S2-1PAT301, Section 2, October 2003 SECTION 2 MSC.PATRAN GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE AND FILES

S2-2PAT301, Section 2, October 2003

S2-3PAT301, Section 2, October 2003 PATRAN GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE n The Patran GUI for the Windows and Unix platforms are shown on the following pages. Except for the color scheme and icon arrangements, the two GUIs are basically identical. n The course material will be presented using the Windows GUI.

S2-4PAT301, Section 2, October 2003 STARTING MSC.PATRAN Double click the desk top icon to launch MSC.Patran or type Patran at the Unix prompt. MSC.Patran

S2-5PAT301, Section 2, October 2003 WINDOWS GUI

S2-6PAT301, Section 2, October 2003 UNIX GUI

S2-7PAT301, Section 2, October 2003 THE MAIN MENU Menu Bar Tool Bar History Window Command Line Status Icon Static Green indicates Patran is waiting for user input Rotating Blue indicates Patran is performing a process which can be stopped immediately with the abort icon Rotating Red indicates that Patran is performing a process which can not be interrupted Application Buttons

S2-8PAT301, Section 2, October 2003 File Save Print Copy to Clipboard Undo - will undo last command Abort – Stops operation in progress Reset Graphics(clear everything except model ) Refresh Graphics(re-draw what is on screen) Display and Viewing Icons THE MAIN MENU (CONT.)

S2-9PAT301, Section 2, October 2003 THE VIEWPORT Display Mode Current Group Current Viewport Database Name

S2-10PAT301, Section 2, October 2003 APPLICATION FORMS Action Object Method Select Menu (Filter Buttons)

S2-11PAT301, Section 2, October 2003 APPLICATION FORMS (Cont.) Toggle button is an on/off switch Select databox is used to enter data Data insertion can be made by placing the mouse at the desired location, clicking the left mouse button, and typing in the desired data Existing text can be edited... Suffix denotes that a subordinate form will open up upon clicking the button Apply causes action to execute Hyphens indicate action can be undone (only immediately) after its execution Slide bar assigns a value to associated variable; i.e. threshold for aspect ratio test Control icon allows the switching between different actions; i.e. icon can be set to highlight or split in this example Causes the content of a form to reset back to default values; the default values may be constant or can change

S2-12PAT301, Section 2, October 2003 APPLICATION FORMS (Cont.) DockedUndocked

S2-13PAT301, Section 2, October 2003 ENTITY PICKING n Picking is performed in two ways: u Keyboard entry into a databox, e.g. Curve List u Graphical picking with the mouse n List processor is the program responsible for the interpretation of the user input, e.g. Curve 1:3

S2-14PAT301, Section 2, October 2003 LIST PROCESSOR n The list processor verifies the syntax, checks for existence, and performs rudimentary geometry operations such as calculating the intersection of two curves n The list processor parses the contents for the select databox n The application only recognizes specific types of data n The list processor is generic and is used by all applications for consistency

S2-15PAT301, Section 2, October 2003 ENTITY ID SYNTAX SyntaxDescription Point 1 2 3Refers to points 1, 2, and 3 Point 1:9:2Points 1 through 9 by 2 Curve 1 2, 3/ 4Different forms for delimiters: space,, and / Surface 3.1References an entity associated with a higher order one (i.e. edge 1 of surface 3, that is similar to a curve) Solid 1:10.2Combinations of entity ID syntax is possible (face 2 of solids 1 through 10) [x y z]Square brackets signifies coordinate specification [xn28, 1, 2]Individual coordinates can reference existing entities, such as x = the x coordinate of node 28 [1, zp5, 3] [1, z5, 3] y = the z coordinate of point 5 When a point is referenced the letter p can be dropped [1, 2, -64.0/20.0]Mathematical operations like division are possible to determine the individual components signifies a vector definition {[x1 y1 z1 ][x2 y2 z2 ]}Signifies an axis with first point representing the base and the second determining the direction

S2-16PAT301, Section 2, October 2003 ENTITY GRAPHICAL PICKING n Individual and collective entity picking is controlled by the Picking option under Preferences n For Single Entity Picking, a portion of the selected entity must be within the physical limits of the cursor n For Centroid Single Picking, the closest entity to the location of the cursor will be picked n Additional tools are available to aid the process of picking, such as Cycle picking n The Preselection Settings highlight the Entity and Label (ID #) of the entity before you select it

S2-17PAT301, Section 2, October 2003 CURSOR PICKING Single Entity Move the cursor to the entity label/centroid and press the left mouse button Multiple Picking Hold the shift key down and select the entities with the left mouse button Shift

S2-18PAT301, Section 2, October 2003 CURSOR PICKING (Cont.) Ctrl Rectangle Picking (Click & Drag) Polygon Picking Note: To complete your selection double click the left mouse button Click You can also select this icon from the select menu

S2-19PAT301, Section 2, October 2003 Deselect Cycle Picking Move the cursor to the entitys label/centroid and click on the right mouse button Picking an entity underneath another, or that is close to other entities. Once the cycle picking window appears, make the selection from the window. CURSOR PICKING (Cont.)

S2-20PAT301, Section 2, October 2003 MANIPULATING THE MODEL FOR VIEWING Click on one of these icons then drag with the middle mouse button XY Rotate Z Rotate XY Translate Zoom

S2-21PAT301, Section 2, October 2003 PATRAN ONLINE HELP n Two ways to use on-line help u Use the drop-down help menu to get topical help or search using Contents and Index… u Press the F1 key to get context sensitive help on a MSC.Patran form in question

S2-22PAT301, Section 2, October 2003 MSC.PATRAN FILE OPTIONS New DatabaseCreate a new empty database Open DatabaseOpen a previously created database Revert to Original DatabaseAllows the deletion of all the changes made in the current modeling session (Revert must be enabled for this to be available) Session...Execute PATRAN commands from a file CloseClose the current database but keep PATRAN active QuitClose the current database and stop PATRAN SaveSaves the database up to and including the last command Save a CopySave a copy of the database under a different name

S2-23PAT301, Section 2, October 2003 BASIC MSC.PATRAN FILES NameFile TypeComments model_name.dbDatabaseOne per model, relatively large. model_name.db.bkupDatabaseBackup database is created if revert is enabled. patran.ses.numberSession fileA session file is opened at MSC.Patran start-up and it is closed when MSC.Patran is quit. model_name.db.jouJournal fileOne per database. A record of all PCL commands from database creation to present - concatenated session files. EXTREMELY useful for rebuilding a database. model_name.outNeutral fileCreated using Export. Can be used as a backup for analysis model.

S2-24PAT301, Section 2, October 2003 CASE STUDY: GUI n Double click the MSC.Patran desk top icon. n Create a new database and call it exercise_1.db. n Click OK.

S2-25PAT301, Section 2, October 2003 n The New Model Preferences will also appear when a new database is opened. n The Tolerance selection Based on Model calculates the tolerance as 0.05% of the input. The Default selection uses for the global model tolerance. u Set the Tolerance to Default. u Select MSC/NASTRAN for Analysis Code. u Select Structural for Analysis Type. u Click OK. CASE STUDY: GUI

S2-26PAT301, Section 2, October 2003 CASE STUDY: GUI n Play a session file which contains MSC.PATRAN commands. The commands will create the model that will be used in this exercise. u File/Session/Play… u Select exercise_1. ses for File Name. u Apply.

S2-27PAT301, Section 2, October 2003 CASE STUDY: GUI n Turn on the labels and geometry display lines using the following icons: n Note that the status changes colors to inform the user of MSC.PATRANs status. u If the status is green, MSC.Patran is waiting for you to enter a command. u If it is blue, then it is busy with a current operation. u If it is red, MSC.Patran is busy with an operation and cannot be interrupted. Status Indicator

S2-28PAT301, Section 2, October 2003 n The model should now be created and look like the following: CASE STUDY: GUI

S2-29PAT301, Section 2, October 2003 CASE STUDY: GUI n Now, practice moving, resizing, and iconifying the graphics viewport and MSC.Patran forms u Place the mouse cursor in the graphics viewports title bar, hold down the left mouse button, and move the window down the screen. u Release the mouse button and the model will be rerendered in the new location.

S2-30PAT301, Section 2, October 2003 u Resize the viewport vertically by placing the cursor over the border at the bottom of the viewport. The pointer will then change to a vertical arrow. Hold down the left mouse button and drag the pointer up and the model in the viewport will be rerendered. CASE STUDY: GUI

S2-31PAT301, Section 2, October 2003 u Resize the viewport horizontally by placing the cursor over the border at the right of the viewport. The pointer will change to a horizontal arrow. Hold down the left mouse button and drag the pointer to the right. Release the mouse button to re-render the model in the viewport. CASE STUDY: GUI

S2-32PAT301, Section 2, October 2003 u Resize the height and width of the viewport simultaneously by placing the mouse cursor on the lower right corner of the viewport border. The cursor changes to the arrow shown. Hold the left mouse button and drag the pointer down and to the right. Release the button to rerender the model. CASE STUDY: GUI

S2-33PAT301, Section 2, October 2003 u Iconify the Patran GUI by clicking on the Iconify button in the upper right corner of the main form. The window will close and an icon will appear. CASE STUDY: GUI

S2-34PAT301, Section 2, October 2003 n You will now practice erasing, not deleting, parts of your MSC.Patran model. u Choose Display/Plot/Erase. u To obtain help on the use of the Plot/Erase form, place the mouse cursor in the form and type the F1 key (Help-key at some sites). CASE STUDY: GUI Filter Buttons Selected Entities databox

S2-35PAT301, Section 2, October 2003 n There are three methods that can be used to select multiple MSC.Patran entities. They are the shift-click, click-drag, and polygon- pick. u Preferences/Picking… u Select Enclose Centroid icon for Rectangle/Polygon Picking. u Close. CASE STUDY: GUI

S2-36PAT301, Section 2, October 2003 n Move the mouse cursor inside the Selected Entities box. Click the left mouse button. Click inside of the Select Menu, selecting the icon which allows selection of only solid entities. The two filter selections are shown below. CASE STUDY: GUI First, click here Then, click here

S2-37PAT301, Section 2, October 2003 n Holding the shift key down, select solids 1 and 19. Use the figure below to help identify the two solids. CASE STUDY: GUI Then, shift-click here First, click here

S2-38PAT301, Section 2, October 2003 n If you accidentally select the wrong solid, you can deselect it by moving the mouse cursor to the center of that solid and clicking the right mouse button. n To erase selected entities click on the Erase button, and to replot them, click on the Plot button. CASE STUDY: GUI

S2-39PAT301, Section 2, October 2003 n Another way to select the entities is to use a mouse defined rectangle to enclose the entities you wish to identity. u Position the mouse cursor at one of the corners of the rectangle you wish to create. u Hold down the left mouse button and drag the mouse cursor to the rectangles opposite diagonal corner. u Make sure that Rectangle/Polygon Picking is set to Enclose centroid. CASE STUDY: GUI Click here Then, drag it to here

S2-40PAT301, Section 2, October 2003 n Before you erase the solids try editing the contents of the Selected Entities databox in the Plot/Erase dialogue. n If you wish to change only a few characters in the listbox, use your mouse (left mouse button) to select the character and change it. n Before you try the next selection method, click on the Plot button under All to replot the entire model. CASE STUDY: GUI

S2-41PAT301, Section 2, October 2003 CASE STUDY: GUI n The final selection technique that you will try is the polygon-pick method. This method is used when the entities that you wish to select cannot be selected by a rectangle. u To use polygon picking, click on the polygon icon in the Select Menu. u With the left mouse button screen select at locations to define the vertices of the polygon. u Click the left mouse button at the starting location to close the polygon. u To close the Plot/Erase form press the OK button.

S2-42PAT301, Section 2, October 2003 CASE STUDY: GUI First, click here Second, click here Third, click here Fourth, click here Fifth, click here Close the polygon by picking at the starting point

S2-43PAT301, Section 2, October 2003 EXERCISE Perform Workshop 2 Cantilevered Plate in your exercise workbook.

S2-44PAT301, Section 2, October 2003