Fiber orientation tensor on elements result

The Fiber orientation tensor result shows the orientation tensor (degree of orientation) at the end of the injection molding process.

Mesh type:
Analysis sequences that include:

Using this result

A Fiber orientation analysis creates both nodal and elemental fiber orientation tensor results. This tensor is symmetric, thus it is expressed with six components at each node and on each tetrahedral element in a 3D mesh model. The Fiber orientation tensor on elements result shows elemental tensor values. For each element, this is the average of the nodal values shown in the Fiber orientation tensor plot.

The Fiber orientation tensor on elements result is the final result on each element at the end of the analysis, and is used for subsequent warp calculations. It shows the probability of fiber alignment in the specified principal direction. A high probability of fiber alignment in the specified principal direction will be indicated by a value of close to 1 on the result scale, whereas a low probability is indicated by a value close to 0. The fiber orientation tensor in the first principal direction is the most useful result to view.

Note: The first principal direction is close to the material flow direction in most cases, but it may not always coincide with the flow direction.

The diagonal components of a fiber orientation tensor represent the strength of alignment in the respective directions. The values of diagonal components range between 0 and 1, and the sum of all three diagonal components is 1. The off-diagonal components represent the amount that alignments vary from the coordinate axes, and they are zero when coordinate axes coincide with the principal directions of the orientation tensor.

The principal directions are numbered in the order of the respective principal values, from the largest to the smallest. The first principal direction represents the direction along which the most fibers are aligned, and the third principal direction represents the one along which the fewest fiber are aligned. The larger the principal value in a given direction, the stronger the alignment.

Tip: To more easily interpret fiber orientation results, check principal values or tensor components as well as principal directions. Right-click the result name in the Study Tasks pane and select Properties:
  • Select the Methods tab to change the result display method. The default Shaded, and the Contour display methods plot value results, only. The Tensor as axes display method and other tensor display method options plot both value and principal direction results.
  • Select the Tensor tab to change the tensor principal value (direction) and tensor component displayed on the model.
Attention: Using nodal data improves the display of the fiber orientation profile through the thickness of the part. To see this, look at the Fiber orientation tensor result, using the plot type Probe XY plot.

Things to look for

Parent topic: Fiber Orientation analysis results