Animate an FEA Model Using Transient, Modal, or Linear Results

  1. From the Deformed panel, under Deformed shape, select a result type using the drop-down menu.
    The available result types are determined by the nodal vectors in the results file. All vector result type data included in the result file, indicated with a (v), are available for selection (displacement, velocity, acceleration, rotation, forces, moments, etc.).

    All nodal vectors in the results file are available as a result type for deformed shape and animation, including any user created nodal vectors by Result Math. An environment variable hv_disable_animation_group controls the availability of all the nodal vectors (default setting is "true"). Multiple animation sources are not supported for the d3plot (LS-DYNA), A0* (RADIOSS), erfh5 and dsy (PAM-CRASH 2G), fai (MADYMO) file formats or any H3D files created from these formats. MBD examples are also not supported.

  2. Select the scale for the deformation.
    Option Description
    Scale factor Used to multiply the displacement to produce the deformed shape. This option is available for all animation modes.
    Model percent The deformed shape of the model is scaled, so that the maximum deformation of the model is displayed as a specified percentage of the current model size. The model size is the diagonal length of the axis-aligned bounding box which contains all model geometry. This is available for modal and linear static animation modes.
    Model units The maximum value in the results is displayed as the number of model units defined.
    Attention: This option is available for modal and linear static animation modes.
  3. Select the scaling type that will be used for the deformation.
    • Uniform
    • Component
  4. Enter the corresponding values in for the selected scaling type.
    For Uniform, enter a value in the Value field to multiply the scale factor uniformly to components X, Y, Z and their displacements relative to the selected coordinate system.
    For Component, specify different scale factors to different X, Y, and Z components of displacement. Specify 0.0 to eliminate the movement in the specified direction.
  5. Select the result system in which you want to contour the results.
    Option Description
    Global System Transforms vector and tensor results to the global coordinate system.
    Analysis System Displays vector and tensor results as they are output from the solver.
    User System Transforms vector and tensor results to a user-defined system.

    This option is available when the results file contains a user-defined coordinate system.

    Click the System input collector to select a system by ID or pick from the modeling window.

    User systems can be FEA coordinate systems, MBD markers, or user-defined tracking systems.
  6. Select the complex filter that you want to use for viewing the deformation.
    • mag*cos(wt-phase)
    • mag*cos(wt+phase)
    Attention: This option is shown only for modal animations with complex results.
  7. Click Apply.
    The previously selected options are applied to the model.