To apply a Joint Load:

1. Highlight the environment object and insert a Joint Load from the right mouse button context menu or from the Loads drop-down menu in the Environment Context tab.

2. From the Joint drop-down list in the Details of the Joint Load, select the particular Joint object that you would like to apply to the Joint Load. You should apply a Joint Load to the mobile bodies of the joint. It is therefore important to carefully select the reference and mobile bodies while defining the joint.

3. Select the unconstrained degree of freedom for applying the Joint Load, based on the type of joint. You make this selection from the DOF drop-down list. For joint types that allow multiple unconstrained degrees of freedom, a separate Joint Load is necessary to drive each one. Further limitations apply as outlined under Joint Load Limitations below. Joint Load objects that include velocity, acceleration, rotational velocity or rotational acceleration are not applicable to static structural analyses.

4. Select the type of Joint Load from the Type drop-down list. The list is filtered with choices of Displacement, Velocity, Acceleration, and Force if you selected a translational DOF in step 3. The choices are Rotation, Rotational Velocity, Rotational Acceleration, and Moment if you selected a rotational DOF.

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   Note:  If you are using the Mechanical APDL solver and scoping the Joint Load to a General joint that has the Rotation property set to Free All, then the Moment option is not listed in the Type property drop-down list.

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5. Specify the magnitude of the Joint Load type selected in step 4 as a constant, in tabular format, or as a function of time using the same procedure as is done for most loads in the Mechanical application. Refer to Specifying Boundary Condition Magnitude for further information.

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   Tip:  On Windows platforms, an alternative and more convenient way to accomplish steps 1 and 2 above is to drag and drop the Joint object of interest from under the Connections object folder to the environment object folder. When you highlight the new Joint Load object, the Joint field is already completed and you can continue at step 3 with DOF selection.

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6. As applicable, specify the load step at which you want to lock the joint load by entering the value of the step in the Lock at Load Step field. The default value for this option is zero (0) and is displayed as Never. This feature immobilizes movement of the joint’s DOFs. For example, this option is beneficial when you want to tighten a bolt to an initial torque value (via a Moment Joint Driver on a Revolute Joint) and then lock that joint during a subsequent load step.

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   Note:   Mechanical APDL References:

   This feature makes use of the %_FIX% parameter on the DJ command.

   When a joint driver with a force or moment load is deactivated, then the lock constraint on the joint is also deleted using the DJDELE command. This happens if the locking occurs before the deactivation.

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