Interfaces Panel

Location: Analysis page > Safety module

Panel Usage

Changes made on one subpanel do not affect the other, and are persistent so that you can switch freely between subpanels without losing any settings already made.

Created interfaces are stored in the database as groups. In addition to defining contact interactions, the Interfaces panel can be used to define a variety of solver-specific constraints output requests, and so on. Due to a large variation in the way various solvers define these interfaces, you are required to load the necessary solver template while using this panel.

The types of interfaces and the corresponding entities used to define each type of interface are defined by the solver template. The Abaqus, LS-DYNA, Nastran, PAM-CRASH 2G, and Radioss solver templates use this panel to define interfaces. Engineering Solutions templates can be designed to work with dictionaries (old) or card images (new). The Interfaces panel behaves differently for templates with dictionaries verses those defined with card images. Since most of our solver templates use card images ( Abaqus, LS-DYNA, Nastran, PAM-CRASH 2G, Radioss, and so on), the panels are described below for use with the new templates that use card images.

Create Subpanel

Use the Create subpanel to create a new interface (contact).

Option	Action
name =	Specify the name of the new interface to be created in the entry field, or select an interface from the list of existing interfaces.
type =	Used in conjunction with the connection method field. For templates that are developed with card images ( Abaqus, LS-DYNA, Nastran, PAM-CRASH 2G, and Radioss), the type and card image field should match. To select a type for a new interface: click type= and select a type. The different interface types are defined by the template. Make sure you have the right template loaded before selecting a type. While creating an interface by copying from an existing interface, using the same as creation method, the type= field is automatically updated to be same as the type of the existing interface.
creation method	Used in conjunction with the type= field. For templates that are developed with card images ( Abaqus, LS-DYNA, Nastran, PAM-CRASH 2G, and Radioss), the type and card image field should match. card image= Create an interface with the selected card image. This field is automatically updated (to be same as type) as soon as you select a type in type= field. same as= Create interfaces by copying the card image (and all of its attributes) from an existing interface. You can select an existing interface from which to copy by clicking same as = and selecting interfaces. With this method, the type= field is updated to match the type of the existing selected interface. The new interface is not linked to the original one at any time. Only its card image and type are copied while creating the new interface. Once the new interface is created, updates to the old interface do not affect the new one. no card image For templates that are developed using dictionaries (PATRAN for example). This option is not valid for templates with card images ( Abaqus, LS-DYNA, Nastran, PAM-CRASH 2G, and Radioss).
interface color	Select a color to display the interface in the modeling window. The color is updated to the same as = interface color as soon as you select the existing interface. You are allowed change this color to a color other than the same as = interface color.

Update Subpanel

Use the Update subpanel to update/change the type and color of an existing interface.

Option	Action
name =	Select an existing interface. To select an existing interface, double-click name= and select one from the list.
type =	Select the new type to which you want the interface updated. Click type= and select a type. The different interface types are defined by the template. Make sure you have the right template loaded before selecting a type.
interface color	Select a color to display the interface in the modeling window.

Add Subpanel

Use the Add subpanel to add and/or update all of the entities (elements, nodes, comps, sets, and so on) that define an interface. Depending on its type, an interface can contain:

Main and secondary entities
Only secondary entities
None

Not all types of entities can be added to all interfaces. The type of interface determines the add entities that are valid. Loading the solver-specific user interface automatically updates this panel to show only the valid add options for each interface type.

Option	Action
name =	Select an existing interface by double-clicking name = and selecting an interface. Depending on the type of interface selected, either both main and/or the secondary are available for adding entities. If the selected interface has main and/or secondary entries added previously, the panel will be updated to show that main/secondary type.
main	Select the main type. The corresponding entity collector (for example, comps, nodes, and so on) is available for selecting the entities from the display or via the extended entity selection methods. Click add/update (add if main type is entity; update for all other main types) to add the entities to the interface. entity Add individual elements or nodes to the interface. The selected elements or nodes are used to create main elements in the interface. While creating these main elements (by duplicating the selected elements), you can choose to maintain or reverse their normals relative to the original elements (by activating the reverse checkbox next to element collector). face Add faces of solid elements to define the interface. Select the solid elements and face nodes (at least three nodes). The faces that are added to the interface are determined as follows: The face nodes (at least three nodes that are part of the same face of a solid) selected are used to identify the starting face of the solid. The adjacent faces (of selected solid elements) are identified. If the angle between the normals of these adjacent faces is less than the break angle specified, those faces are also added to the interface. This process continues until all of the faces of selected elements have been tested. You can choose multiple sets of three face nodes to add multiple faces to the interface. Main elements are created for each face that is added to the interface. comps Add components to the interface. csurfs Add contact surfaces to the interface. sets Add entity sets to the interface. all Define an interface that encompasses the entire model. This option does not add any entities to the interface. It turns on a flag that is used by the solver templates that support this option.
secondary	Select the secondary type. The corresponding entity collector (for example, comps, nodes, and so on) is available for selecting entities from the display or via extended entity selection methods. Click add/update (add if the secondary type is entity; update for all other secondary types) to add the entities to the interface. entity Add individual elements or nodes to the interface. The selected elements or nodes are used to create secondary elements in the interface. While creating these secondary elements (by duplicating the selected elements), you can choose to maintain or reverse their normals relative to the original elements (by activating the reverse checkbox next to element collector). face Add faces of solid elements to define the interface. Select the solid elements and face nodes (at least three nodes). The faces that are added to the interface are determined as follows: The face nodes (at least three nodes that are part of the same face of a solid) selected are used to identify the starting face of the solid. The adjacent faces (of selected solid elements) are identified. If the angle between the normals of these adjacent faces is less than the break angle specified, those faces are also added to the interface. This process continues until all of the faces of selected elements have been tested. You can choose multiple sets of three face nodes to add multiple faces to the interface. Secondary elements are created for each face that is added to the interface. comps Add components to the interface. csurfs Add contact surfaces to the interface. sets Add entity sets to the interface. all Define an interface that encompasses the entire model. This option does not add any entities to the interface. It turns on a flag that is used by the solver templates that support this option.

Card Image Subpanel

Use the Card Image subpanel to view, edit, update/change, and reset the card image of an interface. This subpanel requires that you load a solver template and does not impact templates using dictionaries.

Option	Action
name =	Select an interface from the list of existing interfaces. To select an existing interface, double-click name= and select one from the list. The corresponding card image is automatically filled as soon as you pick the interface.
card image =	Select a new card image to assign to the interface.

Command Buttons

Button	Action
create	Create a new interface with the name and type chosen.
create/edit	Create a new interface with the name and type chosen and shows the card image of the interface. This allows you to update any field in the interface card.
update type	Update the selected interface to the new type. For templates that are developed with card images ( Abaqus, LS-DYNA, Nastran, PAM-CRASH 2G, and Radioss), the type and card image field should match. Therefore, updating the type automatically updates the card image.
reject type	Reject (undo) the latest change to the interface type and revert to the previous type. The update can only be rejected as long as you remain in the same panel/subpanel.
update color	Update the selected interface to the new color.
review	Display the entities in the interface in the modeling window after you have selected the interface. All of the main entities of the interface are displayed in blue and the secondary entities in red. The remaining model is drawn in gray. This review mode is a temporary graphics mode. The display returns to its original graphics with component colors, if you return out of the panel, select another interface for name =, or click review a second time. In review mode, review opts allows you to customize the graphical review of the interfaces. The following options are available in review opts: force transparency view When enabled, the entities that are not part of the interface in a transparent view are displayed so that the main and secondary entities in the interface can be easily viewed. component color view/gray color view When component color is selected, the entities that are not part of the interface are displayed in their original component color. When gray is chosen, the entities that are not part of the interface are displayed in gray, improving the highlighting of the main and secondary entities. display main entities Display on/off the main entities while in the review mode. This checkbox has an affect on the actual display of main entities in the Display panel. display secondary entities Display on/off the secondary entities while in the review mode. This checkbox has an affect on the actual display of secondary entities in the Display panel.
normals	Display the normals of elements selected. Click normals and then select an element in the display. The normal vector of that element is drawn on the display. You can continue selecting more elements to view their corresponding normals. The normal direction of the main and secondary entities is important for defining the contact interactions correctly. This review of normals enables you to choose to reverse or maintain the normals of original elements while adding main and secondary entities.
add	Add the specified entities to the interface. Note: Separate add buttons exist for main and secondary entities.
load	Load the selected card image to the interface. This function allows you to load/update multiple interfaces with the selected card image. Once you click load, you can choose one or more interfaces to update. This function does not consider the interface in the name = field to load the new card image. For templates that are developed with card images ( Abaqus, LS-DYNA, Nastran, PAM-CRASH 2G, and Radioss), the card image and type should match. Therefore, loading a new card image automatically updates its type to match.
load/edit	Load the selected card image to the interface selected in the name = field and show the card image of that interface. This allows you to update any field in the interface card.
edit	Show the card image of the selected interface, allowing you to update any of its entries.
reset	Reset the card image of selected interface to no card image.
reset all	Reset all the card images of the selected interface to no card image. Interfaces are allowed to have only one card image per solver template. But if a model has been converted between multiple solvers, it is possible for an interface to have multiple card images, each belonging to a different solver template. This function resets all of them to no card image.
return	Exit the panel.