Mechanical APDL Basic Analysis Guide - Ansys

Chapter 14: Creating Geometric Results Displays
14.3.2. Controlling Vector Symbols in Your Results Display
You have two options for controlling vector symbols:
• Displaying nodal or reaction force symbols. You can add arrow symbols representing nodal and reaction
forces (and moments) to your results display with the /PBC command (Utility Menu> PlotCtrls> Symbols).
• Vector length scaling. You can control the lengths of vector symbols (such as are displayed by PLVECT
or /PBC) with either of the following:
Command(s): /VSCALE
GUI: Utility Menu> PlotCtrls> Style> Vector Arrow Scaling
14.3.3. Controlling Contour Displays
When light-source shading is on, the colors shown in the contour legend will not exactly match the contour
colors used in the shaded model display. You can manipulate contour displays in the following ways:
• Labeling contours. In both vector and raster mode, your contours will always be automatically colorcoded.
In vector mode, you can add alphabetic contour labels (and a contour legend), using the /CLABEL
command (Utility Menu> PlotCtrls> Style> Contours> Contour Labeling). In raster mode, /CLABEL
will add (or remove) the contour legend.
• Controlling the contour legend. Sometimes, lengthy text in the legend column can cause part of the
contour legend to be truncated. You can make more room available for the contour legend by issuing
/PLOPTS,LEG1,0 (Utility Menu> PlotCtrls> Window Controls> Window Options). To remove the
contour legend from the legend column, issue /PLOPTS,LEG3,0.
• Changing the number of contour labels. In vector mode, if you apply contour labels, they will, by default,
appear in every element crossed by a contour line. You can use /CLABEL to control the number of alphabetic
contour labels per element.
• Changing contour colors. To change the contour colors used in your display, create a new color-map file
and read the new color-map file using one of the following:
Command(s): /CMAP
GUI: Utility Menu> PlotCtrls> Style> Colors> Load Color Map
To restore color to contours that are grayed out, issue the command /NUMBER,0.
Note
For 2-D drivers (especially Win32c), modifying the color map can produce anomalies, including
legend/contour disagreement.
• Changing isosurface colors. Using the ISURF label in the /COLOR command (Utility Menu> PlotCtrls>
Style> Colors>color type) enables you to change isosurface colors.
• "Inverting" (or reversing) the contour colors. By default, the ANSYS program displays the algebraically
greatest results values with a bright red contour color, and the algebraically lowest values, with a blue
contour color. In some cases, you may want to invert this order. You can create a reversed color-map
file by using the CREATE option of the /CMAP command. You can then read that reversed color map
file into the database, also with the /CMAP command.
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