In the tutorial of the Manage Measurements Task two Test Setups were defined and measurements where uploaded. In the Assign DOF Information Task the idea is to "mount" the uploaded channel on the Geometry in the right nodal points and in the right direction. When the task is started in case of the Building Model example it looks like below:

We start by clicking the Geometry window to activate the Properties window with its settings. Then we activate viewing of the Node Numbers.

Assign DOF's by Drag and Drop 

To assign where a Channel Item is located on the Geometry, simply click the Channel Item in the Data Organizer and drag it out to the Nodal Point on the Geometry:

If the channel direction is not vertical you can change it to one of the principal directions +X, -X, +Y, -Y, +Z, -Z in the toolbar of the Geometry window. You can also specify both Nodal Point and Direction in the Properties window, when the Channel Item is selected in the Data Organizer:

 

In this case we choose -Y as the direction for the first channel. After this we proceed with the remaining channels of both Test Setups. It is worth nothing that when the reference channels are positioned correctly for the second Test Setup, the color of the arrow and the tree item will automatically change to blue to indicate the channel item contains a reference sensor.

 

Once all channel items are mounted, and Test Setups are connected with same sampling interval for all, then you are ready to proceed to the Analysis tasks of the software. You can always go back and modify whatever is needed.

Channels from other Test Setups

As of version 3.0, the Ghost Channels are introduced i.e. preview of the connected channels from the other Test Setups. This options can be Enabled/Disabled from the Geometry Window Properties.

This options makes it much easier to connect the remaining channels to the free nodes, because the user has a clear preview of the already connected channels. The Coloring of the "Ghost" channels can be customized by the user from the Preferences, in the Geometry, Colors section.

The "Ghost" channels are not interactive i.e. hovering the mouse over them does not have any effect on the selected channels. They are just for visualization purposes of nodes already associated with channels.

Cylindrical coordinates

The examples considered so far were oriented in the cartesian coordinates system, meaning that each node could be assigned a translation degree of freedom in three directions (X, Y and Z). In a cylindrical coordinate system a single unconstrained node can translate axially along Z, translate radially along R and swing circumferentially about theta. This paragraph illustrates how to assign those DOF.

Consider a cylindrical surface, as illustrated on Figure below

 

 The DOFs corresponding to the radial translation are assigned when +R or -R, which denote respectively a positive and negative direction, are active.

Similarly, a direction tangential to the circumference of the considered surface is assigned when +T or -T are active.

Direction axial towards the height of the cylinder is assigned when +A or -A are active.

Automatic DOF assignment

 The measured DOF can also be auto-assigned. Consider the plate example below.

The measured DOFs can be assigned by the Auto Assign DOF button. Prior to that, the required number of measurement channels, here 16 channels, must be created.

In Auto Assign DOF, the user has also the option to sort the node numbers, which is similar to the sorting performed in the Global Node Organizer here.

The direction of the channel is set in Add Direction tab.

Herein, the measurements are performed only in one direction perpendicular to the plate's surface, therefore the Z-direction is chosen. To investigate whether the desired DOF configuration is created, the Generate Preview button is used.

After confirming the automatically created configuration, the DOF are assigned, see Figure below.

One can clear the assigned directions with the Clear DOF information button.

Non-normal DOF assignment

The measured DOF can be assigned in a direction normal to an inclined object. A short tutorial on this feature can be found below. Consider an inclined plate as on the Figure below

To ensure that the direction of the measured DOF is normal to an object, here the surface of the plate, the Assign DOF icon in the Assign DOF task shown below must be active. 

 

 Next, the procedure follows the classical dragging the measured direction onto the desired node, as shown below 

 

 or using the Auto Assign DOF button, explained in the previous section, to assign all the measured DOF simultaneously, as shown below