Results
The default plot displays the von Mises stress distribution together with an exaggerated (automatically scaled) picture of the deformation.
Set default units for result presentation.
Preferred Units
1
In the Results toolbar, click Configurations and choose Preferred Units .
2
In the Settings window locate the Units section, click Add Physical Quantity .
3
In the Physical Quantity dialog, select General > Displacement (m) in the tree.
4
Click OK.
5
In the Settings window for Preferred Units, locate the Units section.
6
In the table, select mm from the Preferred unit list.
7
Click Add Physical Quantity .
8
In the Physical Quantity dialog, select Solid Mechanics > Stress tensor (N/m^2) in the tree.
9
Click OK.
10
In the Settings window for Preferred Units, locate the Unit section.
11
In the table, select MPa from the Preferred unit list.
12
Click Apply .
Stress (solid)
1
In the Model Builder window, expand the Stress (solid) node, then click Volume 1.
2
If you are using OpenGL graphics: In the Graphics window toolbar, click next to Scene Light, then choose Ambient Occlusion. Note how the plot changes when you turn this option on and off.
3
Click the Zoom Extents button in the Graphics toolbar.
In structural mechanics models, it is common with high stresses at singular boundary conditions. Here, this is the case at the bolt holes. In order to visualize the interesting parts of the stress distribution better, it is often useful to truncate the value range in plots.
4
In the Settings window for Volume, click to expand the Range section. Select the Manual color range checkbox.
5
In the Maximum text field, type 70.
Now, enhance the plot with load arrows. The easiest way of doing that is to copy from the predefined load plot, and then adapt the arrow plot slightly.
1
In the Model Builder window, expand the Boundary Loads (solid) node under Applied Loads (solid).
2
Right-click Boundary Load 1 and choose Copy.
3
Right-click Stress (solid) and choose Paste Arrow Surface.
4
Click to expand the Inherit Style section. From the Plot list, choose Volume 1.
5
Clear the Arrow scale factor, Color, and Color and data range checkboxes.
6
Expand the Boundary Load 1 node, then click Color Expression.
7
In the Settings window for Color Expression, locate the Coloring and Style section. Clear the Color legend checkbox.
8
In the Model Builder window, under Results click Stress (solid).
9
In the Settings window for 3D Plot Group, click to expand the Title section.
10
From the Title type list, choose Custom.
11
Find the Types and data subsection. Clear the Type, Description, and the Unit checkbox.
12
Locate the Color Legend section. Select the Show units checkbox.
13
Click the Show Grid button in the Graphics toolbar to switch off the grid.
Total Displacement
Add a plot showing the displacement of the bracket. This is another one of the plots available under Result Templates.
1
In the Home toolbar, click Result Templates .
2
Go to the Result Templates window.
3
In the tree, select Study 1/Solution 1 > Solid Mechanics > Displacement (solid).
4
Click Add Result Template in the window toolbar.
5
In the Home toolbar, click Result Templates again to hide the Result Templates window.
Marker 1
Add a marker indicating the position of the maximum displacement.
1
Expand the Displacement (solid) node, then right-click Volume 1 and choose Marker .
2
In the Settings window for Marker, locate the Display section.
3
From the Display list, choose Max.
4
Locate the Text Format section. In the Display precision text field, type 2.
Displacement (solid)
1
In the Model Builder window, click Displacement (solid).
2
In the Settings window for 3D Plot Group, locate the Color Legend section.
3
From the Position list, choose Bottom.
4
On the Total Displacement toolbar, click Plot .
You may have noticed that in the plot group, the stresses and displacements are displayed as volume plots. It would also have been possible to use surface plots. For a solid geometry in 3D, the visual difference is small. Each of these plots have their merits, though. In a large model, a volume plot can take noticeably longer time to generate, since the expression to be visualized is evaluated not only on the surface, but also in the interior. If you want to plot only parts of the structure, the volume plot is easier to work with, since you can select domains, rather than boundaries. Also, for some expressions, an evaluation in the domain is more accurate than when the same expression is evaluated only on the boundaries.
Principal Stress
Create another plot to display the principal stresses.
1
In the Results toolbar, click 3D Plot Group .
2
In the Settings window for 3D Plot Group, type Principal Stress in the Label text field.
3
Click to expand the Selection section. From the Geometric entity level list, choose Domain.
4
Select Domains 1–4 only.
5
Select the Apply to dataset edges checkbox.
Principal Stress Volume 1
1
On the Principal Stress toolbar, click More Plots and choose Principal Stress Volume .
2
In the Settings window for Principal Stress Volume, locate the Positioning section. Enter values as follows and replace the defaults:
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Find the X grid points subsection. In the Points text field, type 30.
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Find the Y grid points subsection. In the Points text field, type 40.
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Find the Z grid points subsection. In the Points text field, type 10.
3
Locate the Coloring and Style section. From the Arrow length list, choose Logarithmic.
4
On the Principal Stress toolbar, click Plot .
The principal stresses are color coded so that red represents the first principal stress, green the second, and blue the third.
Stress Along Fillet
Plot the stress distribution along one of the fillets having high stress levels.
1
In the Results toolbar, click 1D Plot Group .
2
In the Settings window for 1D Plot Group, type Stress Along Fillet in the Label text field.
3
Right-click Stress Along Fillet and choose Line Graph .
4
Select Edge 48 only.
5
In the Settings window for Line Graph, click Replace Expression in the upper-right corner of the y-Axis Data section.
6
In the filter text field type First principal stress, then choose solid.sp1Gp - First principal stress - N/m².
7
Right-click Line Graph 1 and choose Graph Marker .
8
In the Settings window for Graph Marker, locate the Display section.
9
From the Display list, choose Max.
10
Select the Include unit checkbox.
11
Locate the Text Format section. In the Precision text field, type 2.
12
Click to expand the Coloring and Style section. From the Anchor point list, choose Middle right .
13
In the Stress Along Fillet toolbar, click Plot .
You can get an indication of the discretization errors by switching off the averaging between adjacent elements.
14
In the Model Builder window, click Line Graph 1.
15
In the Settings window for Line Graph, click to expand the Quality section.
16
From the Evaluations settings list, choose Manual.
17
From the Smoothing list, choose None.
18
In the Stress Along Fillet toolbar, click Plot .