Mechanical APDL Basic Analysis Guide

Com- GUI Menu Paths Purpose

mand

KPLOT Utility Menu> Plot> Keypoints Displays a plot of keypoints

Utility Menu> Plot> Specified Entities>

Keypoints

Displays the layer stacking se-

quence and layer angle orienta-

tion of layered element types

LAYPLOT Utility Menu> Plot> Layered Elements

LPLOT Utility Menu> Plot> Lines Displays a plot of lines

Utility Menu> Plot> Specified Entities>

Lines

NPLOT Utility Menu> Plot> Nodes Displays a plot of nodes

Re-executes the last display ac-

tion executed

/REPLOT Utility Menu> Plot> Replot

Displays a plot of degenerated

volumes

Main Menu> Modeling> Preprocessor> Operate>

Show Degeneracy> Plot Degen Volus

VPLOT

The controls you establish before you invoke these actions can also cause your displays to contain
other information, such as lower-order entity numbers (for instance, node numbers associated with
selected elements), loads, etc.

13.2. Changing the Specifications for Your Geometry Displays

In addition to the features listed below, also see Getting Started with Graphics (p. 233) for general
graphics specifications that apply to any type of display, including geometry displays.

13.2.1. Changing the Style of Your Display

The following sections describe a number of ways to change the way your models are displayed.

13.2.1.1. Displaying Line and Shell Elements as Solids

If your model consists of line elements (such as beams and pipes) or shell elements, you can use the
following to display many of them as solids:
Command(s):/ESHAPE
GUI: Utility Menu> PlotCrls> Style> Size and Shape

The ANSYS program uses a rectangular cross section for beams and shells, and uses circular cross sections
for pipes. The element real constants are used to proportion the cross section.

You can also use the /ESHAPE command to show the orientation of reinforcing (rebar) in SOLID65
elements (see Figure 13.1: Element Plot of SOLID65 Concrete Elements (p. 261)). For the rebar to be visible,
you must enable vector mode using the /DEVICE command (Utility Menu> PlotCtrls> Device Options).
You must also activate a basic plot type using the /TYPE command (Utility Menu> PlotCtrls> Style>
Hidden-Line Options). To view the rebar, issue these commands in the following order:

/ESHAPE,1

/TYPE,,BASIC

/DEVICE,VECTOR.ON

EPLOT

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Creating Geometry Displays