3.1.6.4: Index to Beam

Sometimes the initial geometry is already given as a set of points and two lists of node indexes, with one entry for each start and end point of beams respectively. In such cases, it would be cumbersome to convert this information into geometric entities only to feed it into the “LineToBeam” component, which reverses the previous step. The “IndexToBeam” component (see Fig. 3.1.6.4.1) accepts a pair of lists of node indexes and produces beams with default properties. This approach speeds up model generation considerably, as there is no need to compare nodes for coincident coordinates.

Fig. 3.1.8.1: The “IndexToBeam”-component lets you directly define the connectivity information of beams.

The “IndexToBeam” component allows for the definition of zero-length elements, which is useful when you want to connect elements that touch but should not be rigidly connected (think of a scissor – see section 3.3.3 about springs).

The input-plugs “Z-Ori”, “Color”, “Id” and “CroSec” have the same meaning as for the “LineToBeam”-component (see section 3.1.6.1).