FEMAP What’s New 9 - smart-fem.de · What’s New in FEMAP FEMAP 9.3.1 includes enhancements and...

What’s New in FEMAP

FEMAP 9.3.1 includes enhancements and new features in:

• “User Interface” on page 3

• “Meshing” on page 4

• “Layups” on page 6

• “Geometry” on page 8

• “Groups and Layers” on page 8

• “Geometry Interfaces” on page 8

• “Analysis Program Interfaces” on page 8

• “Tools” on page 9

• “OLE/COM API” on page 9

• “Preferences” on page 10

FEMAP 9.3 includes enhancements and new features in:



• “Materials and Properties” on page 24

• “Layups” on page 25

• “Loads and Constraints” on page 28

• “Using Data Surfaces with Loads” on page 31

• “Connections (Connection Properties, Regions, and Connectors)” on page 48



• “Output and Post-Processing” on page 58



• “Tools” on page 63



FEMAP 9.2 includes enhancements and new features in:



• “Loads and Constraints” on page 71

• “Connections” on page 72

9.3-2 Finite Element Modeling



• “Graphics” on page 74





• “64-bit Support” on page 79

What’s New for version 9.3.1 9.3-3

What’s New for version 9.3.1

User Interface"General", "Menu", "Spaceball", "Data Table", "Entity Editor", "Model Info Tree", "Data Surface Editor".

General• FEMAP is now available as both a 32-bit and 64-bit application. The 64-bit version is able to take advantage of

the of the benefits of running on a 64-bit platform, such as being able to use more than 2GB of memory.

• A function to compute memory usage percent was added to the preferences and sets better default values for the amount of RAM on a particular machine. Previously, you would need to specify a number of parameters in the preferences based on the amount of memory on a machine.

Menu• List, Output, Force Balance Interface Load added to List menu.

Spaceball• A tab has been added to the preferences to allow more precise use of a Spaceball

Data Table• The Data Table can now be accessed via the FEMAP API in order to create customized tables in the Data Table.

Entity Editor• Coefficient of Thermal Expansion on rigid elements is now displayed in the Entity Editor and Data Table

Model Info Tree• Added Group commands to tree menus for Solids, Properties, and Materials

• Added Automatic Add to the Group Menu in Model Info tree

• Added context menu to the root of the Connections branch in Model Info tree.

• Added support for editing Data Surface titles from the tree.

Data Surface Editor• Added New interpolation commands for row column and to force weighted or bi linear interpolation.

Interpolate - This command will perform the initial interpolation on a “Tabular Data Surface” which is currently active in the Data Surface Editor. This allows you to enter only certain portions of data into the Data Surface, then have FEMAP interpolate between those points for you. This also allows you to see the “populated” values which FEMAP has calculated in the table of values.

Automatic - Automatically switches between a linear or distance weighted interpolation method. A linear approach is used unless points internal to the data surface have been defined.

Linear - Uses a linear interpolation method.

Distance Weighted - Uses a Distance weighted method.

Linear Row - Linearly interpolates each independent row.

Linear Column - Linearly interpolates each independent column.


.

• Table copy from Data Surface editor

• Messages added indicating when location evaluated to zero.

MeshingEnhancements to meshing include:

• Added "Copy in Same Location" to all Mesh, Copy... commands

• Added 4 new patterns to Mesh, Editing, Interactive

• Added 1 new pattern to Mesh, Editing, Split

• Added Regenerate display at end of Mesh, Editing, Interactive command

• Added the Radial method to Mesh, Extrude... commands

For the Radial method, you will be asked a question:

Clicking “Yes” allows you to choose a location which defines the center of the radial extrusion. Clicking “No” prompts you to choose a vector for constant extrusion of all elements from that vector. Finally, you must specify the radial offset length, the radial distance between the original curve and the “end” of the extrusion.

When using the “Extrude Around Point/Spherical” option, FEMAP will compute an extrusion vector for each ele-ment which runs from the center that you chose, to the entity.

In a three dimensional case, this actually produces a spherical extrusion, since the extrusion vector is computed from the “center of the sphere”

When using the “Around Vector/Cylindrical” option, FEMAP will compute an extrusion vector for each element which runs from the closest point on the defined vector, to the entity.

Note: Automatic interpolation is identical to the first step which is performed when a tabular data sur-face is evaluated to find variation locations.

Note: If you have a number of “stacked” curves which you would like extruded to create “stacked” parallel layers of elements, you will want to use the Radial Method with the Around Vector/Cylindrical option.

New Patterns

Meshing 9.3-5

The figure shows one example of extruding a set of “stacked” curves

• Added Bias to Standard Extrusion in the Mesh, Extrude... commands

You can set a Bias which will create smaller elements (values > 1.0) or larger elements (values < 1.0) near the “start” of the extrusion, which is the “Base” of the vector for Vector method or “closest” to the specified point in space or defined vector for the Radial method.

• Updated Radial Copy of Nodes/Elements to do either spherical or cylindrical about a vector.

Three Curves extrudedusing the Radial MethodAround Point/Spherical

Three Curves extrudedusing the Radial MethodAround Vector/Cylindrical

Option

Option

Bias Set to 2.0 Bias Set to 0.5


Layups• Total Thickness is now displayed in the Layup Manager Dialog box.

• New Layup Viewer helps in during the creation of layups.

The Layup Viewer allows you to graphically visualize the current layup being created or edited. Each ply currently in the layup will be shown and labeled with Ply Number, Thickness, Orientation, and Material in the Layup Viewer. The ply at the top of the viewing area always represents the “top” of the layup. Initially, all of the plies are shown in the viewing area, with all plies being scaled based on the size of the largest ply. In layups with a large number of plies or plies with large variation of thickness, this can create a somewhat cluttered display. The entire Layup Viewer can be resized and the viewing area scaled and scrolled to allow in-depth examination of specific plies.

Thickness Displayed Layup Viewer Button

Layups 9.3-7

General Controls and OptionsThe layup display can be scaled using the Scale slider bar. When the slider is all the way to the left, this represents the default display and the “middle” of the layup will always be returned to the “middle” of the display area.

Once the layup has been scaled, you can explore different sections of the layup by moving the scroll bar up and down on the right side of the Layup Viewer.

There are several options in the Layup Viewer which enable you to choose how the layup should be displayed. Also, the display can copied to the clipboard then pasted into other windows programs.

The options are explained in greater detail below.

ThicknessAllows you to choose if each ply should be displayed based on a scaled representation of the ply thickness or if each ply should be shown with a Constant thickness.

Ply AnglesWhen this box is Checked, the ply orientation angles will be displayed graphically on each ply. This option is ON by default.

Titles When this box is Checked, the Title of the ply material will be displayed instead of only the ply material ID. This option is OFF by default.

Display Color• Material Color - Uses the material color assigned to each material. If you have not specified any special mate-

rial colors, all of your plies will be the same color.

• Random Color - Assigns a random color to each material in the model for Layup Viewer purposes only. If you have not defined material colors, this is an easy way to see differentiation between layers of different properties.

• Monochrome - Changes the layup display to Monochrome (Grayscale) which can be useful if copying the layup display to another program for printing purposes.

Copy to Clipboard button Copies the layup display to the clipboard. By default, the Visible Only option is checked, which means only the plies currently in the display area will be copied to the clipboard. When unchecked, the entire layup will be copied to the clipboard.

Note: When using the scroll bar, you will notice that the “top line” of the “top ply” and the “bottom line” of the “bottom ply” will stop at the “middle” of the display area.

Note: The “constant thickness” is determined by dividing the available display area height by the number of plies (when the layup display is NOT scaled).

Note: On 32-bit operating systems, if the image of the entire layup becomes larger than 13,500,000 pixels, the Visible Only option will NOT be available to uncheck and can NOT be turned OFF. You will still be able to copy the visible portion of the layup, but not the entire thing at once.

In certain cases, another program (such as Microsoft Word) may not be able to paste the image from the clipboard. If this is the case, try scaling the image less. One way to do this and still get a useful image of the layup may be to use the Constant Thickness option.

This is not a restriction when running FEMAP on 64-bit operating systems.


Geometry• Added "Copy in Same Location" option to all Geometry, Copy... commands

• Improved Solid Add to work with various combinations of adjacent solids that previously did not fully add because of the order they were combined.

• Updated Radial Copy of Points/Curves/Surfaces to do either spherical or cylindrical about a vector

• Updated Geometry, Scale, Solid and Modify, Scale, Solid commands to allow scaling in X, Y, and Z directions instead of using 1 uniform scale factor.

Groups and Layers• Added option to Group, Operations, Generate Material, Generate Property, and Generate ElemType to create

either one group with all selected entities or multiple groups, one for each selected entity.

Geometry InterfacesThe following FEMAP interfaces have been updated to support newer geometry formats:

For details, see “Geometry Interfaces” in the FEMAP User Guide.

Analysis Program InterfacesSeveral of the analysis program interfaces have been improved. These changes include:

• “FEMAP Neutral File Interface” on page 8

• “Nastran Interfaces” on page 8

• “NX Nastran Interface” on page 8

• “MSC/MD Nastran Interface” on page 8

• “NEi Nastran Interface” on page 9

• “ANSYS Interface” on page 9

• “ABAQUS Interface” on page 9

FEMAP Neutral File Interface• Added Read Groups and Read Views options to File, Import, FEMAP Neutral command

Nastran Interfaces• Added reading CBUSH to ground.

A number of bugs were corrected for all of the Nastran interfaces.

For details, see “Analysis Program Interfaces” in the FEMAP User Guide.

NX Nastran Interface• Added support for the Shell Thickness (OSHT1) output from Solution 601/701

• Added support for Linear Contact in Modal Analysis (SOL 103).

MSC/MD Nastran Interface• Added support for reading CTE on rigids

• Added support reading MSC RBAR1 as RBE2 and

FEMAP Interface Latest Supported VersionParasolid Parasolid 19.0

NEi Nastran Interface 9.3-9

• Added support reading RIGID=LAGRAN case control commands. Changed a few items specifying MSC.Nas-tran to MSC/MD Nastran

NEi Nastran Interface• The DPHASE entries for frequency response analysis are now generated properly when translating to NEi Nas-

tran

ANSYS Interface• Added support for reading major Poisson’s ratio PRij from Ansys

A number of bugs were corrected.

ABAQUS InterfaceA number of bugs were corrected.

ToolsStress Wizard• Added the ability to choose an assembly made up of multiple solids for use with the Stress Wizard. The Con-

nect, Automatic command is run after import with the default values for contact detection and Glued Contact. m the material library to be applied to those solids.

• Added the ability to change the material associated with any desired solids of an assembly in Step 1

In the case of a multi-solid assembly, if the parts do not have any materials assigned to them from the geometry being imported, the SW will prompt you to choose a single material for all the parts in the assembly. This will effectively complete “Step 1”.

You can later change the materials of individual parts in an assembly from inside the SW by clicking the Step 1 button. Once the SW dockable pane has changed to show the Step 1 options, clicking the Update Material for Solid(s) button will prompt you to select any desired solids and choose a different material from the material library to be applied to those solids.

• Added a button to Step 4 which allows the use of the View, Advanced Post, Dynamic Cutting Plane command

OLE/COM APINew API Objects and Attributes• DataTable object to the API

• CoordDialogMethod, VectorDialogMethod, PlaneDialogMethod parameters and zCoordDefinition, zVector-Definition and zPlaneDefinition

New API Methods• Added CurrentID property to Set object.

• Added GetFromSet and FindMaxMin methods to the Output object.

• Added GetOutputListAtSet, GetScalarAtNodeSet, GetVectorAtNodeSet, GetScalarAtElemSet and GetElem-WithCornerSet to the Output object

Note: In some cases, the default settings for automatically detecting glued contact in an assembly will not be able to detect all of the required connections between the different parts. In this case, you must exit the SW, and use other FEMAP capabilities located on the Connect menu to create connections between the various solids in the assembly, where required.


• Added GetRowValues() to the DataTable Object

• Added IsEmpty to Set object

• Added MaxNormalDeviation method to the surface object

• Added MapOutputFromModelToLocation() to the MapOutput Object

• Added MaxNormalDeviation method to the surface object

• Added Total Thickness to the Layup object.

• Added AddAllExcept method to the Set object

• Added BoundingBox methods to Curve, Surface and Solid objects

Updated API Methods• Updated ApiVariantSize( ) to handle variants that were created by the WinWrap Basic Array statement

• Updated ArcCircleInfo method of Curve object to work with Solid curves

• Updated SelectID set method to properly handle case of requesting CSys when no user-defined CSys exist, even though Global CSys always exist.

Corrected API Methods• Corrected problem that caused curve object to generate custom mesh sizes unless you explicitly set MeshMax-

Param(0) = 1.0

• Corrected error in NextEmptyID and PrevEmptyID for CSys object - previously could return CSys 1 and 2 as empty IDs, when they are reserved.

• Corrected bug in API Set Object when adding rule by element topology.

The following functions have been added:• feSelectOutput method to the application object

• feConnectAuto method for automatic connection generation

• feMeshAttachNodes

• feOutputProcessConvert

• feCoordPickByMethod, feVectorPickByMethod, fePlanePickByMethod

• feFileReadNeutral2( ) API method

• feAppModelContents( ) api method

PreferencesRender• Added multi-model memory setting for OpenGL

Multi-Model Memory

If this option is on (default) then FEMAP will use memory for the active window of each model currently open in the interface. This improves performance when graphically clicking from one model to another, but uses more of your machine’s memory. When turned off, only the active view from the model currently active in the FEMAP interface will be using memory. This will decrease performance when graphically switching between models, but use less memory. For users with a relatively low amount of memory dealing with very large models, this option should be turned off.

User Interface• Updated Layout and Shortcut Key save/load to use XML format (*.LAYOUT file) and allow for options in data

to transfer

Note: This option does not effect performance when clicking between different views of one model.

Preferences 9.3-11

Database• The Database Performance portion of this preference has been completely changed to offer better default val-

ues for memory usage

Database Memory Limit

The Database Memory Limit sets the maximum amount of system memory that FEMAP will use to hold parts of your model and results in memory. If your model is larger than the amount of memory that you choose, FEMAP will automatically read data from your disk as it is needed, replacing data that is not being used. While this “Swap-ping” process can slow down overall performance, it does let you work with much larger models than would other-wise fit into your available memory.

The Database Memory Limit DOES NOT control the total amount of memory that FEMAP will be using. FEMAP uses memory for many different operations – this is just one of them. Almost every command temporarily uses some small amount of additional memory. Some commands, like meshing, node merging and reading results can temporarily use fairly significant amounts of memory. Other operations, like loading large amounts of data into the Data Table require memory for a longer period of time – in this case as long as the data is in the table. Finally, the largest use of additional memory, and one which normally persists the entire time you have a model open is for drawing your model. For optimal performance, FEMAP uses OpenGL graphics, and keeps copies of the data to be drawn in memory at all times. You must always have sufficient free memory available for all of these uses, or the operations will not be able to execute properly. In the very worst case scenario, running out of memory could cause FEMAP to crash. It is for this reason that the default Database Memory Limit is set fairly low – 20% of the memory in your computer (The 32-bit version is also restricted by the 2 GByte limit for any program). This does not mean that you can not increase the limit beyond its default, but the further into the yellow and red zones you push the slider, you are increasing the chance of running out of memory.

Using the Control

The slider control allows you to choose the amount of memory to use for the database. Move the slider to the left to reduce the limit, to the right to increase it. As you move the slider, the memory limit is updated and displayed above the slider.

The colored bar below the slider gives you an indication of the risk of running out of memory if you use this setting. The yellow and red regions should be used with caution since there is a good chance of causing problems with other operations like meshing and graphics. The small line along the top edge of the green section indicates the default memory limit. It is simply displayed to make it easy for you to go back to that limit if you try other settings. The

blue bar along the bottom edge indicates the amount of memory that the database is currently using.

With this option, you are simply setting the maximum amount of memory available for the database. If you are working with a smaller model, FEMAP will not use memory that it does not need and the blue bar will not extend the entire way to the slider setting. If you look at this control with an empty model, or if you have a small model and a large amount of memory in your system, the blue bar may not be visible – because it is too short to be seen along the bar.

Max Cached Label

Sets the largest label that FEMAP will reserve memory for. This option must be set to a ID higher than any entity in the model. Default value is 5,000,000.

Blocks/Page

This value sets the “page” size. The optimum setting of this number often depends on the speed of your disk and controller.

Note: Changing the Database Memory Limit does not change the amount of memory used for the current ses-sion. For this selection to take effect, you must exit and restart FEMAP.

Note: The blue bar in the above figure shows the amount of memory used by a 1,000,000 element model (4-noded plate elements) on a 32-bit machine with 2 GB of RAM. Most potential problems with exceeding the 2 GB memory limit only occur with very large models.


Interfaces• Turned preference to always read nonlinear stress/strain from Nastran OFF by default.

Spaceball• This section outlines the options located on the Spaceball tab of the Preferences dialog box:

The six values in Scale Factors enable you to control the relative sensitivity of each degree of freedom.

For example:

•if rotation about the screen x-axis is slow, increase the x rotation scale factor. If you increase it too much, the motion in that degree of free-dom will not be smooth.

•if zooming is too fast, reduce the z translation scale factor. If you reduce the value too far, it will take a long time to zoom in or zoom out in the model

Sometimes, when moving the spaceball in one degree of freedom, it is difficult to pre-vent motion in another degree of freedom.

On the 3Dconnexion driver dialog, you can switch Domi-nant Axis on. This suppresses all motion except the largest. If this is off, you can effectively control the same thing with the Directional Sensitivity slider. Moving the slider to the right makes the largest axes domi-

nant and moving the slider to the left allows all the axes to effect the motion. The default position is in the middle.

Note: The default value of “4” was determined via testing to produce the best performance over a wide range of values for Database Memory Limit and using the default settings for a number of different types of disk drives. You may want to try other values from 1 to 15 if you have changed any speed/caching set-tings on your drive or have “high-speed” drives to determine if performance is improved.

What’s New for version 9.3 9.3-13

What’s New for version 9.3

User Interface"General", "Menu", "Entity Select, Locate (Coordinate, Vector, and Plane), and Color Palette", "Toolbars", "Select Toolbar","View Toolbar", "Customize dialog box", "Icon Buttons", "Vista", "Spaceball", "Data Table", "Entity Edi-tor", "Model Info Tree", "Data Surface Editor", and "Program File".

General• Added longer titles and automatic titling. Updated title length to 79 characters.

• Added adjustable drop-downs on combo boxes

• Added Help to Customize dialog box

• All set activate (Load, BC, Solid, Output Set, Layer, Output Vector) dialog boxes resizable

• Renamed Spring Elements to Spring/Damper

• Position of undocked Analysis Monitor is saved

• Support of dialog placement for multiple monitors

Menu• Reorganized “Dockable Panes and Toolbars” portion of the Tools menu for more efficient use and to group sim-

ilar panes into submenus.

• Added Geometry, Surface, Remove Hole and Geometry, Solid, Thicken commands to the Geometry menu. See the Geometry section for more information on these commands.

• Added Fluid Region, Bolt Region, and Rotor Region to the Connect Menu. See Connections section for more information on these new commands

• Added Layup command to Model Menu. See Layup section for more information on this command.

• Added commands to the Modify, Project menu to project points and nodes on to a specified vector or plane.

• Added commands to the Modify, Edit menu to edit Layups, Load Definitions, and Constraint Definitions.

• Added commands to the Modify, Renumber menu to renumber Connection Properties, Connection Region, Connections, Functions, Layers, and Analysis Sets.

• Reorganized commands on the Modify, Update Elements menu to group similar commands into menu sections. Changed names of some commands to be more descriptive and more intuitive. Added new commands to set or update the CTE on rigid elements and reverse direction of line elements (formally, reversing of all elements was done via the Reverse command).

• Added command to the Modify, Update Other menu to specify Superelement ID on selected nodes.

• Added commands to the List, Model menu to list Layups, Load - Definitions, Load - Individual, Constraint - Definitions, and Constraint - Individual

• Added commands to the List, Output menu to list Results to Data Table and Nodal Changes to Data Table.

• Added commands to the Delete, Model menu to delete Load - Definitions and Constraint - Definitions

• Added commands to the Delete, Library menu to delete from the Layup Library.

• Added additional commands to the Group menu for Regions, Nodes, Elements, Properties, and Loads. Added Group, Layup commands again.


• Added commands to the Group, Operations menu to perform New Boolean Operations, Add Related Entities to an existing group, Generate groups based on Superelement ID, and Generate groups from Entities on Layer.

• Added commands to the View, Rotate menu to use a Single Axis and/or the Model Axis, set FEMAP to Rotate About the View Center or a Rotation Axis.

Entity Select, Locate (Coordinate, Vector, and Plane), and Color Palette• Added context help to all of the standard dialog boxes (Entity Select; Color Palette; Locate - Coordinate, Vec-

tor, and Plane)

• Added Coordinate Picking, Around Point, Around Vector and Around Plane to the Pick Menu in the standard Entity Selection dialog box and the Select Toolbar.

Coordinate PickingThe Coordinate option allows you to select entities using a combination of X,Y, and/or Z values referencing a selected coordinate system along with various limiting criteria (Above or Below a single value; Between or Out-side two values; or At Location, within a specified Tolerance.

You can choose any coordinate system in your model and then select X, Y, and/or Z and a “limiting criteria” for each coordinate. You can click the “Graphical Pick” Icon button next to any active field and this allows you to get a value for that field by graphically picking in the model.

When using the At Location criteria, a “Tolerance” is used and can be manually entered. By default, this value is set to the “Merge Tolerance” of your model and “expands” the selection area +/- that value (See Section 7.4.1, "Tools, Parameters..." for how “Merge Tolerance” can be defined). You can also enter a larger value to “expand” the selec-tion area further in both directions.

Any value entered in a field as selection criteria WILL be included in the selection.

Around PointThe Around Point option allows you to select entities using each entity’s position in 3-D space in relation to a “Specified Point” along with various limiting criteria (Farther Than or Closer Than a single value; Between or Out-side two values; or At Location, within a specified Tolerance). Essentially, a “sphere” will be created around the “Specified Point” and selection will be based on the defined limiting criteria.

Question Mark Icon brings up help

Entity Select, Locate (Coordinate, Vector, and Plane), and Color Palette 9.3-15

FEMAP will first prompt you for a point using the standard Locate dialog box and any “coordinate definition method” can be used. Once the “Point” has been specified, the Select by Distance From Point dialog box will appear.

You can click the “Graphical Pick” Icon button next to any active field and this allows you to get a value for that field by graphically picking in the model.

When using the At Location criteria, a “Tolerance” is used and can be manually entered. By default, this value is set to the “Merge Tolerance” of your model and “expands” the selection area +/- that value (See Section 7.4.1, "Tools, Parameters..." for how “Merge Tolerance” can be defined).


Around VectorThe Around Vector option allows you to select entities using each entity’s position in 3-D space in relation to a “Specified Vector” along with various limiting criteria (Farther Than or Closer Than a single value; Between or Outside two values; or At Location, within a specified Tolerance). Essentially, a “cylinder” will be created around the “Specified Vector” and selection will be based on the defined limiting criteria.

FEMAP will first prompt you for a vector using the standard Vector Locate dialog box and any “vector definition method” can be used. Once the “Vector” has been specified, the Select by Distance From Vector dialog box will appear.




Around PlaneThe Around Plane option allows you to select entities using each entity’s position in 3-D space in relation to a “Specified Plane” along with various limiting criteria (Positive Side or Negative Side of Plane with offset value; Between or Outside two offset values; or At Location, within a specified Tolerance).

FEMAP will first prompt you for a plane using the standard Plane Locate dialog box and any “plane definition method” can be used. Once the “Plane” has been specified, the Select by Distance From Plane dialog box will appear.


The “Positive Side” is the side of the “Specified Plane” with the “positive normal direction” (based on the right hand rule) and the other side is the “Negative Side”. You can enter an Offset Distance from the plane in either the Positive or negative direction.




• Updated List push button on standard Entity Selection dialog to bring up a multi-select list instead of a single selection.

• Enhanced Copy and Copy as List to both export the net selection, not the ranges in the box.

• Made Previous and Pick->Paste honor the Add, Remove, and Exclude settings

• Added method to node picking to select nodes referenced by constraint equations

• Added Methods to standard selection dialog box for Connections, Connection Properties, and Regions, and sev-eral for Elements, Props,...

• Moved color palette to be model dependent and it is now saved with the model

• Moved User Contour Palette to be view dependent, now saved with model.

SpaceballImproved support of Spaceball graphics interface devices. Also, fixed many issues when using a Spaceball from earlier versions of FEMAP

Toolbars 9.3-17

Toolbars• Added Dockable Panes toolbar (Panes)

This Toolbar gives you quick access to toggle the various Dockable Panes on and off in the User Interface. When a Pane is open in the User Interface, the icon will turn orange. When a Pane is toggled “on” it will appear in the same location it was in before being toggled “off” with this toolbar or any other method for closing the Pane.

It is separated into three sections:

The first section contains icons for the Model Info Tree, Entity Editor, Data Surface Editor, Entity Info, and Data Table dockable panes.

The second section contains icons for the “Programming and customization” dockable panes in FEMAP, the API Programming and Program File panes.

The third section contains an icon for the Messages Dockable Pane.

• Added Custom Tools functionality

The Custom Tools Toolbar makes accessing custom commands and tools (i.e., API programs, Macros created using the Program File dockable pane, outside executables, etc.) very easy by allowing the user to choose a “Tools Direc-tory” on the computer to store all of these tools.

The “Tools Directory” can be set a number of ways. Through this toolbar, choosing the Tools Directory... command will bring up a dialog box which will allow you to choose a directory. This directory you choose can be on your computer or out on a network.

Once the Tools Directory... is set, FEMAP will automatically create a menu item for each file it recognizes as a “tool”. FEMAP recognizes the follow-ing file types as potential “tools”:

*.exe; *.com; *.pif; *.bat; *.cmd; *.pro; *.prg; *.bas

If the Tools Directory... contains sub-folders, each sub-folder will become a menu item and the “tools” inside each of those sub-folders will appear a level lower in the Custom Tools Toolbar menu hierarchy.

The Add Tools... command allows you to choose a custom “tool” (file must be one of the expected file types above) and copies that “tool” file to the specified Tools Directory.... The next time you use the Custom Tools Menu, that tool will be on the menu available for you to use.

.

• Added Bolt Preload to the Loads Toolbar

Note: By default, the Tools Directory... path points to the API folder in the FEMAP directory.

You can also set the Tools Directory... using File, Preferences, then choosing the Library/Startup tab, and then entering a directory path in the “Custom Tools Path”.

Note: If an API or other executable has any “support files”, such as a “header file” or something else, you can prevent these from appearing in the Custom Tools menu by placing a *.skip file in the same direc-tory as the “support file”. For example, if you had something called “header.bas”, you could create a file called “header.skip” in the same directory and then “header” would not show up in the menu.


Select Toolbar•Added Export Neutral to Selector Actions

•Added Coordinate Picking, Around Point, Around Vector, and Around Plane to Selector Actions

Coordinate - allows you to select entities using a combination of X,Y, and/or Z values referencing a selected coordinate system along with various limiting criteria (Above or Below a single value; Between or Outside two values; or At Location, within a specified Tolerance).

Around Point - allows you to select entities using each entity’s position in 3-D space in relation to a specified “Specified Point in 3-D space” along with various limiting criteria (Farther Than or Closer Than a single value; Between or Outside two values; or At Loca-tion, within a specified Tolerance).

Around Vector - allows you to select entities using each entity’s position in 3-D space in relation to a specified “Specified Vector” along with various limiting criteria (Farther Than or Closer Than a single value; Between or Outside two values; or At Location, within a specified Tolerance).

Around Plane allows you to select entities using each entity’s position in 3-D space in relation to a Specified Plane along with various limiting criteria (Positive Side or Negative Side of Plane with offset value; Between or Outside two offset values; or At Location, within a specified Tolerance)

•Added automatically turning on "Select Multiple" when you choose "Select Related" in Selector Mode

View Toolbar• Added commands for quick use of Element Colors, Property Colors or Material Colors

• Added quick-drop-down command to turn on/off thickness and cross section

• Added view center/rotation center commands and menus

• Added View Rotation Single Axis and Model Axes commands

View,Center

Customize dialog box 9.3-19

Customize dialog box• Added capability to save and load keyboard shortcut definitions. Saves a *.KEY file (Keyboard Shortcut File)

and works between versions of FEMAP.

• Added 110 new custom icons for Customize command

• Added option to turn off menu icons

Icon ButtonsIn many dialog boxes of FEMAP 9.3, you will see “Icon buttons”. These buttons take you from the dialog box for the current entity to the creation dialog box of the entity whose icon is on the button.

Icon buttons exist for:

Model, Coordinate System; Model, Material; Model, Property; Model, Layup;

Model, Function; Tools, Layer; Tools, Data Surface (Menu in Load dialog box)\

Vista• Updated File, Open to work properly on Vista

• Changed Default Message Font and Program font to Segue for Vista

Special note about customers using Windows Vista:

FEMAP 9.3 is being released close to the same time as the initial release of Windows Vista. Although we have tested FEMAP on Windows Vista with much success, there are issues with many graphics cards and drivers not being available for Vista at this time, which may cause issues in FEMAP. Currently, Windows Vista is an “unsup-ported” platform.

Data Table• Added "List, Output, Nodal Changes to Data Table" command (Relative Deformations)

• Added capability to add mass properties when you have properties or materials in the data table

• Added Copy Rows and Copy Columns to Data Table


• Added Set Value and Set Title fields to “List, Output, Summary to Data Table”

• Added wrapping for titles in output reports from “List, Output, Results to Data Table”, also added lookup for vector titles when the vector is not available in the first set selected

• Added multiline header to report.

• Added display of nodal data in Active Coordinate System, as well as, definition coordinate system.

Entity Editor• Added editing of nodal point coordinates in the definition system and a separate display of the coordinates in

the active system.

• Added ability to edit the definition csys and edit the coordinates in that system, changing systems will trans-form the edited values dynamically.

Model Info Tree•Added Loads and BC to tree

•Added Combine Load/BC Definitions to tree

•Added Icons for some Load/Constraint tree commands

•Added Load Tree Context Menus

•Added Nodal on Face for Loads and Constraints in Tree

•Added Bolt Preload to Load Definition context menu in tree

•Added Data Surfaces to Tree

•Added Show Expanded on Connection Regions

•Added when highlighting properties, if no elements are assigned to the property it will show geometry using the property as a meshing attribute

•Properly highlight loads and constraints when in the Selec-tion list in the tree

•Added "Add Related" to Group Context menu in tree.

•Updated to keep track of pages that were deleted so the tree can be properly updated on a Redo.

•Added Load Set Copy and Constraint Set Copy to the right mouse menus. Also corrected problem with Constraint Set Copy that caused Node counters to not be updated to reflect the new set

•Added Regenerate command when changing groups from tree so that contours are updated

Data Surface EditorThe Data Surface Editor is completely new for FEMAP version 9.3. This dockable pane allows you to create “Data Surfaces” in FEMAP. These “Data Surfaces” allow you to apply variable loading conditions using a number of pre-

Data Surface Editor 9.3-21

defined methods. Each method has a unique dialog box with all of the required inputs. FEMAP uses the informa-tion from a specific dialog box and creates a table of values which is saved with the model and can then be applied to any number of loading conditions. Data Surfaces themselves are explained in the “Data Surface” section of this document.

Once the data surface has been created using one of the methods, the corresponding table of values will appear in the Data Surface Editor dockable pane. Now the values can be modified in the table itself. You can also copy and paste individual cells or use the “Fill Down” command to change a number of values in the same column at once.

Each Data Surface has an ID and a Title which can be entered (up to 79 characters). If no title is specified, FEMAP will automatically create a title based on the “definition method” used to create the Data Surface.

Data Surface Editor IconsCreate/Load Data Surface menu- The menu on this icon contains the various “definition methods” for creating data surfaces, as well as the Edit Data Surface and Delete Data Surface commands.

The methods are:

• Along Coordinates Data Surface - allows you to choose coordinates in space and apply a Scalar value (single value) or Vector values (X, Y, and Z values) at each coordinate. The variation will “follow the path” of the coor-dinates in the order they are entered.

• Between Coordinates Data Surface - allows you to choose the number of corners to use (2, 4, or 8), whether the variation is in linear or parametric space, and enter a Scalar value (single value) or Vector values (X, Y, and Z values) at each “corner”. The values will be interpolated between the specified corners.

•Output Map Data Surface - allows you to “map” output from one mesh to create load values for another mesh. Out-put which can be “mapped” includes:

Nodal (Forces, Moments, Displacements, Velocities, Rota-tional Velocities, Accelerations, Rotational Accelerations, Temperatures, and Heat Flux)

Elemental (Pressures, Temperatures, Heat Flux, Heat Gen-eration, Convection, and Radiation)

•Mesh Data Surface - allows you to choose node or ele-ment IDs and enter a Scalar value (or “expression”) or Vec-tor (X, Y, and Z) values (or 3 “expressions”). This type of

Create/Load

Save Data

Data Surface MenuEdit DataSurface Options

Clear DataSurface

Operate on Data Surface Menu

Surface MenuPaste Data Surface(Entire Data Surface)

Copy Data Surface(Entire Data Surface)


data surface is much more useful when using an “expression”, which uses a particular coordinate of a node or element centroid. (such as XND(!i), bases value on X coordinate of a node)

• Tabular Data Surface - allows you to create a data surface by defining the size of the table and then entering the values one at a time or pasting them in from another program, such as Excel. This is the most general type of data surface.

• Arbitrary 3-D Data Surface - allows you to create a data surface using points in space and then distributes the values using an “Inverse Weighted Interpolation” method. This is a great way to enter “test data” at a number of points in space and then the values are extrapolated from those points to the nodes or elements in your model.

• Equation Data Surface - allows you to simply enter a FEMAP equation and stores the equation for use in any loading condition.

Each method is described in greater detail in

• Edit Data Surface - a single-select dialog box appears which allows you to choose which data surfaces to edit. You can also use this command to open an existing data surface for viewing, even if you do not plan to edit the surface.

• Delete Data Surface - a multi-select dialog box appears which allows you to choose which data surfaces to delete.

Save Data Surface menu - The menu on this icon contains the various options for saving a data surface.

• Save - simply saves the data surface with the current name to the FEMAP model

• Save As - allows you to change the name of the current data surface when saving using the Create or Update dialog box.

• To File - allows you to save the current data surface values to a comma-separated file (*.CSV file).

Edit Data Surface Options - Opens the “definition method” dialog box corresponding to the type of data surface currently in the Data Surface Editor. This allows you to modify options such as the coordinate system or other vari-ation data. For instance, if an “Along Coordinates” data surface is currently in the Data Surface Editor, FEMAP will bring up the Define Variation Along Coordinates Data Surface dialog box.

Clear Data Surface Editor - Completely clears any table and values currently in the Data Surface Editor.

Operate on Data Surface menu - The menu on this icon contains commands specifically for use with the “Output Map Data Surface” (Align Output Map and Plot Output Map) and the “Tabular Data Surface” (Interpolate).

•Align Output Map - Used to align an “Output Map Data Surface” to the “target model” where the output is to be mapped.

•Plot Output Map - Used to toggle a “plot” of the “source mesh” and out-put that will be mapped on and off when the “Output Map Data Surface” is applied in the “target model”. Very useful when aligning the “source model” to the “target model” for visual verification.

Note: To create an “expression” referencing the Node, Element, or Element Face Coordinates use XND(), YND(), ZND(), XEL(), YEL(), ZEL(), XEF(;), YEF(;), or ZEF(;). These are explained in greater detail in Appendix C of the FEMAP User Guide (see Section C, "Function Reference")

Note: In order for the equation to work properly in FEMAP, the proper syntax must be used, which is explained in greater detail in Appendix C of the FEMAP User Guide (see Section C, "Function Reference").)

Note: When this command is used, FEMAP will ask you if it is “OK to Clear Grid?” if there is a data surface currently in the Data Surface Editor. By saying Yes, the “grid” will be cleared and any unsaved changes will be lost.

Program File 9.3-23

• Interpolate - This command will perform the initial interpolation on a “Tabular Data Surface” which is cur-rently active in the Data Surface Editor. This allows you to enter only certain portions of data into the Data Sur-face, then have FEMAP interpolate between those points for you. This also allows you to see the “populated” values which FEMAP has calculated in the table of values.

Copy - Copies the data surface to the clipboard using the FEMAP neutral file format. This makes it easy to copy a data surface from one model to another.

Paste - Pastes the copied data surface into the active model. The Next available data surface ID will be used for the “pasted” data surface.

Context Sensitive Menu (All Data Surfaces)There is a context sensitive menu which will appear when cell(s) are high-lighted in the Data Surface Editor pane and the right mouse button is clicked. This menu allows you to:

Copy and Paste individual cells (either a single cell or multiple cells)

Fill Down is only available when multiple cells have been highlighted. It will copy the value at the “top” of the highlighted group of cells and “fill” all of the highlighted cells in the same column with that value. If multiple columns are highlighted, the value at the “top” of the cells in each column will be the value that is used.

Clear All completely clears any table and values currently in the Data Sur-face Editor, while Clear Selected will only clear the highlighted cells.

Update Entity ID allows you to graphically choose an appropriate new Entity ID in the screen (i.e., Nodes or Ele-ments) for the highlighted row. Update Coordinates allows you to graphically choose a new coordinate for the selected row using the Locate dialog box and any snap mode. Update Vector Values allows you to graphically spec-ify new vector values for a row using the Vector Locate dialog box and any snap mode(s).

Program File• After IF statement program files now wait for timer - it allows other things to happen, like an API to run and set

some condition

• Added program file support for Layup dialog controls

• Allow <USER> or <PAUSE> program file commands to work with File, Open dialogs

• Supported Multi-select list boxes in program files, and corrected problem replaying

• Program files that used dialog boxes with no underline in OK


• Added option to Modify, Move By, Radial Nodes and Modify, Move By, Radial Elements to move cylindrically around a vector, not just spherically

• Added extra pass at end of tet meshing to cleanup interior midside nodes

Note: This interpolation is identical to the first step which is performed when a tabular data surface is evaluated to find variation locations.

Note: The Copy and Paste icons are designed for copying a data surface from one model to another.

To copy individual cells to the clipboard (for pasting into other cells in the Data Surface Editor or a program such as Excel), highlight the cells you wish to copy, then click the right mouse button and choose the “Copy” command from the menu.

A similar procedure can be used to paste cells into the Data Surface Editor using the “Paste” com-mand on the context sensitive menu.


• Changed setting size of small features to an option in Solid and Surface mesh size dialogs - automatically uses mesh size if turned off.

• Changed Edge Members of line elements to require both nodes be selected. Previously only one node was required so you got extra elements if you selected a "corner" node - which was different than the solid-face mode for the same command.

• Allow “loop” feature suppression to work on sheet bodies

Materials and PropertiesMaterials

• Added support for MATHE for both NX and MSC Nastran using the “Other Types” material type.

• Added support for MATG gasket material using the “Other Types” material type

• Added MAT10 (fluid material) using the “Other Types” material type

Surface with several “interior holes”

Choose one curve on each “interior hole” and all of the curves making up the “loop”will be found and “Suppressed” from the surface for meshing

All internal holes have been “suppressed” from the surface for meshing purposes only

Properties 9.3-25

• Added function drop-downs to materials and capability to create functions

• Handled putting materials that reference functions of functions into the material library.

Properties• Added new option to specify a “Layup” instead of entering the plies directly into a Laminate property.

• Added new options for Membrane Only, Bending Only, SMEAR, and SMEAR Core.

Layups...creates a new layup. Layups are used to define the make-up of a laminate property, ply by ply. You can choose a material ID, physical thickness, and orientation angle for each “ply” in the laminate. There is also an optional “Glo-bal Ply” which can be defined.

ID and Title:These options set the ID and Title for the layup to be created. Every time you create a layup, the default ID will be automatically incremented. Title allows you to provide a title of up to 79 characters for each layup.

Global Ply ID (optional):This option is currently only used to save a particular ply of one layup for use in other layups in your model. Future versions of FEMAP will expand the capabilities of the “Global Ply”.


You can create a new Global Ply by clicking the “Global Ply” Icon Button next to the drop down list. In the Global Ply Definition dialog box, you can choose an ID, Title (up to 79 characters), Material, and Thickness. Once the Glo-bal Ply has been defined, you can use it in any layup of your model by simply choosing it from the Global Ply ID drop-down list and the Material and Thickness values will be entered.

Material, Thickness and Angle:The Material drop-down list allows you to choose the material to be referenced for each ply. If you want to create a new material, simply click the “Material” Icon Button next to the Material drop-down list.

Thickness allows you to enter the physical thickness of each ply.

Angle is used to enter the orientation angle of each ply. The angles are specified relative to the material axes which were defined for the element. If you did not specify a material orientation angle, these angles are measured from the first side of the element (the edge from the first to the second node). They are measured from the rotated mate-rial axes otherwise.

Layup Editor ButtonsThere are several buttons in the Layup Editor that allow you to perform different functions. Some buttons are avail-able all the time, while other require that certain fields be filled, one row highlighted, or multiple rows highlighted.

Each button or group of button is explained in greater detail below.

New PlyOnce you have a Material, Thickness, and Angle specified, click this button to add the ply to the layup. By default, it will add this ply to the Top of the List (Designated in the dialog box above the list of plies with “Top of Layup”). If you have a ply highlighted in the list, the new ply will be added UNDER the highlighted ply (i.e., closer to the “Bottom of Layup”). If you have multiple plies highlighted, this button is not available

Update buttonsOnce a ply has been added the list, the definition of that ply can be updated using the Update Global Ply, Update Material, Update Thickness, or Update Angle buttons. These commands are available when one or more plies are highlighted in the list of plies (except Global Ply, which can only be used for one ply at a time). Once the desired plies are highlighted, enter the new value for Material, Thickness, and/or Angle, then click the appropriate button to update all highlighted plies with the new value.

Note: A Global Ply can only be referenced in a Layup one time. If you use a Global Ply more than once in a Layup, the most recently entered instance of the Global Ply will have the Global Ply designation.

Layups 9.3-27

DuplicateAvailable when one ply or multiple plies are highlighted. Simply highlight the plies you would like duplicated in the list of plies, click the Duplicate button, and the duplicated plies will be added to the top of the list of plies.

DeleteAvailable when one ply or multiple plies are highlighted. Simply highlight the plies you would like delete in the list of plies, click the Delete button, and the plies will be deleted from the list of plies

SymmetryAvailable only when multiple plies are highlighted. Simply highlight the plies you would like to “mirror” in the list of plies, click the Symmetry button, and the “mirrored” plies will be added to the top of the list of plies in reverse order as the were originally in the list.

ReverseAvailable only when multiple plies are highlighted. Simply highlight the plies you would like to “reverse” in the list of plies, click the Reverse button, and the order of the selected plies will be reversed in the list based on the original position (i.e., the selected ply which was closest to the “Bottom of Layup” will now be closest to the “Top of Layup” in the list).

Move Up and Move DownAvailable when one ply or multiple plies are highlighted. Simply highlight the plies you would like moved up or down in the list of plies, click the Move Up or Move Down button, and the selected plies will be moved closer to the “Top of Layup” (Move Up) or “Bottom of Layup” (Move Down) one ply at a time.

RotateAvailable when one ply or multiple plies are highlighted. Simply highlight the plies you would like to rotate (alter angle) in the list of plies, click the Rotate button, and the “Angle” of the selected plies will updated by adding or subtracting the number entered in the Rotate Ply By dialog box. Enter a negative number to subtract from the cur-rent angle.

ComputeAlways available once a single ply has been added to the layup. This command will calculate the equivalent mechanical properties for the layup. These values will be sent to the Messages dockable pane.

The calculated “equivalent laminate property” values include:

•Total Thickness

•In-Plane Properties (2-D orthotropic)

Modulus of elasticity (X and Y directions)

Shear Modulus (XY)

Poisson’s Ratio

Coefficient of thermal expansion (X,Y, and XY)

•Bending/Flexural Properties (2-D orthotropic)

Modulus of elasticity (X and Y bending)

Shear Modulus (XY bending)

Poisson’s Ratio

Coefficient of thermal expansion (X,Y, and XY bending)

Note: If you have the Entity Info window open while creating or modifying a Layup, the equivalent properties will be calculated “live” every time a ply is added or modified. This is a great way to create a layup which will behave as expected in your model.


• Compliance Matrices - These are provided for advanced users working with composites. The inverse are also provided for your convenience.

A Matrix (extensional stiffness), B Matrix (coupling stiffness), D Matrix (bending stiffness)

A-Inv Matrix, B-Inv Matrix, D-Inv Matrix

Copy and PasteAvailable when one ply or multiple plies are highlighted. Simply highlight the plies you would like copied in the list of plies, click the Copy button, and the selected plies will be place on the clipboard.

Clicking Paste will Paste the plies into the current layup at the top of the list of plies. You can now reposition the plies using the Move Up and Move Down buttons.

Working with Layup Libraries (Save and Load buttons)The layup library allows you to create standard layups that you can use over and over again in many different mod-els. When you press Save, the current layup is added to the Layup library file. Pressing Load will display a list of the layups in the library and let you choose one to be loaded into the layup editor dialog box. You can then modify the values before pressing OK to create the layup. The layup ID is not saved in the library, nor updated when a layup is loaded from the library. For more information on libraries, see Section 2.6.2.8, "Library/Startup".

Loads and ConstraintsLoad Definitions

Every time a load is created on finite element entities (i.e., Model, Load, Nodal; Model, Load, Nodal on Face; and Model, Load, Elemental) or geometry (Model, Load, On Point; Model, Load, On Curve; Model, Load, on Surface) a “Load Definition” will also be created in FEMAP. A Bolt Preload will also create a Load Definition. These Load Definitions will appear in the Loads branch of the Model Info tree and can be given a title.

Each Load Definition will contain all of the individual loads which were created at the same time using a Model, Load... command. Load Definitions can then be edited, listed, and deleted and all individual loads contained in that Load Definition will be edited, listed, or deleted.

For example, if you chose to put a Force load of 1 unit on 5 selected nodes, a single “Load Definition” would appear in the Model Info tree. In this case, if the Load Definition were to be edited, 5 individual loads would be modified using one command.

Load Definitions can be removed at any time using the Remove Definition command on the context sensitive menu in the Model Info tree and the individual loads from that Load Definition will be moved under the appropriate head-ing in the Other Loads branch. The Other Loads branch contains headings for On Geometry, On Mesh, Bolt Pre-Load, Nodal Temperatures, and Elemental Temperatures.

Also, a Load Definition can be created from any number of loads of the same type (i.e., any number of Nodal Forces, Elemental Pressures, or Displacements on Curves, etc.) by highlighting them in the Model Info tree and using the Create Definition command from the context sensitive menu.

If you choose loads of various types and then use the Create Definition command, FEMAP will create a Load Def-inition for each separate type of load that was highlighted. For more information about the Remove Definition and Create Definition commands, along with the process of combining Load Definitions, please see Section 7.2.1, "Tools, Model Info" under “Loads and Constraints in the Model Info Tree”

Constraint DefinitionsEvery time a constraint is created on finite element entities (i.e., Model, Constraint, Nodal; Model, Constraint, Nodal on Face; and Model, Constraint, Equation) or geometry (Model, Constraint, On Point; Model, Constraint,

Note: The “copied” plies will remain on the clipboard until over-written by another copy operation from a windows program. If you desire, you can “copy” from a layup, then open another layup (new or exist-ing) and “paste” those plies into that layup.

Note: All of the commands for listing, deleting, and modifying individual loads are still available in FEMAP.

Additional Load and Constraint Enhancements 9.3-29

On Curve; Model, Constraint, on Surface) a “Constraint Definition” will also be created in FEMAP. These Con-straint Definitions will appear in the Constraints branch of the Model Info tree and can be given a title.

Each Constraint Definition will contain all of the individual constraints which were created at the same time using a Model, Constraint... command. Constraint Definitions can then be edited, listed, and deleted and all individual constraints contained in that Constraint Definition will be edited, listed, or deleted.

For example, if you chose to put a constraint for Degrees of Freedom TX, TY, and TZ on 5 selected nodes, a single “Constraint Definition” would appear in the Model Info tree. In this case, if the Constraint Definition were to be edited, 5 individual constraints would be modified using one command.

Constraint Definitions can be removed at any time using the Remove Definition command on the context sensitive menu in the Model Info tree and the individual constraints from that Constraint Definition will be moved under the appropriate heading in the Other Constraints branch. The Other Constraints branch contains headings for On Geometry, On Mesh, and Equations.

Also, a Constraint Definition can be created from any number of constraints of the same type (i.e., any number of Nodal Constraints, Constraints on Curves, or Constraint Equations, etc.) by highlighting them in the Model Info tree and using the Create Definition command from the context sensitive menu.

If you choose constraints of various types and then use the Create Definition command, FEMAP will create a Con-straint Definition for each separate type of constraint that was highlighted. For more information about the Remove Definition and Create Definition commands, along with the process of combining Constraint Definitions, please see Section 7.2.1, "Tools, Model Info" under “Loads and Constraints in the Model Info Tree”

Additional Load and Constraint Enhancements• Added Edit Load Definition/Edit Constraint Definition and Delete Load Definition/Delete Constraint Defini-

tion to menu

• Added new dialog boxes for Load and BC Combine

Note: Each Constraint Equation created will also create a new Constraint Definition. These Constraint Defini-tions can then be combined.

Note: All of the commands for listing, deleting, and modifying individual constraints are still available in FEMAP.

Note: If you combine multiple constraint equations into one constraint definition, you will be prompted to edit each constraint equation one at a time.


• Added functional dependence for body accelerations and rotations. Removed requirement for coincident vector for RFORCE rotation and accelerations. Also added "Rotating About Vector" to body loads to automatically set rotational velocity and acceleration components around a vector and made center of rotation on body loads pick-able from screen

• Added face selection by free face for loads on mesh

• Clear the current face ID when you switch between Front and Back Face - to truly indicate that you have to re-pick the face after the radio button change.

• Initial implementation of Bolt Preloads for NX Nastran

Using Data Surfaces with Loads 9.3-31

Using Data Surfaces with Loads

A new method exists for varying a load on the Create Loads dialog box. In FEMAP 9.3, you can use a Data Surface as a load variation method. You can quickly create 6 of the 7 types of Data Surfaces from inside the dialog box by choosing a Data Surface type from the menu that appears when the Data Surface Icon button is clicked.

Here is a description of what you can do with the different types of Data Surfaces - "Along Coordinates Data Sur-face", "Between Coordinates Data Surface", "Output Map Data Surface", "Mesh Data Surface", "Tabular Data Sur-face (Must to be defined before load is created)", "Arbitrary 3-D Data Surface", "Equation Data Surface"

Along Coordinates Data SurfaceThis type of Data Surface allows you to choose coordinates in space and apply a Scalar value (single value) or Vec-tor values (X, Y, and Z values) at each coordinate. The variation will “follow the path” of the coordinates (“points”) in the order they are entered. This type of Data Surface can have as few as 3 “points” and as many as 110 “points”.


Variation Options• Define Multiple - allows you to use the Variation Locations section of this Dialog Box. By clicking the Paste

button, values on the clipboard will be entered into the Variation Locations list in the appropriate format.

• Number of Points - allows you to enter a number to represent the number of rows which will be created in the “Table” of the Data Surface Editor. The table can then be filled manually one cell at a time, using the Update Coordinates or Update Vector Values commands (available on the Context-Sensitive menu for this type of Data Surface), or “Pasting” (also on context sensitive menu) cells from a spreadsheet or comma-separated values.

Data Options• Scalar - allows you to enter one value for each coordinate

• Vector - allows you to enter 3 component values (X, Y, and Z) for each coordinate.

• Options button - One option is available for this data surface definition method. “Project Curve onto Surface” allows you to pick a surface to project the spline onto before it is interpolated.

Variation LocationsThe X, Y, and Z Location fields represent the X, Y, and Z coordinates of the “points of the spline”. These coordi-nates can be entered manually or picked graphically from the screen (use of “snap options” can aid in precise selec-tion of coordinates).

Once the Location fields are entered, a single value (Data Options set to “Scalar”) or XYZ values (Data Options set to “Vector”) can be entered into the appropriate Value fields.

To add a coordinate and value(s) to the list of “Points”, click the Add button.

Values for any of the fields in a single row can be updated by clicking a row in the list (the values will be filled in for Location and Value), altering the desired values, and then clicking the Update button.

Delete will delete only the highlighted row, while Reset will completely clear the list of “Points”.

ExampleThe value of a pressure load on the top of the wing needs to vary based on the coordinate values of each node at one edge of the “upper wing skin”. “Scalar” was set in Data Options so only one value needs to be entered for each location

Once the Data Surface has been created, you will use Model, Load, Elemental to create the pressure loading. The elements on the “top” of the wing are selected and the Method in the Create Loads on Element dialog box has been changed to “Data Surface”. “Pressure” has been chosen from the list of loads and the “Along Coordinates Data Sur-face” has been selected from the Data Surface drop-down list. A value of “1.0” has been enter in the Pressure field in order to use the entered values in the Data Surface directly. Finally element faces are chosen (using the adjacent faces method) on which to apply the variable Pressure load.

Note: When a row is selected in the Variation Locations list, it will be highlighted on the screen using the current settings for the Window, Show Entities command.

Nodes on this edge used to specifycoordinates (snap mode set to “Snapto Node”)

Between Coordinates Data Surface 9.3-33

Between Coordinates Data SurfaceThis type of Data Surface allows you to choose the number of corners to use (2, 4, or 8), whether the variation is in linear or parametric space, and enter a Scalar value (single value) or Vector values (X, Y, and Z values) at each “corner”. The values will be interpolated between the specified corners.

Variation Type•2 Point Linear - Define two corner locations and two associated values. FEMAP will linearly interpolate between the entered values at the two locations.

•2 Point Parametric- Define two corner locations, two associated val-ues, and optionally a Curve (Chosen using the Options button). The Data Surface values are then linearly inter-polated between the two locations in parametric space using the chosen curve.

•4 Point Bilinear - Define four cor-ner locations representing a “rectan-gular section” and associated values at each corner. FEMAP will linearly interpolate in two directions to obtain the values inside the “rectangular sec-tion”.

Pressure Loads Vectorsshown on “top” of wing.

Pressure Loads convertedto output and shown as Criteria Plot for clarity.


• 4 Point Parametric - Define four corner locations representing a “rectangular section”, associated values at each corner, and optionally a Surface (Chosen using the Options button). FEMAP will project the 4 corner loca-tions to the surface, then linearly interpolate in two directions in the parametric space of the chosen surface to obtain the values inside the “rectangular section”.

• 8 Point Trilinear - Define eight corner locations representing a “prismatic volume” and associated values at each corner. FEMAP will linearly interpolate in three directions to obtain the values inside the “prismatic vol-ume”.

Data Options

• Scalar - allows you to enter one value for each corner.

• Vector - allows you to enter 3 component values (X, Y, and Z) for each corner.

• Options button - three options are available for this data surface definition method overall, but some options are only available when certain Variation Type have been selected.

“CSys” is available for all Variation Types and defines the coordinate system in which the Data Surface will be evaluated.

“Parametric Curve ID” is only available when the “2 Point Parametric” Variation Type have been selected. This allows you to choose a curve ID. The linear interpolation will then occur in the curve’s parametric space.

“Parametric Surface ID” is only available when the “4 Point Parametric” Variation Type have been selected. This allows you to choose a surface ID on which the corner locations will be projected. The linear interpolation will then occur in the surface’s parametric space.

Variation LocationsThe X, Y, and Z Corner Location fields represent the X, Y, and Z coordinates of the “Corner Points” for each Vari-ation Type. These coordinates can be entered manually or picked graphically from the screen (use of “snap options” can aid in precise selection of coordinates).

Once the Corner Location fields for a “row” are entered, a single value (Data Options set to “Scalar”) or XYZ val-ues (Data Options set to “Vector”) can be entered into the appropriate Value fields.

Common UsesThis type of data surface is commonly used to define variations in 1, 2, or 3 dimensions, when “corner values” are known.

ExampleThe value of a pressure load on the “top” of the wing needs to vary based on the four known “corner values” of then “upper wing skin”. “Scalar” was set in Data Options so only one value needs to be entered for each location

Note: When a “Parametric” Variation Type (2 Point or 4 Point) is used for a “mesh-based” loading con-dition, a geometry ID MUST be chosen to supply the parametric space.

When a “Parametric” Variation Type is used for a “geometry-based” loading condition, the optional chosen geometry ID will override the geometry selected for the load.

Note: The required number of Corner Locations and Values “rows” will become active depending on the chosen Variation Type. All active “rows” must have values in order for this type of Data Surface to work properly. (i.e., you can NOT enter only three points for a “4 Point Linear” data surface)

Known Values at 4 cornerlocations

Output Map Data Surface 9.3-35

Once the Data Surface has been created, you will use Model, Load, Elemental to create the pressure loading. The elements on the “top” of the wing are selected and the Method in the Create Loads on Element dialog box has been changed to “Data Surface”. “Pressure” has been chosen from the list of loads and the “Between Coordinates Data Surface” has been selected from the Data Surface drop-down list. A value of “1.0” has been enter in the Pressure field in order to use the entered values in the Data Surface directly. Finally element faces are chosen (using the adjacent faces method) on which to apply the variable Pressure load.

Output Map Data SurfaceThis type of Data Surface allows you to “map” output from one mesh to create load values for another mesh. The “Other Mesh” can be a refined mesh in the same model or a completely different mesh in another model. Transfer-ring an “Output Map Data Surface” to another model requires use of the Copy and Paste icons in the Data Surface Editor.

Output which can be “mapped” includes:

• Nodal - Forces, Moments, Displacements, Velocities, Rotational Velocities, Accelerations, Rotational Acceler-ations, Temperatures, and Heat Flux)

• Elemental - Pressures, Temperatures, Heat Flux, Heat Generation, Convection, and Radiation

The “Output Map Data Surface” works very similar to the Model, Load, Map Output From Model command, although it can map more types of output to loads and can be used with only one model open in FEMAP. For more information, see Section 4.3.6.4, "Model, Load, Map Output From Model..."

Map Output Data• Output Set - Allows you to choose an Output Set currently in your model.

• Output Vector - Allows you to choose a specific Output Vector in the selected Output Set.

• Output By Group check box - When Checked, allows you to choose a predefined FEMAP Group. This Group is used to limit the amount of output sent to the Data Surface as only output values from entities in the group will be used.

Note: FEMAP does not restrict the type of data which can be mapped in any way from one mesh to another.

For instance, you could create an “Output Map Data Surface” using nodal temperatures from the “source mesh”, then “map” those temperatures to the “target mesh” as an elemental pressure load. In this case, that may not make sense, but is simply to represent the unrestricted nature of the com-mand.

Pressure Loads Vectorsshown on “top” of wing.

Pressure Loads convertedto output and shown as Contour Plot for clarity.


Data Options button Two options are available for this data surface definition method. Both can be used with any data surface of this type.

“CSys” - defines the coordinate system in which the Data Sur-face will be evaluated.

This drop-down menu in the “Output Map Options” section allows you to choose a “mapping” option for entities which do not have a “one-to-one mapping” from the “Source” to the “Tar-get”. When a node is not “mapped” it is because a “Target” node’s normal projection does not fall within any “Source” Ele-ment. The options for nodes that are not mapped:

•0..Set to Zero - Sets all entities without a direct “map” to the value of zero (0.0)

•1..Set to Value - Sets all entities without a direct “map” to a specified value. The value can be specified as a constant or in X, Y, and Z components.

• 2..Extend Closest - Extends the value to the closest “Target Entity”.

• 3..Interpolate - Does a linear interpolation using the source values. (Default)

• 4..No Output - Applies no output values to any entities which do not have a direct “map”. FEMAP will also automatically create a group of “Target” nodes which have not been “mapped”.

Using Align Output Map and Plot Output Map commandsBoth the Align Output Map and Plot Output Map commands in the Data Surface Editor are exclusively used on conjunction with the “Map Output Data Surface”. These commands are available to aid application of the Data Sur-face from a “source mesh” to a different “target mesh”.

After the Data Surface has been created (or copied into a different model), Align Output Map can be used to prop-erly align the Data Surface to the “target mesh”. The “source mesh” is saved with each “Output Map Data Surface” and can then be plotted in relation to the “target mesh” using Plot Output Map.

The recommended workflow of these commands is to first toggle on the “plot” of the “source mesh”, “align” it to the “target mesh”, then toggle off the “plot” once everything is properly aligned.

ExampleAfter a steady-state fluid flow analysis of fluid through a pipe, the “Total Pressure” at each element in the fluid is calculated. The “Total Pressure” output can be displayed in FEMAP using a contour plot. Now we want to transfer the pressure values on the “outside” of the fluid (solid elements in Model “A”) to the “inside” of the pipe walls (plate elements in Model “B”). Since nodes and element locations are completely different (element shapes as well), we will “map” the “Total pressure” output to create a pressure load for structural analysis.

“Total Pressure at Nodes”from a fluid-flow analysis

Mesh Data Surface 9.3-37

Once the Data Surface has been created, you will need to “copy” the Data Surface to the clipboard from Model “A” using the Copy command in the Data Surface Editor. Now Model “B” needs to be opened (or created) and once it is ready for loading, the Data Surface on the clipboard will be “pasted” in using the Paste command in the Data Surface Editor.

Now, you will use Model, Load, Elemental to create the pressure loading. The elements on the “inside” of the pipe are selected and the Method in the Create Loads on Element dialog box has been changed to “Data Surface”. “Pres-sure” has been chosen from the list of loads and the “Output Map Data Surface” has been selected from the Data Surface drop-down list. A value of “1.0” has been enter in the Pressure field in order to use the entered values in the Data Surface directly. Finally element faces are chosen (Face “1”) on which to apply the variable Pressure load

Mesh Data SurfaceThis type of Data Surface allows you to choose node or element IDs and enter a Scalar value (or “expression”) or Vector (X, Y, and Z) values (or 3 “expressions”). This type of data surface is much more useful when using an “expression”, which uses a particular coordinate of a node, element centroid, or centroid of an element face to vary the value (such as XND(!i), bases value on X coordinate of a node). The values shown in the Data Surface Editor are “evaluated” values for each selected entity.

Variation TypeYou must choose the entity type used to vary the data surface

•Node ID - When Select Entities button is clicked, FEMAP will prompt you to choose Node IDs for the Data Surface

•Element ID - When Select Entities button is clicked, FEMAP will prompt you to choose Element IDs for the Data Surface

Data Options

•Scalar - allows you to enter one value or “expression”

•Vector - allows you to enter 3 component values (X, Y, and Z) or 3 individual “expressions”.

•Options button - One option is available for this data surface definition method. “CSys” is available for all Variation Types and defines the coordinate system in which the Data Surface will be evaluated.

Note: To create an “expression” referencing the Node, Element, or Element Face Coordinates use XND(), YND(), ZND(), XEL(), YEL(), ZEL(), XEF(;), YEF(;), or ZEF(;). These are explained in greater detail in Appendix C of the FEMAP User Guide (see Section C, "Function Reference")

Pressure Loads Vectorsshown on “inside” of pipe


shell model.


Define/Fill Data Surface DataDepending on the Data Option selected, you will be asked for 1 or 3 Value/Equation(s) (Expressions). After the required Value/Equation(s) have been entered, click the Select Entities button to choose the appropriate entities with the standard Entity Selection dialog box.

Common UsesThis type of data surface is commonly used to define load variations where the variation is known relative to the element or node ID.

ExampleThe temperature of the exterior walls of a “tank” varies with height (Y direc-tion in global coordinate system) from a point at the origin. The tank has a mapped mesh which will allow accurate distribution of either nodal or ele-mental temperatures. The “Scalar” Data Option will be used and an “expres-sion” (YEL(!i)) will be used to vary the “X” value (In this case, simply magnitude) based on the height of the element centroid.

Once the “expression” has been entered, click the Select Entities button and choose all of the elements in the model. When OK is clicked, the “evaluated” values will be sent to the table in the Data Surface Editor.

Now, you will use Model, Load, Elemental to create the temperature loading. All of the elements are selected and “Temperature” has been chosen from the list of loads. The Method in the Create Loads on Element dialog box has been

changed to “Data Surface” and the “Mesh Data Surface” has been selected from the Data Surface drop-down list. A value of “100” has been enter in the Temperature field in order to use the entered values in the Data Surface mul-tiplied by 100.

Elemental Temperature Loadsshown on “Tank”

Elemental Temperature Loadsconverted to output and shown with Criteria plot for clarity

Tabular Data Surface (Must to be defined before load is created) 9.3-39

Repeating the same procedure but using nodal Y-coordinates (YND(!i) “expression”) of all nodes instead of ele-ments for the “Mesh Data Surface”, then applying nodal temperature loads yields these loads:

Tabular Data Surface (Must to be defined before load is created)This type of Data Surface allows you to create a data surface by defining the size of the table in the Data Surface Editor and then manually entering the values one at a time or pasting them in from another program, such as Excel. This is the most general type of data surface and in some ways, the most powerful. That said, it also requires the most interaction with the user, so keep that in mind.

Variation TypeYou must choose the type of table to create, then specify the size of the selected table using the Define Data button. This will create an empty table which you will then “fill with values” to vary the loading condition.

• Parametric Table - This type of table is designed to be based on the “Parametric Space” associated with a geo-metric surface chosen during the creation of the Data Surface or created as a “generic” Data Surface which can only be applied with a Surface-based load.

Note: When a “Parametric Table” is used for a “mesh-based” loading condition, a surface ID (not a boundary surface) MUST be chosen to supply the parametric space.

When a “Parametric Table” is used for a “surface-based” loading condition, the chosen surface ID will override the geometry selected for the load.

Nodal Temperature Loadsshown on “Tank”

Nodal Temperature Loadsconverted to output and shown with Contour plot for clarity


When Define Data button is clicked, the Define Table Size dialog box with appears with fields for U Divisions, V Divisions, and Surface ID.

u Divisions - refers to how many intermediate points will be between “0” and “1” in the “U” direction of the surface’s Parametric Space.

v Divisions - refers to how many intermediate points will be between “0” and “1” in the “V” direction of the surface’s Parametric Space.

Surface ID - allows you to choose a 4-sided surface ID on which each “corner value” in the table, will be correspond to a corner on the surface. The linear interpolation will then occur in the surface’s parametric space.

For example, Corner 1 would be at (U=0, V=0) in Parametric space, Cor-ner 2 (U=1, V=0), Corner 3 (U=1, V=1), and Corner 4 (U=0, V=1).

ExampleThe table will look like this for a “Parametric Table” with 5 “U” Divisions, 5 “V” Divisions, and a chosen Surface:

Values can now be entered at the four “corners” of the table:

When the Data Surface is saved, FEMAP will save the corner values and when the Data Surface is used, FEMAP will interpolate the saved points to create the load distribution.

Instead of just the corner values, values for all of the cells can be filled in manually to create a very specific distri-bution of values in the table. You can also fill the empty cells of the table automatically with interpolated values using the Interpolate command in the Data Surface Editor.

Note: It is VERY important to remember to save this type of Data Surface before trying to use it to cre-ate a loading condition. Unlike most of the other Data Surface types, most or all of the data must be entered into the table. FEMAP does not know this data has been entered or modified until you use the Save or Save As command.


Here is the Data Surface Editor showing the “Interpolated” values:

Once the Data Surface has been created, you could use Model, Load, Elemental to create a distributed pressure load. The elements on a surface are selected and the Method in the Create Loads on Element dialog box has been changed to “Data Surface”. “Pressure” has been chosen from the list of loads and the “Parametric Table Data Sur-face” has been selected from the Data Surface drop-down list. A value of “1.0” has been enter in the Pressure field in order to use the entered values in the Data Surface directly. Finally element faces are chosen (using the adjacent faces method) on which to apply the variable Pressure load.

• XYZ Table - This type of table is the most general type of Data Surface.

Pressure Loads Vectorsshown on mesh

Pressure Loads shownas output in contour plot Underlying Surface used

for parametric space for clarity


When Define Data button is clicked, the CSys type selected for the Data Surface using the Options button will determine which Define Table Size dialog box is shown.

The number of “Divisions” boxes checked dictates the size of the corresponding table.

For instance, if a cylindrical coordinate system is chosen, only “R Divisions” is checked, and a value of “5” is entered, the following table will appear

This type of data surface could be used to vary a loading condition using the radial distance from a user-defined cylindrical coordinate system.

For example, you have an annular plate which has an inner radius of “5” and an outer radius of “10”. You need to vary the temperature evenly from the inner radius to the outer radius with specific temperature values being at precise radial distances from the center. This method, would allow you to do this rather easily.

To model this in FEMAP, you could define a cylindrical coordinate system at the center of the inner radius and then create a data surface which had the desired number of “R” values with corresponding temperatures.

Now, you could create an elemental or nodal temperature loading condi-tion referencing this XYZ Table Data Surface.

Here is what elemental temperature distributions would look like on one half of the annular plate:

If the plate elements of the annular plate were extruded in the positive Z-direction 5 units to create solid elements, a tabular Data Surface could be used to vary a temperature load in both the Radial Direction and the Z-direction in the same load.

Again, a cylindrical coordinate system is chosen, but this time “R Divisions” and “Z Divisions” are checked, and a value of “5” is entered for “R Divisions” and “3” for “Z Divisions”.

Rectangular Coordinate System Cylindrical Coordinate System Spherical Coordinate System

Varying Elemental Temperatures on “finer” meshed model shown as output in Criteria plot for clarity

Varying Elemental Temperatures shown on “half plate” model


The table below represents this data surface, with some values manually entered to create the variation criteria. Notice that the row of “R” values varies from “5” to “10” and the column of “Z” values varies from “0” to “5”.

Now, you could create an elemental or nodal temperature loading condition referencing this XYZ Table Data Sur-face.

Here is what this elemental temperature distribution would look like on one half of the solid mesh created from the original annular plate:

Finally, if we want to vary the temperature using the radius, Z-distance, and theta angle, we could use this type of Data Surface.

Again, a cylindrical coordinate system is chosen, but this time “R Divisions”, “T Divisions”, and “Z Divisions” are all checked, and a value of “5” is entered for “R Divisions”, “7” for “T Divisions” and “3” for “Z Divisions”.

You can see that the table now has three “tabbed sheets”. Each sheet contains a table to define the Radial and Theta values for one particular “Z” value. By default, all of the “Z” values are “0”.

Varying Elemental Temperatures on solid meshed model shown as output in contour plot for clarity

Elements of “fine-meshed” annularplate model extruded into solidelements in positive Z-direction


To change the “Z value” for a particular “tabbed sheet”, click on the tab, then click the right mouse button and choose Properties from the context sensitive menu. This dialog box will open:

Notice you may enter a Title and assign a Value for “Z” for each sheet. Click OK to return to the table in the Data Surface Editor.

The table below represents this data surface, with some values manually entered to create the variation criteria. Notice that the row of “R” values varies from “5” to “10”, the column of “Theta” values vary from “0 degrees” to “180 degrees”, and the “Z” values on the tabs, vary from “0” to “5”.

Here is what this elemental temperature distribution would look like on one half of the solid mesh using “3-D XYZ Tabular Data Surface”:

Note: If you have do not have enough sheets to define a particular Data Surface, you can add them one at a time by clicking on the tab, then clicking the right mouse button and choosing Insert Page from the context sensitive menu. On the other hand, you can delete excess sheets one at a time using the Delete Page from the context sensitive menu.

Varying Elemental Temperatures on solid mesh model shown asoutput in contour plot for clarity

Arbitrary 3-D Data Surface 9.3-45

Data Options

• Scalar - allows you to enter one value for each “X” value or “XY Data Pair”

• Vector - allows you to enter 3 component values (X, Y, and Z) for each “X” value or “XY Data Pair”.

• Options button - two options are available for this data surface definition method.

“CSys” - defines the coordinate system in which the Data Surface will be evaluated. The selected Coordinate Sys-tem will bring up the appropriate Define Table Size dialog box.

“Tabular Options” - instructs FEMAP what to do with “undefined cells” in the Data Surface Editor. The default is to use “Interpolate from Closest”, which will interpolate to the appropriate entity type from the closest defined value. The other option is to use Value, which will simply place the entered value into any “undefined cells”.

Data Variation Data

When Define Data button is clicked and Parametric Table is selected, the Define Table Size dialog box with appears with fields for “u Divisions”, “v Divisions”, and Surface ID.

When Define Data button is clicked and XYZ Table is selected, the CSys type selected for the Data Surface using the Options button will determine which Define Table Size dialog box is shown. For instance, if a rectangular coor-dinate system is selected, the Define Table Size dialog box allows you to enter values for “X Divisions”, “Y Divi-sions”, and “Z Divisions”.

Arbitrary 3-D Data SurfaceThe dialog box for this type of Data Surface is very similar to the Along Coordinates Data Surface. The difference is that this Data Surface does not use the order in which the variation locations and values were entered into the table for anything. Instead, it uses the entered variation locations to perform an interpolation of values using a “Modified Inverse Weighted Interpolation” method. Any number of independent 3D locations may be entered.

Variation Options• Define Multiple - allows you to use the Variation Locations section of this Dialog Box. By clicking the Paste

button, values on the clipboard will be entered into the Variation Locations list in the appropriate format.

Note: One powerful way to use this type of Data Surface is to take data from physical/environmental testing which was retrieved at arbitrary locations and then apply them to a meshed model. This way, you do not have to create “hard points” in your model to apply specific loading conditions.


• Number of Points - allows you to enter a number to represent the number of rows which will be created in the “Table” of the Data Surface Editor. The table can then be filled manually one cell at a time, using the Update Coordinates or Update Vector Values commands (available on the Context-Sensitive menu for this type of Data Surface), or “Pasting” (also on context sensitive menu) cells from a spreadsheet or comma-separated values.

Data Options• Scalar - allows you to enter one value for each arbitrary 3-D location.

• Vector - allows you to enter 3 component values (X, Y, and Z) for each arbitrary 3-D location.

• Options button - two options are available for this data surface definition method.

“CSys” - defines the coordinate system in which the Data Surface will be evaluated.

“Arbitrary 3-D Interpolation Options” - when this option is set to % Locations to Include, the value can vary from “0” to “100”. If it is set to “100”, FEMAP will use the “weighted contribution” from all of the Data Surface 3-D Variation Locations, while if it is set to “0” FEMAP will use the number set in Min Locations to Include.

The value for Min Locations to Include must be higher than one and simply tells FEMAP the minimum number of variation locations that will be used at each interpolation point.

Variation LocationsThe X, Y, and Z Location fields represent the X, Y, and Z coordinates of the “arbitrary points in 3-D space”. These coordinates can be entered manually or picked graphically from the screen (use of “snap options” can aid in precise selection of coordinates).

Once the Location fields are entered, a single value (Data Options set to “Scalar”) or XYZ values (Data Options set to “Vector”) can be entered into the appropriate Value fields.

To add a coordinate and value(s) to the list of “points in 3-D space”, click the Add button.

Values for any of the fields in a single row can be updated by clicking a row in the list (the values will be filled in for Location and Value), altering the desired values, and then clicking the Update button.

Delete will delete only the highlighted row, while Reset will completely clear the list of “Points”.

ExampleA triangular surface has a variable pressure assigned to it. A single value for pressure is know for a position near each corner.

When these three arbitrary locations and corresponding values are entered into the Define Arbitrary 3-D Coordinate Data Surface dialog box, the table in the Data Surface Editor will appear like this:

.

.

.

Now that the Data Surface has been created, it can now be used to create a pressure loading condition.

Note: When a row is selected in the Variation Locations list, it will be highlighted on the screen using the current settings for the Window, Show Entities command.

Equation Data Surface 9.3-47

You will use Model, Load, Elemental to create the pressure loading. All of the elements on the triangular surface are selected and the Method in the Create Loads on Element dialog box has been changed to “Data Surface”. “Pres-sure” has been chosen from the list of loads and the “Arbitrary 3-D location Data Surface” has been selected from the Data Surface drop-down list. A value of “1.0” has been enter in the Pressure field in order to use the entered values in the Data Surface directly. Finally element faces are chosen (using the adjacent faces method) on which to apply the variable Pressure load.

Another example would be to paste a number of location/value pairs in from a spread sheet (or comma-separated list of values) and apply them as a Pressure load on “top” surface of a wing to create a distributed load.

Equation Data SurfaceThe simplest type of Data Surface is the Equation Data Surface. The only inputs are which Coordinate System the equation should be evaluated (CSys in Data Surface) and the Equation itself. The Calculator button can be clicked to bring up the FEMAP Equation Editor dialog box. This allows you to see all of the options FEMAP has for creat-ing equations and also shows the proper syntax which must be used to be recognized by FEMAP. This is a great way to store a FEMAP equation for use in multiple loading conditions.

Pressure Loads Vectorsshown on triangular surface.



These functions which can be used FEAMP equation are explained in greater detail in Appendix C of the FEMAP User Guide (see Section C, "Function Reference").

ExampleAn equation can be used to create a bearing load on the inside of hole. We will use half an annular plate for this example, with the center of the hole at the origin (this enables us to use the Global Cylindrical Coordinate System).

In this case, our equation is calculating the Sine (SIN) of the “Theta Value” in the Global Cylindrical Coordinate System of each selected node (YND(!i)) and multiplying that value by 10.

Here is what a nodal load in the X-direction (radial for our chosen coordinate system) referencing this Equation Data Surface would look like:

Connections (Connection Properties, Regions, and Connectors)There were several enhancements to the NX Nastran Connection Properties:

• Added support for BGPARM parameters (NX Linear)

• Added INTORD and REFINE for BCTPARM and BGPARM (NX Linear)

• Added Specify with Gap Distance option for initial penetration and field to enter Gap Distance (NX Adv Non-lin)

• Added Displacement Formulation for Small and Large Displacement Formulations ((NX Adv Nonlin)

• Added "Show Expanded" for Connection Regions - shows regions that are defined by nodes/elements if selected in a multi-pick with other real expandable segment.

The bottom portion of the Connect menu is used to create three specialized types of regions useful for Nastran users, Fluid Regions, Bolt Regions (used to apply a Bolt Pre-load in NX Nastran only), and Rotor Regions (used to define “rotors” for Rotor Dynamics in NX Nastran only)

A Fluid Region allows you to create a region of elements to simulate either a finite volume “internal” fluid (i.e. a fluid in a contained area) or an infinite volume “external” fluid (i.e., ship floating in a body of water). The regions can be created in a similar manner to Connection Regions by using element IDs and face numbers OR elements associated to the positive or negative side of a surface. Along with defining the physical regions that can be affected by the fluid, there are additional options which can be set up for creating the MFUILD entry for the Nas-tran solver. (See "Fluid Regions")

A Bolt Region is used to create a region of elements where you would like to apply a bolt “preload”. The “preload” is a specified torque which has been translated into an axial load, arising from components in an assembly being bolted together. Each Bolt Region represents a “bolt” and there can be multiple “bolts” in a single model, all with unique “preloads”. When analyzing “preloaded bolts”, you may be interested in obtaining the stresses due to the preload condition alone or due to a combination of the bolt preload and additional loading conditions. (See "Bolt Regions")

Fluid Regions 9.3-49

A Rotor Region is used to create a region of nodes which you would like to specify as a “rotor” for Rotor Dynamics in NX Nastran. There are also options to set the rotation axis, damping values, and individual rotor load sets. (See "Rotor Regions")

FEMAP gives you the ability to “enable “and “disable” Fluid, Bolt, and Rotor Regions which can be very useful when trying different numbers of MFLUIDs, Bolt Preloads, and Rotors in different analysis runs.

Fluid RegionsThe Connect, Fluid Region command is very similar to the Connect, Connection Region command. The difference is that instead of creating regions for Contact purposes, this command creates individual segments representing incompressible fluid volume regions used for the purpose of generating a virtual mass matrix (MFLUID entry in Nastran input files). This capability is available in FEMAP supported Nastran Solution Sequences 103 (Modal Analysis), 107 through 112 (Complex Modal Analysis and Dynamic Analyses), 129 (Nonlinear Transient Analy-sis), and 200 (Optimization).

Although the methods used for selecting elements and surfaces are identical to Connect, Connection Region, there are additional parameters which may be entered in the Fluid Options portion of the Fluid Region dialog box. These options are very important to creating the MFLUID properly.

Plate elements which have 1 face “wetted” by the fluid will be placed into and ELIST with a unique ID in Nastran and this ID is used in the ELIST1 field on the MFLUID. If Both faces of the element are “wetted” then these ele-ments will be placed into an ELIST with a different ID in Nastran and this ID is used in the ELIST2 field.

Entity InformationThis section includes the typical entity information contained in FEMAP: ID, color, layer and title. It is important to give each Fluid Region a descriptive title so you may easily select them from the Model Info tree if they need to be edited.

Fluid OptionsThese options fill out particular fields on the MFLUID entry in Nastran.

CSysCoordinate System to be used to specify the orientation of the free surface of the fluid and any planes of symmetry. This coordinate system MUST be a rectangular Coordinate System, as any other type will cause a Nastran fatal error. Represents the CID field on the MFLUID entry in Nastran.

Choosing the coordinate system properly is very important. It can be useful to create a Local Rectangular coordi-nate system for each Fluid Region. Make sure the Z axis of the user-defined coordinate system is facing in the nor-mal direction of the plane you would like to represent the “Free Fluid Surface”, as any elements or surfaces that are in the Fluid Region AND in the below the XY plane of the user-defined coordinate system will be “filled” with fluid.

For example, in the figure below there are two fluid regions, the “Shallow Section” and the “Deeper Section”. The Free Fluid Surface for the “Shallow Section” is defined by coordinate system 3, while the Free Fluid Surface for the “Deeper Section” is defined by coordinate system 4. In this case, these Fluid Regions would be “filled” because


all of the entities that make up the Fluid Region lie below the XY plane of the coordinate systems used to set the Free Fluid Surface.

Z Free SurfaceIntercept of the free surface on the Z-axis of the Coordinate System specified in CSys. If the Z Free Surface is set to Zero, then the free surface will be in-plane with the XY Plane of Fluid Region Coordinate System. Represents the ZFS field on the MFLUID entry in Nastran.

For Example:

If the Fluid Region Coordinate System is at the “Bottom” of a the Fluid Region and Z Free Surface is set to “0.0”, then there is effectively no “fluid” acting on the structure.

If the Coordinate System is again at the “Bottom” of the Fluid Region, but the Z Free Surface is set to “2.0”, then the “fluid” will reach a height of 2.0 Units from the “Bottom” of the Fluid Region.

On the other hand, if the Fluid Region Coordinate System is at the “Top” of a the Fluid Region and Z Free Surface is set to “0.0”, then the “fluid” will reach the “Top” of the Fluid Region.

There is a Check box which enables you to turn the Z Free Surface OFF completely, so no value is written out to Nastran for the ZFS field. When the Z Free Surface is completely OFF and the XY Plane and YZ Plane fields are NOT set to Antisymmetry, Nastran will treat the MFLUID card as a special form of “external fluid”. In this special case, the user should define a coordinate system with the origin located as close to the center of the enclosed vol-ume as possible in order for this type of MFLUID to behave properly. This special case is only available for Nas-tran Solution Sequence 103 (Modal Analysis), as well as, SOLs 107 through 112 (Complex Modal Analysis and Dynamic Analyses).

“Deeper Section”

“Shallow Section”

“Coordinate System 4”

“Coordinate System 3”

“Fluid” reaches “Top”

CSys at “Top” of RegionZ Free Surface is “0.0”

of Fluid Region“Fluid” reaches Height of 2.0

CSys at “Bottom” of RegionZ Free Surface is “2.0”

Units from “Bottom” of Region“Fluid” does not act on

CSys at “Top” of RegionZ Free Surface is “0.0”

Fluid Region

Shaded Elements represent Fluid Regions, while Thick, Dark Lines represents “Fluid Level”

Bolt Regions 9.3-51

Fluid DensityDensity of the fluid. Value is written to the RHO field on MFLUID entry in Nastran.

XZ Plane and YZ PlaneAllows you to choose symmetry conditions for the fluid region using the XZ Plane and/or YZ Plane of the Fluid Region Coordinate system. The three options are 0..None, 1..Symmetry, or 2..Antisymmetry. Based on what is selected in the drop down list, FEMAP will place a “N”, “S”, or “A” in the PLANE1 (XZ Plane) and PLANE2 (YZ Plane) fields in the MFLUID entry in Nastran.

If you are using these symmetry options, make sure to define the coordinate system to the appropriate plane of symmetry with regard to the structure.

For example, the figure below shows the appropriate position for the Fluid Region Coordinate Systems for a model which is using a YZ Plane Fluid Symmetry condition.

Region OptionsCharacteristic Length - Interactions between elements with separation that is greater than this number are neglected. Value is written out to the RMAX field of the MFLUID entry.

Exact Integration Factor - Exact integration is used if the distance between two elements is less than this number multiplied by the square root of the area of the larger element. Otherwise, center point integration is used by default. Value is written out to the FMEXACT field on the MFLUID entry.

Fluid-Structure Pressure OutputWhen a Fluid Region is present in your model, FEMAP provides an Output Request (Nastran only) called “Fluid Pressure” which will return an elemental “fluid-structure pressure” along with any other requested results. This “fluid-structure pressure” will only be retrieved from Nastran when using the 1..Print Only (.f06 file), 2..PostPro-cess Only (.op2 file), 3..Print and PostProcess (.op2 and .f06 files), or 5..Punch and PostProcess (.op2 file) options for Results Destination in the Nastran Output Requests dialog box.

Bolt RegionsThe Connect, Bolt Region command creates individual regions of a single element or multiple elements where you would like to apply a bolt “preload”. Bolt preload is only supported in FEMAP supported Nastran Solution Sequences 101 (Linear Static Analysis), 103 (Modal Analysis), 105 (Buckling Analysis), 107 through 112 (Com-plex Modal Analysis and Dynamic Analysis) and 601 (Advanced Nonlinear Analysis).

Each region represents a “bolt” and there can be multiple “bolts” in a single model, all with unique “preloads”. The “preload” is a specified torque which has been translated into an axial load, arising from components in an assem-bly being bolted together. In FEMAP, the “preload” is created using the Model, Load, Bolt Preload command.

When analyzing a model with “preloaded bolts”, you may be interested in obtaining the stresses due to the preload condition alone or due to a combination of the bolt preload and additional loading conditions.


Entity InformationThis section includes the typical entity information contained in FEMAP: ID, color, layer and title. It is important to give each Bolt Region a descriptive title so you may easily select them from the Model Info tree if they need to be edited.

Defined ByCurrently, only Beam and Bar elements can be used to define a Bolt Region. Bolt Regions can be defined using either Curves (selects Beam and Bar elements associated with the selected curves) or Elements (element IDs). Both curves and elements can be used at once to define a single Bolt Region. The IDs of the elements in the Bolt Region will be written out to the EIDi field(s) of the Nastran BOLT entry.

Curves and Elements can be selected from the graphics window one at a time in the main Bolt Region dialog box. In addition, their IDs can be typed into the appropriate field and added to the list using the <<Add button. If you would like to choose multiple curves or elements at one time, clicking the Multiple... button will bring up the appropriate Entity Selection dialog box for the selected entity type.

Curves and Elements can be deleted one at a time from the list in the Bolt Region dialog box by highlighting an entity in the list and clicking the Delete button. If you would like to delete all of the Bolt Region entities at once, you can simply click the Reset button.

Rotor RegionsThe Connect, Rotor Region command creates individual regions of nodes to be used as individual “rotors” in rotor dynamic analysis in NX Nastran. Rotor Dynamics is only supported in FEMAP supported Nastran Solution Sequences 110 (Complex Modal Analysis) and 111 (Modal Frequency Response Analysis).

Entity InformationThis section includes the typical entity information contained in FEMAP: ID, color, layer and title. It is important to give each Rotor Region a descriptive title so you may easily select them from the Model Info tree if they need to be edited. Also, if any “Rotational Force” has been applied to the rotor, you may want to include that information in the title. The ID of each Rotor Region is written out as the RIDi field on the ROTORD entry.

Defined ByOnly nodes can be used to define a Rotor Region. The IDs of the nodes in each Rotor Region will be written out to the GRIDi field(s) of the Nastran ROTORG entry.

Rotor OptionsThese options fill out particular fields on the ROTORD entry in Nastran.

Rotation Axis (Z Axis)Coordinate System to be used to specify the rotation axis for the current “rotor”. The Axis of rotation coincides with the Z-Axis of the selected coordinate system. Writes out to the RCORDi field on the ROTORD entry for each Rotor Region.

Note: FEMAP will allow you to choose ANY type of element when selecting elements for a Bolt Region. If any of those elements are not the right type of element, they will not be added to the list and an error message stating “Skipped ‘#’ of Elements which have invalid types for this command” will be sent to the Messages window.

Geometry 9.3-53

Freq for Overall Damping (W3)Reference frequency for structural damping set by PARAM,G in NX Nastran for the current Rotor Region. Writes out to the W3_i field on the ROTORD entry for each Rotor Region.

Freq for Material Damping (W4)Reference frequency for structural damping set for each unique material in NX Nastran for the current Rotor Region. Writes out to the W4_i field on the ROTORD entry for each Rotor Region.

Rotation Force AppliedAllows you to choose a Load Set with a prescribed Rotational Velocity only, which is then applied to the current rotor. Different Load Sets can be used to apply different Rotational Velocities for each rotor in your model. Writes the ID of the Load Set to the RFORCEi field of the ROTORD entry for each Rotor Region.

Geometry• Solid Titles/Names now persist across Geometry, Solid, Cleanup and across writing a Parasolid transmit file

• Added Geometry, Surface, Remove Hole

Note: For Complex Modal Analysis, the “PARAM, G” value can be set in the NASTRAN Modal Analysis dia-log box of the Analysis Set Manager. For Modal Frequency Response Analysis, this value can be set using the Model, Load, Dynamic Analysis command. Simply change the Solution Method to “Modal Frequency” in the Load Set Options for Dynamic Analysis dialog box and enter a value for “Overall Structural Damping Coefficient (G)”.

Note: Material Damping can be set in the Define Material dialog box for each material in the model.

Surface with several “interior holes”

Choose one curve on each “interior hole” and all of the curves making up the “loop”will be found and removed from the surface

All internal holes have been removed from the surface

Original Solid Part with “stepped hole” Curve chosen for “loop” in Remove Face Resulting Solid Geometry


• Added Geometry, Solid, Thicken

Original Solid Part with “stepped hole” Curve chosen for “loop” in Remove Face Resulting Solid Geometry

Two Surfaces with opposite Normals

Surfaces showing Normals

Solids created using “Out” anda value of “3 units”

Reduce Radius using a combination of “Out”Offset and Add Boolean

Increase Radius using a combination of “In”Offset and Subtract

Choose a single surfaceand use the “Out” Offset andAdd Boolean to “thicken”a portion of your solid

Choose a single surface anduse the “In” Offset andSubtract Boolean to “thinout” a portion of yoursolid

Boolean

Groups and Layers 9.3-55

Groups and Layers• Added Group, Operations, "Booleans" command

This command creates a new group from a selected set of existing groups based on a chosen “boolean” operation. When this command is chosen, the Group Booleans dialog box will appear:

The Group to Create portion of the dialog box allows you to choose the ID for the new group and give it a Title. If you do not specify a Title, FEMAP will create one based on the IDs of the Groups AND the Operation used to cre-ate the new group. For example, if you are using the Add/Combine operation and have selected groups 1, 3, and 5, the default Title would be “Add 1, 3, 5”.

Multiple groups can be chosen from the “Select One or More Groups from the List to Process” list in the Groups to Process portion of the dialog box using windows standard selection methods. Holding down the Ctrl key and click-ing in the “list” allows you to choose multiple groups one at a time. Holding down the Shift key while clicking in the “list” allows you to choose a “range” of groups.

There are six choices in the Operation section of the dialog box. Here is a brief description of each operation:

Add/Combine – Creates a new group by adding multiple groups together.

Note: The “Base Model” for all of the “Examples” in this section is a simple 9 element “high” by 7 element “wide” rectangle. Only elements are in the groups being processed with the various boolean operations.

Create Mesh Regionusing combination of “In” Offset and Embed Boolean

Choose all of the “outside”surfaces, the “In” Offset,and the Embed Boolean

for “two elementsthrough the thickness” mesh

to partition the solid


For example (Group 12..L Shaped + Group 6..Blue)::

Subtract – Creates a new group by subtracting any number of groups from a Single selected group.

For Example (Group 12..L Shaped - Group 6..Blue):

In All – Creates a new group that contains entities which are in ALL of the selected groups (i.e., if element 1 is in group A AND Group B, element 1 WILL BE in group C). Another way to think of it is that only entities which are “common” to ALL the selected groups will be in the new group.

For Example: (common between Group 12..L Shaped and Group 6..Blue)

Only in One – Creates a new group that contains entities which are ONLY in one of the selected groups (i.e., if ele-ment 1 is in both group A AND Group B, element 1 will NOT be in group C). Another way to think of it is that only “unique” entities will be placed into the new group.

Note: When the Subtract operation is chosen, the Subtract From drop-down list in the Groups to Process por-tion of the dialog box will become available. The group chosen in the Subtract From drop-down list is the “base group” and all of the groups chosen in the “list” will be subtracted from the “base group”.

+ =

- =

=Elements “Common” to Both Groups in New Group

IN ALL

Groups and Layers 9.3-57

For Example: (Only in Group 12..L Shaped or Group 6..Blue, not both)

Not in Any – Creates a new group that contains entities which are NOT in ANY of the selected groups, but are in the rest of the model (i.e., If elements 1-10 are NOT in Group A and NOT in Group B, they WILL BE IN Group C).

For Example: (Not in Group 12..L Shaped or Group 6..Blue)

Not in All - Creates a new group that contains entities which are NOT in ALL of the selected groups (i.e., If ele-ments 1-10 are in Group A, but not in Group B and Group C, they WILL BE IN Group D). This command is only useful when three or more groups are being processed. Only entities “Common” to ALL selected groups will NOT be in the new group. If you use this command with only two groups, it will create the same group as Only in One.

• Updated Group, Elements, Material; Group, Properties, Material; Group Materials, On Property; and Group, Materials, on Elements commands to handle the extra material IDs and the material IDs on layups of laminates

• Added function for multi-select titled entities, updated Group Evaluate to allow evaluation of multiple groups

• Added Group Commands for Regions - using Node, Element, Curve, Surface, Property

• Allow output vectors to be reloaded to those in selected set on set changes in Group, Operations, Generate with Output

• Added ability to create groups from entities on layer. Command will ask if you want to condense or not.

• Added capability to Group, Operations, Add Related and Select Related in the Selector to start with selecting just a layup

• Added new group definition for Elements by All Nodes.

• Added Group from Superelements. Uses Elements by All Nodes for all but the residual structure

Note: When using the Not in Any operation, only entity types that are in at least one of the “Base Groups” will be in the new group that is created from entities NOT in the “Base Groups”.

For example, start with a model containing 100 nodes, 81 elements:

If Group A contains “n” elements and zero nodes, then Group B will only contain the “81-n” ele-ments that are NOT in Group A.

If Group A contains “n” elements and “n” nodes, then Group B will contain the “81-n” elements and the “100-n” nodes that are NOT in Group A.

=

Elements “Unique” to Each Group in New Group

Only in One

=Elements NOT in either Group in New Group

Not in Any


Output and Post-Processing• Added Support of Fluid Pressure in output requests and automatically added DMAP ALTER to get MPRES

output into the OP2 (used by Nastran MFLUID)

• Upgraded Delete Output Entry to ask for range of output sets and vectors and delete individual results from all selected

• Added computation of frequency and damping coefficient in title for complex modes output and "Complex Mode Shape" vector.

• Added Contour Group to Contour Options dialog box

Entire Model displayed while only showing a contour on one group:

Geometry Interfaces 9.3-59



• Added option to skip updating material data when geometry is updated from Solid Edge


• “Analysis Set Manager Enhancements” on page 59



• “Nastran Interfaces (NX and MSC/MD)” on page 60

• “MSC.Nastran Interface” on page 62




• “MSC.Marc Interface” on page 63

• “DYNA Interface” on page 63

• “PATRAN Interface” on page 63

• “I-DEAS Interface” on page 63

Analysis Set Manager EnhancementsFor details, see “Analysis Program Interfaces” in the FEMAP User Guide.

• Enhanced the Preview Input functionality so switches in the executive control will be honored when writing via the preview file for Memory, Output Directory, Save database for restart do restart

FEMAP Neutral File Interface• Added Color Palette to the neutral file (Block 942)

• Added control over groups and views when writing neutral files

• Updated Neutral Read and Write for v9.3 changes

NX Nastran Interface• Support checksums for NX Nastran files with INCLUDE files.

• Added ELRESCS option to NX Nastran 601/701 NXSTRAT to request solid results in elemental/material csys

• Initial support for BOLTLD, BOLTFOR, BOLT in Nastran, limited Bolt Regions to include only Beam and Bar elements

• Improved reading of various contact issues in Nastran Read - none that failed with our files, but would fail if contact came at beginning of file

FEMAP Interface Latest Supported VersionParasolid Parasolid 18.1Solid Edge V 19NX V 4Pro/Engineer Wildfire 3ACIS ACIS 16.0CATIA V5 V5 release 17


• Added INTORD and REFINE for NX Nastran BCTPARM and BGPARM

• Initial implementation of Rotor Dynamics support

• Added generation of 1P and 2P functions for Rotor Dynamics

• Added SORT1 for 601_TRANSIENT because ADINA changed default to SORT2

• Updated Random OP2 postprocessing to support changes in NX5 - added PARAM,RPOSTS1,1 and new changes to OP2 results

• Supported new "3D iterative solver" for Sol 601

• Modified ADINA restart so that the restart control in the Nastran executive control is in sync with the NXSTRAT dialog box.

• Added copying the ADINA restart file to the .dat directory and renaming it to the current jobname.res then set the dbs keyword on the command line.

• Added PARAM,NOFISR - to suppress output of Failure Indices and Strength Ratios to the F06

A number of bugs were corrected


Nastran Interfaces (NX and MSC/MD)• Added ability to define 2 scratch directories and sizes for Nastran

Nastran Interfaces (NX and MSC/MD) 9.3-61

• Added support of Coefficients of Thermal Expansion on Rigid Elements

• Added direct access to NASTRAN command for setting system cells in the NASTRAN Executive and Solu-tions Options dialog box

• Added support for Complex Modes in Nastran

• Added DDAM Analysis Support in Nastran (NX and MSC/MD options)

• Added support for Initial Conditions (temperatures) and TEMP(INIT) in Nastran Static Analysis

• Added support for MATT8 - temperature dependence for 2D Orthotropic materials

• Added support for MFLUID, added MPRES support to F06


• Added complex eigenvalue support to reading F06

• Added support for Stiffened modes in Nonlinear analysis as NASTRAN Stiffened Modal dialog box in the Anal-ysis Set Manager when analysis type set to Nonlinear Static (supports large deflection, follower forces...).

• Added support for writing and reading NASTRAN SUBCOMs

• Added writing property titles for PBUSH, PVISC, BFRIC, PLPLANE, PWELD

• Initial implementation of Superelement support - added SEID to node record, node options to set it, Update SEID command, added to Groups and Selection method, Added group Operations superelement command, added Nastran write support on GRID card, added NASTRAN read support of SEID on GRID/GRDSET, and read of SESET

• Supported include files in case/exec

• Supported MATHE for both NX and MSC Nastran

• Supported Multi-case buckling analysis in Nastran

• Added overall damping (Param,G) support for complex modes

• Do not write DLOAD case control for transient heat to NASTRAN if you do not have any transient loads

• Added option to Nastran Bulk End Text to put it before or after ENDDATA

• Added the ability to recognize between Solid Von Mises and Octahedral output and store data in their respective vectors.

• Added ability to read Superelement output from XDB

• Enhanced the XDB interface to enable turning off reading of individual cases as well as individual time steps within those cases.

• Added the ability to define initial conditions for Advanced Nonlinear Static. This will allow a user to define a initial temperature load and specify it as a initial condition which will then write the TEMP(INIT) case control.

• Added support for NASTRAN Composite Strength Ratios.

• Added reading of Max Failure Index from OP2, and support for PARAM,SRCOMPS

A number of bugs were corrected


MSC.Nastran Interface• Changed a few items specifying MSC.Nastran to MSC/MD Nastran



NEi Nastran Interface• Added support for NEi/Nastran’s version of DDAM

• Added BSCONP RBE3 contact option to Connection Property

ANSYS InterfaceA number of bugs were corrected.


ABAQUS InterfaceFor details, see “Analysis Program Interfaces” in the FEMAP User Guide.

MSC.Marc Interface 9.3-63

MSC.Marc Interface• Corrected a problem saving the marc parameters dialog box the processor switch and the Parallel BETA were

broken.

• Corrected issue where contact property field from the Marc model Definition was still referencing regular prop-erties. Updated to load Connection Property


DYNA Interface• Added Material Angle for plates/composites for Dyna



PATRAN Interface• Added support for reading Points, Lines/Curves, Patch/Surface and Named Components/Groups (PATRAN

Neutral file)

I-DEAS Interface• Added writing of Groups to I-DEAS universal

• Supported reading Nastran files generated by I-DEAS where groups are defined as Sets with PARAM,G## commands to specify nodes and elements in each group

ToolsParameters• Updated Tools Parameters dialog layout,

• Added option to Merge Tolerance for specified or automatic, and never update the values automatically.

• Added graying to Tools Parameters based on automatic/specified merge tolerance

Variables• Updated delete variables to select multiple variables (update underlying multi-select to support variables)

Check, Coincident Nodes• Updated Check Coincident Nodes to add preview (off by default) and options for which to keep


• Added dialog to Coincident Node/Point Merge for Showing Merge List, Keep List or both

Check, Distortion• Added “Jacobian” Element Check

OLE/COM APIAPI commands that start a command now go through the main command loop, so such actions as Undo and Previ-ous Command will work when using APIs. Also, an echo of more descriptive error messages are sent to the Mes-sages window.

New API Objects and Attributes• Added new entity types for Select Toolbar, Load Definitions, Constraint Definitions, Data Surfaces, and Map

Output.

• Added User Graphics to API

• Added numerous attributes to the Analysis Set Manager object

• Added numerous global attributes for the new Preferences.

New API Methods• Added GetTitleIDList( ) and ParseTitleID( ). Can be used to fill combo and list boxes in API and parse the

results back into an ID

• Added SelectMultiID() to Set object

• Added SelectAllOnLayer to the Group object

• Added ResetNextLoad, NextLoad, ResetNextLoadDef, NextLoadDef to the Load Set object.

• Added ResetNextBC, NextBC, ResetNextBCDef, NextBCDef to the BC Set object.

• Added GetEntities to the Connection Region object

• Added a number of methods the new Select Toolbar, Data Surface, Map Output, Load Definitions, and Con-straint Definitions objects

Corrected API Methods• Fixed numerous problems with the Group Object that corrupted groups if you used the same object to retrieve

and store multiple groups.

• Fixed problem with the Element Object that caused problems if you used the same object to retrieve a "list-based" element (rigid or slide-line), then later created other non-"list-based" elements with that object.

The following functions have been added:• feWindowTitle

• feWindowSetRect

• feProjectOntoVector

• feProjectOntoPlane

• feAppEventCallback

• feConnectionRegion (equivalent name to feContact)

• feModifySuperelementID

• feVectorPerpendicular

• feGetElementFaces

Preferences 9.3-65

• feGroupCombine

The following functions have been fixed, changed or removed:• Removed vu.WindowLeft, WindowRight, WindowTop, WindowBottom.

PreferencesThe Tabs in the Preference dialog box are now “stacked” to allow user access to all of the Preference Categories.

Most of the Preferences are the same between version 9.2 and 9.3, but a few have been moved to different Prefer-ences or removed entirely because they were no longer valid or required.

Views• Added browser for default View from View Library

User Interface• Added preference for tooltip delay and duration

• Added preferences for controlling Show Entities defaults in new models

Database• Added ability to recover from scratch directory (if it is up to date).

• Added preference to keep NextID increasing during rebuild

Geometry/Model• Added Units drop down for File Preferences Geometry Scale Factor

• Added preference for length-based mesh sizing.

Interfaces• Added preference to always read nonlinear stress/strain from Nastran

• Enabled 32-bit/64-bit Nastran switch in preferences


Library/Startup• Added Custom Tools Path

• Added a library for Layups

• Fixed bug if you had a startup basic script and had the "every new model" option checked it would not work at startup

• Removed User Contour Palette Library - moved to “Color”

Colors• Moved User Contour Palette Library to "Color" with Palette (and added browse buttons for all palettes).

What’s New for version 9.2 9.3-67

What’s New for version 9.2

User Interface• Simplified the toolbar layout that is initially displayed. Only the Model, View and Selector toolbars are now

displayed. All toolbars are still available, just not displayed initially.

• Updated a number of dialog boxes to use a tabbed style. This includes File Preferences, Materials, and Connec-tion Properties.

• Added several buttons to the standard selection dialog that let you choose entities from a list or preview your selection

• To more closely follow Windows conventions, "Browse" buttons that searched for files or directories have been changed to "…"

• Added a check box to the Delete confirmation dialog box to never ask for confirmation. Also added to File Preferences (to turn this option back on)

• Added alternate keyboard accelerator tables for API and Program file development. These allow the user to use the “commonly used keys” for program development in the API Programming and Program File panes.

• Improved selection in "Pick Front" mode on Rigid and Slide Lines - it now considers all nodes, not just the master node.

• The Tools, Distance command has been enhanced to return the measured components in both global and the active coordinate system.

Toolbars• Added a Entity Display Toolbar for turning on/off entity display - similar to View Quick Options dialog box.

Select picking method

Use OK when youare done.

Use Methodto select an

approach.

Use More toselect multipleentities.

alternate

List of selectedentities:+ Add, - Remove,x Exclude

Choose entire groups here.

Enter Entity IDs here. Preview selected entities

Bring up list of entities

Geometry

Analysis Model

Labels

Points

CurvesSurfaces

Text

ConnectionCoordinateSystems

Nodes

ElementsAll Constraints

All LoadsRegions Connectors


• Added Clear Active Entity command to the Select Toolbar which will only clear the entities of the type which is currently active in the Select Toolbar. Located in Selector Clear Menu.

• Added Transparency to the View Style command on the View Toolbar.

Menu• Added Connect Menu to Top-level menu. See the Connections section of this document for more information

on the commands on the Connect Menu.

• Added Extend command to the Geometry, Midsurface menu. See the Geometry section for more information on this command.

• Added Map Output from Model command to the Model, Load menu. See the Loads and Constraints section for more information on this command.

• Added commands to the Modify, Project menu to project points and nodes along a vector onto selected sur-faces.

Model InfoThe Model Info “tree” dockable pane allows you to view and navigate around a graphical “inventory” of many “top-level” entities in your model.

Selector Actions Menu

Entity Editor 9.3-69

• Added ability to Transparent Highlight and Show Normals (Element and Surface normals) from the Show When Selected menu in the Model Info tree.

• Fixed problem deleting Analysis Sets from the Model Info tree that caused fields in a newly created set to be improperly initialized

Entity EditorThe Entity Editor dockable pane allows users to view, modify, choose, and create attributes, colors, connections, numerical values, settings, etc. of a single finite element, geometric, or “other” entity in FEMAP.

• Fixed a problem in the Entity Editor that corrupted groups if the group title was modified.

• Fixed problem in the Entity Editor that caused a crash when the entity Title field was too long

• Fixed a problem in the Entity Editor / Data Table that caused output displayed for corner 1 to be corrupt if the element had a load applied and the contour type was elemental.

• Corrected a mislabeled field in Entity Editor for Materials.

Data TableThe Data Table dockable pane allows you send data to an interactive, dynamically changing “table” using various methods to fill the table.

• Added ability to Transparent Highlight and Show Normals (Element and Surface normals) from the Show When Selected menu in the Data Table.


• Added "Update Selection" to the context menu of the Data Table. Highlight any number of rows in the Data Table and these will update the Selection List (located at the bottom of the Model Info Tree) for the selected Entity Type with the selected entities only.

• Fixed a problem in Data Table that caused Femap to crash when viewing a LS-DYNA one-way contact prop-erty.

• Fixed a problem in the Entity Editor / Data Table that caused output displayed for corner 1 to be corrupt if the element had a load applied and the contour type was elemental.


• To improve the workflow for tet meshing, the initial dialog for mesh sizing has been removed. Unsized curves are now automatically sized with default sizes, and an "Update Mesh Size" button has been added to the mesh-ing dialog. This reduces the number of dialogs if you use default sizing, and if you need custom sizing, it allows you to update the size multiple times until you are satisfied.

Loads and Constraints 9.3-71

Loads and Constraints• Added ability to create loads in a model by mapping results from a different model. The meshes in the two

models can be dissimilar. Mapping is done by location. Currently temperature and displacement results on 2-D surface meshes can be mapped onto other nodes.

• Added the ability to quickly apply the same changes to many loads or constraints in the Edit commands. After editing the first Load/Constraint, you now have an option to apply the same conditions to all selected entities, rather than needing to manually edit each one.

Course Thermal model with Temperature output Fine Structural model receives “mapped”

Temperatures as a Load from CourseThermal model (temperature loads notdisplayed in figure for clarity)

Temperature Loads converted to Output for viewing of “Mapping” to closest node.Nodal Temperature Loads could also beused to perform Thermal Stress analysis

Fine Structural Model withNodal Temperatures displayedas output


Connections• Changed contact segments, contact properties, and contact pair elements to “Connections” (Connection

Regions, Connection Properties, and Connectors), and moved them to the top level of the menu. This makes Connections more accessible and properly separates them from other element types and properties.

• Added automatic detection of Connections between solids of an assembly.

• Added automatic creation of Connections between two or more surfaces.

Connections 9.3-73

• Changed the Connection Property dialog box to a “tabbed” dialog box for easier movement between contact properties between different NX Nastran solution sequences and other solvers.

• Added Connections (Connection properties, Connection Regions, and Connectors) to the Model Info tree along with capability to enable/disable connections. The Master and Slave Connection segments can also be reversed using a command on the tree.


Geometry• Added ability to extend a surface by using one of a surface’s edge curves and “extending” the surface using a

specified “Extend Shape” method (Linear, Continuous Curvature, or Reflective) to a “target” Solid (or Sheet Solid), location in space, or simply by a distance.

Groups and Layers• Added ability to create layers from Groups. Added Group Operations Move to Layer command and updated the

Group Operations Generate Solids command.

GraphicsThe following are graphics enhancements:

• Added a View transparency option that allows you to make your model transparent without changing entity col-ors. This is often good for selection when you are trying to pick entities either inside or on the back of a model.

• Also added a new transparent highlighting mode where the model becomes transparent and only the highlighted entities are solid.

• The undeformed model is no longer displayed in default deformed views.

• All floating point numbers drawn in the graphics window (except workplane axes) are now controlled by the exponent and number of digit settings on the View Options, PostProcessing, Contour/Criteria Legend dialog.

• Contour vectors can now be labeled with their value. This is controlled by the labeling options on the View Options, PostProcessing, Vector Style dialog.

• Animate-MultiSet and Trace with scaled actual deformation now output individual frame maximum deforma-tion and overall maximum deformation

The following are graphics corrections:

• Contact regions on shell top and bottom faces are now drawn correctly when shells are drawn with thickness.

Before Extend command, gap exists between sets of surfaces

After Extend command, gap betweensurfaces has been closed.Curve imprinting is determinedby Update Surfaces flag.

Geometry Interfaces 9.3-75

• Prevented accelerator keys that accessed View commands from acting in View command Dialog boxes - these could potentially cause a crash.

• Centered Solid Contour Vector arrows are now drawn correctly centered.

• Fixed Spaceball issue when orienting and hitting Ctrl-G at the same time - incorrect graphics images were drawn.

• Constraint equations now drawn in groups.

• Corrected length of freebody resultant force. In previous releases, these arrows could be drawn extremely large.

• Criteria with Line Contour now correctly just contours the edges of the elements and does not fill the elements.



Enhancements to geometry interfaces include:

• New NX Direct Interface - Added a new direct interface to NX that supports Parts, Assemblies, and Sheet Metal files. This interface also provides access to part colors and material information. The ability to associa-tively update the models has also been added.

• Updated Solid Edge Direct Interface - Updated the Direct Interface between Solid Edge in FEMAP.

• Automatically support Pro/E Wildfire file naming convention which appends version number extensions (for example, fn.prt.4)

• On Geometry import of Parasolid data, erased any previously existing density attributes which were causing inconsistent inertia calculations.

• The VDA interface has been removed and is no longer supported. (contractual changes with Spatial Technolo-gies, and the extremely low customer demand)


• “Analysis Set Manager Enhancements” on page 76



• “Nastran Interfaces (NX and MSC)” on page 76

• “MSC.Nastran Interface” on page 76




• “MSC.Marc Interface” on page 77

• “DYNA” on page 77

• “Other Interfaces” on page 77

FEMAP Interface Latest Supported VersionParasolid Parasolid 17.0ACIS ACIS 15.0CATIA V5 V5 release 15


Analysis Set Manager EnhancementsFor details, see “Analysis Program Interfaces” in the FEMAP User Guide.

• Added Support for LS-DYNA3D in the Analysis Set Manager.

• Added ability to preview ANSYS, ABAQUS, MSC.MARC, LS-DYNA input files from the Analysis Set.

• Fixed problem deleting cases from an Analysis Set that is not active. This corrupted the start/end text and con-tact table.

FEMAP Neutral File Interface• Added an option to Neutral Read to always create new output sets (not overwrite)

NX Nastran Interface• Added support for NX Nastran 4.1

- BSGSET card for creating Glued Contact. Allows a “glued” connection to be created between dissimilar meshes and multiple parts of an assembly.

- LSEARCH, CSTYPE parameters on NXSTRAT card.

- AUTOSPC Singular Value Decomposition (SVD) option.



Nastran Interfaces (NX and MSC)• Added the ability to read CQUADR/CTRIAR Z-offsets.

• Added ability to run NL Heat transfer with only an Initial Condition.

• An enhancement was made when Femap is writing radiation boundary conditions. A warning message will be issued by Femap if it is unable to create the necessary plot only plate elements to define the radiation condition.

• Added the ability to request extended error messages from the Executive/Solution options section of the Analy-sis Set Manager.

• Added the ability to set the amount memory to be used in the solution from the Executive/Solution options sec-tion of the Analysis Set Manager.



MSC.Nastran InterfaceA number of bugs were corrected.


NEi Nastran Interface• Added support for MAXAD, TMAX, TMIN, MAR, and WO contact options on the BSCONP card.

ANSYS InterfaceA number of bugs were corrected.


ABAQUS Interface• Added Surface to Surface contact parameter to ABAQUS Connection Property to include plate thickness in

contact.

• Improved reading of contact output, where FEMAP will attempt to match the output vector label to the actual contact pair label in Femap.

MSC.Marc Interface 9.3-77

• Fixed problem reading analytical rigid surfaces.

• Fixed a problem writing Quad and Tria elements when formulation was set to 3..Thin Shell(5-DOF/Node, Small Strain) and Warping flag. Previously wrote S4R when it should have been S4RS and W) and S3R when it should have been S3RS

• Fixed problem reading analytical rigid surfaces.


MSC.Marc Interface• Fixed a problem reading results files from version 2003. FEMAP has been enhanced to read output from ver-

sions 2003 and 2005.


DYNA• Added Support for LS-DYNA3D in the Analysis Set Manager.



Other Interfaces• Interfaces to many analysis programs that have not been actively supported have been hidden in this release.

They can re-enabled through File Preferences, however these interfaces are no longer supported and may be removed in the future.

OLE/COM APINew API Objects and Attributes• Added new entity types for Connections, Connection Regions and Connection Properties

• Added new Sort object. This is much like a Set, but allows additional data to be stored with each ID and allows the IDs to be sorted based on the attached data.

• Added numerous attributes to the Analysis Set Manager object to support the new Dyna Interface.

• Added numerous global attributes for the new Preferences.

New API Methods• Added AddContact, SetOutputType, SetOffset, GetOffset, SetRigidType and IsRigidType methods to the Con-

nection Region object.

• Added Match and SelectOutputVectorID methods to the Set object.

• Added ClearNodeList method to the Element object

• Added IsPlane, IsCylinder, IsSphere, IsCone, IsTorus, Conical, Toroidal and Spherical methods to the Surface object. Modified the calling syntax of the Planar method to match the syntax of the new methods.

Corrected API Methods• Fixed numerous problems with the Group Object that corrupted groups if you used the same object to retrieve

and store multiple groups.

• Fixed problem with the Element Object that caused problems if you used the same object to retrieve a "list-based" element (rigid or slide-line), then later created other non-"list-based" elements with that object.

The following functions have been added:• feAddToolbarSubmenu

• feAddToolbarSubmenuCommand

• feAddToolbarSubmenuUserCommand


The following functions have been fixed, changed or removed:• feFileMessageSelect - Replaced global constant Message_LineNumber with feFileMessageLineNumber func-

tion

• feFileReadVda - Removed the method since the VDA geometry interface has been removed from Femap.

PreferencesOverall, the File, Preferences dialog box has been completely upgraded and is now a “tabbed” dialog box granting easier access to the various FEMAP preferences. The user simply clicks the tab for the particular set of preferences.

Most of the Preferences are the same between version 9.1 and 9.2, but a few have been moved to different Prefer-ences or removed entirely because they were no longer valid or required.

Views• The Workplane is no longer displayed by default.

• Removed Clipboard Formats.

• Moved View Library to Library/Startup Preference

User InterfaceThe Menus and Toolbars preference is now named User Interface because it now has options for other aspects of the FEMAP User Interface, not just Menus and Toolbars.

• Added Ask for Confirmation Before Delete preference to be able to re-instate the Confirm Delete dialog box if it has been turned off.

Database• Removed Undo Files from Scratch Disks

Interfaces• Added Preferences for Nastran solver including control of memory, output directory and scratch directory

Library/StartupThe Library preference is now named Library/Startup because it now has options for both aspects of FEMAP.

64-bit Support 9.3-79

• Added a preference for running a Startup Program File/ Basic Script/ Executable either just at startup or for every new model

• Added a library for Connection Property

• Moved View Library to Library Preference

Colors• Added Preferences to set default color of Connection Property, Connection Region, and Connector.

64-bit Support• FEMAP v9.2 is still a 32-bit application, however this release can be run on 64-bit Windows. The dongle-based

licensing has been updated to support the 64-bit platform.

• This release also includes both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of NX Nastran. If you are using NX Nastran for FEMAP on a 64-bit platform, the 32-bit FEMAP can still use the 64-bit NX Nastran. There will be an option when installing.

Date post:	20-May-2018
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