sets the "zero height" reference value for the profile. Any point on the profile with a value equal to the Reference Value will be plotted exactly on the defining surface. Values greater than the Reference Value will be projected ahead of the surface (in the direction of Projection Dir. and scaled by Scale Factor), and values less than the Reference Value will be projected behind the surface.

sets the length scale factor for projection. After subtracting off the Reference Value, Ansys Fluent multiplies the resulting solution value by the Scale Factor to form a length.

sets the direction in which profiles are projected. In 2D, for example, a contour plot of pressure on the entire domain can be projected in the direction to form a carpet plot, or a contour plot of velocity on a sequence of -coordinate slice lines can be projected in the direction to form a series of velocity profiles.

toggles the display of vector components in the plane of the surface selected for display. This feature is useful for visualizing components that are normal to the flow. See Drawing Vectors in the Plane of the Surface for details.

enables the display of vectors that are all the same length. See Displaying Fixed-Length Vectors for details.

toggle the display of the Cartesian components of the vectors. See Displaying Vector Components for details.

controls the size of the arrowhead on vector styles that include heads.

controls the tessellation of the 3d arrow and 3d arrowhead vector styles. The smaller the tessellation value, the better the performance of the vector plot display. Valid inputs are in the range of 0-74.

specifies a single color for the display of all vectors. See Displaying Vectors Using a Single Color for details.

specifies the name of the vector you are defining. Should you decide to change the name after you have defined the vector, you can do so in the Vector Definitions Dialog Box, which you can open by clicking on the Manage... button.

specify the , , and components of the vector. Each drop-down list contains the available field functions.

creates the vector and adds it to the Vectors of list in the Vectors Dialog Box.

opens the Vector Definitions Dialog Box, which enables you to check, rename, save, load, and delete custom vectors.

display the , , and components of the vector.

contains a selectable list of custom vectors. When you select a vector, its components will appear in the X, Y, and Z Component fields, and its name will appear in the Name field.

displays the name of the currently selected vector. You can enter a new name in this box if you want to rename the vector.

changes the name of the selected function to the name specified in the Name field.

deletes the selected vector.

opens The Select File Dialog Box, in which you can specify a file in which to save all of the custom vectors in the Vectors list.

opens the Select File dialog box, in which you can specify a file from which to read custom vectors (a file that you saved using the Save... button above).

determines the thickness of the pathlines.

specifies the diameter of the sphere. This parameter appears only when sphere is selected under Style in the Pathlines dialog box.

controls the spacing of arrows when you use the line-arrows style.

controls the size of the arrow heads when you use the line-arrows style.

specifies the detail applied to the graphical rendering of the spheres. This parameter appears only when sphere is selected under Style in the Pathlines dialog box.

determines the thickness of the ribbon.

sets the amount of twist for a given field. To magnify the twist for a field with very little change, increase this factor; to display less twist for a field with dramatic changes, decrease this factor.

contains a drop-down list from which you can select a scalar field on which pathline twisting is based.

displays the minimum/maximum value of the scalar field selected in Twist By.

contains the filtering options.

contains a list from which you can select any field variable, except for Custom Field Functions..., to be used as a filter variable.

displays the minimum and maximum values of the selected field variable. The real number field values are not editable; they are purely informational.

defines the minimum/maximum filter threshold.

contains all variables currently in the report.

removes the selected variable from the report.

restores the default list.

contains the particle variables that are available for you to select.

takes the selected variable from the Available Particle Variables list and adds it to the Variables in Report list.

adds the Color by variable to the Variables in Report list.

determines the thickness of the particle tracks.

controls the spacing of arrows when you use the line-arrows style.

controls the size of the arrow heads when you use the line-arrows style.

allows you to choose how you would like to specify the particle diameter.

specifies the diameter of the sphere.

allows you to scale the spheres by the factor entered in this field.

specifies the detail applied to the graphical rendering of the spheres.

contains a list of variables by which you can estimate the size of your particle. This list is selectable only when you are using the Variable option.

defines the minimum and maximum values of the selected field variable to display.

allows you to choose how you would like to specify the particle diameter.

specifies the length of the vector.

allows you to scale the vectors by the factor entered in this field.

is the ratio of vector length to vector head size.

contains the particle vector variable to display.

is used to estimate the length of the vector when the Variable Length option is enabled.

specifies the (X, Y, Z) vector representing the axis along which the surface should be swept.

specifies the type of display to be swept through the domain (Mesh, Contours, or Vectors).

opens the Contours Dialog Box if Contours is the selected Display Type, or the Vectors Dialog Box if Vectors is the selected Display Type. (This button is not available if Mesh is the selected Display Type.)

contains controls for animating the sweep-surface display.

show the minimum and maximum extents of the domain along the specified Sweep Axis. These values are updated when you click Compute.

shows the current position at which the requested display is plotted. You can change the value by moving the slide bar below it, or by entering a new value and pressing the <RETURN> key.

opens the Create Surface Dialog Box, where you can create a surface from the currently-displayed sweep surface.

animates the display, sweeping the requested display through the domain along the specified axis.

updates the Min Value and Max Value to reflect the minimum and maximum extents of the domain along the specified Sweep Axis.

specifies a name for the surface to be created.

contains the controls that you use to play back the animation. See Playing an Animation for details.

contains the controls that you use to define the key frames for the animation. See Creating an Animation for details.

specifies Key Frames, Picture Files, MPEG, or Video (not available on Windows) as the format in which to save the animation. See Saving an Animation for details about these options.

opens the Save Picture Dialog Box, in which you can specify parameters for saving the animation to picture files. This button is available only when Picture Files is selected as the Write/Record Format.

opens The Select File Dialog Box, in which you can specify a name for the animation file and save it.

opens the Select File dialog box, in which you can specify the name of the animation file to be read. Note that the current case and data should contain the surfaces and any other information that the key frame description refers to. See Reading an Animation File.

Saves the current image using a raytracing renderer for enhanced image quality. Refer to Realistic Rendering Using Raytracing for additional information on raytracing.

allows you to select the format of picture files.

(all formats except Window Dump) specifies the color mode for the picture file.

specifies the type of picture file to be saved. See Choosing the File Type for details.

specifies the resolution or the size (in pixels) of the picture.

contains additional options for all picture formats except Window Dump.

(Linux systems only) specifies the command to be used to save the picture file, when you select the Window Dump format. See Window Dumps (Linux Systems Only) for details.

opens The Select File Dialog Box, in which you can specify a name for the picture file to be saved and then save the file. The resulting file will contain a picture of the active graphics window.

saves the current settings. Ansys Fluent will use these settings when making subsequent pictures.

applies the current settings to the active graphics window so that you can investigate the effects of different options interactively before saving the final picture.

contains the controls that you use to play back the selected animation sequence.

contains the controls that you use to define the sequence to be played back.

specifies Animation Frames, Picture Files, or Video File as the format in which to save the animation. See Saving an Animation Sequence for details about these options.

opens the Save Picture Dialog Box where you can specify parameters for saving the animation to picture files. This button is available only when Picture Files is selected as the Write/Record Format.

opens the Video Options Dialog Box where you can specify parameters for saving the animation to video files. This button is available only when Video File is selected as the Write/Record Format.

is the name that the video file will be saved with. This field is available only when Video File is selected as the Write/Record Format.

saves the specified file(s) in the current working directory in many cases. However, the animation may be written at the same location as the animation sequence file.

opens The Select File Dialog Box, in which you can specify the name of the solution animation file to be read. See Reading an Animation Sequence for details.

specifies the format of the saved video file.

specifies the target frames per second (FPS) for the saved video file.

contains the settings that control the resolution of the saved video file.

specifies the quality of the saved video file which may affect the final file size in addition to the video picture quality..

opens the Advanced Video Quality Options Dialog Box where you can access advanced controls for the video file quality.

specifies the bitrate quality of the saved video file.

uses the H.264 compression technique when writing the video file.

resets the fields to the default settings.

allows you to modify characteristics of the display that are related to the way in which scenes are rendered. See Modifying the Rendering Options for details about these items.

controls lighting attributes for all lights in the active graphics window. See Adding Lights for details.

controls the display of captions, axes and the colormap in the graphics display window. See Changing the Legend Display for details.

updates how new graphics objects will appear. Note that some changes, such as those to line width and the logo are updated in all applicable graphics windows once you click Apply.

prints out information about your graphics driver in the console.

opens the Lights Dialog Box, which allows you to create, delete, and modify directional light sources.

contains a list of the geometric objects that currently exist in the scene (including those that are presently invisible). You can specify the object or objects to be manipulated by selecting names in this list. If you select more than one object at a time, any operation (transformation, color specification, and so on) will apply to all the selected objects. You can also select objects by clicking on them in the graphics display using the mouse probe button, which is, by default, the right mouse button. (See Controlling the Mouse Button Functions for information about mouse button functions.) To deselect a selected object, simply click its name in the Names list. See Selecting the Object(s) to be Manipulated for details.

contains information about the type of the selected geometric object and push buttons that open dialog boxes for modifying the object.

contains controls for enabling overlays and bounding frames.

opens the Bounding Frame Dialog Box, in which you can define properties of the bounding frame. See Adding a Bounding Frame for details.

deletes the geometric object that is currently selected in the Names list. The ability to delete individual objects is especially useful if you have overlays on and you generate an unwanted object (for example, if you generate contours of the wrong variable). You can simply delete the unwanted object and continue your scene composition, instead of starting over from the beginning.

saves the status of Overlays and Draw Frame. When you turn Overlays or Draw Frame on or off, you must click the Apply button to see the effect of the change on subsequent display operations.

displays the name of the object you selected for modification in the Scene Description Dialog Box.

contains check buttons that control options related to the visibility of the selected object. See Controlling Visibility for details.

contains controls for setting face, edge, line, and node colors, and transparency for faces. See Controlling Object Color and Transparency for details.

displays the name of the object you selected for modification in the Scene Description Dialog Box.

(3D only) enables the display of the meridional view. This option is especially useful in turbomachinery applications.

contains X, Y, and Z real number fields in which you can enter the distance by which to translate the selected object in each direction.

contains X, Y,and Z integer number fields in which you can enter the number of degrees by which to rotate the selected object about each axis.

specifies the point about which to rotate the object.

contains X, Y, and Z real number fields in which you can enter the amount by which to scale the selected object in each direction. To avoid distortion of the object’s shape, be sure to specify the same value for all three entries.

displays the name of the geometric object (isosurface) you selected for modification in the Scene Description Dialog Box.

show the minimum and maximum values of the isosurface variable.

sets the new isovalue for isosurfaces. After you change the value and click Apply, contours, vectors, or pathlines that were displayed on the original isosurface will be displayed for the new isovalue. You can also use the slide bar to change the Value.

displays the name of the geometric object you selected for modification in the Scene Description Dialog Box.

sets the new maximum number of steps for pathline computation. After you change the value and click Apply, the selected pathline will be recomputed and redrawn.

indicates the extents of the bounding frame.

contains controls for specifying the frame boundaries and measurements. See Adding a Bounding Frame for instructions on using these items.

updates the active graphics window with the current frame settings.

lists the currently defined views. Clicking on a view name highlights that name and enters it into the Name field. Double-clicking on a view name restores that view in the active graphics window.

specifies the name to use when saving a view.

contains buttons for performing various actions related to the Views list and the Save Name.

displays a list of all symmetry planes in the domain. Mirror images are drawn for all selected symmetry planes. See Mirroring and Periodic Repeats for details.

opens the Mirror Planes Dialog Box, in which you can define a mirror plane for a non-symmetric domain.

opens the Camera Parameters Dialog Box.

is a selectable list of the defined views. The selected views will be saved to a view file when you click OK.

contains inputs for specifying the equation for the mirror plane: coefficients a, b, c, and Distance.

contains a list of all mirror planes you have defined using this dialog box. (Mirror planes that exist in the domain due to symmetry will not appear in this list, since they cannot be modified.)

adds the plane defined by the Plane Equation to the Mirror Planes list.

deletes the plane(s) selected in the Mirror Planes list.

contains the list of the zones in the mesh. You can select one or more zones in this list and specify different periodicity parameters for each zone separately.

contains the list of the surfaces associated with the selected cell zone.

specifies Rotational or Translational periodicity.

specifies the angle by which the domain is rotated to create the periodic repeat. This item is available when you select Rotational as the Periodic Type.

specifies the distance in the X, Y, and Z directions by which the domain is translated to create the periodic repeat. This item will appear when you select Translational as the Periodic Type.

specifies the direction vector (X,Y,Z) for the axis of rotation. This item is available when you select Rotational as the Periodic Type and the domain is three-dimensional.

specifies the origin of the axis of rotation. This item is available when you select Rotational as the Periodic Type.

specifies the number of times you want to repeat the periodic domain. Positive values repeat the zone in the direction of rotation. Negative values repeat the zone in the opposite direction of rotation.

saves the periodicity you have defined for the case setup.

saves the current settings and displays the results.

Resets the Number of Repeats to 1 and saves the settings change.

Fluent automatically assesses the loaded case file and selects what it thinks are the appropriate cell zones, surfaces, and other settings (such as angle and number of repeats) for this problem, and saves them.

contains a drop-down list of the parameters that define the camera (Position, Target, Up Vector, and Field) and X, Y, and Z fields in which you can define the coordinates or field distances for the parameter selected in the drop-down list. Figure 40.91: Camera Definition illustrates the definition of the camera by these parameters.

contains a drop-down list that allows you to select a Perspective or Orthographic view.

allow you to rotate and scale the graphics display. The slider on the scale to the left of the dial rotates the display about the horizontal axis at the center of the screen, the slider on the scale below the dial rotates the display about the vertical axis at the center of the screen, and the dial controls rotation about the axis at the center of and perpendicular to the screen. The slider on the scale to the right of the dial zooms in or out in the display. See Rotating the Display and Zooming the Display for details.

indicates the light that is being added, deleted, or modified. By default, light 1 is defined to be dark gray with a direction of (1,1,1).

indicates whether or not the light specified in Light ID is on or off. By turning off the Light On option for a particular light, you can remove this light from the display, while still retaining its definition. To add it to the display again, simply turn on the Light On button.

allows you to specify the direction of the light (the position on the unit sphere from which the light emanates) by entering the X, Y, and Z coordinates or by computing the coordinates based on the current view in the graphics window.

allows you to specify the light color with sliders. You can create your desired color by increasing and decreasing the slider values for the colors Red, Green, and Blue. You can also enter a descriptive string (for example, lavender) in the Color field.

shows the position and color of all defined directional lights, and allows you to change the position of a light. All directional lights in Ansys Fluent are assumed to be at infinity and pass through the unit sphere at the position shown. All light rays arriving at the scene from one light are parallel. The colored markers on the surface of the sphere represent the color and direction of these distant lights. These lights point towards the center of the sphere (the origin, which is usually where the geometry is).

specifies the method to be used in lighting interpolation: Automatic, Off, Flat, Gouraud, or Phong. (Flat is the most basic method: there is no interpolation within the individual polygonal facets. Gouraud and Phong have smoother gradations of color because they interpolate on each facet.) When Off is selected, lighting effects are disabled.

enables constant lighting effects in the direction of the view. The Automatic option automatically enables/disables the headlight depending on the type of display in the graphics window.

resets the light definitions to their last saved state (the lighting that was in effect the last time you opened the dialog box or clicked on Apply).

this option is only visible when accessed through a graphics object dialog box, such as Contours or Vectors. It allows you to turn the display of the colormap in the graphics window on/off.

Alternatively, you can temporarily hide a colormap by clicking the 'X' that appears in the upper-right of the colormap when you hover over it in the graphics window. There is also a context menu option to temporarily show a hidden colormap. Refer to Changing the Colormap and Range for additional information.

controls what identifying titles are displayed on the colormap. The options include:

allows you to customize the display of your colormap labels.

allows you to customize the display of your colormap font.

contains controls for the colormap size and scale, and for selection of a defined colormap.

allows you to customize the "physical" size of your colormap in the graphics window.

allows you to control the appearance of the colormap background.

is the name that will be applied to the modified colormap.

is the baseline colormap that you are modifying. You can use this drop-down list to select a different baseline colormap.

allows you to interactively modify the colormap. Drag the "stops" ( ) to modify the color and color distribution.

clicking "add stop" ( ) adds another color stop next to the selected stop.

clicking "remove stop" ( ) removes the selected color stop.

clicking the left arrow ( ) selects the next stop to the left.

clicking the right arrow ( ) selects the next stop to the left.

evenly distributes the stops on the colormap.

reverses the colors on the colormap.

shows the color of the selected stop. Clicking the colored field to the right, opens the Select Color dialog box, allowing you to choose a different color for the selected stop.

shows the position in the colormap of the selected stop as a percentage, with 0% being the left-most stop and 100% being the right-most stop.

saves the colormap with the name displayed in the Name field. Note that you cannot overwrite the system colormaps that come with Ansys Fluent.

resets the preview to match the Base Colormap.

contains a selectable list of all annotation text strings that have been defined. You can choose a text string to be deleted or edited.

deletes the text strings selected in the Names list from the display.

contains the annotation text string you want to add, or the annotation text string for the item selected in the Names list.

allows you to add the following items to the Annotation Text.

contains controls for specifying how appended flow time values are displayed.

contains controls for defining or modifying the font in the annotation text string.

adds the current Annotation Text to the active graphics window. A dialog box will prompt you to select a screen location using the left-mouse-button.

If you click the mouse button once in the desired location, the text will be placed at that point. Dragging the mouse with the left-mouse-button depressed will draw an attachment line from the point where the mouse was first clicked to the point where it was released. The annotation text will be placed at the point where the mouse button was released.

shows or removes the defined annotations.

updates the edited text in the active graphics window. This button will replace the Add button when you are editing an existing text string from the Names list.