PyMAPDL Reader - Legacy Binary and Archive File Reader

This is the legacy module for reading in binary and ASCII files generated from MAPDL.

This Python module allows you to extract data directly from binary ANSYS v14.5+ files and to display or animate them rapidly using a straightforward API coupled with C libraries based on header files provided by ANSYS.

The ansys-mapdl-reader module supports the following formats:

  • *.rst - Structural analysis result file

  • *.rth - Thermal analysis result file

  • *.emat - Element matrice data file

  • *.full - Full stiffness-mass matrix file

  • *.cdb or *.dat - MAPDL ASCII block archive and Mechanical Workbench input files

Please see the Examples Gallery for several demos using ansys-mapdl-reader.

Note

This module will likely change or be depreciated in the future.

You are encouraged to use the new Data Processing Framework (DPF) modules at DPF-Core and DPF-Post as they provide a modern interface to ANSYS result files using a client/server interface using the same software used within ANSYS Workbench, but via a Python client.

Brief Demo: Direct Access to Binary Files

Here’s a quick example code block to show how easy it is to load and plots results directly from an ANSYS result file using ansys-mapdl-reader:

>>> from ansys.mapdl import reader as pymapdl_reader
>>> result = pymapdl_reader.read_binary('rotor.rst')
>>> nnum, stress = result.principal_nodal_stress(0)
>>> print(stress[:3])
array([[-1.2874937e-06,  1.2874934e-06,  5.6843419e-14,  0.0000000e+00,
         8.1756007e-06, -8.1756007e-06],
       [-1.1674185e-04, -1.1674478e-04, -3.0856981e-04, -1.7892545e-06,
        -2.5823609e-05,  2.5835518e-05],
       [-5.7354209e-05, -5.5398770e-05, -1.4944717e-04, -1.0580692e-06,
        -1.7659733e-05, -3.5462126e-06]], dtype=float32)

Element stress for the first result

>>> estress, elem, enode = result.element_stress(0)
>>> estress[0]
array([[ 1.0236604e+04, -9.2875127e+03, -4.0922625e+04, -2.3697146e+03,
        -1.9239732e+04,  3.0364934e+03]
       [ 5.9612605e+04,  2.6905924e+01, -3.6161423e+03,  6.6281304e+03,
         3.1407712e+02,  2.3195926e+04]
       [ 3.8178301e+04,  1.7534495e+03, -2.5156013e+02, -6.4841372e+03,
        -5.0892783e+03,  5.2503605e+00]
       [ 4.9787645e+04,  8.7987168e+03, -2.1928742e+04, -7.3025332e+03,
         1.1294199e+04,  4.3000205e+03]])

Get the corresponding ansys element number for the first element.

>>> elem[0]
    32423

Get the nodes belonging to for the first element.

>>> enode[0]
    array([ 9012,  7614,  9009, 10920], dtype=int32)

Plot the nodal displacement of the first result.

>>> result.plot_nodal_displacement(0)
_images/rotor.jpg

License and Acknowledgments

The ansys-mapdl-reader module is licensed under the MIT license.