A contour plot is a series of lines linking points with equal values of a given variable. For example, contours of height exist on geographical maps and give an impression of gradient and land shape. To create a contour, select Insert > User Defined > Contour from the main menu.
Select the locator(s) on which to plot the contours. To select multiple
locators, click the 
icon, hold down
Ctrl, and select each locator.
Set Range to one of the available methods for defining the range of the contour plot. This affects the variation of color used when plotting the contours in the viewer. The lowest values of a variable in the selected range are shown in blue in the viewer, the highest values are shown in red.
Globaluses the range of the variable over all domains (regardless of the domains selected on the Geometry tab) to determine the minimum and maximum values for the contours.Localuses the range of the variable over the selected locator(s) to determine the minimum and maximum values for the contours.When using
User Specified, enter the minimum and maximum values for the contours. Type in the variable values, set them using the embedded slider or, by clicking Enter Expression
to the right of the Units
box, enter them as an expression.Using
Value List, a list separated by commas, specify the actual values at which contours should be plotted. For example, if plotting minimum face angle, try a value list of5, 10, 15, 20, 25degrees. It should be noted that entering a value list overrides the number specified in the # of Contours box (see below).
The option of using hybrid or conservative values is available. Unless you are postprocessing CFD results using Ansys TurboGrid, this option can be ignored. For details, see Hybrid and Conservative Variable Values.
The Show Numbers check box determines whether numbers
corresponding to the number of contours are displayed on the plot. To view the
values of the plotted variable at each contour, create a legend of the contour
plot. See Legend Command for more details. To change the size of the
text that appears on the contour plot, type a new value into the Text
Height box or use the embedded slider (which has a maximum value
of 1 and a minimum value of 0). The Text Height number is a
fraction of the viewer height. Text Font controls which
font is used for the numbers that appear in the contour plot. To change the text
color, set Color Mode to User
Specified then choose a color by clicking in the Text
Color box or by clicking the icon, which invokes a color selector.
See Render Tab for details.
Note: When the Draw Faces check box is selected, the area between contour lines is shaded with a color that corresponds to a value midway between the upper and lower contour line value. For example, for a contour line at 1000 Pa and a contour line at 1200 Pa, the shaded area has a color that corresponds to 1100 Pa. If you have created a legend for the contour plot, the legend adopts flat shading between 2 contour levels. By referring to the legend, the variable values can quickly be associated with the shaded regions of the plot.
Note: To view the contour lines as a single color, select the Constant
Coloring check box. With this option selected, you can either
leave the color set to default or you can set Color
Mode to User Specified then choose a
color by clicking in the Text Color box or by clicking
the icon, which invokes a color
selector.