Entity Display Settings: Beam Display

Description

Configures the parameters associated with the display of beam elements.

Dialog

Style

Line

Draws beam elements as lines through the centroid of their cross section.
Section

Draws only the exterior surfaces (for hollow and solid sections) or mid plane surfaces (for open sections) of beam cross sections.
Solid

Draws beam elements with fully rendered and to-scale cross sections.
Slice

Draws beam elements as lines through the centroid of their cross section, with a 2D outline slice of the cross section shape drawn at mid-length.
Cable as lines

If set, cable type beam elements are drawn in either Line or Slice styles only (this effectively ignores the Section and Solid options for cables).

Fill / Outline

The fill and outline colours of the beam elements.

None

Does not draw the fill/outline of the elements.
Property

Renders the fill area or draws the outline of elements according to their respective property colours, as set under Global: Properties.
Group

Renders the fill area or draws the outline of elements according to their respective group colours, as set under Global: Groups.
Global

Renders the fill area or draws the outline of elements with a specified colour, regardless of their respective properties or groups.

To change colour, click the adjacent colour square to open the Colour Selection dialog, then select or define a colour.
Orientation

Renders the fill area or draws the outline at end 1 and end 2 of elements with the End 1 and End 2 colours respectively.

To change colour, click the adjacent colour square to open the Colour Selection dialog, then select or define a colour.
Contour

Renders the fill area or draws the outline of elements according to the quantity selected under Contour Type.
Lighting

If set, lighting effects defined under View Options: Drawing Tab are applied to the fill area or outline of elements.
Thickness

The weights of drawing lines.

Contour Type

Quantities and qualities of beam elements.

This is available when either the Fill or Outline is set to Contour.

List of beam quantities and qualities
- Length
  
  Beam length.
- UCS Ordinate 1 / 2 / 3 Ordinate
  
  Ordinate of beam elements in the current coordinate system (UCS).
- EA
  
  Modulus × Section Area in Global: Properties. Takes into account tapered beams.
- EI1
  
  Modulus × I11 in Global: Properties. Takes into account tapered beams.
- EI2
  
  Modulus × I22 in Global: Properties. Takes into account tapered beams.
- GJ
  
  Shear Modulus × J in Global: Properties. Takes into account tapered beams.
- Scaled EA
  
  Modulus × Section Area × Axial component of the beam attributes Stiffness/Mass Factor. Takes into account tapered beams.
- Scaled EI11
  
  Modulus × I11 × Bending 1 component of the beam attributes Stiffness/Mass Factor. Takes into account tapered beams.
- Scaled EI22
  
  Modulus × I22 × Bending 2 component of the beam attributes Stiffness/Mass Factor. Takes into account tapered beams.
- Scaled GJ
  
  Shear Modulus × J × Torsion component of the beam attributes Stiffness/Mass Factor. Takes into account tapered beams.
- Offset 1 / 2
  
  Applied beam offset attributes in the principal directions.
- Stiffness Factor
  
  Applied Stiffness Factor attributes Shear 1, Shear 2, Axial, Bending 1, Bending 2 and Torsion.
- Mass Factor
  
  Applied Mass Factor attributes.
- Support / Support Gap -1 / +1 / -2 / +2
  
  Applied beam Support attributes in the principal directions.
- Applied Temperature
  
  Applied node Temperature attributes at beam nodes.
- Temperature Gradient 1 / 2
  
  Applied Temperature Gradient in the principal directions.
- Pre-tension
  
  Applied Pre-load tension type attributes.
- Pre-strain
  
  Applied Pre-load strain type attributes.
- Pre Curvature 1 / 2
  
  Applied Pre-curvature in the principal directions.
- Pipe Internal / External Pressure
  
  Applied Pipe Pressure attributes.
- Pipe Internal / External Temperature
  
  Applied Pipe Temperature attributes.
- Convection Coefficient / Ambient
  
  Applied Convection Coefficient and Ambient Temperature attributes.
- Radiation Coefficient / Ambient
  
  Applied Radiation Coefficient and Ambient Temperature attributes.
- Heat Flux
  
  Applied Heat Flux attributes.
- Heat Source
  
  Applied Heat Source attributes.
- Age at First Loading
  
  Applied Age at First Loading (Creep) attributes.
- Property / Material / Section Name
  
  Labels of property, material or section name. Entries with the same name are merged to produce a plot and legend consisting of unique values.
- User Defined (file)
  
  User contour data from an external file.
Settings

Contour configurations. See Result Settings: Settings.
User Defined (file)

Displays the full path to the user contour data file.

Labels

Displays number labels of selected type next to the beam elements.

Beam Font...

Opens the Settings: Font Selection dialog to adjust the font type, size, style and colour of the displayed labels.

Show NRef

If set, displays all reference nodes associated with Beam3 elements. A line is drawn from the mid-point of the Beam3 element to the reference node.

To change colour, click the adjacent colour square to open the Color Selection dialog, then select or define a colour.

Show Offset Nodes

If set, draws lines connecting the ends of the offset beam to its nodes.

To change colour, click the adjacent colour square to open the Color Selection dialog, then select or define a colour.

Move to Offset

If set, draws offset beam elements in their physical offset location.

If not set, the offset is ignored and the beam is drawn at its nodal locations.

Draw Axes

If set, displays the beam principal axes in the middle of every beam element in the model.

Spring Coils

The number of coils with which spring elements are drawn.

This option is only relevant to spring elements in either Solid or Section display styles.

Note that this option is used only for display purposes and does not affect the stiffness of the spring elements.

Spring Aspect

The aspect ratio between the length of the spring element and the diameter of its coils.

The aspect ratio ranges from 5 to 50, with 5 being the widest (i.e., 5 length : 1 coil diameter) and 50 being the narrowest (i.e., 50 length : 1 coil diameter).

Round Facets

The number of facets used to render circular sections and the number of lines used to draw spring element coils.

More facets results in an improved graphical display, but slightly longer draw times.

Slices

The number of slices used to render curved or bent beam elements such as curved pipe elements or deformed beam elements in post processing mode.

Shrink (%)

Draws individual beam elements smaller than their actual size, that is, shrunk from their nodes.

The amount of shrink is specified using a percentage scale with 0% representing no shrink, and 95% representing almost fully shrunk.

Shrink only applies to the length. The cross section is not scaled.

Common Controls