Section 12: Results Visualization (Post-Processing)

Visualizing your results is an important part of the analysis process as it allows you to assess the quality of your analysis model and to view the physical performance of your design. With a good understanding of device behavior, you can make informed design decisions. Autodesk Inventor Nastran provides a range of tools and options for interacting with results and for controlling result appearance. In this section, we will cover the following tools:

Displaying Results

The easiest way to display the most common results quantities is through the Results branch of the Analysis tree. The most commonly used results quantities are automatically added to the branch for you:

  • Displacement: A scalar value showing how much the model changes in response to applied loading.
  • Safety Factor: A scalar quantity that shows how much stronger a structure is beyond its applied loading.
  • Deformed: Shows how the model changes shape in response to applied loading. Note that the deformed shape of the model is displayed, but no scalar results are shown. See the Deformation section below for additional information.
  • von Mises: This is the solid stress, and is best for predicting yield in ductile materials.

To display a quantity, modify how the quantity is displayed, or to animate the deformation, right-click on the branch for a specific result quantity and choose from the available options:

Contour Options

The Plot dialog contains several options for controlling how the results appear on the model. These are useful for isolating results in specific locations and determining the effect of the mesh on the results. With these tools, you can often determine if the mesh is too coarse.

It is a good idea to examine how modifying these options affects the result display on your model:

You can use the Display Options section on the left side of the Plot dialog to set the type of Rendering. The most commonly used options are Fringe (shown on the left) and Continuous (shown on the right) :

Fringe is best to evaluate convergence.

Contour plots have smooth edges. When they follow the shape of the element edges, there is a good chance that the mesh should be refined in that region.

Deformation

The primary use of the deformation plot is to show how the part or assembly changes shape in response to applied loading. To show deformation, in the Results branch of the tree, right-click Deformed > Display.

To control the deformation plot, in the Results branch right-click Deformed > Edit and in the Plot dialog, click the Deform Options tab. Be sure the Vector is set to Displacement and the Type to Total:

Animation

To animate the displacement, right-click on the result quantity in the Model Tree, and select Animate. To modify the animation settings, right-click on the result quantity, and select Edit.

On the Plot dialog, select the Animation Options tab.

The animation options allow you to control the number of frames in the animation and the delay between frames (which is really the animation speed). You can also control how the animation cycles with the Mode control. These are the available options:

Probe

To view the exact value of a quantity on the model, click Probes from the Results panel of the ribbon. While the Probe tool is active, an information box displays the active scalar value where the cursor contacts the model:

The Plot Templates topic in the User's Guide contains additional information about visualizing results.