Tekla Structures – Grids

•      Create one grid line and use the Edit > Copy Special > Rotate command to copy it.

•      Use construction lines and circles

There are two ways to enter the x or y coordinates of grid lines:

•     individually, e.g. 0 4000 4000, or

•     several grid lines with equal spacing, e.g. 0 2*4000. Both create three lines with the spacing of 4000.

To bind objects to grid lines, select the Magnetic grid plane checkbox.

In the Extension for magnetic area field, enter a distance from the grid line to extend the area within which the objects are bound to the grid lines.

To manually create a grid:

2.    Fill in the properties described in Grid properties .

3.     To create the grid, click the Create button.

Tekla Structures prompts you to pick the origin when you create the grid. Pick a point in a view, and the coordinates of the picked point appear in the Grid dialog box as X0, Y0, and Z0. If you do not pick, Tekla Structures positions the origin according to the values you entered for X0, Y0, and Z0.

Creating grid lines

To manually create a grid line:

1.    Click Modeling > Add Grid Line.

2.    Select an existing grid to which to attach the grid line.

3.    Pick the starting point of the grid line.

4.    Pick the end point of the grid line.

Using select switches on grids

Tekla Structures includes separate select switches for entire grids and single grid lines. The active select switch affects the objects you can select, modify, and delete.

Modifying grids

To modify a grid:

1.     Ensure that the Select grids switch is selected.

2.     Double-click any of the grid lines. The Grid dialog box appears, and you can modify the properties.

Getting Started

Modifying grid lines

To modify a grid line:

1.     Ensure that the Select grid lines switch is selected.

2.     Double-click the grid line. The Grid Line Properties dialog box appears, and you can modify the properties.

3.     Click the Modify button to save the changes.

Use the variable XS_GRID_COLOR to change the color of the grid in rendered views.

1.        Click Tools > Options > Advanced Options > Model View.

2.         Set the RGB value for the variable XS_GRID_COLOR.

To delete a grid:

1.     Ensure that the Select grids switch is selected.

2.     Click any grid line, then right-click and select Delete from the pop-up menu.

1.     Ensure that the he Select grid lines switch is selected.

2.    Click the grid line you want to delete.

3.      Right-click and select Delete from the pop-up menu.

2.3 Views

Introduction               There are several ways to create views in Tekla Structures. For example, you can create views:

•     of the entire structure

•     of selected part(s) and component(s)

•     along the grid lines

Each view has properties which define its appearance. You can change the appearance of a view after you create it so choose the creation method that suits you. This section describes the view-specific properties. You can open the view properties dialog box for each view, to view or modify the properties.

You can have up to nine views on the screen at the same time. If you try to open more than nine views, Tekla Structures displays a warning. If the view does not appear, check how many views you have open.

To switch between views, press Ctrl+Tab.

Basic views are those parallel to the global basic planes, i.e. xy, xz, and zy. In basic views two axes always define the view plane and they appear in the plane name. The third axis is perpendicular to the view plane. It does not appear in the plane name. In the basic plane view, the model is shown from the direction of that third axis.

The view plane options for basic views are:

Other views

For view types other than basic views, you define the view plane and coordinate by picking points, e.g. With three points, or they are defined automatically according to the chosen creation method/command, e.g. To work plane.

You can change the view plane by moving it like any other object. Click anywhere on the plain background, right-click and select Move Special > Linear… from the pop-up menu..

specific name.

You should give a view a unique name if you need to open it in later sessions. When you exit the model, Tekla Structures only saves named views. Tekla Structures does not save unnamed views when you close them.

The view type defines the appearance of the view. It also affects what methods you can use to rotate the model. The view type options are:

•     Wire frame

Objects are transparent and their outlines are displayed. As the wire frame views use line graphics technique, redrawing views is quick.

•     Rendered

Objects look more realistic because they are non-transparent and their surfaces are displayed as shown in the illustrations below. However, you can also choose the Wireframe or Shaded Wireframe option in the rendered views. Rotating the model in the rendered views is very convenient with the mouse.

Representation

In rendered views, you can define how Tekla Structures displays parts and component objects separately. The following options are available:

Part outlines are displayed, surfaces are not, i.e. parts are transparent.

(In this example, component objects are displayed as Rendered.)

•     Shaded Wireframe

Part outlines are displayed. Parts are transparent, and their surfaces are shaded.

(In this example, component objects are displayed as Rendered.)

Parts are not transparent, i.e. underlying parts are not visible. Part surfaces are not displayed.

Part surfaces are displayed, i.e. parts are not transparent.

Parts are not transparent. Part outlines are displayed with brighter color, and part surfaces with darker color than in the Rendered option.

If you choose the rendered view type, the projection can be:

•      Orthogonal

All objects are of equal size (no perspective). When you zoom, text and point size remains the same. In addition, the zoom remains on part surfaces.

•      Perspective

Distant objects appear smaller than close ones, as do text and points. You can zoom, rotate the model, or fly through it.

Views can be:

•      Plane

•      3D

Grid views are views along the grid lines. Before creating grid views, you can define how many views Tekla Structures will create, how it will name the views, and which view properties it will use.

There are four options for the number of views:

•      None Tekla Structures does not create any views.

•      One (First) Tekla Structures only creates the view closest to the grid origin.

•      One (Last) Tekla Structures only creates the view furthest from the grid origin.

•      All Tekla Structures creates all views in grid planes in the relevant direction.

View names consist of a prefix and a grid label, e.g. PLAN +3000. If the View name prefix field is left empty, no prefix is used. Tekla Structures adds a dash and a running number to the view name if view names are otherwise identical.

Each view plane has its own view properties. You can load the properties from the current view properties with the option <applied values> or from saved view properties. The Show… button displays the view properties.

When you create a new model, you can select the Create default view and grid checkbox to have Tekla Structures automatically create a grid and a view according to the saved standard properties.

To create views, use the commands on the View menu. The following table lists the commands for creating views and gives a short description of each one:

Create View of Model > Using Three Points

Creates a view using three picked points.

•      Click 1-= .

•      Click View > View List… to display the Views dialog box.

Tekla Structures lists all invisible named views on the left, and all visible views on the right.

To display or hide views, select the view(s) and use the arrows between the lists. You can also double-click a view in the Views dialog box to open or close it.

To select multiple views on lists, use the Shift and Ctrl keys when you select views. To deselect views, hold down the Ctrl key.

To delete a named view, select the view and click Delete.

•     Press Ctrl+U.

•      Right-click, then select Update Window.

•      Click View > Zoom > Active Window > Update.

All windows                To update the contents of all windows, click View > Update All. You can also use View >

Redraw All to recalculate and redraw the contents of all the windows.

Click Window > Close All to close all the windows on the screen at the same time.

•     Use snapping commands.

•     Use construction planes, lines and circles

•     Create points.

There are many ways to create points in Tekla Structures. Which method is the most convenient at each time, depends on what you have already created in the model and which locations you can easily pick.

When you create points, Tekla Structures always places them according to the work plane coordinate system. Points located in the view plane are yellow and points outside the view plane are red.

Phase and ID              Just like any other object, each point has an ID number which is used in log files. Points and

parts have phase numbers. You can filter objects by their phase and ID numbers.

Coordinates               The point information you are most probably interested in is the local (work plane) and global

x, y, and z coordinates of a point. Checking them convinces you of the correct location of the point or some other object related to it.

To create points, use the icons on the Points toolbar, or select a command from Modeling > Add Points. The following table lists the commands for creating points and gives a short description of each one:

Creates a point where the axes of two parts intersect, and projects the point onto the view plane.