ReadNastran

Synopsis

Reads the geometries stored in a NASTRAN file.

Parameters

Name	Type	Description	UI Control

filename	string	Name of Nastran file to read.	File Dialog
ColourMode	enum	Mode for the colour representation	OptionBox
SurfaceMode	enum	Mode for the surface representation	OptionBox
WireframeMode	enum	Mode for the edge representation	OptionBox

Output Ports

Name	Type	Description

out_mesh	3D Field	Geometries read from the Nastran file.
out_obj	DefaultObject	Directly Renderable Object.

Description

The ReadNastran user macro reads a Nastran file with a given filename. It currently only imports the following cell types:

GRID (nodes)
PSOLID(a way to specify 3D materials)
CORD2R e CORD2C (coordinate systems, cartesian & cilindrical)
COMMENT (everything that start wth $)
TRIAX6 (2D 2nd order tris with 6 nodes)
TETRA (3D tetraedral with 4 nodes)
HEXA8 (3D esaedral with 8 nodes)
HEXA20 (3D 2nd order esaedral, with 20 nodes)
PENTA6 (3D piramids with penta base with 6 nodes)
PENTA15 (3D 2nd order piramids with penta base with 15 nodes)

These objects are converted to the unstructured AVS Field which is passed back to AVS/Express. The DataObject which is part of the user macro converts this AVS/Field into a Directly renderable object which can be rendered by a standard Uviewer.

Parameters

filename

String parameter that contains the name of the Nastran file that should be read.

ColourMode

This enum ("By Node","By Material") parameter defines the colouring of the surface. The information can either be taken from the Node_data or the material number defined in the Nastran file.

SurfaceMode

This enum ("None","No Lighting","Flat Shading","Gouraud Shading) parameter defines if the edge blending of the surface. If Gouraud Shading is chosen the Nastran reader will generate the neccessary normals.

WireframeMode

This enum ("none", "regular") parameter defines if the edges of the Mesh should be shown or not.

Outputs

out_mesh

AVS/Express Field output that contains the geometries and data read from the Nastran file.

out_obj

The directly renderable output of the ReadNastran macro. This output contains the geometries and data read from the Nastran file in a form that can be rendered by the standard data viewers.

Example

An example application ReadNastranEg is provided whith the project.

Files

iac_proj/rd_nastr/nas_mods.v Creates the ReadNastranMods library containing the parameter blocks ReadNastranParams and nastran_output and the low-level module ReadNastranCore.

iac_proj/rd_nastr/nas_macs.v Creates the ReadVRMLMacs library containing the UI macro ReadNastranUI the functional macro ReadNastranFunc, the user macro ReadNastran and the example applications ReadVRMLEg.

Authors

Dr Federico GAMBA, Vittorio Bertocci
AVS Italy

Contact

International AVS Centre
Manchester Visualization Centre
Manchester Computing
University of Manchester
Oxford Road
Manchester
United Kingdom
M13 9PL