The ports

The points at which components are connected together are called ports. In the example below, the mass has one port whereas the spring has two. In Sketch mode, a green square appears on each port of the components when they are ready to be connected.

Occasionally components have no ports in which case they cannot be connected to any other component. An example is the Hydraulic Properties component:

Note

With Simcenter Amesim it is not necessary to have ports connected by "wires" but you can add some if you like. This is done frequently with hydraulic systems where the wires are pipes, it is then necessary to use them. In most other cases, it gives a much better sketch if wires are not used when they are not necessary:

Compatible ports

ports compatible ports

Two ports are compatible if they are of the same type or at least one of them is a signal port. See Why can I not connect two components? for more information.