In order to ease the writing of post-processing scripts and the management of FE model, numbering ranges are defined for various parts of the model. The main numbering ranges are given in Table IV.1.4 with the associated groups, when a corresponding group exists. These groups are defined in the Patran session file “groups.ses”.
| Part | group name | numbering range |
| panel -X | “pan_MX” | 20000:24999 |
| panel -Y | “pan_MY” | 40000:44999 |
| panel -Z | “pan_MZ” | 60000:64999 |
| panel +X | “pan_PX” | 30000:34999 |
| panel +Y | “pan_PY” | 50000:54999 |
| panel +Z | “pan_PZ” | 70000:74999 |
| upper panel | “pan_SUP” | 90000:94999 |
| metallic frame | — | 80000:84999 |
| struts | “struts_ALL” | 85000:89999 |
Other groups are defined in the session file:
Groups corresponding to the various bars of the metallic frame. They are named
“bar_MXMY”, “bar_MXPY”,... There are 12 such groups that contain the CBAR tube
elements, the RBE2 connecting the sandwich panels to the metallic frame (or the
corresponding stiff CBAR elements for thermo-elastic calculations), and the nodes of the
sandwich panels connected to the bar.
Groups corresponding to the corner nodes of the metallic frame. Each groups contains one CONM2, one RBE2 (or corresponding CBAR elements), and the corresponding nodes. Those groups are named “corner_MXMYMZ”, “corner_MXMYPZ”,...
Groups corresponding to the struts’ fittings. These groups are defined with conventions similar to the groups of corner nodes. Those groups are named “fitting_MX”, “fitting_PX”,...
Six groups corresponding to individual struts. These groups are named “strut_A”, “strut_B”, “strut_C”,...