Plot Profiles

Plots – plot settings stored with a user-defined name.

SDC Verifier has 7 types of plots:

Criteria – each element is colored based on a single output value for the element.
Contour – element is colored based on the corner data. Typically is used for stresses and displacement plots.
Output Vector Criteria – is the criteria plot but instead of selecting the result category and direction a user chooses an output vector that will be displayed.
Output Vector Contour - is the contour plot but instead of selecting the result category and direction a user chooses an output vector that will be displayed.
Histogram – is used for displaying extreme results on several loads at once.
Expand Graph – similar to Histogram plot but instead of extreme results it displays node/element results on several loads at once.
Beam Diagram – display results over beam members on several loads at once.

Common Options for criteria/contour plot profiles

The first step is to define a load. Then, a category of the result should be selected (displacement, stresses, strains, etc.).

The direction parameter depends on the result category. For stress - direction of stresses (X, Y, ..., Equivalent), for forces - force and moment components, displacement - translation and rotation components, etc.

LG Parameter is enabled only for Load Groups.

Select Elements/Nodes using Selector Control.

The look of the plot depends on View Settings. It is possible to select a view from the list or add a new one.

Press to display the plot.

display plot with all the settings;

- display plot with current view settings (ignore view from plot options);

- display plot with current view settings and current selection (ignore view and selection from plot options);

Press Button_save_plot to save the plot.

For Criteria/Contour plots use Labels Control to include labels with extreme values over recognition items (members, plates, stiffeners or welds), display min/max values of the model or show coordinates of sections from Panel Finder.

Add Criteria Plot

To Add Criteria Plot execute Job - Plots - Criteria Plot from the tree.

Common commands are described in Common Options chapter

For the elemental/nodal result category (e.g. stress) the point of interest and the type for total points has to be set.

Points of interests:

End I/Top – among points 1-4.
End J/Bottom = among points 5-8.
Total – among all points.

By default, a calculation type is set to AbsMax (absolute maximum value among point values). There are 4 calculation types:

Minimum.
Maximum.
AbsMax.
Average.

Limits are described in Common Controls chapter

Add Contour Plot

To Add Contour Plot execute Job - Plots - Contour Plot from the tree.

For a contour plot, Data Conversion can be set. These options control how the results are converted from data at element centroids, corners and nodes to the continuous graphical representation.

Common commands are described in Common Options chapter

Data Conversion is described in Common Controls chapter

Convert Plots to Peak Zone Tables

Both Contour and Criteria plots can be automatically converted to Peak Zone Tables. This can be performed in two ways:

Execute Job - Plots - Convert Multiple to Peak Tables from the tree. There will appear a selection of plots that are possible to convert.
Execute Job - Plots - Target Plot - Convert to Peak Table from the tree to convert a single plot.

Note: Other types of plots (e.g. Output Vector Plot) or plots with categories that aren't supported in Peak Finder Tool cannot be converted. If you try to do it, the following message will appear:

Before converting Filter Criteria options have to be set. For this a corresponding window will appear:

Newly created Peak Zone Table will be added to a right Peak Finder based on set options and data taken from target plot(s). If the corresponding Peak Finder doesn't exist in the project, it will be created automatically.

Note: If there are two or more Peak Finders that have got matching settings, created tables will be added only to the first one displayed in a tree.

Additionaly vice versa operation can be performed with Peak Zone Tables.

Add Output Vector Plot

To Add Output Vector Criteria/Contour Plot execute Job - Plots - Output Vector Criteria/Contour Plot from the tree.

Output Vector plot is actually a Criteria plot, the only difference is that in the output vector instead of setting the result category and direction a user defines the output vector.

plot

It is important to mention the filter for Output Vectors that helps to select the necessary output vector faster. By default, all vectors are displayed in the Output Vector list.

For the criteria plot, it is possible to set limits and for the contour plot - data conversion.

Histogram Plot

To Add Histogram Plot execute Job - Plots - Histogram Plot from the tree.

Histogram plot displays extreme results over directions for several loads at once.

Select Loads using Load Selector.

When Loads are defined select the result category from the Category list.

Histogram

Expand Graph

To Add Expand Graph execute Job - Plots - Expand Graph from the tree:

Expand Graph displays entity results for several loads at once. The graph is similar to Histogram but instead of the extreme results, it displays entity results.

When Loads are defined select the result Category, Direction, Point (only elemental results with Points) and Load Groups Parameter (Minimum, Maximum or Absolute).

ExpandGraph