Here is the full changelog of Nastran Viewer.
Check here to download the latest version.
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# NASTRAN 3D VIEWER
# https://meca-software.com
# ChangeLog
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v1.53
New features:
• Detailed stress display for QUAD and TRIA elements (for the selected element and active subcase)
Improvements:
• Table display in the view (node positions, nodal results, element results)
• Ability to manually move nodes even when a deformation is loaded
Bug fixes:
• Fixed reading of forces in CBUSH elements for static analysis (only the first 5 components were loaded)
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v1.52
New features:
• Support for LOAD cards (only for PLOAD4 combinations, BDF files only)
• Added a slider for static and harmonic deformations
• Ability to directly enter bulk data cards ("File" menu); the logic has been modified to recalculate the model (taking into account modifications to a CORD, for example)
• Support for CPYRAM elements
• Reading of forces in CBUSH, CELAS1 and CELAS2 elements (forces are displayed for the selected subcase and element) (op2 and h5)
- Ability to export data for multiple elements in the view or to CSV (ELEMENTS menu)
• Reading of MPCFORCE and SPCFORCE (forces are displayed for the selected subcase and node) (op2 and h5)
- Ability to export data for multiple nodes in the view or to CSV (NODES menu)
Improvements:
• Improved fringe display during animation of volumetric elements (3D beams and thick shells)
• Improved selection time for elements in large models (2.5s > 0.2s) and improved usability when selecting CONM2 elements
• Improved calculation and display of deformed shapes (using numpy, less precomputation for static and harmonic cases)
• Ability to change the number of frames when exporting to .gif
• Optimized .gif export
• Optimized display of the undeformed structure
• Warning displayed if there is a problem calculating the deformation ratio (no displacement present)
• Updated to vtk 9.7.0
• Add scripting "CLEARLOG" command
Bug fixes:
• Fixed reading of display radii (CBUSH, RBE) for lines longer than 72 characters
• Improved handling of "np" types when loading an h5
• Improved handling of absolute paths for includes (when opening the internal viewer)
• Fixed reading of quadratic CPENTA and CHEXA elements in an h5
• Fixed STL loading when no model was previously loaded
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v1.51
New features:
• Automatically hides the orientation tool when running a script file
• Reading and display of DMIG (displayed as a spider connected to the CoG – center of gravity – of the DMIG nodes)
- from BDF and H5 (DMIG not available in OP2)
• Support for reading NLRGAP (BDF, H5 and OP2)
• Added "LOADSTL" and "DISPLAY|BACKGRADIENT" script commands
• Updated to VTK 9.6.0
• Ability to modify the target duration of animations (OPTIONS menu)
Improvements:
• Optimization of loading times (BDF and display): ~-30%
• Better handling of multiple elements with the same ID
• Redesign of the “PID/Include/MID” buttons and removal of the text in the top-right corner
• Edge attenuation
• Improved GIF export (internal export with Bayer matrix dithering)
Bug fix:
• Fixed STL import
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v1.50
New Features:
• Reading of stresses (static and transient cases from op2 files only, element centers only)
- Shell elements (CQUAD4, CQUAD8, CTRIA3, CTRIA6)
- Von Mises = max of Z1, Z2
- Max Principal = max of stresses (Major principal at Z1, Minor principal at Z1, Major principal at Z2, Minor principal at Z2)
- Min Principal = min of stresses (Major principal at Z1, Minor principal at Z1, Major principal at Z2, Minor principal at Z2)
- Solid elements (CHEXA, CPENTA, CTETRA)
- Von Mises
- Max Principal = max of stresses (P1 first principal, P2 second principal, P3 third principal)
- Min Principal = min of stresses (P1 first principal, P2 second principal, P3 third principal)
• Reading the mass of CONM2 elements (and summing the mass of CONM2 elements if several are selected)
• Reading and displaying equivalent section for PROD and PBAR elements (from bdf, op2, h5)
• Display of the scale during fringe display of a deformed shape
• Possibility to hide the scale bar (right click > hide)
• Redesigned fringe selection menu (dropdown menu)
• Script functions added (see script.nv3dscript file):
- "LOADRESULT"
- "PAUSE"
- "PRINT"
• Implementation of an automatic validation script for next releases
Improvements:
• Dropdown lists replaced by icons
• vtk 9.5.2 update
• vtk simplification: installation size reduced by 50 MB
• Reference bounds are no longer taken into account, as they are sometimes incorrectly calculated
• Use of ResetCameraScreenSpace instead of ResetCamera, which improves zoom on the model
• Script functions "WINDOW" and "DRAWSIZE" now take devicePixelRatio into account
• Added support for writing jpg files, in addition to png, via the "IMGOUTPUT" and "EXPORTDEF" script commands
• Improved "FRINGE" script function to select other result types
• Nodes used by elements on error are kept and considered as floating nodes
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v1.49
New Features:
• New script function: DRAWSIZE | W <int> | H <int> 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
• Manual node displacement: now shows local positions of nodes after movement
• 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
• Upgrade to vtk9.4.2
Bug Fixes:
• Display of element quality
• Column alignment to 8 digits in the internal BDF viewer
• Improved "sorting and computation" loop for COORD and nodes, now handling complex dependency cases
• 3D display of CROD element cross-sections
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v1.48
New Features:
• Node Selection Tool for a flange (NODE menu)
- Select the first 3 nodes and the algorithm searches for the subsequent nodes.
• Simplification of TETRA (ELEMENTS menu)
- The mesh of double-precision tetrahedra is replaced by single-precision tria: reduces the number of elements and nodes to display, useful for deformed animations.
- The button is displayed only if quadratic tetrahedra are loaded.
• Reading boundary condition and loading ("Boundary Conditions" item in lateral bar) from H5 files
• Node selection in lateral bar context menu (right click)
• Automatic exploded view by include (menu Display)
- the elements, grouped by include, are moved according to the distance from the geometric center of the group relative to the geometric center of the complete model
- each node is moved only once
- the includes are moved in this order: 3d elements > 2d elements > 1d elements > mpc
- best results are achieved if connection elements are located in dedicated includes
• 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)
Improvements:
• Consideration of "step" for ID selections (e.g., 1:100:2, 500:400:-2)
• Consideration of "THRU" for ID selections (e.g., 1 THRU 200)
• Updated to VTK 9.4.1 and python 3.13.1
• Replacement of wmic call by wmi lib
• Rearing of RTRPLT elements
• Improvement of includes reading (manage name with spaces)
• Taking into account models containing only nodes (the nodes are then selected when loading)
• Performance improvement (edge display): display a message for selecting the edge visualization method if the model contains quadratic elements.
Bug Fixes:
• Improved reading of RBE3 (no more warnings if "UM")
• MPCADD card ignored
• Fixed bug with MPC_Temp#RELOAD link when using Notepad++
• Fixed bug during the coordinate transformation calculation for a node located on the axis of a cylindrical cord
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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
Improvements:
• Taking into account 3D thickness elements (shells and beams) for displaying deformation energies
• Reading of MPC (in BDF only)
• Save status of background gradient display for next opening
Bug Fix:
• Fixed the REMOVE_UNUSED_NODES script function
• Correction of the EXPORTDEF script function
• On certain configurations the selection of nodes is not displayed. An alternative has been coded, to activate it you must manually add "alternativespherenodes = 1" in the configuration file "%appdata%\NASTRAN_VIEWER\config.ini"
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v1.46
New features:
• Export node position to csv or pts file (menu NODES)
• Ability to select edges nodes when displaying free edges (menu ELEMENTS)
• Area selection (connected elements with same properties) (menu ELEMENTS)
- Select at least one node or element first
- If nodes are selected then properties of elements connected to this node are used
• Free edges detection on selected elements
• Export position of nodes on contour of area to pts file (menu NODES)
- Select at least one node or element first
- then elements in area are detected (connected elements with same properties)
- then contour is selected (free edges of selected elements)
- and finaly contour node position is exported in pts file using selected coordinate system
• STL file import (menu Display)
- If a .stl file is selected it will be displayed without any transformation
- A .ini file can be used to enter transformation parameters (reference cord, scale, rotation, translation)
- See "sample" folder for an example of .ini file
• Creation of RBE2 selecting master nodes and searching for slave nodes within given radius
Improvements:
• CGAP element reading
• PLOAD4 loading display (fringe on element face, only P1 taken into account)
• Possibility to choose the base coordinate system used for view alignment and node position (Options menu)
• Improved beam 3D representation
• Selection menu to output nodes position to view, csv or pts file
• Output nodes positions and displacements to view now included in free version
• Big improvment of "Selection of connected elements" algorithm (4 time faster)
• Replace all cord input dialog by an item list dialog
• Update to PYTHON 3.10 and VTK 9.3.0
Bug correction:
• Bug correction if DMIG energies are present in op2
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v1.45
New features:
• Possibility to choose the coordinate system used for view alignment (Options menu)
• Added scale widget (Options menu)
Improvements:
• 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
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v1.44
New features:
• Boundary condition and loading :
- Add "Boundary Conditions" item in lateral bar
- Supports:
- Clamps (GRID PS field, SPC, SPC1): selection of nodes with detail in the information box
- Temperature (TEMP card): display color fringe for nodes
- Loadings (FORCE, MOMENT, DAREA, UNBALNC): display arrow on nodes in direction of loading with detail in the information box
- Only readed from bulk file (not from op2 or h5)
- Color of node selection or arrows can be change by right clic in lateral bar
• Introduction to scripting :
- Write your script in a .nv3dscript file
- Sample and doc available in "sample/script.nv3dscript" file
- More functions to come
• Support model and result input from MSC hdf5 file
• Reading of Strain Energy percentage (from pch, op2 and h5 in static and modal analysis)
• MPC (RBE2/RBE3) generation from selected nodes
Improvements:
• Display axis labels for selected cord
• Add marvelous splash screen
• Possibility to overwrite frame number when exporting avi or mp4 linear or harmonic animation (to create smoother videos)
• Replace oneline by multiline "By ID" input box (less length limitation)
• Move from PyQT5 to PySide2
• Element error on model loading tells which include file to search to
• Detection of bad defined cord at loading
• OpenGL problem detection at startup
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v1.43
• Help menu open online "Help and tips" page
• Added .mp4 output for transient animations
• Added .avi and .mp4 output for linear animation
• Movie export button is disabled when no deformation is loaded or when a transient animation is running
• Reading of static results in punch files
• Improvement of edges display :
• edges of plate elements view from side remain visible
• only outline edges of 2nd order elements are visible
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v1.42
• Re-enabling avi output for transient animation
• Upgrading to vtk 9.2
• Bug correction (vtkThreshold behaviour)
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v1.41
New features:
• Punch file result reading (see sample folder)
Improvements:
• Improvement of geometry reading performance
Bug correction:
• op2 "403 error" correction on some op2 types
• op2 reading amplitude/phase to real/imaginary conversion error
Note:
• AVI file export removed until solution found
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v1.40
New features:
• Add export visible elements command (FILES menu)
• rewrite impacted include files commenting hidden elements and nodes
• export only include files where elements are still displayed and where elements have been hidded
• keep file structure while commenting impacted lines
• experimental function, result needs to be validated
• Display material orientation for solid elements (CORDM=-2 direction)
• Alt+left-click simulate a middle-click
• Possible to display orientation widget and to hide global coordinate system (OPTIONS menu)
Improvements:
• Take into account several elements of different type with same ID
• Color addition in log windows (orange warning, id underlined, ...)
Bug correction:
• Internal bdf viewer:
• no more CPU high solicitation
• better detection of shift key for reverse search
• improvement of syntax coloring ('+$' issue)
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v1.39
New features:
• Lateral bar for filtering/selection by Include/PID/MID/Element type
• To display this bar clic on the "3 bars button" on the top right of the screen
• This bar allows to:
- display/hide/select elements
- change color
- open bdf file at the corresponding line where appropriate
• The visibility status of the bar is saved for the next session
• Addition of the material ID grouping in addition of property ID and Include
• Implementation of an internal bdf viewer instead of Notepad++
• The ability to pass by N++ is still available in parameters (Options menu)
• As usual Ctrl+f to search (shift+enter to search upward)
• Ability to select nodes from selected elements (NODES menu)
• Beta implementation of CAMPBELL SOL107 results (still needs to be validated)
Improvements:
• Upgrading to Python 3.8 and VTK 9.1
• Take into account 3D thickness elements for deformation fringe display
• Ability to increase the size of the down text box
• Conservation of source element color for 3D thickness elements representation
• The "Selection of connected elements" function accept a node as input (ELEMENTS menu)
• Take into account of PBEAM properties and display as equivalent circular section (with limitation like offset, intermediate sections, ...)
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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
Improvements:
• Save windows state for next launching (maximised or normal)
• Ensure that a node or a cord that we display details is visible on screen (and center view if it's not the case)
Bug correction:
• Reset element type list when loading a new model
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v1.37
New features:
• Make prop and mat clickable in element detail (open bulk file at the corresponding line in Notepad++)
• PSOLID card reading
• Regenerate random colors -> display menu
• ComboBox auto expand on mouse hover
• Node selection by their position (in a given cord, by direction and threshold) -> nodes tools menu
• ctrl + click on a selected node or element to unselect it
• Add [copy] button on element and node list to copy to clipboard
• Display png picture on plane (see ini file in sample directory) -> display menu
• Press +/- to change picture opacity
• Make nodes clickable in element detail (select node and display details)
• Select elements with same properties than already selected elements -> elements tools menu
Improvements:
• When clicking on cord id in node description: select and display only that cord
• Better management of vtk warnings
• Better context menu of textbox (remove unused items and add Clear item)
• Tip of cylindric cords to sphere
• Top level for NODES and ELEMENTS tools menus
• Menu "OP2 results import" disabled while no model is loaded
• Lines begining with "$" are no more taken into account
• Take only disp and eigv disp into account
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v1.36
New features:
• Display element thickness by fringe or by 3D elements! (tool menu)
• Display element normal by vector or face color (tool menu)
• Display element material orientation vector (tool menu)
• Press "+" or "-" on numpad to
- increase/decrease size of local cord
- increase/decrease size of orientation and normal arrows
- increase/decrease opacity of 3D thickness elements
• Reading quadratic CPENTA, CTETRA and CHEXA (only elements with all mid-nodes defined are taken into account)
• Make cord clickable in node detail (select cord and display cord detail)
Improvements:
• CORD1 taken into account (in bulk and op2)
• Reading of PCOMP ply number and thickness
• Reorganization of tools menu (separation between nodes tools and elements tools)
• Hyperlinks in non-licenced app and new version messages
• Move new software version online check in a thread in order not to freeze windows
• Transient interpolation: no interpolation is done is less than 1% shift of an existing step
• Better implementation of nested include research: if an include has no subdir the file is searched in the folder of main bulk file and then in the folder of the calling
• Allows picking of a node overlaped by a coord
Bug correction :
• Correction CQUAD8, CTRIA6, CHEXA and RBAR op2 reading
• Correction when loading a transient time step strictly present in op2 (no interpolation)
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v1.35
New features:
• Reading quadratic elements CQUAD8 and CTRIA6
• Add element quality checks (Tools menu)
• Add action by element type
- button "by type" appears when element type is selected
- press "ctrl" to invert selection
• When selecting by ID: press "ctrl" to invert selection
• New update online detection (need software to access https://meca-software.com )
- Can be deactivated in the "?" menu
Improvements:
• Better implementation of the selection by ID function
• Press "echap" to delete the free edges and element quality display