There are many components that are involved in creating a presentation from an analysis.
The Results environment has tools that will assist in creating images and animations that can then be assembled into a report. In the tree view, there is a heading called "Presentations".
The saved presentation of "Stress" is loaded by default upon entering the Results environment. Any of the presentations under the "Saved Presentations" heading can be applied to the model by right-clicking on the heading for that presentation and selecting the
"Activate" command. Once a presentation is activated, it will appear under the
"Presentations" heading. All factors that contribute to the appearance of the model in the display area are saved in the presentation.
Each loaded presentation is a separate window. To display the presentation, click on the appropriate heading in the tree view. All windows, including presentations, can be viewed together using the "Arrange" button in the "Windows" panel within the "View" tab, for example in a tiled or cascade formation. To delete a presentation from the list, close the window using the "X" button. To save the current window to a presentation, right-click on the heading in the tree view and select either the "Save with Model" or "Save with System"
command. If the "Save with Model" command is selected, the presentation will be available whenever the current model is opened. If the "Save with System" command is selected, the presentation will be available for all models.
Contour Plots
Annotations
Annotations can be used to add text to the display area to provide descriptive comments about the results that are being presented. There are three annotations that are automatically created from the analysis. These are placed in the lower left-hand corner of the display area. These are listed under the "Annotations" heading for each presentation in the tree view. A new annotation can be created by right-clicking on the "Annotations" heading for the desired presentation and selecting the "Add…" command. The "Annotation" dialog shown in Figure 3.4 will appear. Text can be typed into the "Annotation text" field. A standard Windows font selection dialog can be accessed by pressing the "Font" button. After you press the "OK" button, you will be able to place the annotation anywhere in the display area by left-clicking. The part of the annotation specified by the radio buttons in the "Preview and text justification" section will be placed where you click. An existing annotation can be moved to a new location by right-clicking on the heading for that annotation in the tree view and selecting the "Move" command.
Figure 3.4: Annotation Dialog Probes
The ability to probe on the results at the nodes in a model using the "Results Inquire:
Inquire: Current Results" button was described previously in this chapter. Probes can also be used for presentation purposes, which can be accessed by clicking on the "Probe" button in the "Probes" panel within the "Results Inquire" tab. When a probe appears over a node, you can right-click in the display area and select the "Add Probe" command. A probe displaying the result value and pointing to the node will remain on the node. If you want to remove a probe, right-click in the display area, and select "Delete All Probes" command.
Any probes that are added in this manner will be included in any images or animations generated.
Probes can be automatically added to the nodes with the minimum and maximum result values for the currently displayed result using the "Maximum" and "Minimum" button within the "Probes" panel. These probes will be included in any images or animations generated.
Slice Planes
A slice plane can be added to a model to look at the results on the interior mesh. A slice plane can be added to a model by selecting the options button below "Slice Planes" in the "View Setting"
panel in the "Results Options" tab. Then select the "Add Slice Plane" option, the three global planes and the isometric option will be available. Once a plane is selected, the orientation of the plane can be modified using the commands in the "Slice Planes" pull-out menu. The "Rotate About I", "Rotate About J" and "Rotate About Origin" commands will allow you to change the angle at which the plane is oriented. The I axis is the red axis on the slice plane.
The J axis is the green axis on the slice plane. The origin is located where the I and J axes meet on the slice plane. The location of the slice plane along the normal axis can be controlled using the "Translate Normal" command. The "Flip" command will hide the elements on the opposite side of the slice plane. Once the slice plane is defined to your specifications, you can right-click on the heading for the particular slice plane and select the
"Hide" command. This will cause the translucent plane to disappear from the view. The
slice plane will still be in effect. To deactivate the effect of the slice plane, right-click on the heading for the particular slice plane and select the "Deactivate" command.
Customizing the Legend Box
The legend box is an important component to the presentation. Many aspects of the legend box can be customized by selecting the options button to the left of the "Legend Properties"
button and selecting "Setup" in the "Settings" panel within the "Results Contours" tab.
The dialog shown in Figure 3.5 will appear.
Figure 3.5: Plot Settings Dialog
Contour Colors tab: The "Presets" drop-down box provides several color sets that can be used for the contour colors on the models. You can also select individual colors by activating the "Custom" checkbox and use the options available in the "Color Settings" section.
Legend Properties tab: The "Position" section will allow you to select where in the Display area the legend box will be placed. The "Appearance" section will allow you to customize the font styles, the number of tick marks and the number of significant digits to use for the legend box.
Range Settings tab: By default, the highest and lowest result values will be used as the maximum and minimum values for the legend box. The intermediate values will be evenly spaced between these. By deactivating the "Automatically calculate value range"
checkbox in the "Current Range" section, you can enter specific values for the maximum and minimum values in the legend box. The "Threshold" section can be used to highlight only areas of the model above or below a specific value.
Vector Plots tab: The options in this tab are used to control the size of the arrows used when a result is displayed as a vector plot. This will show the direction of the results at each node.
Probe Settings tab: This tab will allow you to control the font of the text in probes and to control how the probe appears with respect to the rest of the model.
Customizing the Model in the Display area
The display of the model is also an important component to the presentation. By default, the model is displayed with the mesh. Sometimes, displaying the model without the mesh will result in an image that is more easily interpreted. The display of the model can be controlled by selecting the options pull-down menu below "Visual Style" button in the "Appearance"
panel within the "View" tab. The "Shaded with Features" command will shade the entire model but will only display the feature lines. This will result in an outline of the model with the result contour shading. The "Shaded" command will only shade the model; no lines will be displayed.
Another important feature is the orientation of the model. You can orient the model in any manner using the various buttons in the "View" tab and the "Navigate bar". Once you have an acceptable view, you can save this view to be easily accessed in the future. This can be done by selecting the Navigate Panel options and then selecting the "User-Defined Views"
command. The dialog shown in Figure 3.6 will appear.
Figure 3.6: User-Defined Views Dialog
To save the current view you must give it a new name. First, click on the "<Current View>"
item in the "Description" field. The "Rename" button will become available. Press the
"Rename" button. Type in a descriptive name, press the <Enter> key, and press the "OK"
button to exit the dialog. The saved views will be available for this model within either the FEA Editor or the Results environments.
To restore a previously defined view, select the desired view name and click on the "Apply View" button.
If you want to update a previously defined view to match the current viewpoint, select the view name in the "Description" field that is to be redefined and then press the "Save View"
button. The current view will overwrite the definition of the selected view name.
Image File Creation
In the Results environment, images of the results from the analysis can be saved in standard image formats. Once the display area is set to the desired settings, you can select the
"Application menu" and then select "Export" pull-out menu and then the "Image command. Alternatively you can select the "Save Image" button in the "Captures" panel.
The mouse cursor will have the image of a camera. You can use the mouse to select a rectangle enclosing the part of the display area that you want to be saved to the image file. If you want to save the entire display area, press the <Enter> key. The dialog shown in Figure 3.7 will appear.
Figure 3.7: Save Image as Dialog
Enter a name for the image file in the "File name:" field. Select the picture format that you want the image saved as in the "Save as type:" drop-down box. Select the size of the image in the "Image attributes" section. When the settings are acceptable, press the "Save"
button
Animating FEA Results
An animation of the displaced shape of a static stress analysis can be created and viewed in the Results environment using the "Start" button in the "Captures" panel. The parameters can be set up using "Setup" command from the "Animate" button options in the
"Captures" panel. The dialog shown in Figure 3.8 will appear, was "Setup" command is selected.
Figure 3.8: Animation Settings Dialog
In the "Frame Rate Control" section, you can press the appropriate button to have the animation created to your specifications. If you press the button next to "Creates an Animation that runs from no displacement to current displacement", an animation will be created starting from the undisplaced shape and will progress in even steps to the current displacement shown in the display area. If you press the button next to "Creates a looping animation that runs from no displacement to current displacement and back to none again", an animation will be created starting from the undisplaced shape and will progress in even steps to the current displacement shown in the display area and then will return to the undisplaced shape, again in even steps. If you press the button next to "Creates a sinusoidal animation that cycles between positive and negatively scaled current displacements", an animation will be created starting from the undisplaced shape and will progress in even steps to the current displacement shown in the display area. The animation will then proceed to the same scaled displacement but in the opposite direction of that in the display area.
Specify the number of frames that you want to be used in the animation in the "Number Of Frames To Generate" field. The deflections will be divided evenly into this many divisions.
If you have a results contour on the model, you can have the values change during the animation by activating the "Animate Results" checkbox. If this checkbox is activated, the results will be evenly scaled throughout the animation.
Once the settings are acceptable, press the "OK" button. Use the "Animation: Start Animation" command to generate the animation. The animation will play in the display area. You can use any dynamic viewing commands as the animation is playing.
You can save the animation as a video using the "Save as AVI" command from the
"Animate" button options in the "Captures" panel.
Using the Configure Report Utility
Select the "Report" button from the "Environments" panel within the "Tools" tab. to move into the Report environment. The Report environment will allow you to easily create HTML reports that include all of the input parameters and analysis results as well as user-defined content. A "Master Report" and a report for each individual FEA design scenario will be created. Any images or animations that were created may be included in the reports. In addition, an image from each currently loaded results presentation will automatically be captured and added to the design scenario reports. These automatic presentation images may be deactivated if desired.
Right-click on either the "Master Report" heading or the "HTML Report" heading in the tree view and select the "Configure Report" command. The "Configure Report" dialog will appear. You may also access the utility by pressing the "Configure" button in the "Setup"
panel within the "Report" tab.
The tree on the left side of the dialog lists all of the predefined sections of the report.
Selecting a given heading (by clicking on the heading itself and not the associated checkbox), accesses the editing screen for that topic. If there are no editable items associated with the topic, a message in the right frame will indicate that the item "…can be re-ordered but not edited." To re-order the report, simply click and drag one of the headings to a different vertical position within the tree list. If an item is not checked, no message or editing screen will appear when the heading is selected and the topic will be excluded from the HTML report. The inclusion/exclusion state of each item may be toggled by simply clicking on the appropriate checkboxes.
Some of the editing screens contain self-explanatory fields for entering data, such as the author's name and department. Other screens, like the one used for entering the "Project Name" or the "Executive Summary," have a built in word processor that supports a number or fonts, styles, tabs, numbered or bullet lists, text frames, imbedded images, and tables.
Placeholder text or labels within these dialogs can be selected and overwritten with the author's desired text.
Page breaks can be added ahead of any section by right-clicking on a heading and choosing the "Add Page Break" command. Also within the right-click, context menu (and the TREE pull-down menu) are commands to add sections to the report for including user-defined images, animations, *.HFS or *.WRL files (virtual reality images that can be rotated, panned, and zoomed), and/or additional text sections. You may also rename or delete report sections.
Changes to the report may be saved selecting "Report" tab and choosing the "Save as Report Template" command. This menu is only visible when an editable section of the report is currently selected. When finished, choose the Generate Report command from the same menu or press the "Generate Report" button.
The HTML report will automatically appear within the Report environment. In the directory on the computer where the FEA model is located there will be a filename.ds_data folder.
Within this folder there will be numbered subfolders, one for each design scenario that exists within the subject model. There will also be a "Master Report" subfolder that contains all of the HTML master report files and attachments. Within each numbered design scenario folder there will be a "ds_rpt" subfolder. This folder contains all of the files and attachments for the subject design scenario's HTML report. These "ds_rpt" folders can be zipped up and sent to other persons for review. The recipient need not have the simulation software installed on their computer to view the report. It will be displayed via the default web browser.