FEMAP Tips and Tricks

FEMAP Tips and Tricks Andy Haines Senior Applications Engineer

FEMAP Tips and Tricks Preferences Page 2

Preferences Results New for FEMAP 11 Automatically Attach to OP2 Files When this option is on, OP2 results files will be attached instead of internalized when results are loaded from the Analysis Monitor automatically or when using the Load Results button Use Memory Mapped OP2 Files When this option is on, the Memory Mapped File option will be on automatically when the File, Attach To Results command is used. If both this option and the option above are on, then any automatically attached OP2 file will also be Memory Mapped (until RAM is no longer available for memory mapping) General Solver Options and Auto Answer Post Questions Moved to this tab from Interfaces tab as these options all had to do with results Page 3

Preferences Database New for FEMAP 11.0. Performs the cleanup portion of File, Rebuild when the model is saved, so you don t have to do it manually to make model files smaller after deleting results Usually, it is probably best to leave this setting alone, and remember, sometimes it might be better to go lower, this is FEMAP s Memory Cache Critical for Maximum Performance Set to a number higher than your highest Node or Element ID Can be used as a final option to recover data if FEMAP has exited unexpectedly during certain operations. Partial data recovery is sometimes possible Page 4 File Open/Save significantly faster. Use the Read/Write Test button to determine proper setting for each machine

Preferences Graphics Options that Effect Graphics Performance Vertex Buffer Objects Only turn this option on if you have a graphics card which supports OpenGL 2.0 or above. It has been observed that using VBOs can greatly improve performance of dynamic rotation Max VBO MB FEMAP will determine how much RAM is available on the graphics card, then allow you to choose how much you want to allow FEMAP to use. Typically, half of available is a safe value, but using more may improve performance without causing any issues. Min VBO B By default, this value is set to 1024. This value should work for a large majority of models. That said, increasing or decreasing the value may benefit certain graphics cards and/or models Page 5

Preferences Graphics Options that Effect Graphics Performance (continued) Include in Dynamic Rotation options - switching off any these options should improve performance. Some key options: Element Symbols - if you have a lot of lumped masses and springs Mesh Size - if you have a large number of curves with mesh sizes on Labels; and Undeformed - switching these off helps performance. Elements as Free Edges this has a slight delay in starting and finishing dynamic rotation but dynamic rotation is much quicker. For some models e.g. a mesh on a sphere, there is no free edge and you will see nothing as the model rotates. Page 6

Preferences Example Render Setting Recommendation Page 7

Preferences Interfaces In case you need to get to COSMOS, ALGOR, STARDYNE, etc. Depending on how you title your Subcases, this can make sure that Output Sets get the correct names Creates an individual group containing entities for each INCLUDE file. Nested INCLUDE files will create Referenced Groups New for FEMAP 11.0. Allows you to retain all INCLUDE files as INCLUDE Statements instead of internalizing the entities in the INCLUDE file Make sure you know where your analysis jobs are going to, especially with Windows 7 Page 8

Preferences Views Resolution Options Accessed via the Resolution button on the Views tab Allows you set up default options for Printing Resolution and Copy/Save Resolution Additional options for Pen Width and Logo and Background Bitmap Scaling Page 9

FEMAP Tips and Tricks User Interface Page 10

FEMAP Interface Model Info Pane Expanding and Collapsing Trees To quickly Expand/Collapse all sub-branches under a given branch in the tree, hold down the Alt key while clicking the +/- box Also works when clicking a subbranch such as Loads or Constraints or individual Load and Constraint Sets Page 11

FEMAP Interface Model Info Tree Auto Create Load Definitions To quickly create Load Definitions which only contain loads with the same values, components, applied faces, etc. from imported models use the Auto Create Definition command from the context-sensitive menu Page 12

FEMAP Interface Using the Model Info Pane to Populate Data Table Send to Data Table icon (Only available when Data Table is open in FEMAP and unlocked ) Useful for sending multiple entities of one type to the Data Table for comparison purposes. Great way to get elements of one shape or one type to the Data Table. Once in the Data Table use Add Element Checks or Add Mass Properties for Pre-processing or Add Output Columns for Post-Processing. Page 13

FEMAP Interface Model Info Pane Activating the Layup Viewer Fastest way to bring up the Layup Viewer for Laminates is to use the Show option on the Layup context-sensitive menu Page 14

FEMAP Interface Model Info Pane Entity Visibility Visibility Check boxes for Geometry, Elements (By Type and By Shape), Materials, and Properties Mimics the capability of various tabs in the View, Visibility command without having to have the large dialog box open and covering a portion of the screen In some cases, decreases the number of groups which might have been needed in the past for complicated entity selection, as screen picking (including box, circle, polygon, and freehand) now only picks from visible entities. The context-sensitive menu is different when the mouse is positioned over the visibility check boxes and provides some useful options. Additional Options exist for Material/Property to show elements which do not reference a material or property (i.e., rigid) Page 15

FEMAP Interface Model Info Pane Reset All Visibility Options The Reset All Visibility Options icon in Model Info tree sets all Visibility options and check boxes back to default for new model. Page 16

FEMAP Interface Model Info Pane Tree Scrolling New for FEMAP 11 If the number of entities of a particular entity type exceeds the value specified for Max Entities preference on the User Interface tab, the Next and Previous markers will appear in the Model Info Tree If the cursor is placed over the Visibility Check Boxes and the mouse wheel is scrolled up or down, the list of entities in the Model Info tree will change dynamically Holding certain keys down changes behavior ( Max Entities = 10): Ctrl Scrolls to the next set based on the Max Entities value (i.e., 1-10 to 11-19 to 20-28, etc) Shift Scrolls by number of entities currently shown in Model Info Tree (i.e., 1-10 to 10-18 to 18-26, etc) Ctrl+Shift Scrolls to the last set of entities based on Max Entities (would show last 10 ) Will also work during a command for FEMAP 11.1! Page 17

FEMAP Interface Select Toolbar Entity Visibility Visibility options on bottom of context-sensitive menu for several entity types in the Select Toolbar. Graphical selection offers a more interactive method for selecting which entities should be Shown or Hidden Available when Solid, Region, Connector, Material, or Property is the Active Entity Type in the Selector Holding Shift key down while one of the above entity types is active in the Select Toolbar will bring up only the commands on the Visibility sub menu which Page 18

FEMAP Interface Select Toolbar Accessing the Quick Access Menu Typically, when an entity type is active in the Select toolbar, a context-sensitive menu for that entity type will appear when the right mouse button is clicked. While this is often helpful, sometimes you may need to access the normal Quick Access Menu (aka, Right Mouse Menu) while using the Select Toolbar. This can be achieved by simply holding the Alt key down while clicking the right mouse button. Page 19

FEMAP Interface Selection Method Shortcuts When using the selector dialog, keyboard shortcuts are available for several selection methods SHIFT-LMB: Box select CTRL-LMB: Circle select CTRL-SHIFT-LMB: Polygon select Page 20

FEMAP Interface Selection Method Shortcuts While the Query option on the Pick^ menu in the standard entity selection dialog can be very useful when trying to select the desired entity from a list, it can also be cumbersome when selection is more straight-forward To do a one-time Query pick, simply change the Pick^ method to Normal and hold down Alt while clicking on a particular entity. This will bring up the Select dialog box with entities available for selection *When the Select dialog box appears, you can either select an ID from the list or use the mouse wheel to scroll up and down in the list until the desired entity is highlighted in the graphics window Page 21

FEMAP Interface Advanced Picking Filters Several advanced picking filters have been added to the entity selection dialog in the past few versions Model Data Value Color (Select Color from Palette) Add Connected Fillets Add Tangent Surfaces Add Connected Elements Page 22

FEMAP Interface Entity Editor A Node may be sent to the Entity Editor using the Select Toolbar or by selecting an individual row when nodes are in the Data Table View Nodal Coordinates in the model s Active Coordinate System (set easily by double-clicking a Coordinate System in the Model Info tree). Page 23

FEMAP Interface Entity Editor View nodal deformations in any Coordinate System by selecting a Coordinate System from Csys for Output List in the Entity Editor Output Value at Node also shown when displaying Contour (Nodal Contour) Page 24

FEMAP Interface Entity Info When open, very helpful during selection as it dynamically updates as the mouse is moved over the model (i.e., Tooltips without the wait) Works when graphically selecting entities using the Entity Selection dialog box, Select Toolbar, or Select icon in the Meshing Toolbox In addition to showing the ID, great for determining: Mesh Size on a Curves # Nodes/Elements attached to Geometric entities Materials with certain values Properties with certain characteristics Formulation and Nodes used by Elements Definition Csys, Output Csys, and Coordinates of Nodes Page 25

FEMAP Interface Entity Info For Post-processing, bring back Dynamic Query functionality from Pre-V9 FEMAP only better, by choosing Nodes or Elements from the Select Toolbar With Nodal Contour displayed: Nodes list the plotted output value at the node and deformation values, if the model is currently deformed Elements list the plotted output value at each node on the element With Elemental Contour displayed: Elements list the plotted output value on the element and the values at the element s corner nodes Will list both Top and Bottom values when using Double- Sided Planar Contours option (Contour Options dialog box) Page 26

FEMAP Interface Entity Info Layup Editor Laminate Equivalent Properties dynamically update in Entity Info as plies are added/removed from the Layup Editor Page 27

FEMAP Interface Entity Info and Tooltips Version 11.1 Preview The Layers/Groups in Tooltips option can be turned on via the Select Toolbar and then Group and Layer information will be shown in the Entity Info window or the Tooltip Page 28

FEMAP Interface Data Table Automatically add Tet Collapse and Jacobian element quality checks to the Data Table for all tetrahedral elements created during tet meshing with the Mesh, Geometry, Solids command that exceed currently specified quality limits Click Options button, then select Update Data Table with Mesh Quality Page 29

FEMAP Interface Data Table Sort by Tet Collapse or Jacobian, turn on the Show When Selected, then choose rows to highlight elements of poor quality in the mesh Page 30

FEMAP Interface Named Entity Filters Also, the Filter method replaces the Search functionality in all Select From Library dialog boxes Version 10.1 and before Version 10.1.1 and after Page 31

FEMAP Tips and Tricks Geometry Page 32

Geometry Parasolid Box FEMAP geometry uses the Parasolid kernel Entities are contained within a Parasolid box 1000 x 1000 x 1000 box centered at the origin (+- 500 in x, y, z) Coincident point tolerance: 1.0e-8 Parallel tolerance: 1.0e-11 radians Anything outside the Parasolid box may run into precision issues From the Parasolid documentation: To allow precision to be handled correctly, all parts of a body must be within this box. It is highly recommended to set the default unit in your application code to one meter. Page 33

Geometry Parasolid Box Inches Scale Factor 39.97 Everything entered is divided by 39.37 and stored inside of Parasolid at 1/39.37 th scale This stores inch dimensioned parts in meters as recommended When using inches, this gives an effective box size of +- 20,000 in Millimeters Scale Factor 1000.0 Everything you enter gets divided by 1000.0 and stored inside of Parasolid at 1/1000.0 th scale This stores millimeter dimensioned parts in meters as recommended When using inches, this gives an effective box size of +- 500,000 mm Page 34

Geometry Parasolid Box Scale factor is set: When reading in a Parasolid file In Preferences -> Geometry/Model Note that units used for the Parasolid box are exactly that units This only affects geometric tolerancing This does not establish a default unit in your model This does not have any effect on units in material properties This does not have any effect on units in properties Page 35

Geometry Non-Manifold Geometry Support Non-manifold geometry instances where three or more surfaces share the same curve, e.g. T-junctions Mesh will connect and match on all surfaces Previously a limitation in Parasolid Non-Manifold Tolerance (added for FEMAP 11.0) Enhanced by Parasolid development team to behave more like stitch for FEMAP 11.1 Page 36

Geometry Non-Manifold Add Non-Manifold Add Not as tolerant as Geometry, Solid, Stitch Things still have to be close to 100% coincident, only now within specified tolerance Page 37

Geometry Non-Manifold Add Extend Past, and use Geometry, Surface, Delete to get rid of outsides Page 38

Geometry Mixed Surface and Solid Modeling Non-manifold Add Page 39

Geometry Mixed Surface and Solid Modeling Subtract Surfaces from a Solid to split solid along the surface using Geometry, Solid, Remove command Choose Solid to Split as Base Solid, then choose surface as the Solid to Remove Something to remember is that that the surface should at least extend to the extents of the solid to be split, otherwise it may not divide the solid Helpful command when sub-dividing for Hex Meshing, especially geometry has some revolved features Page 40

Geometry Geometry Cleanup Parasolid BodyShop Fully Automatic Geometry Cleanup Written/Maintained by the Parasolid Team Data Cleaning Detect and resolve topological problems Invalid sense, missing topology, bad loop and region structure Detect and resolve geometric problems Zero length curves, short edges, coincident geometries, unwanted gaps & spikes, sliver faces, illegal curve and surface intersections Model Optimization Optimize models for performance and reliability in downstream use Convert geometry to simpler forms Recompute tolerant edges to greater accuracy Remove small entities Page 41

Geometry Geometry Cleanup Automatic Page 42

Geometry Geometry Cleanup Automatic Spike Removal Page 43

Geometry Geometry Cleanup Resulting Mesh Before/After Page 44

FEMAP Tips and Tricks Modeling / FEA Page 45

Modeling / FEA Helpful for Solid Laminates AutoCreate option in Layup Editor When On, automatically creates a new Global Ply as each ply is added to the Layup, which is very useful for Solid Laminates, as Global Plies are needed for proper post-processing Page 46

Modeling / FEA Helpful for Solid Laminates Ply/Bond Failure tab in Isotropic, Orthotropic (3D), and Anisotropic (3D) dialog boxes is used to choose a Ply Failure Theory and/or and Bond Failure Theory and enter specific values for each based on the selected theory Only used by the Solid Laminate Property, which was added for FEMAP 11.0 Page 47

Modeling / FEA Edge-to-Edge Contact Edge-to-Edge contact for NX Nastran Added for FEMAP 11.0 (Undocumented) Uses the BEDGE Nastran entry and element edges or curves may be selected when creating connection regions Glue written for all SOLs in FEMAP (think we may not want to write it for 144-146, 601, and 701, as those appear to not be currently supported) Supported Element Types are CQUAD4, CQUADR, CQUAD8, CTRIA3, CTRIAR, CTRIA6, CPLSTS3, CPLSTS4, CPLSTS6, CPLSTS8, CPLSTN3, CPLSTN4, CPLSTN6, CPLSTN8 Contact available in SOLs 101, 103, 105, 111, 112 (XZ or XY Plane) and 601 (XZ plane only) Supported Element Types are CPLSTS3, CPLSTS4, CPLSTS6, CPLSTS8, CPLSTN3, CPLSTN4, CPLSTN6, CPLSTN8 Support for Axisymmetric elements for Glue and Contact coming in 11.1 Page 48

Modeling / FEA Edge-to-Edge Contact Examples of Edge-to-Edge Glued Contact with Plate Elements (Statics Left, Modes Right) Page 49

Modeling / FEA Contour Model Data Contour Model Data allows you to create a contour/criteria plot or beam diagram on the displayed elements based on any material or property value currently in your model For example, visualize different thicknesses in a shell model via a criteria plot Page 50

FEMAP Tips and Tricks Analysis Page 51

Analysis Setting up Bundled / Standalone NX Nastran FEMAP can launch bundled or standalone (enterprise) NX Nastran Initial setup based on installation options To set up FEMAP for bundled NX Nastran In config.ini, located in the FEMAP root directory, set IsNX4FEMAP=1 NX Nastran installation must be in ~\<femap root>\nastran To set up FEMAP for standalone NX Nastran Remove the IsNX4FEMAP string from config.ini Usually it s easiest to simply rename config.ini Set the environment variable NXNAST_EXE to the Nastran executable location Both of these setups will launch NX Nastran from FEMAP and will work with the Analysis Monitor Page 52

FEMAP Tips and Tricks Post- Processing Page 53

FEMAP Interface New Output Selection dialog boxes for FEMAP 11.0 Output Set dialog box Optionally Filter Output Sets shown in dialog box using Title Filter Only items found in the list after being filtered will be selected with the All On option Use Clear Filter button to reset list Highlight any number of Output Sets then click icon buttons to (from left): All On All Off Selected On Selected Off Page 54

FEMAP Interface New Output Selection dialog boxes for FEMAP 11.0 Page 55

FEMAP Interface New Output Selection dialog boxes for FEMAP 11.0 Output Set and Output Vector dialog box Output Set selection is the same as the stand-alone Output Set dialog box Output Vectors displayed in the dialog box are based on output vectors found in the Output Set selected using the From Output Set drop-down Choose All Output Vectors option to select all output vectors in selected Output Sets The Quick Filter can be used to quickly reduce the number of Output Vectors displayed in the dialog box (None-Ignore, Selected Only, Node, Element, Element Centroid, Displacement, Velocity/Accel, Force, Stress, Strain, or Thermal) For more detailed filtering use the Filter button (next slide) Highlight any number of Output Vectors then click Icon buttons to (from left): All On All Off Selected On Selected Off The Add Similar Layer/Ply Results and Add Component/Corner Results buttons are used to select additional Output Vectors after at least one Output Vector has already been selected in the Output Vectors Section Page 56

FEMAP Interface New Output Selection dialog boxes for FEMAP 11.0 Page 57

FEMAP Interface New Output Selection dialog boxes for FEMAP 11.0 Output Set and Output Vector dialog box (Con t) Optionally Filter Output Vectors by: Title Output Type (Displacement, Velocity/Accel, Force, Stress, Strain, or Thermal) Output On (Any Output, Nodes, Elements, Line Elements, Planar Elements, Solid Elements, or User Output) Complex Type (Any Output, Magnitude, Phase, Real, or Imaginary) Options to include Nodal Component Output and/or Element Corner Data Only items found in the list after being filtered will be selected with the All On option Use Clear Filter button to reset list Page 58

FEMAP Interface Select PostProcessing Data dialog - New for FEMAP 11 Select PostProcessing Data Same Filters used in version 11 Output Selection dialog boxes can be used to reduce the Output Sets and Output Vectors shown in the drop-down lists. Vector Info can be used to view Max/Min values, Max/Min values for associated Component/Corner Output Vectors, Vector Statistics, or Max/Min values of any additional output vector(s) Section Cut added to access options for Section Cut and Dynamic Cutting Plane Page 59

FEMAP Interface Select PostProcessing Data dialog - New for FEMAP 11 Dynamic Max/Min dynamically shows Max/Min Values with entity ID for each in the dialog box as different output vectors are selected using the drop-downs Multiple Contour Vectors allows viewing of three different output vectors at once (i.e., Solid Stresses, Plate Stresses, Line Element Stresses in a criteria plot) Double-Sided Planar Contours moved from Contour Options dialog box for easier access Page 60

Post-Processing Crow s Foot Plots 2D-tensor plots, also known as Crow s Foot plots (added in FEMAP 10.1) Allow for quick assessment of direction of in-plane loads Primarily used on shell elements with in-plane loads (Nxx, Nyy, Nxy) Used most often in the aircraft industry Main advantage is to show direction of positive shear flow; sign determines actual direction 250 lb/in From NASTRAN: Nxx: 500 lb/in Nyy: -250 lb/in Nxy: -125 lb/in 500 lb/in 125 lb/in -250-125 500 Page 61 Conventional freebody on quad element Crow s foot plot on quad element

Post-Processing Crow s Foot Plots Set up as a vector plot In contour vector options Vector Type: 2D Tensor Plot Output Vectors 1: 7206.. Plate X Membrane Force 2: 7207.. Plate Y Membrane Force 3: 7208.. Plate XY Membrane Force Other view options to consider Adjusting the arrow length to de-clutter the screen Set vector label digits to 1 Page 62

Post-Processing Crow s Foot Plots Page 63

Post-Processing Solid Non-Linear Stresses Care needs to be taken when reviewing nonlinear solid stresses from NX Nastran For linear static runs (101), solid stresses are output in the material coordinate system For non-linear static runs (106), solid stresses are output in the element coordinate system Output orientation needs to be specified in FEMAP Page 64 101: 0..Material Direction 106: 0..Element

Post-Processing Solid Non-Linear Stresses Incorrect Correct Page 65

FEMAP Tips and Tricks Charting Pane Page 66

XY Plotting with the Charting Pane The Charting dockable pane was added to modernize and improve XY Plotting within FEMAP for version 11.0 Topics: XY Plotting Overview Charting Pane Overview Chart Management Data Series Management Chart Display Control Chart Output Page 67

Charting Pane XY Plotting Overview Prior to Femap v11, XY plots were created using the View Select dialog box. The Charting pane has been added to Femap v11 to manage XY plots. XY plots created in Femap prior to v11 and stored as Views are automatically converted to Charts in Femap v11. A Femap model file can contain multiple XY plots as Charts and Data Series Charts are defined by Data Series. Data Series are defined by Output Vectors or Functions Note: XY plot creation using the View Select tools are available in Femap v11 by enabling the option for Enable Legacy XY Plotting under the User Interface tab in Femap s Preferences dialog box. This functionality will be removed in a near future Femap release. Page 68

Charting Pane Overview Display of the Charting pane is controlled by the Panes toolbar The Tools, Charting command also toggles the Charting pane The Charting pane s toolbar has icons for managing Charts, Data Series, display of charts and outputting data from charts. These controls will be described in detail later in this lesson. Page 69

Charting Pane Chart Manager Dialog Box Clicking the Chart Manager icon on the Charting pane s toolbar activates the Chart Manager dialog box. With this dialog box, you can: Create a New Chart makes the new chart the active chart Edit a selected chart with Edit Selected Activate and display a chart with Preview Selected Delete a selected chart Delete All charts in the active Femap model Copy a selected chart Renumber a selected chart Deactivate the active chart with None Active / New Page 70

Charting Pane Charting Dialog Box When either a new chart is created using the Charting Manager dialog box, or a chart is edited, the Charting dialog box is opened. This dialog box has four (4) tabs: Chart Settings Chart Axes Chart Title Labels and Markers At the lower left corner of this dialog box, there are three (3) icons: Redraw Chart Load Chart from Library Save Chart to Library Page 71

Charting Pane Charting Dialog Box Chart Settings The Chart Settings tab is used for setting a chart s display and data options: Line Style Chart Data Select Data Series Legend Legend Direction Vertical Location Horizontal Location Colors Specify the color Palette Enable a Dark Background Chart Font Font Face Page 72

Charting Pane Charting Dialog Box Chart Axes Page 73 The Chart Axes tab is used for setting a chart s X Axis and Y Axis options: Toggle Display of the axis Range and Style Autoscale the axis range based on the min and max of the displayed Data Series or manually set the Range Display the axis as a Logarithm Scale Allow Zooming Show Major Grid Lines and Show Minor Grid Lines Title Set the Interval and Count Toggle Tick Marks Toggle Display Title and title string Set Font Size, alignment, Justification and Color

Charting Pane Charting Dialog Box Chart Title The Chart Title tab is used for setting a chart s title options: Toggle Display of the title Title Options Set the Title Set Location and Justification Set Font Size, Font Color and Font Style Page 74

Charting Pane Charting Dialog Box Labels and Markers The Labels and Markers tab contains options for the display of a chart s title Labels Toggle Display Labels Show X Value Show Y Value You can also toggle on max/min values with the Show Max/Min Only check box Markers Toggle Display Markers Set Size Select Shape Page 75

Charting Pane Data Series Manager Dialog Box Clicking the Data Series icon on the Charting pane s toolbar activates the Chart Data Series Manager dialog box. With this dialog box, you can: Create a New Data Series Edit a selected Data Series with Edit Selected Remove from Chart removes the selected Data Series from the active chart Delete a selected Data Series Delete All Data Series in the active Femap model Copy a selected Data Series Renumber a selected Data Series Enable Highlighting highlights the selected Data Series in the active chart Page 76

Charting Pane Chart Data Series Dialog Box A chart s data for XY curves are defined by Data Series. The Chart Data Series dialog box is used to define the data for a single Data Seriesi. The Data group defines the following: Type one of the following: XY vs. ID XY vs. Set and XY vs. Set Value - select the Location or ID of a node or element. Multiple allows the selection of multiple nodes or elements. XY vs. Position XY of Function - select a Function Scale factor for the xy data Group for limiting the data Page 77

Charting Pane Chart Data Series Dialog Box (continued) Output Data Group: Start output set. When 2..XY vs. Set Value is selected, the End output set is also selected and the Interval between output sets Use All Output Sets can also be selected Output Data sets the Output Vector When XY vs. Set Value is selected, the End output set is also selected and the Interval between output sets When Type is set to 3..XY vs. Position, Position transforms the X value of the Data Series to the X, Y, or Z coordinate of the selected Coordinate System. This does NOT transform the Y value of the Data Series. Page 78

Charting Pane Chart Data Series Dialog Box (continued) Style Group - Labels: Inherent label styles from the chart with Use Chart Settings Show Labels allows the display of X Value and/or the Y Value of the data. Enable the Max/Min option to show only those values. Set the Color of the curve Style Group Markers: Inherent label styles from the chart with Use Chart Settings Show Markers displays markers for each data point on the curve Set Size and Shape of the markers Page 79

Charting Pane Charting Pane Toolbar In addition to the Chart Manager and Data Series Manager, the Charting pane s toolbar has additional tools for modifying Charts and Data Series Chart Options Chart Axes Page 80

Charting Pane Charting Pane Toolbar (continued) Chart Title Chart Legend Data Series Markers Data Series Labels Chart Colors Page 81

Charting Pane Charting Pane Toolbar (continued) Show Tooltips when enabled, hovering the cursor over a point on a curve will display the X and Y values of that curve and highlight the curve legend Page 82

Charting Pane Charting Pane Toolbar (continued) Load Chart from Library Save Chart to Library Page 83

Charting Pane Chart Output Commands On the Charting pane s toolbar, click the Copy Chart to Clipboard icon. This copies all Data Series to the clipboard in tab-delimited format. To list the active chart s Data Series, select the command, List, Output, Data Series Page 84

FEMAP Tips and Tricks Miscellaneous Page 85

Miscellaneous Tips on Recovering Crashed Models In the (hopefully rare) instance of a FEMAP crash, it may be possible to recover all or parts of your model Tips Try to avoid this situation by saving your model often or using autosave Set up a scratch directory in FEMAP preferences Things to try Use the Recover Scratch Directory button in preferences Use the Recover _DBData File button to possibly recover partial data Database and Parasolid files in the scratch directories These tips may not always work but they do provide a last ditch option Page 86

Miscellaneous Neutral Files Neutral files can be used to import data in a format not natively supported by FEMAP Easy to create.neu formatted files in Excel or another program Neutral file reference is located in ~\<FEMAP root>\pdf\neutral.pdf Info Neutral files are text files containing data block and record data Neutral files are comprised of data blocks, each starting and ending with a line containing only -1 Neutral files are free-formatted files Data blocks contain lines of records that are delimited with spaces or commas (commas are preferred) Page 87

Miscellaneous Neutral Files Sample neutral file creating points -1 570 1,0,0,0,1,24,0.,0,0,0, 1.1,0.1,-1, 2,0,0,0,1,24,0.,0,0,0, 2.2,0.2,-2, 3,0,0,0,1,24,0.,0,0,0, 3.3,0.3,-3, 4,0,0,0,1,24,0.,0,0,0, 4.4,0.4,-4, 5,0,0,0,1,24,0.,0,0,0, 5.5,0.5,-5, -1 Page 88

Miscellaneous Reducing Model File Size Whenever an entity is created in FEMAP, it is stored in the database Entities are stored in the database in groups of like entities When entities are deleted from the model: The space occupied in the database by these entities is flagged as usable again The database is not truncated to reclaim that space Reclaim this space using the File -> Rebuild command Nodes Elements Properties Results Commit by saving the model Nodes Elements Properties Results Can now be done automatically during save by using Cleanup During Save option found on the Database tab of File, Preferences Page 89

Miscellaneous More Info http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/femap-users/ Page 90