Vector results to display deformed plots can be transformed into any of the following coordinate systems: any user defined local system (CID), the projection of any CID, the Patran Global system, and the nodal (analysis) coordinate system. See Coordinate Systems, 27 for a definition of each of these coordinate systems. The default is no transformation. Resulting deformation plots should look the same no matter what coordinate system they are in as long as the resultant or all components are plotted. Where coordinate transformations play a role for deformed plots is when individual components are masked out and then transformed to another coordinate system.

An additional scale factor can be given to scale the results plot above and beyond the scale factor available in the Tool Attributes form. This scale factor has the effect of simply scaling the results up or down by the specified amount.

If complex results exist this option will be visible and specifies how and what you would like to view from results that exist as complex numbers. The options are Magnitude, Phase, Real, Imaginary, and Angle. It is not recommended to calculate invariants (e.g., von Mises) from complex results because the phase is not accounted for. Phase (this is specific to Deformation Plots, Fringe Plots, and Marker Plots) If the user selects Phase their results will be generated in degrees.

If Phase is selected, results will be generated in degrees. This is specific to Deformation Plots, Fringe Plots, and Marker Plots.

This listbox displays all existing deformation plots. You may select one of these plots from the listbox and all settings of that plot including plot attributes, target entities, option, and selected results will be restored. This is an easy mechanism to help make many plots with the settings of an existing plot without modifying the selected plot. When the Action is set to Modify, this listbox appears under the Select Results display of the Results application form also.

Deformation plots can be saved by name and recalled later for graphical display. Multiple deformed plots can be saved in the database and displayed simultaneously. Be aware that when multiple deformed plots are display simultaneously there could be some display problems. These deformation plots can be posted/unposted and deleted as explained in Post/Unpost, 29 and Delete, 32 respectively. Once a plot has been created and named it retains all results, attributes, target entities, and options assigned to it. If no plot name is specified a default is created called default_Deformation. As long as no plot name is specified, the default_Deformation will be overwritten each time a plot is created or modified.