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Results Planes are the primary tool for visualizing data on three dimensional models. They are cutting planes, and have several roles in AutodeskĀ® CFD results visualization:
This chapter focuses on the following topics:
On-model: Right click on or near the model (not on an existing Plane). Click Add plane.
Off-model: Click Add in the Planes context panel. Alternatively, right click on the Planes branch of the Design Study bar, and click Add plane:
Uncheck the visibility box adjacent to the ID in the Design Study bar:
On-model: Left click on the axis on the triad, and drag to the desired location.
Off-model: Click Edit on the Planes context panel. Drag the Move slider bar on the Plane Control dialog.
On-model: Drag the arc on the triad:
(To change the center of rotation, drag the triad within the Plane. The center of rotation is the triad origin.)
On-plane: Left click. Select an axis to align the Plane to:
Off-model: Click Edit on the Planes context panel. Drag the Rotate slider bar on the Plane Control dialog.
On-plane: Left click, and click the Align to surface button.
Alternative On-plane: Right click, and click Align to surface.
After invoking the Align to surface command, click the desired surface in the model. The plane moves to the selected surface, and is parallel to it. If the selected surface is not planar, the plane moves to the element face closest to the selection point on the surface.
On-plane: Right click. Select an option.
Off-model: Click Edit on the Planes context panel. Select from the Appearance menu.
On-plane: Right click. Click Result, and select from the list.
Off-model: Select from the Result menu on the Planes context panel.
Clipping improves the visibility of specific model regions, and is a powerful way to display vectors when the model is shaded.
To enable clipping, right click on the results plane and select Clip.
If the "other" side of the model is showing, right click on the plane again and choose Reverse Clip.
To disable clipping, right click on the results plane, and uncheck Clip.
To enable vectors or to change the vector quantity:
On-plane: Right click on the plane. Click Vector, and select the quantity.
Off-model: Select from the Vector menu on the Planes context panel.
To change vector appearance:
To control the vector density:
Click More... to make the following changes:
To control the display of arrowheads:
To show regions where the active vector is within a specified range:
Click Reset or uncheck Filtering to display the entire model.
Planes provide a wide array of visualization functionality:
Accessing Plane Functionality:
a. Settings (Controls) b. Vector settings c. Bulk d. XY Plot | Ā ![]() |
On-model Method 2: Right click on the Plane, and select from the menu.
Off-model: Click the icon in the Planes context panel.
Off-model Method 2: Right click on the Plane from the Planes branch of the Design Study bar.
Measuring and Plotting Data on a Plane:
In addition to visual feedback of the flow and thermal behavior, the results plane also provides access to quantitative results. There are three ways to measure results in real time:
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.
Create a Results Plane and open the XY Plot dialog.
Select the method of point selection:
Add by Picking
Add by Key In
Read from File
Enter a Title.
Change the Number of Divisions.
The default number of divisions between every point is 20.
Modify this value to change the plot resolution.
Create the Plot.
This command saves a comma separated variable (".csv") file on a uniform distribution of points throughout the plane.
To change the number of points saved to the table, modify the Grid spacing resolution on the Vector settings tab:
The Bulk Calculator quickly calculates and shows bulk-weighted results on a Results Plane. Bulk (mass-weighted) results are automatically updated as the active Plane is moved.
Start by positioning the Results Plane in the desired location.
To save bulk data when animating a transient analysis, click the Save button. The results from the active time steps will be saved to an Excel csv file.