4.1.6. Explicit Dynamics Output Controls

FieldOptionsDescription2DRestart
Step-aware Output Controls  Set to No by default. If set to Yes the frequency of Results, Restart, and Result Tracker data is made step-aware; that is the values represent the frequency per step and the Output Controls are displayed in the Worksheet.

Note:  When setting this to Yes, for an analysis with 3 steps in it and Save Results/Restart Files on set to Equally Spaced points, the frequency of Results/Restart Files would become 3 times the original value. Therefore, it is worth resetting these values per step if needed when turning on this feature.

This field is not available for LS-DYNA.

  
Save Results on  During the solve of an Explicit Dynamics system, results are saved to disk at a frequency defined through this control. The following settings are available.YesYes
Cycles Save results files after a specified increment in the number of cycles. Exposes a Cycles field where you enter the increment in cycles.

This setting is not available for LS-DYNA.

YesYes
Time Save results file after a specified increment in time. Exposes a Time field where you enter a time increment.YesYes
Equally Spaced Points (Default) Save a specified number of result files during the analysis. The frequency is defined by the termination time / number of points. Exposes a Number of Points field where you enter the number of results files required.YesYes
Save Restart Files on  During the solve of an Explicit Dynamics system, restart files are saved to disk at a frequency defined through this control. The following settings are available.YesYes
Cycles Save restart files after a specified increment in the number of cycles. Exposes a Cycles field where you enter the increment in cycles.YesYes
Time Save restart files after a specified increments in time. Exposes a Time field where you enter a time increment.

This setting is not available for LS-DYNA.

YesYes
Equally Spaced Points (Default) Save a specified number of restart files during the analysis. The frequency is defined by the termination time / number of points. Exposes a Number of Points field where you enter the number of restart files required.YesYes
Save Result Tracker Data on  

Use this control to define the frequency at which result tracker data and solution output is saved to disk.

Result tracker data objects are scoped to specific regions in a model.

Solution output provides a summary of the state of the solution as the solve proceeds. This is shown when Solution Information is highlighted in the project tree. This setting applies to all the selectable views in the Solution Output drop down list located in the Solution Information Details view.

This field is not available for LS-DYNA.

YesYes
Cycles (Default) Save results tracker and solution output data after a specified increment in the number of cycles. Exposes a Cycles field where you enter the increment in cycles. The default value is 1.

If a number less than or equal to 10 is entered for Cycles, then the following plots available from the Solution Output drop down will be updated every 10 cycles unless overall progress has increased by 5% since the last data point (in which case, the plots will be updated at a frequency as close to the entered cycle increment as possible). Results trackers are excluded from this limitation.

  • Time Increment

  • Energy Conservation

  • Momentum Summary

  • Energy Summary

The Solver Output view from the Solution Output drop down will be updated at the entered cycle increment.

Cycle zero and the final cycle will always be displayed even if it is not a multiple of the cycles entered.

YesYes
Time Save result tracker and solution output data after a specified increment in time. Exposes a Time field where you enter a time increment.

Although time based, the frequency of Solution Output update is limited to no more than every 10 cycles. If a time equating to 10 cycles or less is chosen, then the following plots available from the Solution Output drop down will be updated every 10 cycles, unless overall progress has increased by 5% since the last data point (in which case, the output will be updated at a frequency as close to the entered time increment as possible). Results trackers are excluded from this limitation.

  • Time Increment

  • Energy Conservation

  • Momentum Summary

  • Energy Summary

The Solver Output view from the Solution Output drop down will be updated every cycle.

YesYes
Output Contact Forces  

Use this control to define the frequency that contact forces are written out to file.

  • Contact forces information is written to the solution directory into ASCII files named extfcon_*.cfr, where * is the cycle number.

  • Each file contains forces in the global x, y and z directions for nodes on external faces, where the forces are non-zero.

  • Contact forces are not written for Line bodies or Eulerian (Virtual) bodies.

  • Contact forces are only written for 3D analyses.

  • A separate line pair exists for each node in the following format:

    Node number
Contact Force X  Contact Force Y  Contact Force Z

  • These text files may be used by ACT to visualize the contact pressure between bodies.

Note:  Output Contact Forces are not step-aware.

NoYes
Off (Default) Disable output of contact forces.NoYes
Cycles Write contact forces to a file after a specified increment in the number of cycles. Exposes a Cycles field where you enter the increment in cycles.NoYes
Time Write contact forces to a file after a specified increment in time. Exposes a Time field where you enter a time increment.NoYes
Equally Spaced Points Write a specified number of contact force files during the analysis. The frequency is defined by the termination time/ number of points. Exposes a Number of Points field where you enter the number of contact force files required.NoYes