VII.4.2 Accessing the FEM and Results

This spreadsheet is devoted to managing the finite element model and finite element results. Several buttons are available:

• The two buttons “Show/Hide FeResPost” and “Close FeResPost” work exactly as in the “LaminateAnalysis.xlsm” workbook (see section VII.3.3).

• The “Select Bdf File” button is used to select the BDF file from which the finite element model is to be read.

• The “Select Ses File” button is used to select the Patran session file from which the group definitions are to be read.

• The “ReadModel” button performs several operations:

  1.

  If necessary, the COM component is loaded and the FeResPost application is started.

  2.

  A “NastranDb” object is created.

  3.

  The previously selected BDF file is imported as the model into the database.

  4.

  The groups are initialized by reading the previously selected Patran session file.

  5.

  After the model and groups have been imported, the list of groups and coordinate systems present in the database is saved in the first two columns of the spreadsheet.

• The “Select Xdb File” button is used to select the Nastran XDB result file to be read.

• The “ScanXdb” button scans the contents of the previously selected XDB result file and updates the lists of load cases, sub-cases, and result types in columns C, D and E.

• The “exportGroups” button can be used to export groups from the current database to a Patran session file. This is only useful if the groups have been modified in the “GroupEdit” worksheet (section VII.4.3).

Note that the model and results must be read before the other spreadsheets can be used.