FS13-06 Femap TipsAndTricks SPLM Haines PDF

FEMAP Tips and Tricks
Andy Haines – Senior Applications Engineer
Unrestricted © Siemens AG 2013 All rights reserved.

Preferences

Page 2 Siemens PLM Software
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

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
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

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.

Preferences
Example Render Setting Recommendation

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

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

User Interface

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 sub-

branch such as “Loads” or
“Constraints” or individual Load and
Constraint Sets

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

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.

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

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)
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.

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!
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

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.

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

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

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

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).

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)
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

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)

FEMAP Interface
Entity Info – Layup Editor
Laminate Equivalent Properties dynamically update in Entity

Info as plies are added/removed from the Layup Editor

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

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”

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

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

Geometry

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.”

Geometry
Parasolid Box
Inches – Scale Factor – 39.97

• Everything entered is divided by 39.37 and stored
inside of Parasolid at 1/39.37th 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 1/1000.0th scale
• This stores millimeter dimensioned parts in meters
as recommended
• When using inches, this gives an effective box
size of +- 500,000 mm

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

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

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

Geometry
Non-Manifold Add
Extend Past, and use Geometry,

Surface, Delete to get rid of outsides

Geometry
Mixed Surface and Solid Modeling
Non-manifold Add

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
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

Geometry
Geometry Cleanup
Automatic

Geometry
Geometry Cleanup
Automatic – Spike Removal

Geometry
Geometry Cleanup
Resulting Mesh Before/After

Modeling / FEA

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

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

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

Modeling / FEA
Edge-to-Edge Contact
Examples of Edge-to-Edge Glued Contact with Plate Elements (Statics – Left,

Modes – Right)

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

Analysis

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

Post-
Processing

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

FEMAP Interface

FEMAP Interface
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

FEMAP Interface

FEMAP Interface
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

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

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

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: -250

- 125
Nxx: 500 lb/in 500 lb/in
Nyy: -250 lb/in 500
Nxy: -125 lb/in
125 lb/in
Crow’s foot plot
Conventional freebody
on quad element
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

Post-Processing
Crow’s Foot Plots

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
101: 0..Material Direction

106: 0..Element
Post-Processing
Solid Non-Linear Stresses
Incorrect Correct
Charting Pane

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

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.
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.

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

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

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
Charting Pane
Charting Dialog Box – Chart Axes
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
 Set the Interval and Count
 Toggle Tick Marks
 Title
 Toggle Display Title and title string
 Set Font Size, alignment, Justification and
Unrestricted © Siemens AG 2013 All rights reserved. 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

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

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
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

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.

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

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

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

Charting Pane
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

Charting Pane
Load Chart from Library Save Chart to Library

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

Miscellaneous

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
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)

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

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”
Miscellaneous
More Info
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/FEMAP-USERS/


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FEMAP Tips and Tricks

Andy Haines – Senior Applications Engineer

Unrestricted © Siemens AG 2013 All rights reserved.

Unrestricted © Siemens AG 2013 All rights reserved.

Automatically Attach to OP2 Files – When this option is

Use Memory Mapped OP2 Files – When this option is

General Solver Options and Auto Answer Post

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New for FEMAP 11.0. Performs the

Usually, it is probably best to leave this

Critical for Maximum Performance – Set

Can be used as a “final” option to recover

File Open/Save significantly faster. Use

Vertex Buffer Objects – Only turn this option on if you

Max VBO MB – FEMAP will determine how much RAM is

Min VBO B – By default, this value is set to 1024. This

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Include in Dynamic Rotation options - switching

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In case you need to get to COSMOS,

Depending on how you title your

Creates an individual group containing

New for FEMAP 11.0. Allows you to

Make sure you know where your

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Accessed via the “Resolution” button on the “Views” tab

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To quickly “Expand/Collapse” all

Also works when clicking a sub-

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To quickly create “Load Definitions” which only contain “loads

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Send to Data Table icon (Only available when Data Table is

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Fastest way to bring up the Layup Viewer for Laminates is to

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Visibility Check boxes for Geometry, Elements (By Type and By

The “context-sensitive” menu is different

The Reset All Visibility Options icon in Model

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If the number of entities of a particular entity type

If the cursor is placed over the “Visibility Check Boxes”

Holding certain keys down changes behavior (“Max

Visibility options on bottom of context-sensitive menu for

• Holding Shift key down while one of the above entity

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Typically, when an entity type is active in the Select toolbar, a

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• When using the selector dialog, keyboard shortcuts are available

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To do a “one-time” Query pick, simply change the “Pick^” method to “Normal”

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Several advanced picking filters have been

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A Node may be sent to the Entity Editor using the

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View nodal deformations in any Coordinate System by

Output Value at Node also

When open, very helpful during selection as it dynamically updates as the

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For Post-processing, bring back “Dynamic Query” functionality