GiD The universal, adaptative and user friendly pre and postprocessing system for computer analysis in science and engineering Reference Manual ii Table of Contents Chapters Pag. 1 INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 What's GiD 1 1.2 GiD Manuals 1 2 GENERAL ASPECTS 3 2.1 GiD Basics 3 2.2 Invoking GiD 4 2.2.1 First start 4 2.2.2 Command line flags 5 2.2.3 Settings 6 2.3 User Interface 7 2.3.1 Top menu 8 2.3.2 Toolbars 8 2.3.3 Command line 11 2.3.4 Status and Information 12 2.3.5 Right buttons 12 2.3.6 Mouse operations 12 2.3.7 Classic GiD theme 13 2.4 User Basics 15 2.4.1 Point definition 15 2.4.1.1 Picking in the graphical window 16 2.4.1.2 Entering points by coordinates 16 2.4.1.2.1 Local-global coordinates 16 2.4.1.2.2 Cylindrical coordinates 17 2.4.1.2.3 Spherical coordinates 17 2.4.1.3 Base 17 2.4.1.4 Selecting an existing point 17 2.4.1.5 Point in line 18 2.4.1.6 Point in surface 18 2.4.1.7 Tangent in line 18 2.4.1.8 Normal in surface 18 2.4.1.9 Arc center 18 2.4.1.10 Grid 18 2.4.2 Entity selection 18 2.4.3 Escape 20 2.5 Files Menu 20 2.5.1 New 21 2.5.2 Open 21 2.5.3 Open multiple... (Only Postprocessing) 22 2.5.4 Merge... (Only Postprocessing) 22 2.5.5 Recent projects and Recent post files 22 2.5.6 Save (Only Preprocessing) 22 2.5.7 Save as... (only Preprocessing) 22 2.5.8 Import 23 2.5.8.1 Preprocessing 23 2.5.8.1.1 IGES 23 2.5.8.1.2 STEP 24 2.5.8.1.3 DXF 24 2.5.8.1.4 Parasolid 25 2.5.8.1.5 ACIS 25 2.5.8.1.6 VDA 25 2.5.8.1.7 Rhinoceros 25 2.5.8.1.8 Shapefile 25 2.5.8.1.9 XYZ points 25 Table of Contents iii 2.5.8.1.10 KML 26 2.5.8.1.11 Calculix 26 2.5.8.1.12 NASTRAN mesh 26 2.5.8.1.13 STL mesh 27 2.5.8.1.14 VRML mesh 27 2.5.8.1.15 3DStudio mesh 27 2.5.8.1.16 CGNS mesh 27 2.5.8.1.17 GiD mesh 27 2.5.8.1.18 Surface mesh 28 2.5.8.1.19 Ply mesh 29 2.5.8.1.20 OBJ Wavefront mesh 29 2.5.8.1.21 Vtk voxels 29 2.5.8.1.22 XYZ nodes 29 2.5.8.1.23 UNV 30 2.5.8.1.24 STAR-CD 30 2.5.8.1.25 GDAL 30 2.5.8.1.26 EMA3D 30 2.5.8.1.27 Batch file 31 2.5.8.1.28 Insert GiD model 31 2.5.8.2 Postprocessing 32 2.5.8.2.1 NASTRAN mesh 32 2.5.8.2.2 FEMAP 32 2.5.8.2.3 TECPLOT 32 2.5.8.2.4 3D Studio 32 2.5.8.2.5 XYZ nodes 32 2.5.8.2.6 Vtk 32 2.5.8.2.7 Calculix 33 2.5.8.2.8 Cut 33 2.5.8.2.9 Graph 33 2.5.8.2.10 Stream lines 33 2.5.8.2.11 Plugins 33 2.5.9 Export 33 2.5.9.1 Preprocessing 33 2.5.9.1.1 IGES 33 2.5.9.1.2 STEP 34 2.5.9.1.3 DXF 34 2.5.9.1.4 ACIS 34 2.5.9.1.5 Rhinoceros 34 2.5.9.1.6 GiD mesh 34 2.5.9.1.7 Text data report 34 2.5.9.1.8 ASCII project 35 2.5.9.1.9 ON layers 35 2.5.9.1.10 Calculation file 35 2.5.9.1.11 Using template .bas (only mesh) 35 2.5.9.2 Postprocessing 35 2.5.9.2.1 Post information 35 2.5.9.2.2 Cut 36 2.5.9.2.3 Graph 36 2.5.9.2.4 Cover mesh 36 2.5.9.2.5 Visible surfaces to STL 36 2.5.9.2.6 Vtk 37 2.5.9.2.7 KML 37 2.5.9.2.8 Visible surfaces to PLY 37 2.5.10 Preprocess-Postprocess 38 2.5.11 Print to file 38 2.5.12 Page and capture settings 38 2.5.13 Print 39 Table of Contents iv 2.5.14 Quit 39 2.6 View Menu 39 2.6.1 Zoom 40 2.6.2 Rotate 40 2.6.2.1 Rotate trackball 40 2.6.2.2 Rotate screen axes 40 2.6.2.3 Rotate object axes 41 2.6.2.4 Rotate center 41 2.6.2.5 Plane XY (Original) 41 2.6.2.6 Plane XZ 41 2.6.2.7 Plane YZ 41 2.6.2.8 Isometric 41 2.6.2.9 Rotate points 41 2.6.2.10 Rotate angle 42 2.6.3 Pan 42 2.6.4 Redraw 42 2.6.5 Render 42 2.6.6 Perspective 44 2.6.7 Clip planes 44 2.6.8 Advanced viewing settings 45 2.6.9 Reference axes (only Postprocessing) 48 2.6.10 Label 49 2.6.11 Normals (only Preprocessing) 49 2.6.12 Higher entities (only Preprocessing) 50 2.6.13 Curvature (only Preprocessing) 50 2.6.14 View 50 2.6.15 Recent View Files 51 2.6.16 Background Image 51 2.6.17 Image to clipboard 52 2.6.18 Multiple windows 52 2.6.19 Mode 52 2.6.20 Full screen 52 2.6.21 Entities (from Right buttons) 53 2.7 Utilities Menu 53 2.7.1 Undo (only Preprocessing) 53 2.7.2 Preferences 53 2.7.2.1 General 54 2.7.2.1.1 Interface 54 2.7.2.1.2 Other 55 2.7.2.2 Graphical 56 2.7.2.2.1 Apparence 56 2.7.2.2.2 Colours 57 2.7.2.2.3 Mesh elements 58 2.7.2.2.4 System 58 2.7.2.2.5 Simplified view 60 2.7.2.3 Meshing 60 2.7.2.3.1 Unstructured 60 2.7.2.3.2 Structured 62 2.7.2.3.3 Chordal error 63 2.7.2.3.4 Boundary layer 63 2.7.2.3.5 Cartesian 64 2.7.2.3.6 Sphere circle 65 2.7.2.3.6.1 RBall 66 2.7.2.3.6.2 Granular 67 2.7.2.3.7 Other 68 2.7.2.4 Import and Export 70 2.7.2.5 Fonts 70 Table of Contents v 2.7.2.6 Grid 71 2.7.2.7 Postprocess 72 2.7.2.7.1 Post files 73 2.7.2.7.2 Mesh elements 74 2.7.2.7.3 Legends and comments 75 2.7.2.7.4 Contour fill and lines 75 2.7.2.7.5 Vectors 76 2.7.2.7.6 Iso surfaces 77 2.7.2.7.7 Stream lines 78 2.7.2.7.8 Result surface 80 2.7.2.7.9 Line diagrams 80 2.7.2.7.10 Others 80 2.7.3 Layers and groups (only Preprocessing) 81 2.7.4 Tools 83 2.7.4.1 Toolbars 83 2.7.4.2 Save window configuration 83 2.7.4.3 Move screen objects 84 2.7.4.4 Coordinates window (only Preprocessing) 84 2.7.4.5 Read batch window 84 2.7.4.6 Comments 85 2.7.4.6.1 Postprocessing 85 2.7.4.7 Change legend title (only Postprocessing) 86 2.7.4.8 Animation controls 86 2.7.4.9 Animation script 87 2.7.4.10 Macros 87 2.7.4.11 Selection window (only Preprocessing) 88 2.7.4.12 Calculator 90 2.7.4.13 Report 90 2.7.4.14 Notes 91 2.7.5 Copy 91 2.7.5.1 Preprocessing 91 2.7.5.2 Postprocessing 94 2.7.6 Move (only Preprocessing) 95 2.7.7 Status 95 2.7.8 List 96 2.7.9 Mass (only Preprocessing) 97 2.7.10 Renumber (only Preprocessing) 97 2.7.11 Id 98 2.7.12 Signal 98 2.7.13 Swap normals (only Preprocessing) 98 2.7.14 Distance 99 2.7.15 Dimension 99 2.7.16 Repair model (only Preprocessing) 99 2.7.17 Delete (only Postprocessing) 100 2.7.18 Scale result view (only Postprocessing) 100 2.7.19 Set contour limits (only Postprocessing) 100 2.7.20 Texture (only Postprocessing) 100 2.8 Help Menu 100 2.8.1 Help 101 2.8.2 Customization help 101 2.8.3 Tutorials 101 2.8.4 What is new 101 2.8.5 FAQ 101 2.8.6 Register GiD 102 2.8.7 Register Problem type 102 2.8.7.1 Customizing Problem type registration 103 2.8.8 Register from file 103 Table of Contents vi 2.8.9 Visit GiD web 103 2.8.10 Check for updates 104 2.8.11 About 104 3 PREPROCESSING 105 3.1 Geometry Menu 105 3.1.1 View geometry 105 3.1.2 Create 105 3.1.2.1 Point 105 3.1.2.2 Straight line 105 3.1.2.3 NURBS line 105 3.1.2.4 Parametric line 106 3.1.2.5 Polyline 107 3.1.2.6 Arc 108 3.1.2.7 NURBS surface 108 3.1.2.8 Parametric surface 109 3.1.2.9 Contact surface 110 3.1.2.10 Surface mesh 110 3.1.2.11 Geometry from mesh 110 3.1.2.12 Volume 111 3.1.2.13 Contact 111 3.1.2.14 Object 112 3.1.2.15 Old types 112 3.1.2.15.1 4-sided surface creation 112 3.1.2.15.2 Automatic 4-sided surface creation 113 3.1.2.15.3 Planar surface creation 113 3.1.3 Delete 113 3.1.4 Edit 114 3.1.4.1 Move point 114 3.1.4.2 Divide 114 3.1.4.3 Join 114 3.1.4.4 Line operations 115 3.1.4.5 Swap arc 115 3.1.4.6 Polyline 115 3.1.4.7 SurfMesh 116 3.1.4.8 Rebuild surface by boundary 116 3.1.4.9 Edit NURBS 116 3.1.4.10 Convert to NURBS 118 3.1.4.11 Simplify NURBS 118 3.1.4.12 Hole NURBS surface 118 3.1.4.13 Hole volume 118 3.1.4.14 Collapse 118 3.1.4.15 Uncollapse 119 3.1.4.16 Intersection 119 3.1.4.17 Surface boolean operations 119 3.1.4.18 Volume boolean operations 120 3.2 Data Menu 120 3.2.1 Problem type 120 3.2.1.1 Transform problem type 120 3.2.1.2 Internet retrieve 121 3.2.1.3 Load 121 3.2.1.4 Unload 122 3.2.1.5 Debugger 122 3.2.2 Conditions 122 3.2.2.1 Assign condition 123 3.2.2.2 Entities 123 3.2.2.3 Draw condition 124 3.2.2.4 Unassign condition 124 Table of Contents vii 3.2.3 Materials 124 3.2.3.1 Assign material 125 3.2.3.2 Draw material 125 3.2.3.3 Unassign material 125 3.2.3.4 Exchange material 125 3.2.4 Interval data 126 3.2.5 Problem data 126 3.2.6 Data units 126 3.2.7 Interval 126 3.2.8 Local axes 126 3.3 Mesh Menu 127 3.3.1 Unstructured 127 3.3.2 Structured 129 3.3.2.1 (Lines) Concentrate elements 132 3.3.3 SemiStructured 132 3.3.4 Cartesian 133 3.3.5 Boundary layer 134 3.3.6 Quadratic type 135 3.3.7 Element type 135 3.3.8 Mesh criteria 137 3.3.8.1 Mesh NoMesh 137 3.3.8.2 Skip 137 3.3.8.3 Force points 138 3.3.8.4 Duplicate 139 3.3.9 Reset mesh data 139 3.3.10 Draw 139 3.3.10.1 Sizes 140 3.3.10.2 Num of divisions 140 3.3.10.3 Element type 140 3.3.10.4 Mesh - No mesh 140 3.3.10.5 Structured type 141 3.3.10.6 Skip entities 141 3.3.10.7 Duplicate 141 3.3.10.8 Force points to 141 3.3.10.9 Boundary layer 141 3.3.11 Generate mesh 141 3.3.12 Erase mesh 142 3.3.13 Edit mesh 142 3.3.13.1 Create node 142 3.3.13.2 Move node 142 3.3.13.3 Create element 142 3.3.13.4 Split elements 142 3.3.13.5 Smooth elements 143 3.3.13.6 Collapse 143 3.3.13.7 Delete 143 3.3.14 Show errors 143 3.3.15 View mesh boundary 144 3.3.16 Create boundary mesh 144 3.3.17 Mesh quality 144 3.3.18 Mesh options from model 146 3.4 Calculate Menu 146 3.4.1 Calculate 146 3.4.2 Calculate remote 146 3.4.3 Cancel process 146 3.4.4 View process info 147 3.4.5 Calculate window 147 4 POSTPROCESSING 149 Table of Contents viii 4.1 Introduction 149 4.2 Geometry menu 149 4.2.1 Cut plane 149 4.2.2 Cut 2D polygonal 150 4.2.3 Cut sphere 150 4.2.4 Divide 150 4.2.5 Join 151 4.2.6 Covering mesh 151 4.2.7 Create delaunay meshes 151 4.2.8 Extract boundaries 151 4.2.9 Separate connected components 151 4.2.10 Swap orientation of visible surface meshes 152 4.2.11 Collapse nodes 152 4.2.12 Convert to sets 152 4.3 View Results Menu 152 4.3.1 No Results 155 4.3.2 Delete 155 4.3.2.1 Stream lines 155 4.3.2.2 Node trace 155 4.3.3 Default Analysis - Step 155 4.3.4 Contour Fill 155 4.3.5 Contour Lines 156 4.3.6 Contour Ranges 156 4.3.7 Show Minimum and Maximum 157 4.3.8 Display Vectors 157 4.3.9 Iso Surfaces 158 4.3.10 Stream Lines 158 4.3.11 Node trace 159 4.3.12 Graphs 159 4.3.13 Result Surface 160 4.3.14 Deformation 161 4.3.15 Line Diagram 162 4.3.16 Line thickness 162 4.3.17 Integrate 163 4.3.18 Distribution..