LS-Prepost Overview
12th International LS-DYNA Users
Conference
June 3, 2012
LS-PrePost
There are 5 major functions in LS-Prepost
Geometry engine
Meshing
Finite Element Model Building
Post-processing
Applications
E.g. Metal Forming Setup
E.g. LS-DYNA airbag folding setup
2
Geometry Engine
Reference Geometry
Curves
Surfaces
Solids
Geometry tool
Geometry Engine
Reference Geometry Interfaces
to create
Reference axis
Reference plane
Reference coordinate system
Reference points
Reference geometry editing
tools
4
Geometry Engine - Curve
Curves Interfaces to create
Points, Lines
Circle, circular arc
Ellipse, elliptical arc
B-spline curve, helix, and composite curve
Tools
Break curve, merge curve, bridge edges,
and smooth curve, morphing, fillet,
parabola, Hyperbola
Geometry Engine - Surface
Surface Interfaces to create
Plane, cylinder, cone, sphere, and
torus
Create surfaces
filling plane by edges, or by points
by extruding curve
by revolving curve
by sweeping curve along another
curve
6
Geometry Engine - Surface
Create surfaces
by lofting over multiple sections
by patching surface with 2 to n edges
by bridging two surfaces
by combining multiple surfaces
By fitting over points (xyz points) or finite
element mesh
By finding mid-surface of a solid
By morphing the existing surface
Geometry Engine - Surface
Finite Element Mesh
Geometry Surface
8
Geometry Engine - Solid
Solid interface to create
Box, cylinder, cone, sphere, torus
To create solid
By extruding faces
By revolving faces
By sweeping faces along a curve
By lofting over cross sections
By thickening shell surfaces
9
Geometry Engine - Solid
To create solid
Solid edges can be fillet or chamfer
Solid block with wedge
Solid block Boolean operation
10
Geometry Geometry Tools
Delete geometry entities
Blank entities
Extend curves
Extend faces
Intersection
Offset
Project vertex, edges or wire onto surface
Search and replace faces
Stitch faces together to form shell or solid,
neighboring faces will share same edges
11
Geometry Geometry Tools
Trim - tool to cut wires, or trim surfaces or
cut solids
Transform translate, rotate, mirror or scale
geometry entities
Copy entities
Manage geometry data management
Heal repair problem on geometry data
Simplify untrim face, remove holes,
remove fillet edges or surfaces
Measure show geometry information of
entities
12
Geometry Engine
Allows user to edit and clean geometry data
so that no need to clean finite element
mesh after meshing.
In some cases, meshing was not possible
before, now can be done easily
Geometry Engine
With trimming tool, model like this can be
trimmed and then stitch together before
meshing
Meshing
Simple shapes creation
Plate
sphere
box
cylinder
15
N-Line Meshing
Creating mesh from 2/3/4 lines or
line sweep
16
Surface Meshing
Automatic surface meshing
Size - based on average element
size
17
Surface Meshing
Automatic surface meshing
Deviation based on curvature
and radius
18
Solid Meshing
Solid meshing by blocks - using cut and dice
method and then sweeping
Define cutting planes
on geometry
Trim and cut
into small
blocks
Sweep face on
blocks to form Hex
elements
19
Tetrahedron solid Meshing
Mesh surface of a water tight volume with shell
elements, then use automatic Tet-mesh to
create tetrahedron elements
20
Finite Element Modeling
Finite element mesh manipulation
Nodes and elements creation
Create new mesh from existing mesh by translation, scaling,
rotation, reflection, transformation and offset
Create new kind of elements from other kind of elements
Hole filling
Element deletion and modification
Mesh quality check, clean up and repair
Reverse normal
Mesh refinement by splitting
21
Finite Element Modeling
Rotate and copy
5 times
Reverse
Normal
Finite Element Modeling
Create and modify a complete LS-DYNA model
LS-DYNA entity data creation and modification
Coordination systems
Set data
Constrained data
Contact definitions
Initial conditions
Loading
23
Finite Element Modeling
Finite Element Modeling
LS-DYNA non-graphical keyword data
creation and modification
Material data
Execution control data
Physical properties
Misc. parameters
Output control
Keyword data deck checking to ensure
model is acceptable for LS-DYNA
25
Finite Element Modeling
Keyword data is
represented by a tree
Each keyword data
has its own form
Keyword data model
check to ensure
model is acceptable
for LS-DYNA
26
27
Post-Processing
Time step animation
Stress/stain fringe component plot
Iso-surface contour plot
Vector plot (velocity, displacement)
Time History XY plot (any component)
Cross section force
28
29
Applications
An application groups many operations
together into one interface for a special
purpose
Metal forming
Airbag folding
Dummy positioning
Seatbelt fitting
Roller hamming
32
Metal Forming Setup
Metal Forming Application
Metal Forming Graphics User
Interface (GUI) is designed to
ease the simulation set up and
inputs in LS-DYNA.
General Setup
Quick Setup (coming soon)
Metal Forming Toolbar
Metal Forming Pre
Metal Forming Post
Metal Forming Job Setup
Project Name
Working
directory
Unit
Forming
Type (air
draw/toggle
draw)
Metal Forming Blank definition
Define Blank
Material
Thickness
Symmetry
Constraint
Metal Forming Tool definition
Define Tools
Friction
Position
Contact type
Metal Forming Position
Manual position
Auto position
Part move
Metal Forming Draw beads
Create a draw
bead
Modification
Project
Lock force
compute
Metal Forming Process
Gravity
Closing
Drawing
Trimming
Spring Back
Flanging
Tipping
Configuration
Many parameters that set the look and feel
of LS-PrePost can be changed by user
and be saved into the configuration file
Configuration
Configuration file name lsppconf
Other control files
lspplasttouch save location of last access
.lspp_recent store recently opened files
Location of the configuration files:
For Windows system:
c:\Users\uname\AppData\Roaming\LSTC\LS-PrePost
For Linux system: $HOME/LSTC/LS-PrePost
Status and New Features of LSPrePost
Outline of Talk
Current status of LS-PrePost and the
different releases
New GUI of LS-Prepost 3.x/4.0
New graphics rendering in 4.0
Other New Features in LS-PrePost 3.2/4.0
Current and future developments
Summary and Conclusion
Version 3.2
Is the current release of lsprepost
Still support the old interface (version 2.4)
users can toggle between old interface and
new interface by F11 function key
Tools to help users to transition from old to
new interface
Support Linux 64-bit systems, Windows 32bit
and 64bits, Apple Mac OSX
Continue to improve in stability, robustness
and features
Download:
[Link]
46
Beta Version 4.0
Version 4.0 uses new rendering technique to
render the finite element model results in many
times faster than the older versions of LSPrePost
Latest features and updates will be implemented
in this version
Requires graphics cards that support openGL
version 3.3 and higher
Enter CNTL-L twice before loading data to
disable new fast rendering
Download: [Link]
47
LS-PrePost 3.2/4.0 GUI
Toolbar without
text
Toolbar with text
48
Old to new interface
guides users to the
icons in the new
interface
Function key
F11
Switch
between the
old and new
49
LS-PrePost 3.2/4.0 GUI
Assembly consists of
geometry data and FE
data
Right click on the color
box to activate part color
interface
Right click on the part name to
activate different operations
50
LS-PrePost 3.2/4.0 GUI
All LS-Dyna data entity operation from
old interface Page 5 are consolidated
into one single tree
Each data entity will has its own
interface in this area
LS-PrePost 3.2/4.0 GUI
Choose data for this model or All Keyword
data
A data tree to list all Keyword data
Double click the sub keyword name to
pop up the keyword form
Model check can be activated from here
Keyword data can be deleted here
52
User Interface
Semi transparent view control
Can be moved to any position on the graphics windows
Can be changed to smaller size
Beside the regular 6 views, there are iso view and cutting plane control
Semi transparent animation control
Can be moved to any position on the graphics windows
Small foot print compare to the Animation dialog
Both controls can be turned on and off in the Display Options icon
Cutting plane
control icon
Drag arrow or slider bar to
move the cutting plane
View Control
Animation control
New Graphics Rendering in version 4.0
Taken from a visualization research project at UCSD that
was funded by Honda R&D North America (Ed Helwig)
Part based data structure more efficient data
organization
VBO Vertex Buffer Objects reduce data
communication between CPU and GPU
GLSL OpenGL Shading Language to compute polygon
normal on GPU, no need to compute normal in CPU and
to store it in main memory
Viewport Culling any part not within the viewport will
not be rendered
Sub-Part divide a very large part into sub-part to utilize
viewport culling
New Rendering Performance
5.65million elements (4.29m Shells, 1.36m
solids, some beams, 1680 parts), 59 states
On HP Z800 8-core, with Nvidia Quadro 6000,
timing in frames/sec
Old
New
Static Rendering
2.1
30.4
Animation 1st
loop
1.3
14.2
Avg. Animation
2.1
16.5
New Rendering Performance
10.65million elements (8.44m Shells, 2.21m solids, 5223
beams, 816 parts), 49 states
Spot weld beam was drawn as circle
On HP Z800 8-core, with Nvidia Quadro 6000, timing in
frames/sec
Old
New
Speed up
Static Rendering
1.2
22.1
18
Animation 1st loop
0.4
10.2
--
Avg Animation
loop
1.25
10.5
8.4
User group and Online Documentation
User Group more than 2200 members as of May, 2012
[Link]
Documentation and tutorials can be accessed from the
pull down HELP menu
Other new features and improvements in
LS-PrePost3.2/4.0
Batch mode Operation (-nographics)
Batch mode operation with full graphics
capability using LS-Prepost
Run lsprepost 3.2 with command file and use
-nographics
Works very well on PC/Windows platforms
Has limitations on Linux platforms:
Machine to run lsprepost with nographics must have
OpenGL and X capability
Local machine that remote logs into to the remote
machine also must have OpenGL and X capability
If the above conditions not met, use the Linux virtual
frame buffer (Xvfb) for batch mode:
Xvfb :2 -screen 0 1074x800x24
LS-PREPOST Features for LS-980
Support for Multi-physics keywords:
*CESE, *ICFD and *EM
Multi-physics keyword files can be
displayed and edited
Models can be a mixture of Multi-physics
and Mechanical meshes
ICFD modeling can be 2D or 3D with
mesh adaption (re-meshing)
Support for ICFD LevelSet functions
LS-PREPOST Features for LS-980
LS-980 output is an extension to the
standard d3plot. LS-PrePost recognized
that Multi-Solver output data is presented
in the files and is flagged to read the data
according to which Multi-physics is found.
Each solver has a different format and
different output variables. These can be
scalar or vector quantities
LS-PREPOST Features for LS-980
Output fringes are available via the Fcomp
menu and Extend button. If the model
contains mechanical parts the standard
buttons are used like Stress, Ndv, etc.
Streamline for Multi-Solver vectors via the
Trace menu and the Streamline button.
Section plane vectors.
Stochastic particles.
Fringe plots as Iso-surface
Streamlines of velocity
Section plane velocity vectors
Iso-surface, s-plane vectors, and streamlines
Stochastic particle fringe and velocity vector
CESE with stochastic particles, fringe by
size with velocity vectors
Levelset surface is invoked in the SelPar menu
only if the data is in the d3plot, and can be
manipulated like a part.
Fuel Tank Fluid Surface shown by Levelset part.
Levelset can be fringed with CFD variables, and
with velocity vectors on the surface
New XYPLOT layout
New XY plot interface allows xy plots
to be drawn to main graphics
windows, or to a separate page with
multiple plots per page
Select Popup for the old XY plot interface
Select Main to activate new XY plot interface
New button will plot the xy data in the new port, if
the page is full, then new page will be created
automatically
In the bottom toolbar, this
icon to activate page control
Show Port/Show Pages to
toggle between main
window and plot window
pages
Save/Load buttons to save
plots into a file and can be
loaded back into lsprepost in
another session
New Movie Formats
.gif Graphics Interchange Format
.avi Audio Video Interlaced
.wmv Windows Media Video
.mov Apple Quick Time Movie
Both .wmv and .mov format are small
in size, but not good quality
24bit .avi gives the best quality but
very big in size
Fringing by Script
In the fringe expression interface,
use script (a programming code)
instead of an expression
Assign components to variables
User writes the script (code) to
perform whatever data manipulation
to get final result
Check this box
for using script
Enter script file
name here or use
file browser
Fringing by Script
Example of the script, it is a formatted ascii file
/* a = some stress value b = %ThicknessReduction */
define:
Float MyExpressFunc(Float a, Float b)
{
Float ret = 0.0;
if( a < 0 && b > 0.2)
{
ret = 3.0;
}else if ( a >= 0 && a < 0.05 && b > 0.22)
{
ret = 2.0;
}else if ( a >= 0.05 && b > 0.25)
{
ret = 1.0;
}
return ret;
}
Model Chaining
To chain multiple sets of post-processing
result into one continuous animation
Read in as many d3plot file sets as need to
be chained, each will be a separated model
Set drawing primitives like transparency,
drawing mode, etc. for each individual model
Go to Post->ChaiMd, select the model from
the list and click Apply
After selecting all models, click Chain to
apply chaining, then animate
This is not a new feature, but was not
introduced in the past
Model Compare for Post-Processing
Read in 2 sets of d3plot files
Model should be similar
Go to Post->MSelect, and select 1st
and 2nd model for comparison
Click Compare and wait for the
data processing (will take time
depends on model size)
Compare will show different data in
the following categories:
Summary
Global
Displacement
Stress
Strain
Model Compare for Post-Processing
Summary basic model information
Global global energy results
Displacement the 3 global min/max
values of displacement with node IDs
Stress the six global min/max stress
values with element IDs
Strain the size global min/max
strain values with element IDs
Displacement value compare table
Stress value compare table
Metal Forming Application
Metal Forming Graphics User
Interface (GUI) is designed to
ease the setup of a stamping
simulation input data using
LS-DYNA.
Easy Setup
General Setup
83
Metal Forming Toolbar
Metal Forming Preprocessing
Metal Forming Postprocessing
84
Metal Forming eZsetup
Standard draw type
Step-by-step tool definition
Easy draw bead modeling
Automatic tooling position
Multiple processes
User control options
85
eZsetup Tool definition
86
eZsetup Blank definition
87
eZsetup Drawbead modeling
88
eZsetup Processes control
89
eZsetup LSDyna job submit
90
DynFold Application
Dynfold is designed to prepare input files for simulation based
airbag folding process. Typical physical airbag folding process is
done in 4 to 5 steps (runs of LS-DYNA).
Dynfold user interface is designed to setup one step at a time.
Often the deformed shape at the end of one folding step is used as
a starting mesh for the next step.
The airbag model is expected to have nodes, elements, part, section
and material defined before using this interface.
The physical folding process is generally of the following form:
a. hold the bag in position while being folded
b. clamp a portion of the bag to a folding tool
c. Apply motion to the tool in translational direction or rotational
direction or combination of both.
At present 4 folding tools are supported: Loadmesh, SPC,
BPMF(BOX), Stitching and Tuck
DynFold Setup Process
Define Parameters: Define Project Step Name,
Termination time, airbag tool Material Parameters.
Load Airbag: Load finite element mesh, Position airbag
by translate, rotation, etc.; show airbag, or turn off
show.
Define Airbag Folding Tools, currently there are four
kinds of tools
Load meshing:
Load tool meshing file; Define tool attaching to bag.
Define Load Meshing Tools Motion.
Preview tool motion ( Home position and Final position)
Spc_Birth_Death, BPMF(Box), Stitch
Spc_Birth_Death, BPMF(Box), Stitch
BPMF(Box)
Define boundary spc node set.
Define Constrained
Define Birth and Death time.
Define Original and Final position of the Box.
Define contact between box and airbag parameters .
preview of Original/Target position of the box in graphics
view .
Stitch
Define Stitch parts and parameters.
Define Get stitch start position and direction.
Define stitch Birth and Death time
Define part Motion with motion property
Preview tool motion Home position(left) and Final position (right)
Tool BPMF(Box): define Original and Final position of the Box
Define and Preview tool box original position and target position
*Airbag_shell_reference_geometry
*Airbag_shell_reference_geometry is the
required data for airbag deployment in LS-DYNA
LS-Prepost creates this data by asking user to
pick the parts that make up the airbag in 3D final
configuration and unrolled them into 2D flat
panels.
Element IDs are preserved with new nodal
coordinates
*Airbag_shell_reference_geometry
Pick this part to be
unrolled
*Airbag_shell_ref_geometry
Part Replace
Model->PartD->Replace
To replace a part with
another part
The 2 parts do not need to
be the same in no. of
elements/nodes.
Connection between others
part will be done
automatically when it is
possible
Old part
New part
Beams are connected properly
automatically
Other Miscellaneous Improvements
Many bugs have been fixed in geometry engine
Improved mid-surface generation from solid
model
More robust trimming and solid cutting
Improved automatic solid meshing
More robust LS-DYNA model checking with auto
fixing
Particle, temperature post-processing data
support in FEMZIP format
Solid element and seatbelt element splitting
Element edit with check, locate and repair
Current and Future Developments in
LS-PrePost
User written script for repetitive
operations
C-like programming scripting language to execute
LS-PrePost commands
Allows if then else, for, and while loop operations
Uses LS-PrePost DataCenter to extract model
data: like no. of parts, part ID, no. of elements, no.
of nodes, etc.
Extracted data can be used as variables to
perform operations
Most suitable to perform the same operations over
different part of the model
User written script
Sample script to
extract no. of parts
and all part IDs, then
draw each individual
part and print it to a
file with the part id as
file name
/*LS-SCRIPT:PartId repeat cmd*/
DataCenter dc;
Int partnum, *ids;
define:
void main(void)
{
Int i = 0;
char buf[256];
Int modelId;
modelId = GetCurrentModelID();
DataImportFrom(&dc,modelId);
partnum = DataGetValidPartIdList(&dc,&ids);
for(i = 0; i < partnum ; i = i+1)
{
sprintf(buf,"m %d",ids[i]);
ExecuteCommand(buf);
ExecuteCommand("ac");
sprintf(buf,"print png part_%[Link] LANDSCAPE nocompress gamma 1.000
opaque enlisted \"OGL1x1\"", ids[i]);
ExecuteCommand(buf);
}
free(ids);
} main();
Suppress Boundary line for surface
meshing
Common boundary lines between two surfaces can be
suppressed to form a joint surface, this will allow mesh to
cross boundary lines to give a better mesh
Solid Meshing with Hex Element
Solid meshing by blocks - using cut and dice
method and then sweeping
Define cutting planes
on geometry
Trim and cut
into small
blocks
Sweep face on
blocks to form Hex
elements
Metal Forming - Die System Module
Complete metal forming Die design system
Metal Forming - Die System Module
Provides a user friendly interface to design
the complete tooling system
Starting from CAD geometry
Tipping: make sure that the part can be made without undercut
Many options are available to allow user to check and position
the part with a desired orientation
Binder design is fully parametric
User can easily manipulate the binder surface
Addendum design obtain a smooth surface that is tangent to both
the tool part and the binder
To make sure that the part can be deformed correctly
Parametric patch method will be employed
Initial blank size estimation one step solver
THUMS Positioning Setup
THUMS Total Human Model for Safety
THUMS positioning Setup Setup LS-DYNA
keyword data to position the dummy by simulation
H-point and Joint method define amount and direction
of rotation at joint
Tools method introduce tools to pull or move the limbs
to a desired location
Summary
New GUI provides better look and feel, also yields
maximum windows space for graphics, at the same time
old interface is still available to user
Capabilities in the geometry engine allows CAD data to
be modified and repaired before meshing and therefore
eliminate tedious mesh modification
New rendering in Version 4.0 employs the latest
rendering techniques in OpenGL, speeds up the
rendering by many times, viewing and animation of very
large models now is possible
LS-DYNA model data check is a very important tool to
ensure the validity of the data before running LS-DYNA
Scripting language will be further developed to provide
much more powerful capability
Conclusion
LSTC is committed to continue to develop and
enhance LS-Prepost by improving its stability,
robustness and user friendliness
New features have been added continuously to
keep up with the development of LS-DYNA both
in the post-processing and pre-processing
New Applications have been implemented to let
user do special LSDYNA job setup easily and
quickly
Users feedback and suggestions are always
welcome
