axis systems, for entering components of the resultant moment vector. If you select the User Type, the options are the following:
	File Selection: use the `Browse` button.
	`Display Bounding Box`, if needed, on the model.

The Axis System Type combo box allows you to choose between Global and User Axis systems:

	`Global`: if you select the `Global` Axis system, the components of the moment vector (in a file) will be interpreted as relative to the fixed global rectangular coordinate system.
	`User`: if you select a `User` Axis system, the components of the moment vector (in a file) will be interpreted as relative to the specified rectangular coordinate system. To select a `User` Axis system, you must activate an existing Axis by clicking it in the specification tree. Its name will then be automatically displayed in the `Current Axis` field.

2. Select the surface as the Support on which you want to import the Moment.

The dialog box is updated:

3. Click the Browse button in the Imported Moment dialog box to select the file to be imported.

The File Selection dialog box appears to let you choose the file to be imported. In this particular case, select DataFile.xls file.

4. Once the File name has been selected, click Open in the File Selection dialog box.

The Imported Moments dialog box is updated.

5. If needed, click the Show button to display the Imported Table box corresponding to the selected file data. In this particular case, the imported table appears as shown here:

6. Click Close in the Imported Table box.

7. In this particular case, we also decided to activate the Display bounding box (as shown in the dialog box above).

The model appears as shown here: the face to be used as support for the imported moment is bounded.

8. Click OK in the Imported Moments dialog box.

The resulting model appears as shown here:

The Imported Moments.1 feature is displayed in the specification tree.

For each point in the data file, the corresponding moment is distributed on the three closest nodes of the selected support. If the point coordinates correspond to a node, the moment is directly applied on it.

The moments are converted into equivalent forces.

Imported moments works differently depending of the kind of support selected :

If selected supports are surfaces: imported moments works the same way imported moments do, except that moments are converted to equivalent moments distributed on the three closest nodes. Be aware that if the data file point coordinates corresponds to a node, the moment won't be applied on the node but converted to moments on the closest nodes.

If selected supports are points or vertices: moments will be directly applied on the closest node.