XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX''"> Postprocessing Results
The Patran Results application gives users control of powerful graphical capabilities to display results quantities in a variety of ways. The Results application treats all results quantities in a very flexible and general manner. For maximum flexibility, results can be sorted, reported, scaled, combined, filtered, derived, or deleted.
The Results Application Form
The Results application provides various different plot types for results visualization. These plots, sometimes referred to as tools or plot tools, allow graphical examination of analysis results, using a variety of imaging techniques and also simultaneous display of multiple plots to aid in the understanding of interactions between results.
To use the Results Application form:
1. Select Results from the Patran Main form.
The Results application form appears in your viewport.
2. Select an Action and Object from the drop-down menus at the top of the form.
The bottom portion of the form varies, depending on your selections.
Actions
You can select the following actions on the Results application form: create, modify, post, and delete.
Action Descriptions |
Create | Creates new visual results display. |
Modify | Makes any change desired to an existing plot. |
Post | Displays or removes a plot from the viewport. |
Delete | Removes plots from the database. |
Objects
The following table summarizes the plot Objects available.
Plot | Description |
Quick Plot | A quick deformation or fringe plot using default settings. |
Deformation | Display of the model in a deformed state. |
Fringe | Contoured bands of color representing ranges of results value. |
Contour | Colored contour lines representing result values. |
Marker | Colored scaled symbols representing scalar, vector or tensor plots. |
Cursor | Labels for scalar, vector or tensor quantities are displayed on the model at interactively selected entities. |
Graph | XY plots of results versus various quantities. Results can be plotted against other results values, distances, global variables or arbitrary paths defined by geometric definitions such as a curve. |
Animation | Not technically a plot type; however, most plot types can be animated in a modal or ramped style or in a transient state if more than one result case is associated with an particular plot type. |
Report | Also not technically a plot type; however, report definitions of results are stored in the database like any other plot tool type, and can be created and modified to write reports to text files or to the screen. |
Results | You can combine and derive results, or you can create fictitious results for testing and demonstrating possible outcomes. |
Freebody | These are freebody diagrams, plotted specifically from MSC Nastran grid point force balance results. |
Sample Basic Quick Plot Results Display
For most common results displays, the Quick Plot option of the Results application can be used to quickly create the display. In many cases, this simple menu is all that is needed to display your Patran results.
Choosing a fringe result will generate a color-coded plot of the value. Since fringe plots correspond to scalar values, selecting a vector or tensor value will produce additional options for choosing which scalar component you wish to display.
Choosing a deformation result will produce a deformed shape plot, with or without a fringe plot, based on the deformation quantity chosen. The deformation values chosen will be multiplied by a default scale factor based on your maximum model dimension, to allow the deformed shape to be seen more clearly. (Alternatively, the full Deformed and Fringe menu options of the Results Application allow you to set a specific deformation scale factor.)
Display Attributes | Provides access to Display Attribute option forms. |
Select Result Cases | Selects the desired Result Case. This fills out the Fringe Result and Deformation Result listboxes below. If this listbox is empty, no results exist in the database. Results are imported from the Analysis application. |
Select Fringe Result | Selects a result type from which to make a fringe plot, if desired. |
Select Deformation Result | Select a displacement results from which to make a deformation plot, if desired. If a fringe plot is also selected, it will appear on the deformed structure. |
Sample Deformation Plot
There are many different ways to observe and interpret the results of an analysis, both graphically and numerically. In addition, other results display options beyond the Quick Plot form allow much greater control over results data, type of display, and plot options. These options are brought up by setting the Object field of the Results application to one of the other available results display options.
To create a deformation plot:
1. Set the Action to Create and select an Object (the plot type) from the Results application form.
2. Select a Results Case from this listbox.
3. Select a result associated with the Results Case from this listbox.
4. Press the Apply button on the bottom of the form.
Using Other Results Display Options
The previous samples represent just a couple of options available for this display, and controls basic selection of results. Other attributes such as target display entities, display attributes, and plot options are available through the other option button icons on this form, discussed in the following section.
The general procedure for performing a Results postprocessing operation is as follows:
• Set the Action to Create.
• Select the Plot or Result type, using one of the options described below.
• Select the result type and result.
• Modify target entities, display attributes, plot or animation options as desired.
• Pick Apply to generate and/or post the results.
Beyond the capabilities of the Quick Plot option, Results operations available in Patran include
the following:
• Deformation. Produces a deformed shape of the model, as described above, with full control over attributes such as scaling factor, rendering style, and results used.
• Fringe. Produces a color fringe plot, as described above, with full control over many display and results attributes.
• Contour. Produces colored contour lines of selected styles (e.g. solid, dotted, dashed) for the selected scalar quantities.
• Marker. For scalar and other vector and/or tensor quantities such as stress, shear stress, and field variables, Marker plots provide capabilities for displaying these quantities as scaled symbols on the display. These quantities can be displayed at nodes or element centroids, and also within the elemental or principal coordinate system.
• Cursor. The user selects Scalar, Vector or Tensor Cursor plots. This is an interactive tool for which one, three or six result value labels are displayed at the selected entities for scalar, vector or tensor quantities, respectively.
• Graph. Most scalar results quantities can be used as independent variables for XY graph displays, plotted against variables such as time, frequency or other results values. Aside from the XY plotting capabilities in Patran’s results menus, you can also use individual curves by name in Patran's general (XY Plot) menus, integrated with other curves for displays such as predicted versus actual results, or results from multiple problems.
• Animation. This form allows the animation of a previously posted, non-animated results image, such as a fringe or deformed shape plot. Alternatively, a non-Quick Plot results display can be animated at the time it is generated, using the Animate pick and optional Animation Options form (described below) on the menu forms for most results display options.
• Report. Numerical results can be output to files for print or as input for other applications.
• Results. This form allows you to derive a new results case from the result cases already in your database, or create demonstration results that allow you to explore Patran results display operations without the need for an actual analysis. Results creation methods include maximum, minimum, sum, average, and creation via a PCL function.
• Freebody. This option creates a free body diagram of loads and reaction forces.
In general, the approach is similar for generating each of these types of results. The appropriate option is specified in the Object field of the Results application. Next, result cases and values are selected, along with display-specific options on the form (for example, line width or rendering method for a deformed shape display. Finally, the display is generated by selecting the Apply button.
A wide variety of options for control of these results displays are also available as icon buttons on these menus, and are described in more detail in the following section. Aside from the Create action choices listed above, results displays can also be modified, posted to a viewport, or deleted using other Action selections from the Results application menu.
Results Options
For each of the Results display methods described above, options exist to control many aspects of these results operations, such as display attributes, animation options, or targeting of results to specific entities. These option menus are accessed through icon buttons on each individual Results form, with buttons appropriate to that operation. Some of the options available include:
| Select Results. This default option allows you to select what form of result to display (scalar, vector, or tensor), and what component(s) will be used for lower-order display of vector or tensor data. |
| Target Entities. This option allows you to filter results based on value ranges or attributes such as material properties, element types, element properties, or entity numbers. |
| Display Attributes. Method-dependent display parameters such as line width, rendering style, and scaling factors. |
| Plot Options. A method-dependent set of options for each particular type of plot. For example, the Plot Options button for the Create/Fringe option controls items, such as coordinate transformations, result averaging and extrapolation. |
| Animation Options. Controls animation attributes, such as modal versus ramped deformed shape animation, number of frames, and frame-to-frame interpolation technique. |
Beyond these most common options, other method-specific icons exist, including fringe and deformation options for the Quick Plot form, and data save and spreadsheet options for the Report function.
In addition to these options, other aspects of your result display can be controlled from the Display options of the main menu. These include:
• Ranges. The Display/Ranges menu allows you to control the range of results mapped to your spectrum of colors.
• Spectrums. The Display/Spectrums menu allows you to specify which colors are used in results display, and multiple spectrums can be stored and managed. The default spectrum goes from "cool" colors such as blue, for low values, to "hot" colors such as red, for high values. You can change these values to better reflect specific result thresholds, or to better reflect both peak positive and negative values.
