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Frame Analysis Results

Topics in this section

Introduction

Get Started

Frame Analysis Environment

View and Interpret the Results

Display Maximum and Minimum Values

View Beam Detail

Display and Edit Diagrams

Adjust Displacement Display

Animate the Results

Generate Report

Summary

Introduction

Category Simulation
Time Required 15 minutes
Tutorial File Used analyze_frame_tutorial.iam

Objectives

Open a simulation.

View and interpret the results.

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Display and edit diagrams.

View beam detail.

Adjust displacement display.

Display maximal and minimal values in the graphics window.

Animate results.

Generate report.

Prerequisites

Complete the Frame Analysis tutorial.

Know how to use the Quick Access toolbar, tabs and panels on the ribbon, model browser,
and context menus.

Know how to specify and edit project files.

See the Help topics for further information.

Navigation Tips

Use Show in the upper-left corner to display the table of contents for this tutorial with
navigation links to each page.

Use Forward in the upper-right corner to advance to the next page.

Next

Get Started

To begin, open the assembly to analyze.

1. Click the Open command on the Quick Access toolbar.

2. Set the Project File to tutorial_files.ipj

3. Select Frame Analysis 1 analyze_frame_tutorial.iam.

Note This assembly was created during Frame Analysis tutorial.

4. Click Open.

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Frame Analysis Environment

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We are ready to enter the Frame Analysis environment.

On the ribbon, click Environments tab Begin panel Frame Analysis .

We created a simulation during the Frame Analysis tutorial so the model with simulation
results displays. The displacement results plot displays in the graphics window by default.

The browser populates with a hierarchical structure of the assembly and analysis-related
folders.

All the commands in the ribbon panels are now enabled for use. We can use the commands for
viewing and interpreting results.

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View and Interpret the Results

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In the browser, expand the Results folder.

The Results folder includes results for Displacement, Forces, Moments, Normal Stresses, Shear
Stresses, Torsional Stresses, and the Diagrams folder.

Expand a folder and double-click to display the particular result.

When there are any errors or warnings during a simulation, they display in the Status folder.
Our simulation ran without any problems, so the Status folder is empty.

We now explore various tools located in the Result and Display panels for viewing result
data.

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Display Maximum and Minimum Values

Minimum and maximum values quickly show the locations of load extremes.

In the Display panel, click Max Value . In the graphics window, a label with a leader
points to the location of the maximum value.

In the Display panel, click Min Value . In the graphics window, a label with a leader
points to the location of the minimum value.

Note You can drag the labels to different locations.

The following image shows maximum and minimum values for the Displacement results plot.

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Cancel the selection of the Max Value and Mix Value options in the Display panel to hide the
values.

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View Beam Detail

You can display detailed results for the selected beams. In the Result panel, click Beam

Detail .

First, select a beam whose results you want to display. Select a beam as shown in the
following image.

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In the Diagram Selection area, select the result data you want to display as a diagram.
Select a particular force, moment, or stress to display its diagram, Fz for example. The
displayed diagram is for viewing only and cannot be edited.

A complete list of beam results displays on the right side of the dialog box.

Click OK to close the dialog box.

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Display and Edit Diagrams

To display results for a given beam, you can add user-defined diagrams to the graphics

window. In the Result panel, click Diagram .

In the Beams area, select how you want to specify which beams are included in the diagrams.
In this tutorial, check the Selected Beams box, and select the beam as shown in the
following image.

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Now, select which results you want to display. Check the Fx and Fy boxes in the Loads area.

Click OK to close the Diagram dialog box.

You can adjust the display of beam diagrams in the Diagram Scales dialog box. In the
browser, select Diagrams, right-click, and select Diagram Scales . Use the Expand,
Contract, and Normalize buttons to adjust the scale of diagrams. Click OK to see the change in
the scale in displayed diagrams.

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Adjust Displacement Display

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You can scale the model deformation using the options in the Adjust Displacement Display
drop-down list in the Display panel.

Expand the Results folder, and double-click the Displacement browser node.

Select a multiple to improve the view of the deformation of the model.

In the following image, the Adjusted x0.5 option is selected.

In the following image, the Adjusted x5 option is selected.

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Animate the Results

Now, create an animation of the results.

1. Click Animate in the Result panel.

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2. In the Animate Results dialog box, specify number of steps. Set the Steps edit field to 8.

3. Specify the playback speed. Select Normal in the Speed drop-down menu.

4. Click the Play command to see the animation. You can pause playback.

5. When you finish the displacement animation, click OK to exit the animation playback.

The Animate Results dialog box also has options for displaying the original wireframe with the
plot. You can also record the animation to present or retain for records.

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Generate Report

We can generate a report of the simulation results which includes all the simulation data and
outputs.

1. Click Report in the Publish panel.

2. On the General tab, check the Custom box.

3. Switch to the Simulations tab, and make sure the Material and Cross Section in the
tree are selected.

4. Switch to the Format tab and make sure the Web page – multiple files (.html) option
is selected in the Report Format drop-down menu.

5. Click OK to close the dialog box and create the HTML report.

Report contains text and PNG images that represent a static snapshot of the analysis results.

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Summary

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Now you have an understanding of the tools you can use to view and interpret results of frame
analysis. You know how to:

Display and edit diagrams.

View beam detail.

Adjust displacement display.

Display maximal and minimal values in the graphics window.

Animate results.

Generate report.

What Next? As a next step, look into creating advanced connections (releases and rigid
links), and adding custom nodes to the beam model. The Frame Analysis Connections
tutorial takes you through these topics.

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