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VTK Calculator

In one sentence: Defines a custom scalar or vector field using an expression built from existing result fields and mathematical operations.

Overview

Workbench: FEM
Menu: FEM → Results → Calculator

Creates a new result field by evaluating a user-defined expression over every node in the mesh. The new field can then be displayed, contoured, or used as input to further filters — just like any solver-computed field.

Example expressions

Expression Meaning
Von Mises Stress / 250 Factor of safety (yield stress = 250 MPa)
Temperature - 20 Temperature rise above 20 °C ambient
sqrt(Displacement_x^2 + Displacement_y^2) 2-D in-plane displacement magnitude
250 - Von Mises Stress Safety margin to yield

Use cases

  • Factor of safety maps: Divide yield stress by Von Mises stress to colour the mesh by safety margin rather than raw stress.
  • Temperature rise: Subtract ambient temperature to show ΔT instead of absolute temperature.
  • Custom vector magnitude: Build a 2-D magnitude from selected components when the full 3-D magnitude includes an irrelevant out-of-plane component.

See also