Mechanical APDL solver logic is based on MPC-based contact. See the Surface-Based Constraints section of the Mechanical APDL Contact Technology Guide for more information. However, a Remote Point scoped to a vertex (or vertices) of a 2D or 3D solid does not use MPC-based contact. Instead, beam elements are created by the solver to connect the vertex to the Remote Point.

The MPC equations are generated from the definition of a Remote Point are based on the underlying element shape functions. In a large deflection analysis, these element shapes functions are reformed at each substep. As a result, MPC equations are superior to the RBE3, CERIG, and CP commands.

For Remote Boundary Conditions applied to an edge or edges of a line body that are colinear, the deformable behavior is invalid. As such, the scoped entities exhibit rigid behavior even if a deformable formulation is specified, and a warning is issued in the Message Window.

All remote boundary conditions are associative, meaning they remember their connection to the geometry. Their location however does not change. If you want the location to be associative, create a coordinate system on the particular face and set the location to 0,0,0 in that local coordinate system.

If the geometry to which a Remote Point is scoped becomes suppressed, the Remote Point also becomes suppressed. Once the geometry is Unsuppressed, the Remote Point becomes valid again.

Remote boundary conditions scoped to a large number of elements can cause the solver to consume excessive amounts of memory. Point masses in an analysis where a mass matrix is required and analyses that contain remote displacements are the most sensitive to this phenomenon. If this situation occurs, consider modifying the Pinball setting to reduce the number of elements included in the solver. Forcing the use of an iterative solver may help as well. Refer to the troubleshooting section for further details.

If a remote boundary condition is scoped to rigid body, the underlying topology on which the load is applied is irrelevant. Since the body is rigid, the loading path through the body will be of no consequence; only the location at which the load acts.

For the explicit dynamics solver, when remote points are scoped to a vertex they will always have a rigid behavior. For other solvers, remote points scoped to a vertex will always have a deformable behavior.