Summary of Connectors

Connector Type Study Type Geometric Entities Reference Geometry Type Required Input
Bearing Static, buckling, frequency, and dynamic Cylindrical faces and circular shell edges N/A Rigid or flexible (lateral and axial stiffnesses)
Bolt Static and nonlinear Bolt faces, nut faces, and cylindrical faces of the holes. Entities can be from one or different components For a grounded bolt, select a reference plane Elastic modulus and Poisson's Ratio of the bolt material, and the shank diameter
Cable Connector Static Planar faces, cylindrical faces of solids, circular edges of shells, and vertices N/A Cable diameter and cable material properties
Edge Weld Static, buckling, frequency, and dynamic Set1: Face of a shell or sheet metal body Set2: Face of a shell, sheet metal, or solid body N/A Material for the electrode with predefined weld strength
Elastic Support Static and buckling Faces of solids of a part or assembly N/A Normal and tangential stiffnesses
General Spring Static, Frequency, Buckling, and Linear Dynamic studies. Flat faces, nonflat faces, concentric cylindrical faces, or spherical faces N/A One of the stiffness parameters and a coordinate system if you specify lateral or bending stiffness
Link Static, buckling, frequency, dynamic, and nonlinear Two vertices or reference points from different components Reference points N/A
Pin Static, buckling, frequency, dynamic, and nonlinear Coaxial cylindrical faces or edges (maximum of ten). The selected edges must belong to shells. N/A Option to define a pin with retaining ring (no translation), or with key (No rotation)
Rigid Static, buckling, frequency, dynamic, and nonlinear Faces of solids from different components N/A N/A
Spot Welds Static, buckling, frequency, and dynamic Two shell faces or a solid face and a shell face Reference points Spot weld diameter
Spring Static, buckling, frequency, dynamic, and nonlinear Planar parallel faces, concentric cylindrical faces from different components. Two vertices or reference points from one, or two different components. For nonlinear studies, you can only select vertices or reference points to define a Spring. Reference points for point-to-point spring Normal and tangential stiffnesses
Spring Damper Modal time history Two vertices or reference points from one, or two different components Reference points Axial, lateral, rotational stiffnesses and coefficient of viscous damping
Linkage Rod Connector Static, buckling, frequency, dynamic, and nonlinear Cylindrical faces, cylindrical edges of shells, and vertices N/A
  • Type of end joints (pivot, rigid, or spherical)
  • Cross-section properties
  • Elastic modulus and Poisson's Ratio of the connector material