Creating Cross-Section Plots and Combining Plots

Cross-section plots are created using a combination of data sets and plot groups. Cross-section plots show the values over time, along a parametric solution, or for several eigenvalues. Cross-section plots visualize a quantity as a family of plots on:

•	An arbitrary set of points (in 1D, 2D, or 3D)

A point cross-section plot makes it easy to view an expression at an arbitrary set of spatial coordinates and results in a line plot. See 1D, 2D, and 3D Cross-Section Point Plots.

Expressions and variables that include derivatives of the dependent variables (for example, stresses in a structural analysis) are not available at isolated geometry vertices (points).

•	An arbitrary line (in 2D or 3D). See 2D Cross-Section Line Plots and 3D Cross-Section Line Plots.

Use Cut Line data sets to create lines through 2D or 3D geometries to visualize along the line. All plots and results analysis nodes available in 1D are available for Cut Line data sets as well as 3D plots and results analysis nodes for edges.

•	Arbitrary planes (in 3D) using a surface plot and cut plane data set. See 3D Cross-Section Surface Plot.

Use Cut Plane data sets to create planes through a 3D geometry in a 2D geometry to visualize on the plane. All plots and results analysis nodes available in 2D are available for Cut Plane data sets as well as for surfaces in 3D. The cut plane corresponds to an orthogonal (Cartesian) 2D coordinate system embedded in 3D.

A typical cross-section plot uses a Cut Line 2D data set (which you add in the Data Sets branch), which defines a straight line (or set of parallel lines) in a 2D geometry, and a Line Graph in a 1D Plot Group, which uses the Cut Line 2D data set as its data input. You can use the same Cut Line data set for multiple cross-section plots of various quantities along the line that the data set defines, and you can create several Cut Line data sets to plot quantities along different lines of interest.

Interactive Cross-Section Line and Surface Plots

You can also interactively create cross-section line and surface plots using a combination of cross-section toolbar buttons and clicking the geometry. When you use the cross-section toolbar, plot groups and data sets are automatically added and updated in the Model Builder whenever any line or plane is changed. See Creating Interactive 2D Cross-Section Line Plots, Creating Interactive 3D Cross-Section Line Plots, and Creating Interactive 3D Cross-Section Surface Plots.

The following sections give examples on how to create cross-section plots.

• Plot Groups and Plots • Results Toolbar and Plot Group Contextual Toolbar • See Table 20-10 for links to all the plots.