Customizing the Display of Plots with Composite Sections

The selections in the Ply, Section Points, and Shells options control the visibility and style of ply stacks for models that include composite sections. These options appear only when your results include composite sections.

Before you begin: You must have a contour plot or isocontour plot displayed before you can modify plot options.
See Also
Displaying Contour, Isocontour, and Symbol 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 Definition tab to display the Ply options:
    OptionDescription
    Overall Display the top and bottom sections (the outer plies).
    Ply-N Display results from a single ply.
    Note: If plies were created from an Abaqus model they are displayed here regardless of whether they were named or not when they were first defined. If a ply was not named, it is displayed here as Layer n of #n.
    Min/Max/Max abs envelope Display a contour or symbol plot of the selected variable at the ply where the minimum, maximum, or absolute maximum value occurs.
    Min/Max/Max abs envelope ply ID 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.

  3. For models with shell geometry, specify the section points (integration points across the shell thickness) you want to display from the Active locations:
    OptionDescription
    Top Selects the topmost section point in the selected ply option.
    BottomSelects the bottommost section point in the selected ply option.
    MiddleSelects the middle section point in the selected ply option. The middle section point is the middle of the defined locations in the section.
    Top and bottom Selects both the topmost and bottommost section points in the selected ply option.

    Note: If your model has continuum shell elements with results for only a top layer or only a bottom layer, selecting the Top and bottom option has no effect on the display; the single layer that is available is still displayed. If the continuum shell element has results for both the top layer and the bottom layer, only the bottom layer is displayed when Top and bottom is selected.

  4. For models with shell geometry, click the Rendering tab to display the Shells options. See Customizing the Visibility and Style of a Plot.
  5. Click Close to exit the editor.

The plot changes according to your specifications.