[vtkusers] file format for transient analysis

[David Thompson]

Hi John and Alejandro,

> ... I don't think the VTK xml format can do what you're looking for.  
> The exodus format may work for you -- but that may depend upon the  
> type of analysis you are doing.  I know that exodus works well for  
> structural, thermal and perhaps some other kinds of physics.  There  
> are also definitely people who are far more knowledgeable on this  
> topic than me.

The exodus file format will work for unstructured grids as long as the  
mesh connectivity does not change over time. The nodes may be  
displaced, but elements cannot be created or destroyed over time in  
the same Exodus file. If you do occasional refinement, then you can  
write a series of Exodus files and they will be treated as a single  
time series.

Another option is the Ensight file format. I know it allows time- 
series but don't know about how/whether it handles changes in mesh  
topology over time.

	David


> -----Original Message-----
> From: vtkusers-bounces at vtk.org [mailto:vtkusers-bounces at vtk.org] On  
> Behalf Of Alejandro Marcos Aragón
> Sent: Wednesday, January 12, 2011 12:01 PM
> To: vtkusers at vtk.org
> Subject: [vtkusers] file format for transient analysis
>
> Hi everybody,
>
> I have the following issue, and no matter how much I search the  
> internet, I can't find an answer for it. I used to work with static  
> analysis, so writing an unstructured grid file worked like a charm  
> for me. However, now I'm doing transient analysis. My first approach  
> was to write unstructured grid files for each of the time steps, and  
> this works well. The thing is that it doesn't make much sense to  
> repeat the information about the mesh in every single time step.  
> Thus, can anyone point me in the direction of the right file format  
> to use? I need a file format where the information of the mesh is  
> given only once, and each subsequent file just gives information  
> about the results (displacements, stresses, etc.).
>
> Thank you all,
>
> Alejandro M. Aragón
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