Connection Group

Defines connections among selected bodies. Includes global settings in Details pane that apply to all Contact Region or Joint child objects.

Additional Related Information

Object Properties

The Details Pane properties for this object include the following.

Category	Properties/Options/Descriptions
Definition	Connection Type
Scope	Scoping Method Geometry: Displays when the Scoping Method is set to Geometry Selection. In this case, use selection filters to pick geometry, click in the Geometry field, then click Apply. Named Selection: Displays when the Scoping Method is set to Named Selection. Source Assembly: Displays when the Scoping Method is set to Source Assembly (Only applicable for Assembled External and Mechanical Models).
Auto Detection	Tolerance Type Tolerance Slider Tolerance Value Use Range Min Distance Percentage Min Distance Value Face/Face Face/Face Angle Tolerance: Visible when the Face/Face property is set to Yes. When working with Face/Face automatic contact detection, this property enables you to define the minimum angle between two face normals. This minimum angle is the threshold below which the application will ignore the faces from proximity detection. The default value is 75°, the minimum value is 0°, and the maximum value is 90° (perpendicular). Face Overlap Tolerance: Appears only for contact groups when Face/Face is set to Yes. Cylindrical Faces (3D Only): Only visible when the Connection Type property is set to Contact and the Face/Face property is set to Yes. Options include: Include (default): Includes contacts that involve cylindrical faces in the detection. Exclude: Excludes contacts that involve cylindrical faces from the detection. Only: Detects only contacts that involve cylindrical faces. Face/Edge: Only displays for contact groups. Edge Overlap Tolerance: Only displays for contact groups when Face/Edge is set to Yes, Only Solid Body Edges, or Only Surface Body Edges. Edge/Edge: Only displays for contact groups. Priority: Only displays for contact groups. Group By Search Across Revolute Joints: Only displays for joint groups. Fixed Joints: Only displays for joint groups.
Statistics	Connections: Displays the number of connections associated with this parent object. Active Connections: Displays the number of connections that are currently active for this parent object (that is, not Suppressed).

Tree Dependencies

Valid Parent Tree Object: Connections.
Valid Child Tree Objects: Comment, Contact Region, Figure, Image, and Joint.

Insertion Methods

Use any of the following methods after highlighting Connections object:

Click Connection Group on the Connections Context Tab.
Right-click the Connections object (or on another Connection Group object), or in the Geometry window; then Insert > Connection Group.
Insert a Contact Region or Joint object. A separate parent Connection Group object is created automatically for each of these two types of objects, and is renamed Contacts or Joints accordingly.

Right-click Options

In addition to common right-click options, relevant right-click options for this object include:

API Reference

See the Connection Group section of the ACT API Reference Guide for specific scripting information.