INTERNAL_FACES Switch: Display of Inside Faces of Solid & Thick Shell Elements

INTERNAL_FACES switch: Display of inside faces of solid & thick shell elements

By default the internal faces of 3D elements are never displayed: as well as requiring extra rendering effort leads to cluttered plots. The figure below left shows a wall of solids with internal (but not back) faces turned on, and below right, the same wall with both internal and back faces on.

You may need to turn internal faces on if you are trying to screen pick solids several layers deep by screen-area. Otherwise each screen area selection will only pick the (visible) solids at the front of the image, like peeling an onion, and several such picks will be required to select all the solids through the depth.

When D3PLOT is displaying a CT, SI or LC data plot then by default only the external faces of 3D elements are used to calculate the contour bar range. If internal faces are turned on then they are also included in this calculation. From version 18 onwards it is also possible to include the internal faces in the calculation without having to turn them on - see Visible faces vs All faces ).