11.9.3 Wire features

A wire is depicted as a line in ABAQUS/CAE and is used to idealize a solid in which both its thickness and depth are considered small compared to its length. To create a wire feature, select ShapeWire from the main menu bar or select one of the wire tools in the Part module toolbox. You create a wire feature in the Part module using the wire tools to do one of the following:

Sketch a wire on a selected planar face or datum plane to create a sketched wire feature, as shown in Figure 11–30. Select ShapeWireSketch from the main menu bar to create this type of feature.
Figure 11–30 A sketched wire feature.
When you sketch on a planar face (for example, the side of a cube), the wire feature is created only where it extends beyond the face. A sketched wire feature cannot overlap a face.
Connect two or more points with straight lines, as shown in Figure 11–31. Select ShapeWirePoly Line from the main menu bar to create this type of feature. You can use the Merge wire with part geometry option to create only those wire segments that are unique from existing part geometry, or turn this option off to create all segments of the poly line wire.
Figure 11–31 A wire feature connecting three points.
Connect any existing points in space with a spline curve, as shown in Figure 11–32.
Figure 11–32 A wire feature connecting several points of a solid feature.
Select ShapeWireSpline from the main menu bar to create this type of feature. You can use the Merge wire with part geometry option to create only those wire segments that are unique from existing part geometry, or turn this option off to create all segments of the spline wire. The rectangular solid feature in Figure 11–32 is shown for reference. The image on the left shows the full length of the spline wire, while the image on the right shows a spline wire connecting the same set of points using the Merge wire with part geometry option.

You can use the wire tools to add a wire feature to any deformable or discrete rigid part. You cannot add a wire feature to an analytical rigid part; you can only modify the original sketch that defined that part.

You use the Property module to create a section that prescribes the desired cross-sectional geometry and to assign that section to the wire feature. (For more information, see “Defining sections,” Section 12.2.3, and “Which properties can I assign to a part?,” Section 12.3.) You can model a wire feature using any of the beam, truss, or axisymmetric shell elements available in ABAQUS/Standard or ABAQUS/Explicit.

Note: Although you can create a mesh of beam elements, the current version of ABAQUS/CAE allows you to assign only the following sections to a wire:

Beam section
Truss section

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