This figure illustrates how Creo Simulate determines material orientation by projecting a vector onto a surface:

Material orientation 3 is defined to be normal to the surface. Material direction 1 is defined to be parallel to the projection of the vector onto the plane tangent to the surface at the point of interest. Material direction 2 is set orthogonal to material directions 1 and 3. Note that the directions of the material orientation vary with position on the surface.

Return to Projected Vector.