Nastran 3D viewer

Nastran 3D Viewer is a fast and lightweight viewer for Nastran finite element model.

It has been specially designed to efficiently load models from Nastran bulk or op2 files in order to rapidly view the finite element model shape and access the model properties.

Features

General

  • Load finite element model from Nastran bulk (.bdf, .dat, …), op2 and hdf5 files (note that op2 file must be created from “PARAM,POST,-1” option).
  • Load and display node displacement results from hdf5 op2 and punch files for static, harmonic and transient calculations.
  • Animation of deformations and output in gif, avi or mp4. (full)
  • Display of element stresses (Von Mises, Max/Min Principal). (new)(full)
  • Display element strain energy percentage (ESE). (full)
  • Multiple file loading / append by simple drag’n drop.
  • Display node details (ID, cord ID, position in local/global cord, include file, …). (full)
  • Display elements details (ID, Grids ID, propety ID, include file, …). (full)
  • Display elements properties (Thickness, Material ID, Young modulus, …). (full)
  • Display local cord details (ID, matrices, …). (full)
  • Select by id (full), by picking or bounding box, by element type…
  • Move nodes and elements by value or with mouse. (full)
  • Scripting (see here). (full)
  • Multilingual (EN, FR).
  • Online update detection.

Display

  • Lateral bar for filtering / selection by Include / PID (full) / MID (full) / Element type.
  • Hide element and nodes by id (full), by picking, bounding box or by element type.
  • Display elements and nodes number. (full)
  • Group elements by property, material or include file.
  • Toggle between displayed / hidden elements.
  • Hide elements by include, material or property by a single middle-click.
  • Align view to the global directions.
  • Display in shaded or wireframe mode.
  • Display local cord systems.
  • Display loadings and boundary conditions (Clamps, Temperature, Force, Moment, …) from bulk files. (full)
  • Overlay png picture on a plane.
  • STL file loading.

Tools

  • Display element thickness by fringe or by 3D elements. (full)
  • Display 3D beam section (“ROD” or “TUBE” PBEAML)
  • Display element normal by vector or face color. (full)
  • Display element material orientation vector. (full)
  • Distance between two node (in given cord system).
  • Liste node position (in given cord system). (full)
  • Free edges detection. (full)
  • Non used nodes detection. (full)
  • Elements area calculation. (full)
  • Select connected elements. (full)
  • Elements quality (warp, skew, taper, max ratio, …). See v1.35 update video below. Quality computation is done using The Verdict Library. (full)
  • Export visible elements (comment hidden elements and nodes in bulk includes) (full)
  • Automatic MPC (RBE2/RBE3) generation from selected nodes. (full)

Supported cards

  • GRID, CQUAD4, CSHEAR, CTRIA3, CONM2, CBUSH, CBAR, CBEAM, CROD, CONROD, RBE2, RBE3, CORD1, CORD2, CPENTA, CTETRA, CHEXA, RBAR, PLOTEL, CELAS2, CTRIA6 and CQUAD8.

(full) : features available in the registered version.
(new) : new features.

Updates and changelog

Presentation of the main v1.51-52-53 new features :

  • Detailed stress display for QUAD and TRIA elements
  • Table display in the view (node positions, nodal results, element results)
  • Added slider for static and harmonic deformations
  • Ability to directly enter bulk data cards (“File” menu)
  • Reading of forces in CBUSH, CELAS1 and CELAS2 elements (forces are displayed for the selected subcase and element) (op2 and h5)
  • Reading of MPCFORCE and SPCFORCE (forces are displayed for the selected subcase and node) (op2 and h5)
  • Ability to change the number of frames when exporting to .gif
  • Reading and display of DMIG (from BDF and H5)
  • Support for reading NLRGAP (BDF, H5 and OP2)
  • Added “LOADSTL” and “DISPLAY|BACKGRADIENT” script commands
  • Optimization of loading times (BDF and display): ~-30%
  • Redesign of the “PID/Include/MID” buttons and removal of the text in the top-right corner
  • Bug fixes… and more !

Presentation of the main v1.50 new features :

  • Element stress display (from op2 result, static and transient data)
  • GUI improvement (interface icons for selection and display style, more intuitive fringe selection)
  • New and improved scripting functions
v1.50 update presentation

Presentation of the main v1.49 main features :

  • New script function: DRAWSIZE | W | H to precisely set the display area size
  • Ability to run a script function from the “File” menu
    Improvements:
  • Edge visualization: edges added to boundaries for better slice visualization of elements
  • Improved multi-file opening: display computation occurs only after all files are imported, not after each file
  • Removal of the “Align View” button: alignment is now handled by the orientation tool, which is enabled by default. Right-clicking the orientation tool allows selection of the alignment frame

Presentation of the main v1.48 new features :

  • Node Selection Tool for a flange (NODE menu)
  • Reading boundary condition and loading from OP2 and H5 files
  • Node selection in lateral bar context menu
  • Automatic exploded view by include (menu Display)
  • Experimental function to move nodes of a first selection to the position of the nodes of a second selection and then exports the result in a new bdf (menu NODES)
  • Consideration of “step” and “THRU” for ID selections (e.g., 1:100:2, 500:400:-2, 1 THRU 200)
  • Updated to VTK 9.4.1 and python 3.13.1
  • Taking into account models containing only nodes (the nodes are then selected when loading)
  • Performance improvement

Presentation of the main v1.47 new features :

  • Ability to modify the color scale (log, linear, min, max, number of colors) (right click on the scale)
  • Sum of strain energies per include (OPTIONS menu)
    • option displayed only if the loaded result contains ESE
    • warning, energies of dmig and superelements are not displayed
  • Reading of MPC cards (from bdf file only)

Presentation of the main v1.46 new features :

  • Selection of edges nodes
  • Area selection (connected elements with same properties)
  • Import STL files (directly or via ini file see sample folder)
  • Automatic RBE2 creation (searching slave nodes within radius)
  • PLOAD4 loading display
v1.46 update presentation

Presentation of the main v1.45 new features :

  • Possibility to choose the coordinate system used for view alignment (Options menu)
  • Added scale widget (Options menu)
  • SOL106 results reading improvement
  • vtk update to 9.2.6
  • Improve coordinate system display (force cord display if requested in ID for example)
  • [distance] button automatically display when 2 nodes are selected
v1.45 update presentation

Presentation of the main v1.44 new features :

  • Display boundary condition and loading from bulk file
  • Introduction to scripting (see sample folder and here)
  • Support model and result input from MSC hdf5 file
  • Reading of Strain Energy percentage
  • MPC (RBE2/RBE3) generation from selected nodes
v1.44 update presentation

Presentation of the main v1.41 new features :

  • Punch file result reading (see sample folder)
  • Add export visible elements command (FILES menu)
  • Display material orientation for solid elements (CORDM=-2 direction)
  • Display/hide orientation widget and global coordinate system (OPTIONS menu)
v1.41 update presentation

Presentation of the v1.39 new features :

  • Lateral bar for filtering/selection by Include/PID/MID/Element type
  • Addition of the material ID grouping in addition of property ID and Include
  • Implementation of an internal bdf viewer instead of Notepad++
  • Ability to select nodes from selected elements (NODES menu)
  • Beta implementation of CAMPBELL SOL107 results (still needs to be validated)
v1.39 update presentation

Presentation of the v1.38 new features :

  • 3D display of PBEAML with “ROD” or “TUBE” properties (from bdf & op2)
  • Compute and display of the taken into account CBEAM volume
  • Compute volume of shell thickness 3D display elements

Presentation of the v1.37 new features :

  • Make nodes, prop and mat clickable in element detail
  • Regenerate random colors
  • ComboBox auto expand on mouse hover
  • Node selection by their position
  • Display png picture on plane overlay
  • Select elements with same properties
v1.37 update presentation

Presentation of the v1.36 new features :

  • Display element thickness by fringe or by 3D elements!
  • Display element normal by vector or face color
  • Display element material orientation vector
  • Reading quadratic CPENTA, CTETRA and CHEXA (only elements with all mid-nodes defined are taken into account)

Presentation of the v1.35 new features :

  • Elements quality checks
  • Action by element type
v1.35 update presentation

Display full changelog

Licence

The Nastran 3D Viewer is free to evaluate. Some features are deactivated in the evaluation version. As it exists an infinity of ways to implement and use finite element models, the evaluation version allows the user to test if the program is able to correctly display its models with enough efficiency before to switch to the full version.

Once the program activated with the correct licence key all features become available.

Triple licence mode: it allows the user to generate 3 licence keys. It means that the user can install the program on one machine and change 3 times the machine, or he can install it directly on 3 different machines.

Access EULA.

Have a look at the licence order and generation process.

Get here to order full version.

Download

Nastran 3D viewer

Téléchargez la dernière version de Nastran 3D viewer pour windows.

Size: 53.4 Mo
Version: 1.53
Published: October 2, 2026
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