8.3. Applying Coordinate Systems as Reference Locations

Any local coordinate systems that were created in the Mechanical application, or imported from DesignModeler, Creo Parametric, or SOLIDWORKS, can be applied to a part, or to a Point Mass, Spring, Acceleration, Standard Earth Gravity, Rotational Acceleration, Rotational Velocity, Force, Bearing Load, Remote Force, Moment, Displacement, Remote Displacement, or Contact Reaction. This feature is useful because it avoids having to perform a calculation for transforming to the global coordinate system.

To apply a local coordinate system:

  1. Select the tree object that represents one of the applicable items mentioned above.

  2. For an Acceleration, Rotational Velocity, Force, Bearing Load, or Moment, in the Details view, set the Define By property to Components, and then proceed to Step 3. For the other items, proceed directly to step 3.

  3. In the Details view, set Coordinate System to the name of the local coordinate system that you want to apply. The names in this drop-down list are the same names as those listed in the Coordinate Systems branch of the tree outline.

    Note:  If you define a load by Components in a local coordinate system, changing the Define By field to Vector will define the load in the global coordinate system. Do not change the Define By property to Vector if you want the load defined in a local coordinate system.