Displaying Contour, Isocontour, and Symbol Plots

You can display the results of a simulation on your model using contour plots and isocontour plots.

You can choose from a set of predefined plot templates, or you can specify the output variable and options to create a custom plot.

Before you begin: Complete a simulation and display its results before you create contour plots, isocontour plots, or symbol plots.
See Also
The Postprocessing Context Toolbar
Modifying Legend Display Options
About Animation
  1. From the Plots dialog box, do the following:
    1. From the Case options, select an analysis case.
    2. From the Step options, select a step.
    3. From the Load case options, select a load case.
    4. From the Plot options, select a plot type.
      The app changes the plot to reflect your selections.
  2. If your simulation includes results from multiple analysis cases, such as the thermal and stress analysis cases in a sequential thermal-stress simulation, specify the analysis case for which you want to plot results.
  3. From the Plots section of the action bar, click a plot type:
    • Contour Plot , which creates a plot of colored contours for a selected variable.
    • Isocontour Plot , which creates a plot of isocontour outlines for a selected output variable.
    • Symbol Plot , which creates a plot of points, vectors, or tensors for a selected output variable at each node or at the element centroids.
    The appropriate plot editor appears. The plot editor contains tabs for Definition, Options, and Rendering. These tabs contain options that enable you to change the scaling of the deformation of your model, control model translucency, and change the display of model edges. You can also change the output variable, change the ply for composites visualization, and adjust quantity.
  4. Optional: Enter a descriptive Name.
  5. In the Definition tab , specify the required plot content as follows:

    Template

    Populates the dialog box with a specific set of options pertaining to the chosen template. Customizations that you make reset the Template to <none>.
    Derived results

    Uses combined load case data or envelope data.
    Variable

    Selects the output variable you want to plot.
    Ply

    Specifies which ply to show. The default is Overall. When set to Overall, the values are calculated across the section, as a whole. The app lists only plies with results for the given variable.

    The Ply option is available only when there are composite sections in the model.
    Location

    Defines the location across the entire section, at an individual ply, or at a given ratio. The possible values are Top, Bottom, Middle and Top and Bottom (for contour plots only), and Section ratio (for shells only).

    When Ply is set to Overall, or when there are no plies, the Location determines which values are taken to represent the entire section. For example, Middle, takes values from the middle of the section, regardless of the number of plies.

    The Location option is available only when there are shells or beams in the model.

    When a single Ply is selected, the Location determines which values are taken to represent the individual ply. For example, if Ply 2 is selected and Bottom is selected for Location, the values from the bottom of the second ply are used to represent the ply.

    When Section Ratio is selected, the Location displays the Ratio slider.
    Ratio

    Determines a value within the range of section points for the whole model or for a specified ply.

    The ratio, numerically expressed from 0 to 1, represents section points 1 through n, where section point 1 corresponds to a ratio of 0 and section point n corresponds to the ratio value of 1.

    Move the slider to specify the section point for which to show results with respect to the total number of section points in a given ply or in the entire model across all plies. For example, if the Ply is set to Overall and the location is set to Ratio, you can select section point 5 of 15. This shows the results for the 5th section point when counting across all layers of the shell. In the same model, if the Ply is set to Layer 2/3 and the location is set to Ratio, you can select section point 3 of 5. This shows the results for the third section point in layer 2.

    Tip: You can also select specific values using the section ratio box.

    The Ratio option is available only when there are shells in the model and you select Section Ratio for the Location.
    Values at

    Determines where and how values display on the mesh:

    • Nodes: Values at the node of each element are averaged across elements, resulting in smooth color gradations.
    • Elements: A single value is calculated for each element. Values are not averaged across elements, resulting in a quilt type display.
    • Element face: A single value is calculated for each element face. Values are not averaged across element edges, resulting in a quilt type display.
    Symbol Shape at

    Plots Symbols for the selected quantity at each node, centroid, or element face.

    When the output variable for your symbol plot is a tensor (for example, Stress or Strain), the symbol shapes are rendered as follows:

    • Points: Plots the selected variable as a colored point.
    • Vectors: Plots the selected variable as a bidirectional arrow.
    • Tensors: Plots the selected variable as two or three bidirectional arrows (depending on the geometry; for example, solids versus shells).

    When the output variable for your symbol plot is a vector (for example, Displacement), the symbol shapes render as follows:

    • Points: Plots the selected variable as a colored point.
    • Vectors: Plots the selected variable as unidirectional arrows.

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

    Determines if result value averaging can occur and, if so, where the averaging occurs. You can choose to Use section boundaries or use No boundaries for the display of point symbols and elements.
    Quantity

    Selects 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.

    The Quantity option is available only for vector or tensor fields (not for scalar display) and only for display of contours or point symbols.
    Compute quantity before averaging

    Computes the contours or symbols in the plot before averaging is applied.

    This option is available only when the Averaging and Quantity options are visible. It is hidden if Phase angle or any of the Envelope options are chosen from the Complex options.
    Combine base state for perturbation Combines results from a previous base state step with results from a linear perturbation step.
    Show failed elements Displays failed elements in the plot. (In plots of the STATUS variable, failed elements are hidden by default.)
    Transform Type

    Selects the required transformation type:

    • None: No transformation occurs.
    • Nodal: A local coordinate system must be defined at the nodes. The transformed results for a node are given in 1-, 2-, and 3-directions that correspond to X-, Y-, and Z- (rectangular); R-, θ-, and Z- (cylindrical); or R-, θ-, and φ- (spherical) directions, respectively, of the local coordinate system defined for the node.
    • Result axis system: A local axis system must be defined for material or element property definition for kinematic coupling constraints, for free directions for inertia relief loads, or for connectors. The global plot results are transformed into the specified local system defined by the Coordinate System option.
    • Model axis system: A local axis system was created in the product structure. From the tree, select the model axis system.

    The Transform Type option is available only when vector or tensor components are chosen in the Quantity list.
    Coordinate System

    Selects a coordinate system to transform the selected vector or tensor.

    This option is available only when vector or tensor components are selected and the Transform Type is set to User-defined.
    Include effects of deformation (when available)

    Includes the effects of deformation when transformation occurs.

    Select this option for position-dependent transformations, as is the case for cylindrical or spherical coordinate systems. For shell tensors, the coordinate system is always projected on the shell plane and is, thus, position-dependent for all three coordinate system types.
    Normalize displacements for frequency

    The plot legend updates to display the normalized range and the legend title indicates that the values are normalized.

    The Normalize displacements for frequency option is available only for field variables U, UT, UR, and POR in frequency extraction steps. Normalization scales the output to produce a maximum range from -1 to 1, preventing overly large numerical output.

    Display group Selects the display group used when creating or editing the plot.

    Note: The Definition tab contains additional options for models containing composites, multiple species, envelope, or complex data.

  6. In the Options tab ( , , or ), specify the deformation, scale factor, entity labels, SPH display, symbols, and threshold:
    1. Select Show deformation to display the deformed phase of the model.
    2. If you selected Show deformation, specify the Scale factor and display for entity levels.

      For more information, see Changing the Deformation and Entity Labels of Plots.

    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 whole. For more information, see Changing Thresholds for Displaying Extrema.

    4. For contour and isocontour plots of SPH models, select 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.

      For more information, see Changing Symbol Display for a Plot.

  7. In the Rendering tab, specify the visible edges and edge angle.

    For more information, see Customizing the Visibility and Style of a Plot.

  8. If your model includes shells, specify the data source and scale factor.

    For more information, see Customizing the Visibility and Style of a Plot.

  9. If your model includes shells, specify the rendering style and transparency.

    For more information, see Control Rendering Options from Rendering Settings.

  10. If your model includes beams, specify the beam style and scale factor.

    For more information, see Customizing the Display of Plots with Beams.

  11. Click Apply to activate your changes, or click OK to activate your changes and to close the plot dialog box.