By default, ABAQUS/CAE lists for your selection all variables available at the current step and frame of your output database. If the current step is a steady-state dynamic analysis, the value of an output variable such as stress (S) or displacement (U) can be a complex number with both real and imaginary components. Use the Primary Variable and Deformed Variable options in the Field Output dialog box to choose the complex variables that you want to display. The description of each listed variable begins with an asterisk if that variable includes complex results. For information on individual output variable identifiers, see “ABAQUS/Standard output variable identifiers,” Section 4.2.1 of the ABAQUS Analysis User's Manual, and “ABAQUS/Explicit output variable identifiers,” Section 4.2.2 of the ABAQUS Analysis User's Manual.

You can display complex results in the form of a deformed, contour, or symbol plot; by model probing; by obtaining results along a model path; and by forming a display group or specifying color coding based on results. In each of these cases you can choose from several numeric forms to display different aspects of the complex results. You can animate complex results using harmonic animation. During harmonic animation the real and imaginary components of each complex number are used to calculate and display the value of the result at a sequence of angles representing a half cycle (0° to 180°) or a full cycle (0° to 360°).