The “Measure” tools allow acquiring linear and radial dimensions
All these tools define the measurements only in the model and are not
reflected in drawings. Also, the measure markings can be easily removed
by forcingly updating the model view. Thus users can check on any
measurement without implying any modification to the model itself.
Tekla Structures v21.1
Tekla Structures v2021
Create two plates with dimensions of 130 x 300 mm and a 16 mm thickness.
Add a bolted joint connection with the settings similar to the previous
case study.
Tekla Structures v21.1
Tekla Structures v2021
Now let's examine in detail all the "Measure" tools available.
This tool exercises measurements strictly along with vertical lines taking
into account the coordinates of the global reference system, with no factoring
in the coordinates of the workplane area.
The algorithm for using the “Measure - Vertical distance”
Make sure all operations are canceled or press the Esc key.
Go to the view plane by pressing the Ctrl+P key combination.
Enable the “Measure - Vertical distance” tool.
Indicate the first point of the segment to be measured.
Indicate the second point of the segment to be measured.
Indicate the distance marking on the view (compulsory).
To disable the “Measure - Vertical distance” tool, press the
Esc key.
Tekla Structures v21.1
Tekla Structures v2021
Now let’s try out measuring the distance using the “Vertical
distance” tool, but indicating the points of the part along the diagonal.
It ignores any other dimension except for the vertical one.
Tekla Structures v21.1
Tekla Structures v2021
Enable the “Update Window” tab of the right-click menu, to
This tool exercises measurements strictly along the horizontal line, taking
into account the coordinates of the global reference system, with no factoring
in the coordinates of the workplace area.
The algorithm for using the “Measure - Horizontal distance”
Make sure all operations are canceled or press the Esc key.
Go to the view plane by pressing the Ctrl+P key combination.
Enable the “Measure - Horizontal distance” tool.
Indicate the first point of the segment to be measured.
Indicate the second point of the segment to be measured.
Indicate the distance marking on the view (compulsory).
To disable the “Measure - Horizontal distance” tool, press
the Esc key.
Tekla Structures v21.1
Tekla Structures v2021
The measure marking that appeared on the view is temporary and will disappear
Rotate the model.
Note that the measure marking is also a three-dimensional object and is
To remove the measurement marking, select the view, and in the right-click
Tekla Structures v21.1
Tekla Structures v2021
Now try out measuring the distance using the “Horizontal distance”
Tekla Structures v21.1
Tekla Structures v2021
Thus you can see that this tool ignores any distance between points except
This tool exercises measurements from a point to another, indicating the
distance between points by taking into account the coordinates of the global
reference system, with no factoring in the coordinates of the workplane
area.
Tekla Structures v21.1
Tekla Structures v2021
This is the most frequently used tool in Tekla Structures, and it can
Tekla Structures v21.1
Tekla Structures v2021
Let’s try out measuring horizontal distance by using this tool.
Tekla Structures v21.1
Tekla Structures v2021
Pay attention to the distance writing format as 130.00 (130, 0.00,0),
where the first character stands for the linear point-to-point distance
by the axes X, Y, Z accordingly.
Restore the view by enabling the “Update Window” tab from
This tool makes the distance distribution of bolts to the object indicated.
The algorithm for using the “Measure - Bolt spacing” tool
Make sure all operations are canceled or press the Esc key.
Enable the “Measure - bolt spacing” tool.
Select the bolt group required.
Select the referent object (part).
To disable the “Measure - bolt spacing” tool, press the Esc
key.
Tekla Structures v21.1
Tekla Structures v2021
Restore the view to hide the measurement marks.
To better understand the referent part principle, let's substitute
the lower plate object with a beam, thus create a beam of an arbitrary
length.
Tekla Structures v21.1
Tekla Structures v2021
Update the parts of the bolted joint by proceeding as follows: select
a bolt and at the right-click menu enable the “Bolt parts”
tab. As the first part indicate the beam, and as the second one - the plate.
Delete the interbedded plate. The selecting parts sequence depends on the
purpose.
Further, refer to the “Measure - bolt spacing” tool. Thus
we can check if the bolts are not located too close to the beam edge and
at what distance the bolt holes are located from the beam edge.
This tool measures the angle between 3 arbitrary points.
To exercise this tool, let’s create a construction geometry line
Tekla Structures v21.1
Tekla Structures v2021
Now let’s use the “Measure- angle” tool to check if
The algorithm for using the “Measure - Angle” tool :
Make sure all operations are canceled or press the Esc key.
Enable the “Measure - Angle” tool.
Select the line's intersection point.
Select an arbitrary point at the first line.
Select an arbitrary point at the second line.
To disable the “Measure - Angle” tool, press the Esc key.
Tekla Structures v21.1
Tekla Structures v2021
To measure an angle, it is not necessary to create construction lines,
it is sufficient to select any 3 arbitrary points at the workplane. Create
a column and let’s try out to measure the angle between 3 arbitrary
points on it.
Tekla Structures v21.1
Tekla Structures v2021
Exercise on measuring various angles of the column.
This tool measures an arc length and any circle radius by indicating 3
Create a circle of 500 mm radius using the construction geometry tools.
Tekla Structures v21.1
Tekla Structures v2021
The algorithm for using the “Measure - Arc” tool :
Make sure all operations are canceled or press the Esc key.
Enable the “Measure - Arc” tool.
Select the line's intersection point.
Select an arbitrary point at the first line.
Select an arbitrary point at the second line.
To disable the “Measure - Arc” tool, press the Esc key.
Tekla Structures v21.1
Tekla Structures v2021
Note that using this tool gives out two values, which are the arc length
and the circle radius. It is not necessarily creating a construction
geometry circle for trying out this tool. It is sufficient to indicate
just 3 arbitrary points at the work plane.