Entity Display Settings: Plate Display

Description

Configures the parameters associated with the display of plate elements.

Dialog

Fill / Outline

The fill and outline colours of the plate elements drawn.

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 at the +z and -z surfaces of plate elements with +z and -z colours respectively. The edge colour is used for the edges of the plate if plate elements are displayed in Solid style.

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 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.
Style
- Element Edge
  
  Draws outlines at all edges of elements.
- Property Boundary
  
  Draws the outline of an element edge if it is not connected to an element of the same property.
- Group Boundary
  
  Draws the outline of an element edge if it is not connected to an element of the same group.
- Facet Edge
  
  Draws outlines at free element edges and shared edges with facet angles greater than that defined under View Options: Rotations Tab.
- Facet Edge + Property Boundary
  
  Draws outlines with combined rules from the Facet Edge and Property Boundary options above.
- Facet Edge + Group Boundary
  
  Draws outlines with combined rules from the Facet Edge and Group Boundary options above.

Contour Type

Quantities and qualities of plate elements.

This is available when Fill is set to Contour.

List of plate quantities and qualities
- Aspect (Min/Max)
  
  Aspect ratio calculated as the shortest edge length divided by the longest edge length of the element.
- Aspect (Max/Min)
  
  Aspect ratio calculated as the longest edge length divided by the shortest edge length of the element.
- Warping
  
  Warping ratio calculated as the average out-of-plane normal distance divided by the shortest element edge length.
- Internal Angle
  
  Internal angle of the elements showing the degree of skew and angular distortion.
- Internal Angle Ratio
  
  Ratio between the deviation from optimal internal angle and the optimal internal angle for a given type of element.
  
  The ratio is calculated as follows:
  - Triangles: (Angle-60)/60 for angles < 60 and (Angle-60)/120 for angles >60.
  - Quadrilaterals: (Angle-90)/90 for all angles.
  An internal angle ratio of 0 indicates a perfectly formed element. A ratio of -1 indicates an internal angle of 0 degrees and a ratio of +1 indicates an angle of 180 degrees.
- Area
  
  Surface area of the mid-plane surface of the plate element.
- UCS Ordinate 1 / 2 / 3 Ordinate
  
  Ordinate of plate nodes in the current coordinate system (UCS).
- Discrete Membrane Thickness
  
  Membrane thickness of plate elements with tiered contour legend. One unique colour is associated with one unique thickness. Similar thicknesses of up to the displayed significant digits are grouped into the same tier.
- Continuous Membrane Thickness
  
  Membrane thickness of plate elements with continuous contour legend range from the minimum to the maximum thickness in the model.
- Discrete Bending Thickness
  
  Bending thickness of plate elements with tiered contour legend. One unique colour is associated with one unique thickness. Similar thicknesses of up to the displayed significant digits are grouped into the same tier.
- Continuous Bending Thickness
  
  Bending thickness of plate elements with continuous contour legend range from the minimum to the maximum thickness in the model.
- Offset
  
  Applied offset attributes.
- Stiffness Factor Cxx / Cyy / Cgg / Czz / Dxx / Dyy / Dgg / Gxz / Gyz
  
  Applied Stiffness Factor attributes for membrane, bending and transverse shear.
- Mass Factor
  
  Applied Mass Factor attributes.
- Edge Normal Support / Lateral Support / Support Gap
  
  Applied plate Edge Support attributes.
- Face Normal Support / Lateral Support / Support Gap -z / +z
  
  Applied plate Face Support attributes on respective plate surfaces.
- Applied Temperature
  
  Applied node Temperature attributes at plate nodes.
- Temperature Gradient
  
  Applied Temperature Gradient attributes.
- Pre-stress x / y / z
  
  Components of applied Pre-load stress type attributes.
- Pre-stress Magnitude
  
  Magnitude of applied Pre-load stress type attributes
  
  .
- Pre-strain x / y / z
  
  Components of applied Pre-load strain type attributes.
- Pre-strain Magnitude
  
  Magnitude of applied Pre-load strain type attributes
  
  .
- Pre-curvature x / y
  
  Components of applied Pre-curvature attributes.
- Pre-curvature Magnitude
  
  Magnitude of applied Pre-curvature attributes
  
  .
- Edge Normal Pressure
  
  Applied Edge Normal Pressure attributes.
- Edge Shear
  
  Applied Edge Shear Stress attributes.
- Edge Transverse Shear
  
  Applied Edge Transverse Shear Stress attributes.
- Edge Global Pressure Axis 1 / 2 / 3
  
  Components of applied Edge Global Pressure attributes on respective plate surfaces.
- Edge Global Pressure Magnitude
  
  Magnitude of applied Edge Global Pressure attributes on respective plate surfaces
  
  .
- Normal Pressure -z / +z
  
  Applied Normal Pressure attributes on respective plate surfaces.
- Global Pressure Axis 1 / 2 / 3 -z / +z
  
  Components of applied Global Pressure attributes on respective plate surfaces.
- Global Pressure Magnitude -z / +z
  
  Magnitude of applied Global Pressure attributes on respective plate surfaces
  
  .
- Face Shear Stress x / y
  
  Applied Face Shear Stress attributes in the plate local axes.
- Face Shear Stress Magnitude
  
  Magnitude of the Face Shear Stress attributes
  
  .
- Non-structural Mass
  
  Applied Non-structural Mass attributes.
- Non-structural Mass Dynamic Factor
  
  Dynamic Factors of the applied Non-structural Mass attributes.
- Edge Convection Coefficient / Ambient
  
  Applied Edge Convection Coefficient and Ambient Temperature attributes.
- Edge Radiation Coefficient / Ambient
  
  Applied Edge Radiation Coefficient and Ambient Temperature attributes.
- Edge Heat Flux
  
  Applied Edge Heat Flux attributes.
- Face Convection Coefficient / Ambient -z / +z
  
  Applied Face Convection Coefficient and Ambient Temperature attributes on respective plate surfaces.
- Face Radiation Coefficient / Ambient -z / +z
  
  Applied Face Radiation Coefficient and Ambient Temperature attributes on respective plate surfaces.
- Heat Source
  
  Applied Heat Source attributes.
- Soil Stress Sv
  
  Vertical stress component (Sv) of the applied Soil In-situ Stress attributes.
- Soil Stress Ratio Ko
  
  Horizontal stress ratio component (Ko) of the applied Soil In-situ Stress attributes.
- Soil Stress Sh
  
  The resulting horizontal stress (Sh) of the applied Soil In-situ Stress attributes (i.e., the product of vertical stress and horizontal stress ratio, Ko × Sv).
- Soil Ratio OCR
  
  Overconsolidation ratio of the applied Soil In-situ Ratios attributes.
- Soil Ratio eo
  
  Initial void ratio of the applied Soil In-situ Ratios attributes.
- Soil Fluid Level
  
  Distance from the soil fluid level defined in Global: Properties and Global: Stages.
- Age at First Loading
  
  Applied Age at First Loading (Creep) attributes.
- Property / Material Name
  
  Labels of property or material 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 plate elements.

Plate Font...

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

Style

Surface

Draws plate elements as thin layers of mid-plane surfaces.
Solid

Draws plate elements with fully rendered exterior surfaces accounting for plate thicknesses.
- Face Nodes
  
  If set, draws additional nodes at the +z and -z surfaces of plate elements.
Average Normals

If set, extends or contracts the display of plate edges on the +z and -z surfaces to close any visual gaps if the angle difference between any two adjacent plate normals is less than the specified tolerance.

This is only a visual modification and does not affect the results.
- Tol (deg)
  
  The maximum angle between adjacent plate normals for the plate edges to visually extend and meet at the interface between the plates.

Move to Offset

If set, draws an offset plate element in its physical offset location.

If not set, the offset attribute is ignored and the element is drawn at its nodal location.

Show Offset Nodes

If set, draws lines connecting the offset plate to its nodes.

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

Draw Axes (0) or Ply (#)

If set and the value is 0, the plate element local axes are displayed in the middle of every plate element in the model.

If set and the value is an integer greater than 0, the integer then represents the ply number in a laminate plate. The ply orientation 1-axis direction for that ply is then displayed in the middle of the element.

Shrink (%)

Draws individual plate 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 plate area. Plate thickness is not scaled.

Common Controls