Coordinate System Volume, Coordinate System Surface, Coordinate System Line, and Coordinate System Point
Use the Coordinate System Volume (3D ), Coordinate System Surface (2D and 3D ), Coordinate System Line (2D and 3D ), and Coordinate System Point (2D and 3D ) plots to visualize the coordinate systems used in, for example, models of piezoelectric devices, where there can be multiple domains, each using its own set of coordinate systems. Right-click to add Deformation, Filter, Selection (Plot Attribute), Translation, Transparency (3D only), or Visual Effects (3D only) subnodes as needed. Right-click a 2D Plot Group or 3D Plot Group node to add these plots from the More Volume Plots (3D only), More Surface Plots, More Line Plots, and More Point Plots submenus.
Go to Common Results Node Settings for links to information about these sections: Data, Title, Coloring and Style, and Inherit Style.
Coordinate System
Choose to plot a Coordinate system (the default) or a Matrix variable:
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For Coordinate system, choose one of the available coordinate systems from the Coordinate system list. The default is None (no coordinate system). The coordinate system directions arrows are red for the first coordinate direction’s basis vector, green for the second coordinate direction’s basis vector, and blue for the third coordinate direction’s basis vector.
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For Matrix variable, click the Replace Expression button () to select an available matrix variable from the list, which includes transformation matrices to and from the added coordinate systems and physical quantities that are tensors, such as the thermal conductivity. Only 2-by-2- and 3-by3-matrices are supported. The selected variable (for example, ht.k) then appears next to the Matrix variable. Each row of the matrix is plotted as a vector. The first row is plotted in red, the second row in green, and the third row, if any, in blue. Click the Description check box if you want to add a description for the matrix variable. From the Vector to plot list, choose Rows (the default) or Columns. Plotting the vectors as columns can be useful, for example, when plotting the deformation gradient variables in a structural mechanics interfaces. Plotting the deformation gradient’s columns as a triplet of arrows gives a good picture of the local deformation and rotation of the material.
Positioning
For Coordinate System Surface in 3D plot groups and Coordinate System Line in 3D and 2D plot groups:
Under Positioning, first select a Placement: Gauss points, Mesh nodes, Uniform, or Uniform anisotropic.
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Select Gauss points to position the coordinate system symbols in the elements’ Gauss points when a solution is available. Also specify the order of the Gauss points in the Gauss point order field (default: 1). A higher order increases the coordinate system symbol density in each element. This option is not available for Coordinate System Line plots in 2D plot groups.
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Select Mesh nodes for coordinate system symbols positioned in the mesh element nodes (that is, more densely placed symbols where the mesh density is high).
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Select Uniform (the default) for coordinate system symbols positioned uniformly on the surface. Then enter the number of symbols to plot in the Number of points field (default: 200).
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Select Uniform anisotropic to position the coordinate system symbols using an anisotropic density (that is, more symbols in some directions than in others). In addition to entering the number of coordinate system symbols to plot in the Number of points field (default: 200), use the x weight, y weight, and (in 3D) z weight fields to give weights for the symbol density in the different directions (using positive scalar weights). The default weights are 1 in all directions. A higher value increases the symbol density in the corresponding direction.
For Coordinate System Volume in 3D plot groups and Coordinate System Surface in 2D plot groups:
Under Positioning, first select a Placement: Element centers, Mesh nodes, or Grid (the default).
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Choose Element centers to position the principal stress symbols in the element centers; if desired, change the value in the Maximum number of points field (default: 100,000).
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For Mesh nodes, see above.
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For Grid, in the x grid points, y grid points, and z grid points fields, select an Entry method: Number of points or Coordinates:
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If Number of points is selected, enter the number of Points in each direction (the default is 7 for Coordinate System Volume plots and 15 for Coordinate System Surface plots).
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If Coordinates is selected, enter Coordinates (SI unit: m) or click the Range button () to define a range of values.