Results Visualization

This section describes the different ways the raw output from MBDyn can be arranged to work with third-party software for visualization. In most of the cases, the preparation of the results can be done as a post-processing, starting from raw MBDyn output files. This is true, for instance, for EasyAnim (see http://mecara.fpms.ac.be/EasyDyn/ for details).

In previous versions of MBDyn, the output results statement allowed to generate output compatible with MSC.ADAMS; provisions for Altair Motion View has been under preparation for long time, but it has never been truly supported. Anyone interested in that interface should contact MBDyn developers.

The output results statement is now deprecated; support for all visualization tools will be reworked in form of postprocessing of MBDyn's raw output, either in textual or binary form. Right now, that statement is used to enable the experimental support for NetCDF.

Some post-processing preparation instructions are available for those packages that require special handling and thus are built-in.

The model name is optional, defaulting to mbdyn. By default, velocities and accelerations are not output; they can be explicitly enabled by using the velocity and acceleration keywords. Note that only the dynamic structural nodes can output the accelerations, and only if their output is explicitly selected, for performance reasons. As a consequence, only the nodes whose native output is set will add their acceleration to ADAMS' output. The sequence is:

• compile MBDyn with ADAMS support
• add the directive

      output results : adams;
  

• run the analysis
• generate the .cmd file from the resulting .ada file
• run ADAMS/View
• import the .cmd file
• import the .res file

The velocity flag enables the output of the velocities of the parts; it defaults to no because the output is very verbose, and they are not required to animate the model; they can be useful to plot diagrams in the plotting facility of ADAMS/View.

NOTE: this feature will be trimmed out of MBDyn and moved to an external, post-processing script.