Drawing an Equation-Based Curve
Any line that can be described by an equation in three dimensions can be drawn.
- Click Draw > Equation Based
Curve.
- Type equations for X(_t), Y(_t), and Z(_t).
- Click the ... button. The Edit Equation dialog box appears.
- Do one or more of the following to define the equation: • Type a numerical value or expression directly in the text box.
- When you are finished defining the equation, click OK to close the Edit Equation dialog box and return to the Equation Based Curve dialog box.
- Any unitless value input in equation based curve is taken as model units. For example, for Y(_t) = 1, the y value is taken as 1 model units (say mm). If a value has units, then it is converted to model units and used. For example, if Y(_t) = 1 cm, then y value will be correctly taken as 10 mm.
- While parsing expressions, equation based curves convert each variable separately to model units and assume that the resulting expression is in model units.
- Equation based curves depend on the variable value library to correctly evaluate the units of expression.
- Select a start value from the Start_t drop-down menu.
- Select an end value from the End_t drop-down menu.
- Select the number of points in the curve from the Points drop-down menu.
- Click OK on the Properties window.
The Equation Based Curve dialog box opens.
• Select a function to insert from the drop-down menu, and select Insert Function.
• Select an operator from the drop-down menu, and select Insert Operator.
• Select a quantity from the drop-down menu, and select Insert Quantity.
If the Modeler option for editing properties of new primitives is checked, the Properties dialog box appears, in which you can modify the object’s attributes. Those listed under the Command tab describe the commands used to create the object. These commands also appear in the History tree. The Properties listed as line attributes include Name, Orientation, whether a Model object, whether to Display Wireframe, Color, Transparency, and whether to Show Direction as arrows. The Show Direction property is most helpful to unambiguously show the line start orientation when plotting fields along a line.