You can import Named Selections that you define in your CAD application, SpaceClaim, or DesignModeler. Named Selections are often imported to scope specific geometric or mesh entities to loading and boundary conditions.
SpaceClaim or DesignModeler
Mechanical automatically imports Named Selections created in SpaceClaim or DesignModeler.
CAD Applications
To import a Named Selection from a CAD system:
Create an analysis system and display the properties pane for the Geometry cell.
Under the Basic Geometry Options category, select the checkbox for the Named Selections property. The Named Selections Key property displays automatically. The property contains the default key from the global preferences, originally set to "NS." This key can include multiple entries, with each separated by a semicolon (i.e. entry1;entry2;entry3). Named selections in the CAD will be transferred if it starts with the same character set as any of the entries in the key. There are also several additional keywords that can be included (e.g. Color, Layer) that will transfer named selection data from CAD. See individual geometry interface support pages for the supported keywords.
Launch Mechanical. A Named Selections folder is automatically inserted into the Outline pane and includes all of the imported named selections.
Note: There is an Options dialog preference for the default behavior between Named Selections imported from your CAD application and how Mechanical treats the Named Selection if it is deleted in the upstream CAD system. The Delete Missing Named Sections from CAD setting enables you to maintain a reference between upstream Named Selections and the downstream scoping specified in Mechanical. See the Import category of the Geometry preference group for more information.