D3PLOT 22.1

Open a Single Model

Filename

You can type a filename into the text entry box or use the button to obtain a standard file selector box .

File Filter

The File filter button controls what extension will be used to search for file types in the file selector box.

D3PLOT requires a complete state, or equivalent, file in order to run. Under Oasys conventions this will have the filename format <name>.ptf , but any name is acceptable so long as the contents are recognisable.

The default filter box "pattern" is set to All Results Files so that all available results files will be shown in the file selector. (See Ansys Ansys LS-DYNA output files processed and Other Output Files Processed for a list of supported file types and names.)

To make using the standard file filter box easier you can pre-select the "pattern" that will be used for scanning files on disk using the options shown here. Of course any pattern can still be typed into the file filter box itself.

Use Template File

From D3PLOT 10.0 onwards, D3PLOT can read an optional Template file that contains information on which windows models are located in and setting for model offsets, colours and initial plotting modes. If a template file is selected then the options to control which windows models are located in will be disabled.

For more information on the format of template file and the options it contains see Template File .

Read Options

Family size (MB) :

The binary output files written by Ansys LS-DYNA form "families". Each family has a root member and may have children. The maximum size of any member of a family is set when Ansys LS-DYNA runs, the default being 7MB, however any size > 1MB can be used.

By default D3PLOT determines the family member size automatically (the Auto setting shown here), but you can override this by entering a size in MB. This is almost never necessary: read Disk Format of Binary Database Files before doing this.

File skip:

File families should form a contiguous sequence (root, member #1, member #2, ...) But it is sometimes the case that members are missing: intermediate members be deleted to save disk space, and occasionally Ansys LS-DYNA skips members.

The File skip value (here zero) is the number of missing members that D3PLOT will skip before giving up its search and deciding that it has found the end of a file family. See Disk Format of Binary Database Files for further information.

Title swap:

It is unfortunately the case that some versions of Ansys LS-DYNA have been compiled with numeric conversion flags which endian swap their output. This works fine for numbers, but scrambles the title (the string ABCDEFGH becomes DCBAHGFE).

If your title looks like garbage try changing this field to Y(es) to see if this fixes the problem. (Note that you can do this at any time during a D3PLOT session: see The FILE > popup menu options ).

Open Model in Window

By Default D3PLOT will open each model in a new Graphics Window.

If a second or subsequent model is opened D3PLOT will offer the choice of opening the model in a new Window ( Next ) or one of the existing Windows ( W1 , W2 ...).

If more than one Window is selected then D3PLOT will add the model to each of the Windows.

Read Additional Files

In addition to the main model file D3PLOT can read a number of additional files. By default all of these additional files will be selected to be read.

If the option is selected then D3PLOT will automatically search for these additional files in the model directory and load any that are found.

Model Independent Files

Settings file (.set)

d3plotnnn.set or

<jobname>.set

Contains information about programme settings on a per-window basis, such as background colour, cut-sections, data component, etc. These will be read if found and will automatically create new windows if required, and set them up as they were before.

Property file (.prp)

< filename >_nnn.prp or

<jobname>.prp

Contain model-related information such as colour, transparency, overlay, etc that has previously been written from the PROPS panel. These files will be reread if found so that all this status information is automatically restored.

Ascii groups file (.asc)

group001.asc

Contains optional group information in a human-readable form which matches that used by PRIMER in the keyword input deck. If such a file is read it will supersede those groups currently stored for this model

Settings and Properties files are described more fully under UTILITIES, SETTINGS_FILE.

Group handling in D3PLOT 9.0 was extensively modified and improved, and it is described more fully under GROUPS.

Model Specific Files

Add'l data (ztf)	The ZTF file is created by PRIMER and it contains a lot of additional data that D3PLOT can use to plot entities and data that is not included in the main model files. All of the data that was previously written to the XTF file by the SMP version of Ansys LS-DYNA that D3PLOT uses to draw springs, joints, stonewalls etc is also written to the ZTF file.
Interface force segments and data	Ansys LS-DYNA can output interface force files with different names depending on the analysis type (see Ansys LS-DYNA output files processed). The popup can be used to select which one D3PLOT should try to read. In a model with many contact surfaces omitting the interface force file can speed up graphics and save memory, since contact segments will be ignored.
Springs, masses, joints (xtf)	Contains information on springs, joints stonewalls and lumped masses. Omitting the XTF file contents will not give similar savings to those obtained by omitting the CTF file and is not generally recommended. MPP versions of Ansys LS-DYNA do not write a XTF file, so from D3PLOT 9.0 onwards, the equivalent data is also present in the ZTF file.
Spotweld, SPC etc (LSDA)	From D3PLOT 9.4 onwards, D3PLOT can also read some additional data from the LSDA (binout) file. If your model contains spotwelds, springs, seatbelts or restrained nodes then D3PLOT will be able to plot come data components for these items if you have turned on output for them to the LSDA file.

It is recommended that both XTF and ZTF files should always be read if present.

Details of the contents of all these files are given in Contents of the Ansys LS-DYNA Database Files Processed by D3PLOT

Manually Selecting Additional Files

If the option is deselected then once a model has been selected D3PLOT will search for any additional files and display any that it finds.

For the .set , .prp , .asc , and .ztf the text boxes and file selectors can be used to select alternative files if required.

After selecting an alternative file you can switch between the automatically found file and the user defined one using the popup menu attached to the text box.

Eigenmode Magnification Factor

When reading in modal analysis results (e.g. Nastran, OptiStruct or Frequency Domain Files in D3PLOT such as d3eigv), a magnification will automatically be applied to scale the displacements. This is done because deformations are generally relatively small for these analyses. Further magnifications make the mode shape more visible and easier to analyse. There are two magnification setting types: "absolute" and "percentage". Setting the type to "absolute" sets the same magnification factor to each mode shape and setting it to "percent" will set the maximum displacement for each mode shape to be a percentage of the model size. This value can later be modified in the Deform -> Magnify Panel.

The "Save" button will save the settings to your oa_pref file for use in future sessions.

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