Chapter 2:
Intro to Modeling in VSP
VSP User Manual
12
Version 1.7.92
Name, Material, & Color
Select a name and color that are easy to remember and helps to differentiate
similar parts. These are especially useful when building very complex models consisting
of many parts. The material for the part may also be selected, such as aluminum or glass.
Attach to Parent
There is a Parent-Child Relationship that can be added to attach separate parts to
each other. See the
Glossary
(pg. 80) for more details.
Fixed:
The Fixed option allows XYZ attachment without the rotation component.
Mat (
Matrix attachment
):
This allows the parent to control the rotation and movement of
its corresponding child (typical Parent-Child relationship).
UV:
The UV option allows the parent shape to be modified and the position of the child
to change - for example, attaching a pod to wing using UV then changing the sweep of
the wing.
Note:
The UV attachment is based off of the trailing edge of the parent
object. To use the UV attachment, select the child object, and in the
Transforms pane of the XForm tab, click
Rel
(Relative). Now in the Gen
tab, select the UV box. Note that V measures the child part’s attachment
from the trailing edge of the wing
. Adjusting the U slider moves the
child part along the contours of the wing.
Note:
V controls where the child is attached to the parent. This determines
the line followed by the child when it is translated in the U-direction along
the parent. For example, if V is set to 0 or 1, then the child will move
along the line that connects all of the points located on the trailing edge of
the parent. If V is set to some number in between 0 and 1, the child will
become attached to some point along the curvature of the local airfoil.
Thus, if V is set to 0.25, the child will be attached halfway between the
trailing and leading edges on the upper curve of the airfoil. If V is set to
0.75, the child will be attached halfway between the leading and trailing
edges on the lower curve of the airfoil. If V is set to 0.5, the child will be
attached to the leading edge of the airfoil. So basically, each airfoil is like
a closed circuit starting from V = 0 and ending at V=1.
Note:
On a wing, if U is placed at zero, then the attached child will not
follow the shape of the foil.