Anyone know of a way to fix a spline length?

[kpritchard]

I'm wondering if anyone has done any work with Splines and holding the length to a fixed value? This assumes that the endpoints could not get any further apart than a straight line, but as the ends got closer together (by way of some other constraints) the spline would "buckle" (for lack of a better term) to mimic the behavior of a semi rigid component (like a hose).

[TomD.inPDX]

I have to admid I didn't think it would work but it does.

You can apply a perimeter dimension to a spline you you can to any sketch.

I varied the "overshoot" of a right angle spline tangent to the horizonal and vertial with the ends fixed at "100".

[TomD.inPDX]

I got curious... you have to lock the perimeter value in the section's relations to keep it fixed since you cannot seem to lock the dimension in the sketch.