Displaying Ply Stack Plots

You can use ply stack plots to analyze the layers of a composites model across all regions.

See Also
About Ply Stack Plots
Customizing Ply Stack Plots
Exporting Matrix Data from Ply Stack Plots to a File
  1. From the Plots section of the action bar, click Ply Stack Plot .
    The Ply Stack Plot Viewer opens with Select element activated.
  2. Click a region of interest in your model.
    The viewer updates and displays a graphical representation of the thickness and orientation of plies in your model at the selected location.

    Standard mouse interactions such as pan, rotate, and zoom, work inside the viewer as they do in the work area. As the model orientation changes in the Ply Stack Plot Viewer, the X-, Y-, and Z-axes adjust accordingly. You can use Fit all in to return to a full view of the model.

  3. Click a different region in the model to refresh the Ply Stack Plot Viewer with a new ply stack plot.
    When the viewer refreshes, the graphical representation at the new location updates as follows:
    • The bottom stair of the ply stack plot matches the shape of the selected shell element.
    • The ply stack plot adjusts to match the new global orientation.
  4. Select Fixed style plot to fix the shape and orientation of the ply stack plot regardless of location.
    When the viewer refreshes, the graphical representation at the new location updates as follows:
    • The bottom stair of the ply stack plot is always square regardless of the shape of the selected shell element.
    • The ply stack plot is always aligned in the same local orientation.
  5. To highlight regions of interest in the model in the work area, you can do the following in the viewer:
    1. Click Select element to deactivate the pick tool.
    2. Select a Highlight option, and click the region of interest in the model in the Ply Stack Plot Viewer:
    OptionDescription
    Ply fibers Highlights and displays the orientation of ply fibers for the ply selected.
    Element Highlights and displays the element selected.
    Section Highlights and displays the section selected.
    The model in the work area updates and displays the highlighted ply fibers, element, or section corresponding to the region you select the viewer.
  6. Expand the Matrices section, and select a matrix type:
    OptionDescription
    Stiffness matrix Displays the stiffness matrix data. The ABD stiffness matrix shows the relationship between the laminate force/moment vector and the laminate strain/curvature vector.
    Compliance matrix Displays the compliance matrix data. The ABD compliance matrix is the inverse of the ABD stiffness matrix.
    The specified matrix appears. The ply stack plot also displays the values for element IDs, Young's modulus, the shear modulus, and Poisson's ratio.