Certain documentation conventions (such as different typefaces having meaning), special characters with specific meaning (such as slashes in Patran commands), technical definitions, and symbols used in this document are defined or described in this section.

Computer messages or responses are printed in plain character format:

SYSTEM RESPONSES ARE IN A PLAIN LETTER STYLE

Commands (or queries) that you enter are printed in bold typeface which is darker and heavier than normal or plain text:

commands entered by the user are in bold type

Some fields, or parts of a surface, may be optional. Fields contained within brackets [ ] are optional for data input. Generally, optional data fields that do not receive input will default to a predetermined value.

VFAC,TID[,NBANDS]

A generic file naming convention is used in this guide. This reduces confusion for users on the various computer platforms and operating systems supported by MSC.Software Corporation.

Generic file names contain no delimiters. A file referred to as “filenameELS” in this Guide would appear as “filename.ELS” for VAX, Apollo, Celerity, Hewlett-Packard, Data General, SGI, Prime and Cray. It would appear as “filename ELS” for the IBM VM/CMS, and as “filename_ELS” for the CDC NOS/VE.

As you are proceeding with your modeling tasks in Patran and Patran Thermal, remember that they are unit-less or dimensionless. That is to say they will accept as input any number and it is your responsibility to make sure that the units you are using are consistent. Typically, the type of units to be used is defined or locked in when you choose your material properties. These units for your material properties must be consistent with the other dimensioned quantities within the model, such as length.