External simulation items management#
External simulations#
The External simulations command
allows to define and launch
interactively simulations performed with an arbitrary external script or
program, and especially programs that can not be launched using
Simulations command
.
Simulations command
is restricted to RVE calculations (using the
Zsim module) that only apply to standard experimental tests where the
response may be considered as homogeneous (eg. conventional tensile
tests). For other experimental tests where a complete structural
calculation may be needed (eg. bending tests), the
External simulations
mode can be used to drive a finite element code
or any external program within Sim-Opt Plugin. An external simulation
can be a list of several executions commands.
The external simulation results can then be used to define comparisons with experimental results to drive the optimization module.
Note that external simulations can be launched either from this dialog, or from the Variables Panel dialog.
External simulations management dialog#
The External simulations dialog
is shown in the following figure.
The selection tree allows to select external simulation items
to
apply appropriate commands on.
Add ext sim command#
This command may be used to create a new external simulation item
in
the database by opening the Add
/Mod external sim dialog
(see add_ext_sim).
Mod ext sim command#
This command edits the selected external simulation item
. By hitting
the Mod ext
sim command
, the user opens the
Add
/Mod external
sim dialog
that allows to change the
definition of the item (see add_ext_sim).
Del ext sim command#
This command deletes from the database all the
external simulation items
selected in the
External simulation items selection tree
.
Run command#
This command launches all the external simulations selected in the
External simulation
items selection tree
using the appropriate
module.
Sel/Clear command#
This command clears selections in the
External simulation items selection tree
.
Plot command#
This command draws all output curves defined in the
external simulation items
selected in the
External simulation items selection tree
. Plots are tiled in the
graphics area across the X-Y plane, as shown in the following figure.
Cancel command#
This command closes the External simulations management dialog
without further modification to the database.
Add/Mod external sim dialog#
This dialog, used to create or modify external simulation items
that
will be run using the appropriate module, is shown in the next figure.
The proceedings of this dialog consists of :
firstly, filling the upper part of the dialog, to define a name, to select an input file and a template file, and then to use or modify execution command(s) ;
secondly, using the
External simulation
results by means of the lower part of the dialog, to define as many plots as needed with available variables.
The name of the external simulation item
can be modified in the
Name
textfield. The default name assigned at creation should be
changed to something more meaningful to the user.
The Input file
textfield may be filled by the user or by means of
the browse button available on the right of the textfield that opens a
file selection dialog to help the selection of an existing file as shown
in the next figure.
The first selection box at the top is filled with the names of all
template files loaded in the application. Assigning a material file
behavior to the external simulation item
is done by selecting a
particular file in this list.
The second box is used to define execution commands. The default
execution commands written at creation should be adjusted to the
particular commands needed to launch the external scripts or programs.
Note that as many execution commands as needed may be specified, in that
case they are separated by a carriage return in the
Execution commands edition box
.
The informations given in the Input file
textfield is only
indicative. Setting on actual value allows to edit the input file to
check the data needed by the execution commands. A template should be
selected in the Template selection box
(see add_ext_sim). This template file
should correspond to an input file needed by the execution commands.
Note that in the current implementation, there is only one template file
allowed, such that all variable
definitions that may affect the
execution commands results should be located in the same file.
Output file
textfield allows to define the name of a file
(generated by the execution commands) that may be used to draw plots.
This output file should include ASCII data where the number of lines
corresponds to the number of points, and columns (separated by a blank
space character) correspond to the various components that can be
plotted. If the output file contains the name of the components as
headers, these headers (appearing in the two selection boxes of the
Define Plot dialog
) may be used to define the plot, otherwise the
definition of the plot in the Define Plot dialog
uses the number
of the columns (for instance \(\$1\) or \(\$2\)) to specify
the X and Y parameters that will be drawn.Edit command#
This command edits the file specified by means of the Input file
or
Output file
text-field. Note that the Edit input file dialog
allows to modify the selected file, using the Save command
, while
the Edit output file dialog
does not allow to modify the selected
file.
Add plot command#
This command adds a new plot item
to the current
external simulation item
by opening the Define Plot dialog
described in External simulations/Define plot.
Mod plot command#
This command edits the plot item
selected in the
Plot items selection box
to allow some modifications. By hitting the
Mod ext
sim command
, the user opens the Define Plot
dialog
(described in External simulations/Define plot) with the current definition of the
plot item
.
Del plot command#
This command deletes from the external simulation item
definition
all the plot items
selected in the Plot items selection box
.
Set names command#
This command assigns to all the defined plots a name constituted by the
name of the external simulation item
and the rank of each plot in
the Plot items selection box
.
Go command#
This command updates the database with the definition of the
external simulation
item
currently edited.
Run command#
This command launches the external simulation item
considered using
the appropriate module.
Plot command#
This command draws all output curves defined in the
external simulation item
. Note that plots are tiled in the graphics
area across the X-Y plane.
Cancel command#
This command closes the Add
/Mod external sim dialog
without
further modification to the database.
Define plot dialog#
This dialog, used to create or modify a plot item
attached to the
current external
simulation item
, is shown in the figure
hereafter.
The name of the plot item
can be modified in the Name
textfield.
The default name assigned at creation should be changed to something
more meaningful to the user.
The History
textfield allows to define the number nc of curves the
user wants to display on this particular plot. The plotted nc curves
will correspond to the \(nc\) more recent external simulations. This
type of plots is a convenient way to visualize for instance the
influence of material coefficients on the simulated response.
Example#
In this example, 3 simulations have been performed for increasing values
of the initial yield stress R0. Plots of sig11 vs eto11 and the
cumulated plastic strain evcum vs time obtained by setting the
History
parameter to 3 are shown in the next figure.
The combo box filled with the available experiment items
defined
beforehand may be used to select a particular item that will be drawn on
the same plot as a reference curve.
The two selection boxes filled with the components of the external
simulation output file selected in the Output file
textfield of the
Add
/Mod external sim dialog
, allows to respectively specify the
X (top box) and Y (bottom box) parameters that will be drawn on the
plot.
The no zero
checkbox can be used to specify if the origin of the
curve, when not available in the actual data, should be included when
drawing the plot. Default is off.
x log scale
and y log scale
checkboxes can be used to
respectively plot the curve with a logarithmic abscissa and ordinate.
Default is off.Go command#
This command updates the definition of the current plot of the
considered external
simulation item
, using the informations
included in the dialog.
Cancel command#
This command closes the Define Plot dialog
without updating the
definition of the current plot.