To review results in POST1:
The database must contain the same model for which the solution was calculated.
The results file (Jobname.rst) must be available.
Results from a gasket joint analysis consist mainly of displacements, stresses, strains and reaction forces of the structural components and the gasket joint layer information (gasket pressure, closure, etc.). You can review these results in POST1 (the general postprocessor) or in POST26 (the time-history postprocessor). See the Output Data sections of the element descriptions for any of the interface elements (for example INTER192) for a description of the available output components.
In POST1, only one substep can be read in at a time, and that the results from that substep should have been written to Jobname.rst. (The load step option command OUTRES controls which substep results are stored on Jobname.rst.) A typical POST1 postprocessing sequence is described below.
Verify from your output file (Jobname.out) whether or not the analysis converged at all load steps.
If not, you probably won't want to postprocess the results, other than to determine why convergence failed.
If your solution converged, then continue postprocessing.
Enter POST1 (/POST1). If your model is not currently in the database, issue RESUME.
Read in results for the desired load step and substep, which can be identified by load step and substep numbers or by time (SET).
Display the results using any of the following commands: PLDISP, PLNSOL, or PLESOL. Note that gasket results, such as pressure and closure, are always displayed and listed in the local coordinate system.
Use these commands to display contours of stresses, strains, or any other applicable item. When displaying the gasket pressure distribution, if other structural mating components are not included, Mechanical APDL plots the geometry of those components in gray. To have a better visualization of a gasket pressure plot, it is better for you to select gasket elements only.
Option: Tabular Listings
PRNSOL (nodal results) PRESOL (element-by-element results) PRRSOL (reaction data) PRITER (substep summary data), etc.
Option: Animation
You can also animate gasket results over time (ANTIME).
Other Capabilities
Many other postprocessing functions are available in POST1. See The General Postprocessor (POST1) in the Basic Analysis Guide for details. Load case combinations usually are not valid for nonlinear analyses.
You can also review the load-history response of a nonlinear structure using
POST26, the time-history postprocessor. Use POST26 to compare one Mechanical APDL variable
against another. For instance, you might graph the gasket closure vs. gasket
pressure, which should correspond to the material behavior defined by
TB,GASKET. You might also graph the displacement at a node
versus the corresponding level of applied load, or you might list the gasket
pressure at a node and the corresponding TIME value. A
typical POST26 postprocessing sequence for a gasket analysis is the same as the
sequence for a typical nonlinear analysis. See steps 1 through 4 in Reviewing Results in POST26 included in Nonlinear Structural Analysis.