XY Plot

Use XY Plots to create graphs of Autodesk Simulation CFD analysis results. Available with Results Planes, they provide a convenient way to extract and present analysis results data.

To Create an XY Plot

Create an XY plot by selecting points on a cutting surface, by entering point coordinates, or with points saved from a previous plot. The maximum number of points in an xy plot is 500.

Step 1: Create a Results Plane and open the XY Plot dialog

Step 2: Select the method of point selection:

• Add by Picking
  • Click Add points.
  • Click on locations on the cutting plane through which the plot will pass. The Point List Region displays points.
  • A minimum of two points is required.

• Add by Key In
  • Specify X, Y, and Z coordinates separated by a comma in the field. (Do not use brackets or parentheses.)
  • Click Add.

• Read from File
  • To save XY plot point locations to a file, click Save Points.
  • To create a new XY plot using saved point locations, select Read from File. Click Browse, and select the desired xyp file.

Note: You can use saved point locations to create a plot on a different scenario.

Step 3: Enter a Title

• Specify a Title for the plot. This is optional. If no title is entered, the plot is labeled "Untitled."

Step 4: Change the Number of Divisions

• The default number of divisions between every point is 20.
• Modify this value to change the plot resolution.

Note: The number of divisions must between 2 and 500.

Step 5: Create the Plot

• To create the plot, click Plot.

The XY Plot Dialog

The resulting plot appears in a separate window. There are several ways to customize the appearance of the plot.

To change the plotted result

• Select the plotted result quantity from the menu in the top, right corner.

This is the quantity plotted on the Y axis. The X axis quantity is the parametric distance along the path between selected points.

To change the Y-axis units:

1. Right click anywhere on the XY plot.
2. Select Units.
3. Select the desired units.

The Y-axis label updates to show the new label, and the Y-axis values are converted to the selected units.

To change the axis labels:

1. Right click anywhere on the XY plot.
2. Select either Change X-Axis Label or Change Y-Axis Label.
3. Enter the new label.

Press the Set Default button to reset the axis label to its original value.

To hide the minimum and maximum axis values, uncheck Display min/max Values

To change the background color:

1. Right click on the XY plot
2. Select Background Color
3. Select the color on the Color Selection dialog

To Compare XY Plots from Multiple Scenarios

The preceding steps describe how to plot results data from a single Scenario. This is useful for understanding the performance and characteristics of that scenario. To make educated design decisions, however, it is essential to compare the same data from multiple scenarios within the design study.

To make a plot available for the comparison, check the Summary box on the Plot dialog.

This designates the plot as a Summary plot, and adds the plot to the XY Plot Data branch of the Decision Center.

Summary plots are XY plots between the same plot locations from multiple Scenarios.

For more about Summary XY Plots