OK, sorry I was trying to do the "exact" orientation.
For the element topology alignment you can use the utility found under:
Utilities / FEM-Elements / Modify Element Orientation ...
this will modify the node order and you probably want :
Target : Quads Tris
Method: Vector Match
and then for "Select Vector" use the relevant 1,2 or 3 axis and the coord system you want (e.g. Coord 5.1).
Hopefully that is what you wanted, sorry for not realizing this at first.
By the way, a minor detail but if you are using Nastran note that the Element x axis is the bisector of the angle between the diagonals (n1->3 and n4->2) of the element (in the element plane). For rectangular elements this corresponds to edge 1 (node 1 to 2) but for arbitrarily shaped elements it can be slightly different.
OK, sorry I was trying to do the "exact" orientation.
For the element topology alignment you can use the utility found under:
Utilities / FEM-Elements / Modify Element Orientation ...
this will modify the node order and you probably want :
Target : Quads Tris
Method: Vector Match
and then for "Select Vector" use the relevant 1,2 or 3 axis and the coord system you want (e.g. Coord 5.1).
Hopefully that is what you wanted, sorry for not realizing this at first.
By the way, a minor detail but if you are using Nastran note that the Element x axis is the bisector of the angle between the diagonals (n1->3 and n4->2) of the element (in the element plane). For rectangular elements this corresponds to edge 1 (node 1 to 2) but for arbitrarily shaped elements it can be slightly different.
