Helix
Create a solid, surface, or curve helix (coil) with a circular cross section in 3D.
Syntax
model.component(<ctag>).geom(<tag>).create(<ftag>,"Helix");
model.component(<ctag>).geom(<tag>).feature(<ftag>).set(property,<value>);
model.component(<ctag>).geom(<tag>).feature(<ftag>).getType(property);
Description
Use model.component(<ctag>).geom(<tag>).create(<ftag>,"Helix") to create a helix. The following properties are available:
Table 3-58: Valid Property/Value Pairs
Property
Value
Default
Description
axialpitch
double
0.3
Axial pitch.
axis
double[]
{0,0,1}
Direction of the helix axis. Vector has length 3 if axistype is cartesian, and length 2 if axistype is spherical.
axistype
x | y | z | cartesian | spherical
z
Coordinate system used for axis. The value is synchronized with axis.
chirality
right | left
right
Chirality.
color
none | custom | integer between 1 and the number of colors in the current theme
none
The color of the selection, either given as an integer indicating a color in the color theme, or as a custom color in the customcolor property. Coloring is only available when selresult in active.
customcolor
RGB-triplet
Next available theme color
The color to use. Active when color is set to custom.
endcaps
paraaxis | perpaxis | perpspine
paraaxis
Direction of end caps.
grep
bezier | spline
spline
Geometry representation.
pos
double[]
{0,0,0}
Position of the object.
radialpitch
double
0
Radial pitch.
rmaj
double
1
Major radius.
rmin
double
0.1
Minor radius.
rot
double
0
Rotational angle about axis.
rtol
double
1e-4
Relative tolerance.
turns
double
3
Number of turns.
type
solid | surface
solid
Object type.
twistcomp
on | off
on
Twist compensation.
selresult
on | off
off
Create selections of all resulting objects.
selresultshow
all | obj | dom | bnd | edg | pnt | off
dom
Show selections, if selresult is on, of resulting objects in physics, materials, and so on, or in part instances. obj is not available in a component’s geometry. dom, bnd, and edg are not available in all features.
contributeto
String
none
Tag of cumulative selection to contribute to.
workplanesrc
this | Part Instance feature
this
Part Instance feature to take the work plane from.
workplane
xyplane | Work plane feature
xyplane
Work Plane feature that defines the coordinate system. The default, xyplane, is the global Cartesian coordinate system.
For information about the selresult and contributeto properties, see Selections of Geometric Entities.
Example
The following sequence generates a surface helix and a solid helix:
Code for Use with Java
Model model = ModelUtil.create("Model1");
model.component().create("comp1");
GeomSequence g = model.component("comp1").geom().create("geom1",3);
GeomFeature h = g.create("h1","Helix");
h.set("type","surface");
h.set("rmaj",2);
h.set("rmin",0.3);
h.set("axialpitch",1);
 
GeomFeature h2 = g.create("h2","Helix");
h2.set("rmaj",10);
h2.set("rmin",2);
h2.set("axialpitch",1);
h2.set("pos","0,0,-100");
h2.set("axis","1,1,1");
h2.set("rot",60);
g.run();
Code for Use with MATLAB
model = ModelUtil.create('Model1');
model.component.create('comp1');
g = model.component('comp1').geom.create('geom1',3);
h = g.create('h1','Helix');
h.set('type','surface');
h.set('rmaj',2);
h.set('rmin',0.3);
h.set('axialpitch',1);
 
h2 = g.create('h2','Helix');
h2.set('rmaj',10);
h2.set('rmin',2);
h2.set('axialpitch',1);
h2.set('pos','0,0,-100');
h2.set('axis','1,1,1');
h2.set('rot',60);
g.run;
See Also
 Torus, Sweep