Contours are shown on visible surfaces of your model only; however, depending on the type of contour plot and the result options that you select, Abaqus/CAE might computer contour values based on all elements in the current display group or on all elements in the model. (For more information, see Selecting result options.) The reported minimum and maximum values might, therefore, occur at interior elements. You can display contours on the interior of your model by using display groups to show only the interior elements in the plot or by shrinking all elements about their centroids so that interior elements are visible between the bodies of exterior elements. Abaqus/CAE computes the minimum and maximum values differently, according to the type of field output variable shown (nodal or element), the type of contour plot (quilt versus line or banded), and options you select. For contour plots of nodal field output variables, the limits are the maximum and minimum nodal values. For quilt-type contour plots, the limits are the maximum and minimum element face values. For line-, banded-, or isosurface-type contours of element field output variables, Abaqus/CAE determines the minimum and maximum by the extrapolated, averaged values as defined by the current averaging criteria. For element field output variables, the contour maximum and minimum values can be given at element faces, integration points, and element centroids as well as at nodes. When Abaqus/CAE computes the minimum and maximum over values averaged at the nodes, the limits are based on the values used to create the plot. In this case, the legend bounds may vary as you vary the averaging criteria. To learn how to control the averaging criteria, see Controlling result averaging. You can also control which contour limits are used for each frame of a contour plot animation: the limits computed for the first and last frame, the limits computed for the current frame, the recomputed limits for each individual frame, or the limits computed for all frames in the animation. Computing limits based on all frames in the animation requires one full pass through the animation sequence to establish the contour limits used for subsequent passes through the animation. For detailed information on controlling contour limits, see Setting contour limits. To learn how to display the minimum and maximum values associated with your contour plot, see Customizing the legend. | |||||||