Mechanical APDL Basic Analysis Guide - Ansys

The ETABLE command documentation lists, in general, all the Item and Comp combinations. See the "Element
Output Definitions" table in each element description in the Element Reference to see which combinations
are valid.
Table 1: "BEAM188 Element Output Definitions" is an example of such a table for BEAM188. You can use any
name in the Name column of the table that contains a colon (:) to fill the element table via the Component
Name method. The portion of the name before the colon should be input for the Item argument of the
ETABLE command. The portion (if any) after the colon should be input for the Comp argument. The O and
R columns indicate the availability of the items in the file Jobname.OUT (O) or in the results file (R): a Y
indicates that the item is always available, a number refers to a table footnote which describes when the
item is conditionally available, and a - indicates that the item is not available.
7.1.3.2. Filling the Element Table for Variables Identified By Sequence Number
You can load data that is not averaged, or that is not naturally single-valued for each element, into the element
table. This type of data includes integration point data, all derived data for structural line elements (such as
spars, beams, and pipes) and contact elements, all derived data for thermal line elements, layer data for
layered elements, etc. These data are listed in the "Item and Sequence Numbers for the ETABLE and ESOL
Commands" table with each element type description in the Command Reference. Table 2: "BEAM188 Item
and Sequence Numbers" is an example of such a table for BEAM188.
The data in the tables is broken down into item groups, such as LS, LEPEL, SMISC, etc. Each item within the
item group has an identifying "sequence" number listed. You load these data into the element table by
giving the item group as the Item argument on the ETABLE command, and the sequence number as the
Comp argument. This is referred to as the "Sequence Number" method of filling the element table.
For some line elements, KEYOPT settings govern the amount of data calculated. This can change the sequence
number of a particular data item. Therefore, in these cases a table for each KEYOPT setting is provided.
7.1.3.3. Considerations for Defining Element Tables
• The ETABLE command works only on the selected elements. That is, only data for the elements you
have selected are moved to the element table. By changing the selected elements between ETABLE
commands, you can selectively fill rows of the element table.
• The same Sequence Number combination may mean different data for different element types. For
example, the combination SMISC,1 means P1 for SOLID185 (pressure on face 1), and MECHPOWER for
TRANS126 (mechanical power). Therefore, if your model has a combination of element types, be sure to
select elements of one type (using ESEL or Utility Menu> Select> Entities) before using the ETABLE
command.
• The element table is not automatically refilled (updated) when you read in a different set of results (such
as for a different load step) or when you alter the results in the database (such as by a load case combination).
For example, suppose your model consists of our sample elements, and you issue the following
commands in POST1:
SET,1 ! Read in results for load step 1
ETABLE,ABC,lS,6 ! Move SDIR at end J (KEYOPT(9)=0) to the element table
! under heading "ABC"
SET,2 ! Read in results for load step 2
At this point, the "ABC" column in the element table still contains data for load step 1. To refill (update) the
column with load step 2 values, you should issue the command ETABLE,REFL, or specify the refill option
via the GUI.
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7.1.3. Creating an Element Table
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