eta/PostGL GRAPH TUTORIAL

A post-processor compatible with LS-DYNA/PC

Version 1.0 GL Release Date: March 1, 1999

FORWARD
The concepts, methods, and examples presented in this text are for illustrative and educational purposes only, and are not intended to be exhaustive or to apply to any particular engineering problem or design. This material is a compilation of data and figures from many sources. Engineering Technology Associates, Inc. assumes no liability or responsibility to any person or company for direct or indirect damages resulting from the use of any information contained herein.

Engineering Technology Associates, Inc. 1133 E. Maple Rd., Suite 200 Troy, MI 48083-2896 Phone: FAX: Support: (248) 729 - 3010 (248) 729 - 3020 (800) eta - 3362

Engineering Technology Associates, Inc., eta, the eta logo, eta/PostGL, and the eta/PostGL PC logo are the registered trademarks of Engineering Technology Associates, Inc. All other trademarks or names are the property of the respective owners.

Copyright 1999 Engineering Technology Associates, Inc. All rights reserved.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction ........................................................................................................................... 1 Introducing eta/PostGL Graph 1.0...................................................................................... 1 Ease of Use and Compatibility.......................................................................................... 1 Accuracy......................................................................................................................... 1 Reliability........................................................................................................................ 2 About This Guide ............................................................................................................ 2 Terms and Acronyms Used..................................................................................................... 3 Background .......................................................................................................................... 4 Getting Started....................................................................................................................... 6 Running Graph for the First Time ...................................................................................... 6 LS-DYNA Interface ........................................................................................................13 LS-DYNA State Data Files..............................................................................................16 LS-DYNA Time Data Files .............................................................................................20 Curve Operations ............................................................................................................23 Output and Microsoft Compatibility .................................................................................26 Message Systems ............................................................................................................28 MDI Operations ..............................................................................................................29 Conclusion ...........................................................................................................................30

Introduction
Welcome to PostGL/Graph 1.0, eta's new time-related data processor on Microsoft Windows platforms, i.e. Windows NT, Windows95, and Windows98. It can process all the time data from LS-DYNA analysis. It is designed for easy use via its friendly user interface, it has the state of the art engineering desired data processing capabilities in time domain, e.g. curve arithmetic, signal filter and transform between time domain and frequency domain, e.g. FFT. The object-oriented design makes the PostGL/Graph robust and the versatile data manipulation allows the data verification easier and post-processing of finite element analysis more accurate. Because of the unique file I/O design, the performance is also excellent even on lowerend PCs and the various outputs allow data transfer and sharing more convenient. Rather than focus on one kind of data format, PostGL/Graph uses an external translator to support virtually all kinds of data formats.

Introducing PostGL/Graph 1.0

As an effective data processing tool for time domain data, PostGL/Graph represents time domain data as a curve in X-Y coordination curve window. With the rich curve manipulation functions from PostGL/Graph, data representation is flexible and visually perceptive. The 2D data representation allows for easier engineering analysis. The 3D data representations are handled in the PostGL 3D program from eta and its powerful animation features will give an application engineer a broader view of the result. Together this package offers an effective post-processing solution for scientific and engineering data visualization and analysis.

Ease of Use and Compatibility

The user interface design makes the use of the program easy for both novice and experienced users. The design follows Microsoft standard windows interface designing paradigm. Any user with some knowledge of Microsoft programs, e.g. Microsoft Word, will have an idea as to operating this program. PostGL/Graph supports all LS-DYNA analysis output.

Accuracy
All the input data files are fully tested by eta QA engineers and the accuracy is also fully verified. The results from the data processing are also compared with

eta/PostGL Graph Tutorial

other commercial data processing packages and the comparison results are consistent.

Reliability
The program passed tests on various configured PCs and different program runtime environments, including low memory test, heavy-load test and etc. The error message system will report current resource shortage under extreme circumstances and will gracefully abort the current operation.

About This Guide

This guide will help you get started with this program and tell you how to perform the data analysis. It will also give an introduction on signal processing to help the novice user gain the required knowledge needed to use this program. Refer to the Users Manual for more details.

eta/PostGL Graph Tutorial

Terms and Acronyms Used

PostGL PostGL/Graph FFT IFFT MDI Butterworth Filter FIR Filter Graph Window Curve Window FEA LS-DYNA Microsoft Graphics Metafile An OpenGL-based post processor developed in eta. A companion software of PostGL for time data analysis developed at eta. Forward Fast Fourier Transform. Inverse Fast Fourier Transform. The Microsoft Multi-Document Interface. An infinite-duration impulse filter of lowpass. A finite-duration impulse response filter. MDI child windows from the perspective of GUI interface window. eta defined windows which uses Graph Window as container and has curve data inside. Finite element analysis. A finite element analysis package developed in LSTC. Microsoft defined graphic file format at meta-level of device independence for graphics information interchange. Object linking and embedding (OLE) supported metafile format from Microsoft. It has more functionality than a standard metafile. A still image compression standard from International Standard Organization (ISO). An image format simply using bits to store pixel color information. In contrast to block color information representation. A document program file format from Adobe Systems Inc. for interchange among different platforms. Its syntax uses PostFix. A standard format for importing and exporting PostScript language files among different documentation systems, e.g. Latex.

Microsoft Enhanced Graphics Metafile JPEG (Joint Photographic Expert Group) Bitmapped image

PostScript

Encapsulated PostScript

eta/PostGL Graph Tutorial

Background
In this section, an introduction on digital filter is presented, including the filter design, usage and result interpretation. After the introduction, a brief review on FFT is given. For further information, please refer to the cited reference. For the advanced user, skip this section and begin "Getting Started." There are four different filters implemented in eta PostGL/Graph 1.0, they are: Average Filter Butterworth Filter Finite Impulse Response (FIR) Filter SAE Filter

One implementation of Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) and the Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) is also given. They are the forward FFT and backward FFT to switch the signal representation between time domain and frequency domain. We can call any output time data from finite element analysis (FEA) software signals through this guide. The signals from FEA are in the form of discrete-time sequence via sampling during the analysis. Usually the signal magnitude varies very much in a short period of time. The noise disturbance intertwines the signal information and makes the real signal unclear in the original data. The digital filter will help to eliminate the disturbance so that the signal characteristics appear more clearly. Filtering is a process by which the frequency spectrum of a signal can be modified. It can be manipulated so that the result output signal conforms to some specification, e.g. SAE Standard. These four filters are commonly required for automobile FEA engineering. Refer to [1, 2, 3] on the following page for more details. Neither time-domain analysis nor frequency-domain analysis can exploit the full characteristics of signals. The combined approach will give an accurate and effective method on signal analysis. Refer to [4] on the following page for more details. The forward FFT, which can switch the signal representation from time-domain to frequencydomain, allows the frequency-domain analysis. After analysis, the frequency data can be switched back to time-domain via applying backward FFT. The DFT is a basic operation to transform an ordered sequence of data samples from a signal, usually in a time-domain into the frequency-domain, so that the spectral information about the signal can be represented explicitly. The FFT is a fast algorithm for computing the DFT. There are various implementations of FFT when the samples are not a power of two. The algorithms adopted in this package can deal with both cases, either the number of samples is a power of two or not. Refer to [5] on the following page for more details.

eta/PostGL Graph Tutorial

References: 1) A.W.M Van Den Enden et al. Discrete-time Signal Processing, an Introduction, Prentice Hall, 1989. 2) Andreas Antoniou, Digital Filter, Analysis, Design and Application, Second Edition, McGram-Hill, 1993. 3) James V. Candy, Signal Processing: the Model-Based Approach, McGraw-Hill, 1993. 4) Edited by Boualem Boashash, Time-Frequency Signal Analysis, Longman Cheshire, Wiley Halsted Press, 1992. 5) Samuel D. Stearns et al. Signal Processing Algorithms in Fortran and C.

eta/PostGL Graph Tutorial

Getting Started
Running Graph for the First Time
There are several ways to start PostGL/Graph. You can run through commandline, LS-DYNA system call or Windows Explorer. If you have generated Graph.gr file, you also can set the file association and activate the program there. More information regarding a graph file will be given later in this guide. The graph file from PostGL/Graph is the project output file which contains curve data and curve window information and other related information. The eta PostGL/Graph Display windows are shown in Figure 1:

eta/PostGL Graph Tutorial

(Figure 1) eta PostGL/Graph 1.0 Display Windows

eta/PostGL Graph Tutorial

There are several sub-windows: A graphic display window holds the curve windows. This will occupy most of the program. A dialogue window displays the user feedback or system message like a warning or operation prompts. The initial message is the eta logo and copyright information. A data input window allows the user to key in inputs for some operations. The actual data fields vary according to the specific operation requirements. A menu bar which has only two menu item as "Exit Program" and "Open File". A toolbar is shown to give the user an operation shortcut of two tool buttons. The actions associated with them are "Open File" and "Exit Program." They are the same as the corresponding menu items in the menu. If user wants to know the operation associated with a button, point the mouse on the button for a short while, the tool-tip will appear to tell the operation. All the buttons in this program have tool-tip. The status bar has two fields. One field displays current operation status and the other shows the curve point coordinates along the mouse pointer move after curve data is loaded. A Tab window with two Tab items, one is anonymous and the other is the Graph Tab. After the curve data are loaded, the current Tab is automatically switched to the Graph Tab. Note: The interface layout fits the 1024 x 768 display or higher. However, if the users PC has a lower resolution or its display is set to lower resolution, a scrollbar will appear to allow the user to select operations via scrolling the Tab Window. The bottom message window and data input window will automatically switch left or right based on the user operation requirements.

eta/PostGL Graph Tutorial

After user selects the "Open File" operation, a standard file open dialog box will popup as shown in Figure 2:

(Figure 2) eta PostGL/Graph 1.0 File Open Dialog Box.

There are 7 file formats used for input, as displayed in Figure 2 when the user clicks "Files of type" selection box:
LS-DYNA Graph LS-DYNA Time History Data LS-DYNA State Data eta DYNA d3plot converted Data eta List Directed Curve eta Column Directed Curve eta PostGL/Graph Graph All LS-DYNA ASCII format files. LS-DYNA Time History output files. LS-DYNA State output files. eta POSTGL converted LS-DYNA State output files, e.g. .av file from eta PostGL. eta List Directed Curve data files. eta Column Directed Curve data files. eta PostGL/Graph generated graph files. (Table 1) Types of File for Reading.

After any curve data is read into the program, the interface is switched to a full functional window as shown in Figure 3:

eta/PostGL Graph Tutorial

(Figure 3) eta PostGL/Graph 1.0 Full Functional Window.

There are some new items in this window than those in the previous window. A new longer toolbar on the top of the graphic display window, another Tab window which contains two list boxes and a group of buttons for curve operations, two curve windows, and a tool window for label operations.

eta/PostGL Graph Tutorial

10

The following is additional information: 1. There is always a working curve window with the title bar highlighted in the graphic display window. The GAZ REAR IMPACT ANALYSIS-BASELINE RERUN curve window in above case is the current working window. 2. The two list boxes in the Graph Tab window are entitled as Loaded Graphs and Corresponding Curves." Loaded Graphs lists the names of the loaded graph window with the current title highlighted in red and the others in black. Corresponding Curves lists the curves loaded in the working window. In the above case, there are 12 curves in the working window and the colors of the curve names in Corresponding Curves correspond to the curve colors in the working window. 3. When the name is too long and if user leaves mouse pointer on the name for while, a tool-tip will tell the whole name of the possibly truncated name in the list boxes. If the mouse pointer is idle for a while in the blank areas, the tool-tip window will display either Graph List Box or the working window name based on the underneath list box. 4. In Curve Operations, there are currently 22 allowed curve operations in two categories: curve data operation buttons and curve object operation buttons. These four actions belong to the object operation category: Dup (Curve Duplication), Paste (Curve Paste), Copy (Curve Paste) and Del (Curve Deletion). All the others are in the curve data operation category. 5. The button activation depends on the user-specified operations, i.e. unary, binary, multi-curve operation. If only one curve is highlighted in Corresponding Curves, all the unary curve operation buttons are activated, and if two curves are highlighted, all the binary curve operation buttons are activated and etc. Only activated button operations are allowed. 6. There are tool-tips for all the operation buttons, but only when the button is activated can the tool-tip appear when mouse pointer is on the button. 7. The right field of the status window will show the curve window coordinates from the mouse movement in the curve window. The user can use this feature to query the point coordinates on the curve. 8. There is a user profile file in the local machines windows system directory, which saves all user default setting information like background color and curve highlight color. This file is automatically created after the first run of the program. The user usually need not be aware of this file. However, if there is file name conflicts or license problem, the user may need to directly edit this file or change conflicted file name to other names (see also #9). This file name is EtaPost.ini.

eta/PostGL Graph Tutorial

11

9. Sometimes when the users computer is re-configured or some environment is changed, the system prompts the user for license information. The user may need to exit the program, edit the file to remove the authorization information from the file and key-in the previous assigned license code after the program prompts for it in the next run. If this does not work, the user may need to request a new license for the newly configured machine from an eta sales representative.

eta/PostGL Graph Tutorial

12

LS-DYNA Interface
eta PostGL/Graph offers a convenient interface to LS-DYNA, the industry trusted FEA software system. It directly supports LS-DYNA outputs and allows its postprocessing. The ASCII time history files, e.g. glstat, ncforc and etc, can be loaded using the LS-DYNA Graph file type. All standard LS-DYNA ASCII files can be identified directly from the File/Open dialog box. For example, there is a file and its name is not one of the pre-assigned LS-DYNA file names, but its format conforms to the global statistics file format, the user can rename this file name to glstat and load the renamed glstat. The other way is to read the file, as in the above example, selecting the file into the program. Next, the program will ask the user to identify the file format. After checking the file name, the user can either scroll up and down the dialogue window to select the file type via clicking the corresponding line or key-in the format index. The index for current version is shown as follows: PostGL Graph file List-Directed Curve file Column-Directed Curve file PostGL converted .av file LS-DYNA ASCII glstat file LS-DYNA ASCII matsum file LS-DYNA ASCII nodout file LS-DYNA ASCII nodfor file LS-DYNA ASCII rcforc file LS-DYNA ASCII deforc file LS-DYNA ASCII rwforc file LS-DYNA ASCII secforc file LS-DYNA ASCII abstat file LS-DYNA ASCII sleout file LS-DYNA ASCII rbdout file LS-DYNA ASCII jntforc file LS-DYNA ASCII elout file LS-DYNA ASCII swforc file LS-DYNA ASCII sbtout file LS-DYNA ASCII bndout file LS-DYNA ASCII gceout file LS-DYNA ASCII ncforc file LS-DYNA ASCII spcforc file LS-DYNA ASCII defgeo file LS-DYNA ASCII tprint file LS-DYNA ASCII ssstat file LS-DYNA state binary file LS-DYNA time binary file 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27

eta/PostGL Graph Tutorial

13

However, there might be new file to add later on. All ASCII format file index will be added after 25 and binary format file will be added in the end. During the reading of some files, a program bar will be displayed in the first field of the status bar and a time interval selection dialog box will pop-up to allow the user to select an interval to read. An example is illustrated in Figure 4.

(Figure 4) eta PostGL/Graph 1.0 File I/O Time Interval Selection Dialog Box.

In this figure, the data spans from time 0.0 to 2.47E-002. The user selected the time interval at 4.752E-3 to 1.976E-2. Only information in the selected interval is read in. The curve maximum and minimum value along X-axis is 4.752E-3 and 1.976E-2, respectively. For files which have more than one type of information, the users interaction is required to select an intent type. An example of this case is illustrated in Figure 5. Please be aware of not only the sbtout format file has multiple type data, there are several others that are similar. Refer the Users Manual for more details. Note: Some of the variables in the LS-DYNA ASCII files may not be retrieved like some summary information. The arithmetic curve operations can compute these variable curves. The Von Mises (Effective Stress) can be computed using the Von Mises curve operation, it needs six stress components, i.e. xx stress, yy stress, zz stress, xy stress, yz stress, zx stress for the computation.

eta/PostGL Graph Tutorial

14

(Figure 5) eta PostGL/Graph 1.0 Data Type Selection Dialog Box.

In this figure, when the program reads the sbtout file, there are three types of data available. The dialog box allows the user to retrieve the needed data. The available data type depends on the data file. Some sbtout file may only contain seat belt and slip ring and no retractor information. Then the dialog will only list the first two. Do not expect it will always pop-up a dialog box with the same number of items in it. In some case if there is only one item in the file sbtout, a dialog box may not come out at all. eta PostGL/Graph can directly read in the LS-DYNA state data and LS-DYNA time data. Although the two types of data format are very similar, the data layout and file organization is quite different as explained in following subsections.

eta/PostGL Graph Tutorial

15

LS-DYNA State Data Files

There are usually three types of time data in LS-DYNA state files. They are global variable data, nodal data and element data. In the global variable data, it contains global variable information, material information and rigid wall information. There is coordinate data, velocity data, acceleration data and temperature data in the nodal data section while some of them may not be present based on the corresponding flags set elsewhere. There are four kinds of element types in the element section. The four element types are brick element, brick shell element, beam element and shell element. Different types of elements have different variables and for the same element, the number of variables and the variable types can also change upon the input model, database and analysis type. Some elements may not present. Tables 2 7 show the possible variable types for each data type.
Global Data Global variables Material variables Rigid Wall Variable Types Kinetic Energy, Internal Energy, Total Energy, X Velocity, Y Velocity, Z Velocity, External Work. Internal Energy, Kinetic Energy, X Velocity, Y Velocity, Z Velocity. Force. (Table 2) LS-DYNA Global Variable Data.

Nodal Data Temperature of Nodal Data (if corresponding flag is set) Coordinate of Nodal Data (if corresponding flag is set) Velocity of Nodal Data (if corresponding flag is set) Acceleration of Nodal Data (if corresponding flag is set)

Variable Types Temperature. X, Y, Z coordinates. X, Y, Z direction velocity. X, Y, Z direction acceleration.

(Table 3) LS-DYNA Nodal Data Variable Types.

Brick Element Data Cauchy Stress Other Extra Variables Epsilon Strain

Variable Types Sigma-XX, Sigma-YY, Sigma-ZZ, Sigma-XY, Sigma-YZ, Sigma-ZX. Effective plastics or material dependent variable. Run-time dependent variables. Epsilon-XX, Epsilon-YY, Epsilon-ZZ, Epsilon-XY, Epsilon-YZ, Epsilon-ZX.

(Table 4) LS-DYNA Brick Element Data Variable Types

eta/PostGL Graph Tutorial

16

Brick Shell Element Data Midsurface Cauchy Stress Midsurface Additional Variables Innersurface Cauchy Stress Innersurface Additional Variables Outersurface Cauchy Stress Outersurface Additional Variables Innersurface Strain Outersurface Strain

Variable Types Sigma-XX, Sigma-YY, Sigma-ZZ, Sigma-XY, Sigma-YZ, Sigma-ZX. Run-time dependent variables. Sigma-XX, Sigma-YY, Sigma-ZZ, Sigma-XY, Sigma-YZ, Sigma-ZX. Run-time dependent variables. Sigma-XX, Sigma-YY, Sigma-ZZ, Sigma-XY, Sigma-YZ, Sigma-ZX. Run-time dependent variables. Epsilon-XX, Epsilon-YY, Epsilon-ZZ, Epsilon-XY, Epsilon-YZ, Epsilon-ZX. Epsilon-XX, Epsilon-YY, Epsilon-ZZ, Epsilon-XY, Epsilon-YZ, Epsilon-ZX.

(Table 5) LS-DYNA Brick Shell Element Data Variable Types.

Beam Element Beam element Variable Types

Variable Types Axial force, Shear resultant-s, Shear resultant-t, Bending moment-s, Bending moment-t Torsional resultant.

(Table 6) LS- DYNA Beam Element Data Variable Types.

Shell Element Data Midsurface Cauchy Stress in global system Midsurface Additional variables Innersurface Cauchy Stress in global system Innersurface Additional variables Outersurface Cauchy Stress in global system Outersurface Additional variables Shell Element Additional variables Local ShellCoordinate System Based Variables

Variable Types Sigma-XX, Sigma-YY, Sigma-ZZ, Sigma-XY, Sigma-YZ, Sigma-ZX, Effective plastic strain or material dependent variables. Run-time dependent variables Sigma-XX, Sigma-YY, Sigma-ZZ, Sigma-XY, Sigma-YZ, Sigma-ZX, Effective plastic strain or material dependent variables. Run-time dependent variables Sigma-XX, Sigma-YY, Sigma-ZZ, Sigma-XY, Sigma-YZ, Sigma-ZX, Effective plastic strain or material dependent variables. Run-time dependent variables. Run-time dependent variables. Bending moment-mxx, Bending moment-myy, Bending moment-mxy, Shear resultant-qxx, Shear resultant-qyy, Normal resultant-nxx, Normal resultant-nyy, Normal resultant-nxy, Thickness, Element dependent variables 1, Element dependent variables 2. eps-xx, eps-yy, eps-zz, eps-xy, eps-yz, eps-zx. eps-xx, eps-yy, eps-zz, eps-xy, eps-yz, eps-zx. Internal Energy.

Innersurface Strain in global system Outersurface Strain in global system Internal Energy (if corresponding flag set)

(Table 7) LS-DYNA Shell Element Data Variable Types.

eta/PostGL Graph Tutorial

17

(Figure 6) LS-DYNA State data selection dialog box.

eta PostGL/Graph will prompt the user to select the intent data to retrieve from the state files. The dialog box is shown in Figure 6. Only the actual contained data types will be displayed and the list box items may change depending upon the project. For example in Figure 6, there is no brick shell element in the d3plot file, therefore brick shell element is not displayed in the d3plot file. Note: For adapted meshed LS-DYNA state output, the model geometry changes along with the progress of the analysis, as is the model database. However, eta PostGL/Graph element list is based on the initial database. The elements introduced during the analysis can not be listed in the element selection dialog. There is a solution for this situation if the user wants to view the various information concerning those elements. First rename a mid-step d3plotxx batch file to the initial file name. Second, move all the preceding files somewhere else and then read that file as the d3plot start file. The program will list the intermittent elements for user selection. This method is illustrated in Figures 7 and 8.

eta/PostGL Graph Tutorial

18

(Figures 7 and 8) Demonstration of the adapted meshed d3plot files reading of intermittent elements.

The initial state database only has 595 shell elements and the file in step 3 titled d3plotab has 1171 shell elements. The user can also read any of the intermittent files to view the element lists and can easily figure out the element added in some step. Note: This program does not process the geometry information and it will also not represent the time data in 3D form. Those functions can be found in the PostGL 3D program.

eta/PostGL Graph Tutorial

19

LS-DYNA Time Data Files

There are two differences between the LS-DYNA state files and LS-DYNA time files. First, besides of all the time data in state files, there is a new group of data that can be retrieved from LS-DYNA time data: nodal element data for brick, brick shell and shell. Second, not all elements and nodes in the database have the time data information stored. Here only the differences are given, refer to the above section for the others. Tables 8 10 give the variables for each element nodal data.
Nodal Brick data Node 1 Coordinate Node 2 Coordinate Node 3 Coordinate Node 4 Coordinate Node 5 Coordinate Node 6 Coordinate Node 7 Coordinate Node 8 Coordinate Node 1 Velocity Node 2 Velocity Node 3 Velocity Node 4 Velocity Node 5 Velocity Node 6 Velocity Node 7 Velocity Node 8 Velocity Variable Types x, y, z coordinates for node 1 x, y, z coordinates for node 2 x, y, z coordinates for node 3 x, y, z coordinates for node 4 x, y, z coordinates for node 5 x, y, z coordinates for node 6 x, y, z coordinates for node 7 x, y, z coordinates for node 8 Velocity for node 1 Velocity for node 2 Velocity for node 3 Velocity for node 4 Velocity for node 5 Velocity for node 6 Velocity for node 7 Velocity for node 8

(Table 8) LS-DYNA Nodal Brick Element Data Variable Types.

Nodal Brick Shell Data Node 1 Coordinate Node 2 Coordinate Node 3 Coordinate Node 4 Coordinate Node 5 Coordinate Node 6 Coordinate Node 7 Coordinate Node 8 Coordinate Node 1 Velocity Node 2 Velocity Node 3 Velocity Node 4 Velocity Node 5 Velocity Node 6 Velocity Node 7 Velocity Node 8 Velocity

Variable Types x, y, z coordinates for node 1 x, y, z coordinates for node 2 x, y, z coordinates for node 3 x, y, z coordinates for node 4 x, y, z coordinates for node 5 x, y, z coordinates for node 6 x, y, z coordinates for node 7 x, y, z coordinates for node 8 Velocity for node 1 Velocity for node 2 Velocity for node 3 Velocity for node 4 Velocity for node 5 Velocity for node 6 Velocity for node 7 Velocity for node 8

(Table 9) LS-DYNA Nodal Brick Shell Element Data Variable Types.

eta/PostGL Graph Tutorial

20

Nodal Shell Data Node 1 Coordinate Node 2 Coordinate Node 3 Coordinate Node 4 Coordinate Node 1 Velocity Node 2 Velocity Node 3 Velocity Node 4 Velocity

Variable Types x, y, z coordinates for node 1 x, y, z coordinates for node 2 x, y, z coordinates for node 3 x, y, z coordinates for node 4 Velocity for node 1 Velocity for node 2 Velocity for node 3 Velocity for node 4

(Table 10) LS-DYNA Nodal Shell Element Data Variable Types.

(Figure 9) Nodal Element Variable Selection Dialog Box.

After the user opens an LS-DYNA time data file, the related information is retrieved and a variable selection dialog box pops up. Only the elements whose nodal data information is available are listed in the dialog box. Figure 9 give an example of variable selection for nodal element data. In this figure, there is only one brick element and only eight nodes are listed. As mentioned before, only elements or nodes whose nodal data are exported in the time data files are available for query. An example on how to select elements or nodes is illustrated in Figure 10.

eta/PostGL Graph Tutorial

21

(Figure 10) Node Selection Dialog Box.

In this figure, there are 37 node data put in the time data files. The user can select from only this list with the combination of its variables for nodal data query.

eta/PostGL Graph Tutorial

22

Curve Operations
There are 22 operations on curve objects. These operations belong to two categories: curve data operations and curve object operations. The User's Manual has more detail information on individual operations. In this guide, some user interface features and operation usage are listed as follows: Some curve data operations require the sample frequency and intervals are the same, e.g. binary arithmetic operations. Some other unary operations require a minimum number of samples, e.g. Differentiation, Integration and etc. If the user uses these operations without respecting these requirements. An error message box will be popped up. Only activated curve buttons are capable of showing tool tips. Button activation is based on the selection of curves in the curve list box above the curve operation container. Sometimes, upon user selection, the activation does not match the selection. This case rarely happens, but it happens, the redraw function can correct this. The redraw function is in the right-mouse pop-up menu as shown in Figure 11 and can also be found in the View menu.

(Figure 11) Right-mouse pop-up menu.

FFT and IFFT are Forward FFT and Inverse FFT (or Backward FFT). As mentioned before, FFT changes the data in time domain to frequency domain and IFFT does the reverse. After a curve is filtered by FFT, the unit on abscissa will turn into frequency (Hz), while in time domain the unit is time unit. In eta PostGL/Graph, the curve operation result curve(s) is still put in the original curve window. The interpretations of different domain data in this case are difficult. The user can create an empty curve window and copy the

eta/PostGL Graph Tutorial

23

FFT transformed curve data to this window and delete the transformed curve in the original window. See Figure 12.

(Figure 12) FFT and its Interpretation.

In this figure, the sig-yy stress from element 62037 was loaded in a curve window. After applying the FFT filter on this curve, the transformed created curve was copied to a newly created curve window with the new name, sig-yy #El. 62037 Layer 1 (FFT)." The new curves frequency scales from 0.0 to 9.96E+2. It is quite clear there is no signal from frequency 2.0E+2 to 8.0E+2. FFT and IFFT are implemented individually. The IFFT does not simply recover the original time domain data for the result of IFFT like other programs. Therefore, the user can also perform further curve operation like filtering on data in frequency domain and use the IFFT to inversely transform back to time domain as shown in Figure 13.

eta/PostGL Graph Tutorial

24

(Figure 13) Filtered data in frequency domain and transformed back to time domain using IFFT.

The original time domain curve data is filtered using forward FFT, the result curves and their addition are shown in the right curve window (Curve Addition (1) is the added curve). In the addition curve in the right curve window, the IFFT filtered and the result curve is shown as Addition (1) IFFT in red in the left curve window. Digital Filtering using eta PostGL/Graph. There are four digital filters as discussed earlier. All the filters have the default parameters for convenience. There are two classes of digital filter, non-recursive and recursive. Butterworth filter is the lowpass recursive filter and the FIR and average filter are non-recursive filters. The computation is less for FIR filters than that for Butterworth, but Butterworth gives more power and less signal loss. The step for digital filter in eta PostGL/Graph works this way. Upon user requirement, a digital filter is designed, then the curve data in time domain is filtered using the designed filter and the result curve is shown in the same curve window for easy comparison. For Butterworth, for example, the user specified parameters are given in Figure 14:

(Figure 14) Butterworth design parameters input window.

There are four fields, i.e. Passband, Stopband, ripple and attenuation with defaults for each field.

eta/PostGL Graph Tutorial

25

Output and Microsoft Compatibility

eta PostGL/Graph interface design uses Microsoft interface design conventions, the tool-tip features, usage of function keys and so on. Besides these, there are various image formats from program output which are fully Microsoft compatible. For printing directly to printer, eta PostGL/Graph does not use bitmap for image printing, because it may drop down the plot quality. It exploits the printers own draw capability for high quality plots. Notice that there is a printer setup menu item in File menu on the menu bar. This option allows user to specify paper layout and turn on/off printer options, like halftoning on color printer. The printer setup option also allows the printing job management. The Print to File function is different from that in lots of other programs. It supports 5 different formats as shown in Figure 15. For some formats, specific tools may be needed to view them.

(Figure 15) Print to File File Save dialog box.

For Microsoft Enhanced Metafile format, there is no view functions exported inside the file. In order to view and modify this file, metafile editor software is needed with proper file association set. Refer to Metafile editor software for more details. A demonstration as to inserting a metafile to Microsoft Word and modify some picture properties inside Microsoft Word is illustrated in Figure 16.

eta/PostGL Graph Tutorial

26

(Figure 16) Demonstration on Metafile modification inside MS-WORD.

Copy to Clipboard is the standard Windows method of transferring data between a source and a destination. Copy to Clipboard is a system service shared by the entire Windows session. Using this function from the File menu, you can copy a graph image directly to other Microsoft programs as a bitmapped image provided that the destination program supports a bitmapped image paste.

eta/PostGL Graph Tutorial

27

Message Systems
eta PostGL/Graph has its own message handling system. features are listed as follows: Some outstanding

1. If user is inside one operation and tries to execute another operation, either the program will yield the previous operation or a message box tells the user the current operation can not be executed due to some unsatisfied precondition. 2. Forced yield capability. This will allow the user to stop some operations inside the operation process. Using the Stop toolbar button to do this. Not all functions are able to use this. These operations which may cause inconsistency of the database must be performed atomically. 3. In case of an improper operation or error, a message box will tell the detailed running environment conditions and report the operation abort information along with other information. This can help trace and diagnose the problem and make support work easier. 4. The global Undo capability can offer further convenient use of this program. All the curve operations and graphic object operations can be undone globally. Use Undo Last Modification toolbar button to execute this function. Note: Because of some unchecked synchronization problems, it may keep asking questions. The user can use the Reset menu item to reset the message system to pristine status Figure 11 shows the right mouse pull-down menu with this item and can also be found in the View menu. However, this case rarely happens.

eta/PostGL Graph Tutorial

28

MDI OPERATIONS
This general interface design follows MDI paradigm like Microsoft Word. It can accommodate multi-Graph windows. The following is additional information for using MDI programs listed as follows: 1. The Windows menu has two groups with one for the graphic display window operation and the other showing all current loaded curve windows. The menu is shown in Figure 17. There are four operations for the menu, i.e. Cascade, Tile Horizontally, Tile Vertically, Close All. While operation Close All acts the same as Exit, the other three operations have meaning only when there is more than one curve window in the graphic display.

(Figure 17) Window menu.

2. In Figure 17, the bottom groups all current loaded curve windows and they are enumerated. The current working window is marked with the check mark. Be advised that there is always one current working window in any MDI application. The user can also select another working curve window via mouse clicking on that intent curve window name in this menu. 3. The other operations for MDI are the minimization, maximization and deletion in the upper-right corner of each graphic display window. The deletion operation has same effect as graph deletion operation from menu or toolbar. 4. After the maximization of one graphic display, all the other windows are maximized automatically. Then the user has to use either the Graph Window in the Tab Window or the Windows menu to switch among the windows. Note: If maximizing an empty curve window, it will be hard to turn it back to normal window, because all the operation is disabled for an empty graphic display window. There is a solution for this, use the Windows menu to change it back.

eta/PostGL Graph Tutorial

29

Conclusion
This concludes the Graph portion of the eta/PostGL Graph tutorial. For more information about this portion of the program, consult the eta/PostGL Users Manual. For information regarding the Post portion of this program please consult the eta/PostGL Post tutorial and the Users Manual.

eta/PostGL Graph Tutorial

30