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 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)

License and Acknowledgments#

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