Displaying Contour and Symbol Plots

You can visualize model data like thickness, offset, and fiber direction on your model using contour plots and symbol plots.

Before you begin: The model must be up to date.
See Also
About Model Plots
  1. From the Plots section of the action bar, click a plot type:
    • Create Contour Plot to create a plot of colored contours for a selected variable.
    • Create Symbol Plot to create a plot of points, vectors, or tensors for a selected output variable at each node or at the centroids.
    The appropriate plot editor appears. The plot editor contains three tabs: Definition, Options, and Rendering. These tabs contain options that enable you to change the deformation of your model, control model translucency, and change the display of model edges.
  2. Optional: Enter a Name for the plot.
  3. In the Definition tab , specify the plot content as follows:

    Template This option populates the dialog box with a specific set of variables pertaining to the chosen template. Any customizations that you make reset the Template to <none>.
    Variable The output variable you want to plot.
    Render values at This option is displayed for contour plots only and is used to determine where and how values are displayed on the mesh:
    • Nodes: Values are determined at the node of each element and averaged across elements, resulting in smooth color gradations.
    • Elements: A single value is determined for each element. Values are not averaged across elements, resulting in a quilt type display.
    • Element face: A single value is determined for each element face. Values are not averaged across element edges, resulting in a quilt type display.
      Note: Quilt-type displays are equivalent to fringe plots in CATIA Analysis.
    Ply This option is available for plots of composite sections only. Select the ply for which you want to plot results:
    • Select Overall to plot the top and bottom sections (the outer plies).
    • Select an individual ply.
    • Select Min/Max/Max abs envelope to display a contour or symbol plot of the selected variable at the ply where the minimum, maximum, or absolute maximum value occurs.
    • Select Min/Max/Max abs envelope ply ID to display a symbol plot at the element centroid of the ply where the minimum, maximum, or absolute maximum value occurs. You can probe the symbol to display the name of the ply.
    Note: Envelope and envelope ply ID plots are available only for scalar field variables, such as Tsai-Hill criterion and equivalent plastic strain. They are not available for tensor and vector variables, such as stress and strain. The three envelope ply ID settings are available only for display of elements.
    Section points This option is available for plots of composite sections only. Select Top or Bottom to determine which section point of the chosen ply is used to compute the envelope data.
    Symbol Shape This option lets you plot Symbols for the selected quantity. For symbol plots the following additional controls are available:
    • Points or Vectors/Tensors: Plot the selected variable as a colored point or as a vector or tensor.
    • Nodes, Centroids, or Element faces: Plot the selected variable at each node, centroid, or element face.

    For symbol plots of tensors, you can select Principal directions to display arrows that represent all principal components.

    Averaging This option is available only for contour plots or point symbols and only for display of elements. It determines if result value averaging occurs and, if so, where the averaging occurs. You can choose to Use section boundaries or use No boundaries.
    Quantity This option is available only for vector or tensor fields, but not for scalar display, and only for display of contours or point symbols. It is the specific quantity you want to plot, which can include the overall magnitude of the variable or one of its invariants or components. For vector fields, the individual vector components are plotted along the global coordinate system.

  4. In the Options tab ( or ), specify the scale factor, entity labels, SPH display, symbols, threshold, and section points:
    1. Click Show node labels to display node labels on the model.
    2. Click Show element labels to display element labels on the model.
    3. Select a threshold Type and Value to view local extrema. Local minima and maxima are computed from a smaller range of data than is present in the model as a whole. See Changing Thresholds for Displaying Extrema.
    4. For contour plots of SPH models, activate SPH display to show SPH particles only, SPH surfaces only, or both SPH particles and surfaces. SPH surfaces are constructed around the SPH particles to aid in visualization of the volume occupied by the elements.
    5. For symbol plots, specify the symbol visibility (exterior only or exterior and interior), symbol density, and symbol node type and size.
  5. In the Rendering tab , specify the transparency, visible edges, and edge angle.
    1. For symbol plots, click Hide model to show symbols only.
    2. For symbol plots, from Model render style, select either Shaded or Wireframe.
    3. For contour plots, click Apply transparency to make the model translucent.
    4. For contour plots, select a Visible edges option:
      • Outline: Creates a single solid outline around the model, and enables you to specify an Edge angle.
      • Mesh: Displays the mesh element edges in the model.
      • None: Edges of the model are defined only by the contrast between the color of the model and the background colors and textures.
  6. If your model includes shells, in the Rendering tab specify the rendering style, data source, and scale factor.
    1. Specify the shell rendering style:
      • None: The shell is rendered with no thickness.
      • Offset: The shell is rendered with no thickness at the mid-plane of the thick shell. The displacement of the shell from the reference surface is determined by the Thickness Scale Factor and thickness (Offset) data specified in the analysis element property definitions.
      • Thick: The shell is rendered with thickness at the actual location. The thickness is determined by the value selected for the Thickness Scale Factor and thickness data specified in the analysis element property definitions.

      Offset and thickness are derived from the model definition for the shell elements. The thickness represents the actual material thickness of the shell or membrane elements. The offset represents how the actual material is positioned in the shell normal direction relative to the modeled element.

    2. Specify the Thickness Data Source for the rendering thickness, either Section or Field.
    3. Specify the Thickness Scale Factor, expressed as a multiplier, to enhance visibility.

      The Thickness Scale Factor allows you to scale up (exaggerate, factor > 1.0) or scale down (diminish, factor < 1.0) the displayed thickness of shell elements. For Offset shell styles, the Thickness Scale Factor multiplies the offset value.

  7. Click Apply to activate your changes, or click OK to activate your changes and to close the plot dialog box.
    The plot of your model is updated according to the selected results and is available for additional analysis using the postprocessing toolbar.