A deformed plot shows the shape of your model according to the values of a nodal variable such as displacement. You can choose the nodal variable (called the deformed field output variable) for which ABAQUS/CAE displays results, and you can choose the step and frame of these results.
If you do not choose a deformed field output variable, ABAQUS/CAE attempts to select a default. Most procedures in ABAQUS/Standard and ABAQUS/Explicit write displacement to the output database by default; in these cases ABAQUS/CAE selects displacement as the nodal vector quantity to use for the default deformed variable. Some procedures—for example, heat transfer—do not write displacement to the output database by default; therefore, ABAQUS/CAE does not select a default deformed variable. ABAQUS/CAE cannot display a deformed plot if the output database does not contain any variables that can be used to compute a deformed shape.
After obtaining the information needed to produce a deformed plot from the output database, ABAQUS/CAE computes the shape of your deformed model by adjusting the coordinates of each node according to:
The deformed field output variable (see “Selecting the deformed field output variable,” Section 24.3.3).
The analysis step and frame (see “Selecting a specific results step and frame,” Section 24.2.1).
Uniform or nonuniform deformation scale factors (see “Scaling deformations,” Section 37.5.2).
You can also use ABAQUS/CAE to combine your undeformed and deformed model shapes into a single plot. Combining the shapes provides a context for evaluating the deformations.
Tip: You can create more complex composite plots (containing multiple deformed shape plots, for example) using the ODB Display Group Manager (see Chapter 51, “Using display groups to display subsets of your model,” for more information).