Annotating the minimum and maximum contour values

By default, Abaqus/CAE indicates the general locations of the minimum and maximum contour values through changes in the contour color. The actual locations may be in any part of the model displayed using the extremes of the selected color spectrum. You can toggle on Show location to annotate the nodal location of the minimum and/or maximum contour values. The annotations are of the form Min: value and Max: value, respectively, with a line pointing to the node, face (for quilt plots), or element centroid where the minimum and maximum occur.

Related Topics
Understanding contour plotting
Customizing a contour plot
Customizing model labels
Customizing the legend

Context:

Displaying the minimum or maximum value annotations activates the contour legend and the Show min/max values option (for more information, see Customizing the legend). The annotations are created automatically—you cannot edit them using the Annotation Manager. The annotation font and color match those of the legend text, and the node symbols are determined by the node symbol settings in the Common Plot Options dialog box. If you display the minimum and maximum contour values and a view cut is activated, the locations of the minimum and maximum values are updated relative to the viewport display. The contour legend is also updated to reflect the new bounds.

Note:

The minimum and maximum locations are not shown in an overlay plot.

  1. Locate the Show location checkboxes.

    Select OptionsContour from the main menu bar or click in the toolbox; then click the Limits tab in the dialog box that appears.

  2. Toggle on Show location in the Min and Max areas, respectively, to annotate each location on the model.

  3. Click Apply to implement your changes in the viewport.

    Abaqus/CAE activates the contour legend, including the Show min/max values option. The legend displays both the minimum and maximum values, regardless of whether you annotate one or both of them on the model.

  4. If desired, use the Viewport Annotation Options to customize the annotation font and color (controlled by the legend text options), to hide the minimum and maximum values in the legend, or to hide the entire legend. Use the symbol and size options on the Labels tabbed page of the Common Plot Options dialog box to edit the displayed node symbols.

    By default, your changes are saved for the duration of the session and will affect all subsequent contour plots. If you want to retain your changes for subsequent sessions, save them to a file. For more information, see Saving customizations for use in subsequent sessions.