The following table indicates all the possible results quantities that can be loaded into the Patran database during results translation from MD Nastran. The Primary and Secondary Labels are items selected from the postprocessing menus. The Type indicates whether the results are Scalar, Vector, or Tensor, and determines which postprocessing techniques are available to view the results quantity. Data Block indicates which MD Nastran OUTPUT2 data block the data comes from. The Description gives a brief discussion about the results quantity, such as if it is only for certain element types, and what Output Request selection will generate this data block. For design optimization, all of the listed results can be loaded as a function of design cycle.

 

In addition to standard results quantities, a number of Global Variables can be created. This table outlines Global Variables that may be created. Global Variables are results quantities where one value is representative of the entire model.

In some cases, the elemental stresses and strains are transformed from one coordinate frame to another when imported into the Patran database. The following describes the coordinate systems for these element results after they are imported into the Patran database. The coordinate system names referred to are described in the Patran or the MD Nastran documentation.

The projected system is defined as follows. First, the normal to the shell surface is calculated. This varies for curved elements and is constant for flat elements. If the angle between the normal and the global x-axis is greater than .01 radians, the global x-axis is projected onto the shell surface as the local x-axis. If the angle is less than .01 radians, either the global y-axis or the z-axis (whichever makes the largest angle with the normal) is defined to be the local x-axis. The local y-axis is perpendicular to the plane defined by the normal and the local x-axis.

For results from MD Nastran design optimization solution 200 runs, three XY Plots are generated, but not posted, when the Read OUTPUT2 option is selected:

These plots can be viewed under the XY Plot option in (p. 1) in the Patran User’s Guide. When they are initially posted, you will have to expand their windows to view them properly.

The following table outlines all the data that will be created in the Patran database when reading model data from an MD Nastran OUTPUT2 file and the location in the OUTPUT2 file from where it is derived. This is the only data extracted from the OUTPUT2 file. This data should be sufficient for evaluating results values.