Contour Plots

For a video that explains the fundamentals of contour plotting, see Plot New Contours in 3DEXPERIENCE.

Note: This topic describes how you can use contour plots to display results data. If you want more information about specific output variables, refer to the following user assistance for each solver type:

Structural simulations: Abaqus Output Guide
Fluid flow simulations: CFD Output Variables
Durability simulations: About Durability Output

Each contour plot displays the value of a particular field output variable in a specified step and frame of the analysis. The contour plot displays these values as colored bands on the visible surface of your model. In the following example, a contour plot illustrates contact pressure values for a portion of an o-ring:

The key to interpreting a contour plot is the plot legend. The legend indicates the correspondence between contour values and contour colors. In this example, the regions that are red correspond to higher contact pressure values.

You can control two general aspects of a contour plot: what you are plotting (that is, your selected output variable and related options); and how you are plotting it (that is, the appearance of the contours, edges, and other visual cues in the plot).

Output Variable Selection

When you create a new contour plot, you can select one of the predefined templates to plot common quantities such as deformation, displacement, and von Mises stress. You can also create a custom contour plot that enables you to specify a series of plot behaviors that include the following:

The output variable to display. If you select a vector or tensor output variable, you can plot the specific quantity; for example, for vector field output you can plot any of the individual vector quantities.
The locations where and how the app displays values on the mesh. You can display values at the nodes, the elements, or the element faces.
Results transformation options.
For composite sections, you can specify the individual ply you want to show or display the overall values calculated across the composite section. You can also define the location within each ply for which you display results data; for example, on the top, the middle, the bottom, or both the top and bottom.

Contour Plot Appearance

You can control the following aspects of the appearance of a contour plot in several ways, including the following:

Display the deformed state of the model and adjust its level of deformation.
Display local extrema (and specify the threshold beyond which a value is considered an extreme).
Display visible edges.
The minimum and maximum values displayed in the plot.
How contour intervals are displayed. You can change the number of intervals, display them linearly or discretely, smooth or reverse the colors in the plot and the legend, and adjust the color for values outside the current plot range.