Cylinder Generation

The Cylinder Plates / Members generation is used to make cylinders comprised of nodes and optional members and plates.

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The following table provides descriptions for the options under both the Cylinder with Plates and Stiffeners and Options tabs in the Cylinder Template window.

Cylinder Plates / Members Template Options

Option	Description
Cylinder with Plates and Stiffeners - tab
Rotation Axis	The Rotation Axis defines the axis to which the direction of the cylinder is oriented.
Axis Increment	The Axis Increment defines the number of segments the cylinder is broken down into along the height of the cylinder.
Sweep Increment	The Sweep Increment defines the number of segments the cylinder is broken down into along the width of the cylinder. The number of Sweep Increment determines how many piecewise straight segments are used to model the arc of the cylinder. The number and length of increments along the axis of rotation is used to "extrude" the cylinder in the direction of the axis of rotation.
Sweep Angle	The Sweep Angle defines the ending angle of the cylinder arc.
Start Angle	The Start Angle defines the starting angle of the cylinder arc.
Radius	The Radius is the distance from the polar origin to the furthest point on the cylinder.
Polar Origin	The Polar Origin defines the reference point from which the arc height and width are measured and the rotation axis is defined. The Polar Origin is the point about which the arc rotates and a global axis is the axis of rotation. You can generate a cylinder the full 360 degrees around the axis of rotation or generate a partial cylinder by specifying the start and sweep angles.
Material	The Material option defines the material used to assign properties to the cylinder members.
Node Prefix	The Node Prefix Defines the prefix used in the node label for each new node generated.
Options - tab
Axis Members	(checkbox) The Axis Member option allows you to toggle members being drawn in the Axis.
Arc Members	(checkbox) The Arc Member options allows you to toggle members being drawn in the arc.
Section Set	Section Set defines the section set assigned axis members or arch members. There are entries for a Section Set for both the arc members and the axis members, so these two sets of members can be different sizes. To generate these members you must select a valid section set. If you don't select a section set, you won't generate these members. Different labels may be assigned to the two member types.
X-Axis Rotate	The X-axis Rotate option defines the local x-axis rotation of the arc relative to the global X axis. It can be used to rotate the local axis in to place. However, you may find that a K-node better serves this purpose.
Member Prefix	The Member Prefix defines prefix to member labels for members created using the generator.
Plates	(checkbox) The Plates option allows you to draw plates between members generated using the Grid Generation.
Material Set	You must enter a Material Set for plates to be defined and the label prefix may be specified as well.
Thickness	You must enter Thickness for plates to be defined and the label prefix may be specified as well.
Plate Prefix	The Plate Prefix defines prefix to plate labels for plates created using the generator.
Fluid Load	(checkbox) The Fluid Load option allows you to automatically generate hydrostatic loads to the generated plates.
Depth	The Depth option defines the height of which the hydrostatic loads should be applied onto the structure.
Density	The Density option defines the density of the hydrostatic load that is applied to the structure.
BLC	The BLC option defines the Basic Load Case at which the hydrostatic loads are generated.