! @ # $ % ^ & * ( ) _ - +
= | \ { } [ ] " ' / < > ~ `
Numeric data may be input in a variety of ways as described in Data Input (p. 5). Some commands
are switches of the form Commandname,Key where Key can be 0, NO or OFF to toggle the switch off;
or 1, YES or ON to toggle the switch on.
Degree of Freedom -- The degrees of freedom are the primary nodal unknowns determined by the
analysis. They may be displacements, rotations, temperatures, pressures, voltages, etc. A degree of
freedom is defined by a node number and a label, for example, 1 UX, 87 ROTZ, 4 TEMP, etc. Derived
results, such as stresses, heat flows, etc. are computed from the degree of freedom results and are
considered secondary unknowns.
Element types with unequal sets of degrees of freedom can be combined in a single structure. For ex-
ample, a 2D structure composed of 2D solid elements having two degrees of freedom (UX, UY) at each
node and a 2D beam element having three degrees of freedom (UX, UY, ROTZ) at each node will have
the latter three degrees of freedom at the common nodes. Nodes which do not have a beam element
attached will have only two degrees of freedom with ROTZ eliminated from the solution printout.
Field -- The command name and data items entered on a command are separated into consecutive
fields. A field is assumed to be as "wide" as the number of characters specified. A comma is used to
end one field and begin the next.
Line -- A line of input is a physical record read by the computer. Input lines are limited to 640 characters
(including preceding blanks, commas, and any special characters). For file input, a line is represented
by one 640 column data record. For interactive input, a line is the string of characters (640 maximum)
entered before the RETURN key is pressed. Several commands may be put on one line as described in
Data Input (p. 5). Blank lines are permitted for clarity.
Command name -- Only the first four characters of any alphabetic (or alphanumeric) command name
are interpreted by the program (except as noted for certain commands, such as /POSTN, /AUXN. *EN-
DDO (p. 628), etc.). The remaining characters of the field are ignored. Names shown with fewer than
four characters are assumed to have blanks up through the fourth character as part of the name. For
example, this sample ET (p. 678) command may be input as ET (p. 678),1,42 or ET (p. 678) ,1,42 or
ET (p. 678) ,1,42, but not as ETABCD,1,42. Names may not contain special characters (as described in
Data Input (p. 5)). If the command name is omitted, the name defaults to the name of the previous
command, unless it was a slash (/) or star (*) command.
Postprocessing Phase -- The set of commands causing further processing of the solution output. These
commands consist of commands from the POST1 and POST26 processors. The postprocessing phase
may consist of input for several postprocessing sessions (in series).
Preprocessing Phase -- The set of commands related to defining the model. The preprocessing phase
consists of input from the PREP7 processor.
Program -- The collection of all processors (preprocessing, postprocessing, auxiliary, etc.) is called the
Mechanical APDL program.
Processor -- A group of related functions, such as model definition (PREP7) or results examination
(POST1).
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