17.6.3.7. Cylindrical Support

For 3D simulations, this boundary condition prevents one or more cylindrical faces from moving or deforming in combinations of radial, axial, or tangential directions. Any combination of fixed and free radial, axial, and tangential settings are allowed.

Important:  Due to an internal processing requirement, if you specify a user-defined (local) Coordinate System when defining this boundary condition, the nodal coordinate system axes may differ from the local Coordinate System axes. As needed, you can verify the actual nodal orientation in the Mechanical APDL application.

Also, for more information about how the application manages nodal DOF constraints, see the Converting Boundary Conditions to Nodal DOF Constraints (Mechanical APDL Solver) section.

This page includes the following sections:

Analysis Types

Cylindrical Support is available for the following analysis types:
Dimensional Types

The supported dimensional types for the Cylindrical Support boundary condition include:

  • 3D Simulation

  • 2D Simulation. Cylindrical supports can only be applied to circular edges.

Geometry Types

The supported geometry types for the Cylindrical Support boundary condition include:

  • Solid

  • Surface/Shell

  • Wire Body/Line Body/Beam

Topology Selection Options

The supported topology selection options for Cylindrical Support include:

  • Face: Supported for 3D Cylindrical Face only.

  • Edge: Supported for 2D Circular Edge only.

Applying a Cylindrical Support Boundary Condition

To apply a Cylindrical Support:

  1. On the Environment Context tab, click Supports>Cylindrical Support. Alternatively, right-click the Environment tree object or in the Geometry window and select Insert>Cylindrical Support.

  2. Specify Scoping Method and Geometry or Named Selection.

Details Pane Properties

The selections available in the Details pane are described below.

CategoryProperty/Options/Description
Scope

Scoping Method: Options include:

  • Geometry Selection: Default setting, indicating that the boundary condition is applied to a geometry or geometries, which are chosen using a graphical selection tool.

    • Geometry: Visible when the Scoping Method is set to Geometry Selection. Displays the type of geometry (Body, Face, etc.) and the number of geometric entities (for example: 1 Body, 2 Edges) to which the boundary has been applied using the selection tools.

  • Named Selection: Indicates that the geometry selection is defined by a Named Selection.

    • Named Selection: Visible when the Scoping Method is set to Named Selection. This field provides a drop-down list of available user-defined Named Selections.

Definition

Type: Read-only field that describes the object - Cylindrical Support.

Radial: Fixed (default) or Free.

Axial (3D Only): Fixed (default) or Free.

Tangential: Fixed (default) or Free.

Suppressed: Include (No - default) or exclude (Yes) the boundary condition.

API Reference

For specific scripting information, see the Cylindrical Support section of the ACT API Reference Guide.