OOF2: The Manual

3.10. Skeleton Boundaries
	Chapter 3. Task Pages

3.10. Skeleton Boundaries

The Skeleton Boundaries Page creates and edits Skeleton boundaries. In this context, “boundary” just means a location or set of locations at which boundary conditions for differential equations will be applied. The boundaries do not have to correspond to the exterior edges of the Skeleton.

Figure 3.16 shows the construction of the Skeleton Boundaries Page. The Skeleton Chooser at the top selects the Skeleton whose boundaries are to be edited. The Boundary List Pane on the left lists all of the boundaries defined in the current skeleton, and provides buttons for editing them. Edge boundaries are listed before point boundaries. The Boundary Info Pane on the right shows information about the boundary selected in the list.

Figure 3.16. The Skeleton Boundaries Page

The Boundary List Pane

Clicking on the name of a boundary in the Boundary List Pane selects that boundary, displays information about it in the Information Pane, and, as shown in Figure 3.17, highlights the boundary in any Graphics Windows that are displaying the Skeleton (unless the default display settings have been changed).

Figure 3.17. A Selected Boundary

The left boundary is displayed in the graphics window because it is selected in the Boundary List in Figure 3.16.

The four buttons below the list manipulate boundaries:

The New button builds a new boundary from groups or selections of Elements, Nodes, or Segments. The groups or selections must exist before the New button is pressed. (See the Skeleton Selection Page and the Skeleton Selection Toolbox.) The button brings up the dialog box shown in Figure 3.18. The dialog asks for a name for the new boundary and a construction method, which involves specifying a boundary type (edge or point) and the selection or group from which it's to be built. A direction must also be specified for edge boundaries. If the chosen selection or group can't be organized into a sensible boundary, the direction field will read “No edge sequence” and the OK button will be disabled.

Figure 3.18. The New Boundary Dialog Box
The Modify button adds or removes components from the currently selected boundary. It requires a preexisting Node group or selection if the boundary is a point boundary, and a preexisting Segment group or selection if the boundary is an edge boundary.

When adding Segments to an edge boundary, the OK button in the dialog will be disabled if the given Segments cannot be joined to the boundary.
The Rename button renames the currently selected boundary.
The Delete button deletes the currently selected boundary from the Skeleton. It doesn't have any effect on the Nodes or Segments that make up the boundary.


3.9. Skeleton Selection		3.11. FE Mesh