Customizing the Display of Plots with Beams

You can alter the display of beams visualized in all model plots (contour, isocontour, symbol plots, and color code plots). You can display beams as lines, profiles, or profiles and lines at the same time. In addition, you can apply a scale factor to the profile.

Before you begin: Beam Section Force and Beam Section Moment must be available in the results to plot Beam Stress across a beam profile.
See Also
Displaying Contour, Isocontour, and Symbol Plots
Displaying Color Code Plots
  1. Do one of the following to display the Plot Options:
    • Click the results plot, and select the plot options tool in the context toolbar.
    • Double-click the results plot.
    • In the Results tabbed page of the Feature Manager, display the Plots list and then either double-click the plot you want to modify or highlight the plot and select Edit.
  2. Click the Rendering tab to display rendering options.
  3. Select a Beam style:
    OptionDescription
    Lines Displays the beam as a 2D linear representation.
    Profiles Displays the beam shape by type: arbitrary, circle, elbow, hexagonal, I-beam, L-beam, link, rectangle, trapezoid, thin-walled box, and thin-walled pipe.
    Profile and lines Displays the beam with both lines and the profile type.
  4. For Profile or Profile and lines beam styles, select the desired scale factor.

    For visualization enhancement, the scale factor multiplies the dimensions of the beam in the two directions perpendicular to the length of the beam.

  5. Click OK or Apply.

The plot displays the beam according to your preferences.