Set up a contour plot

The following is a general procedure for setting up a contour plot using the Edit Post View command. You can also use the commands in the Post View and Display groups of the Results tab to set individual display options for contour plots.

Contour plots are available when you set the color display to contour plot.

Click Apply at any time during the following procedure to view your current settings.

1. In the Post Processing Navigator, right-click the post view node and choose Edit Post View.

2. On the Display tab, select the Color Display check box, and from the list, select either Contour, Element, Iso-line, or Iso-surface.

3. (Optional) If you set Color Display to Contour, select one of the following:To display a continuous range of colors that indicate the value of the plotted results, select Smooth. To display bands of color that correspond to the levels in the color bar, select Banded. To add contour lines that delineate the bands, select the Draw Lines check box. Banded contour plot****Banded contour plot with contour lines

4. (Optional) To turn off ambient lighting and display the contours without the effects of shadows, clear the Lighted check box.

5. (Optional) To set the display of beam elements, from the Beam Display Style list, select one of the following: To display the beam results as a line along the length of the beam, select Line.To display results as a diagram plot along the length of the beam, select Line and Diagram.(For Simcenter 3D Nastran results (.op2 or. des) files linked to a solution in pre-processing) To display the beam results as 3D solids, extruding the section geometry along the length of the element, select Solid. Note: Displaying beam elements as solids is not supported for imported results. For more information about the display options for beam results, see Beam post-processing.

6. (Optional) For Contour and Element plots, select the Compress check box to compress the display and reduce the memory that the post view consumes. When compressed, the shading is smoothed at edges that have curvature changes. For information about the impact of compression, see the Display dialog box and Animation memory management and performance options.

7. To control the display and appearance of element edges, set Edges to the appropriate option and click Color to set the color of the edges.For complete instructions, see Set the display of edges in post views.

8. (Optional) To set the display size of spring or mass elements, in the Mass or Spring Display Size group, in the Scale box, type the scale and set it as a percentage of the model or as a specified length in part length units.The software applies the display changes to all spring or mass elements in the model. For spring elements, the display size controls the following:For non-coincident node spring elements, the spring display size controls the length of the tooth of the spring (1). For coincident node spring elements, the spring display size also controls the length of the tooth of the spring (1) and the length of the spring (2) is proportional to the length of the tooth. For mass elements, the mass display size controls the length of the edge of the cube.

9. (Optional) Complete the post view definition as desired:On the Deformation tab, specify deformation options as needed. For complete instructions, see Control the display of deformation.On the Legend tab, specify the results range, color spectrum, and color bar scale.For complete instructions, see Edit post view legends.

10. Click OK.

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Set up a contour plot, Simcenter 3D 2021.1 Series

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