You can control the extent to which ABAQUS/CAE displays element and surface edges. Edge display is plot mode-dependent; that is, you control it separately for undeformed, deformed, contour, symbol, and material orientation plots. The following choices are available to control edge display: All edges, Exterior edges, Feature edges, Free edges, and No edges. The first four options are shown in Figure 37–2.
To control edge visibility:
Locate the Visible Edges options for the plot mode (undeformed, deformed, contour, symbol, or material orientation) that you want to customize.
From the main menu bar, select Options
plot mode; then click the Basic tab in the dialog box that appears. The Visible Edges options are on the right side of the Basic page.
To choose the element and surface edges you want to display, click one of the following:
All edges
Displays all element and surface edges. To see element edges on the interior of the model, you must also set the render style to wireframe. This choice is not available for contour plots.
Exterior edges
Displays only edges on the exterior of the model.
Feature edges
Displays only edges on the exterior of the model that are calculated to be feature edges. Feature edges lie between elements that have normals that differ by more than the “feature angle.” The feature angle is set in the ViewODB Display OptionsGeneral dialog box; for more information, see “Defining model feature edges,” Section 37.3.2.
Free edges
Displays only edges that belong to a single element. Free edge display is particularly useful for locating potential holes or cracks in your mesh.
No edges
Suppresses the display of all edges. This choice is available only for plots rendered using lightsource-shading.
Note: When elements are duplicated (i.e., share all the same corner nodes), ABAQUS/CAE will not display the element edges in a free or feature edge plot.
Click Apply to implement your changes.
Since element and surface edge visibility is plot mode-dependent, edge visibility changes according to your specification in plots of the current mode only.
Your changes are saved for the duration of the session and will affect all subsequent plots in this mode.
