Introduction

The following sections provide a brief summary of the options found in the File pulldown menu and the Main Toolbar. If an icon exists for a specific operation, it will be labeled in the Main Toolbar graphic as shown in Figure 1.

Figure 2 shows the File pulldown menu options:

New

Discard current session and start a new project. Note: if a StressCheck project (.scp) was saved during the session, all information up to the last save will be unaffected (i.e. does not erase contents of the last opened .scp), otherwise a dialog will popup asking if you would like to save your work.

Open

Supports the project (*.scp) and workfile (*.scw) file formats as well as the legacy database (*.scm) and input file (*.sci) formats. Double-clicking on any supported file (Figure 2) will act as an open operation and bring the file data into a new StressCheck project. Legacy dataset folders can be converted to project files by opening the corresponding *.scm and then saving in the new format. Any solution data in the dataset folder will become a part of the project file.

Under Open > will be a listing of recently opened files, as well as options to browse StressCheck files in the most recent path (Browse…) or browse StressCheck Handbook files in the Handbook directories (Browse Handbook…).

Save

Saves the current project in a *.scp file, including all model information and all solution data. The first Save will act as Save As, and then any following save operations will modify the currently opened project.

Save As

Saves the current project in a new *.scp file. Any previously opened project will remain unmodified.

Import

Imports new data into the current project. The following file types are supported:

CAD files

• Parasolid (*.x_t; *.x_b). Parasolid is StressCheck’s native format.
• IGES (*.igs)
• CATIA V4 (*.model; *.session; *.exp)
• CATIA V5 (*.CATPart; *.CATProduct; *.CATShape; *.cgr)
• STEP (*.step; *.stp)
• Pro-E (*.prt; *.asm; *.xpr; *.xas)
• Unigraphics (*.ug)

Mesh Data

• Nastran mesh and point loads (*.bdf; *.nas; *.dat)
• LS-Dyna mesh and residual stress data (*.k)
• MeshSim mesh data (*.sms)

StressCheck Data

• Append Legacy StressCheck input files and compatibility workfiles (*.sci)
• Append data created with TranslatePoints utility (*.sci)
• Append exported parameters and formulae from a StressCheck file (*.par)
• Append exported solution and extraction settings from a StressCheck Settings file (*.scsettings)

For more information on importing data, refer to Importing Model Inputs.

Export

Exports data out of the current project. In addition to the StressCheck workfile (*.scw), the following file types are supported:

CAD files

• Parasolid (*.x_t; *.x_b)
• IGES (*.igs)
• CATIA V4 (*.model; *.session; *.exp)
• CATIA V5 (*.CATPart; *.CATProduct; *.CATShape; *.cgr)
• STEP (*.step; *.stp)

Model View Captures

• Images (*.jpg; *.png; *.tif, .ps, .eps)
• 3D representations (HOOPS *.hmf; *.hsf; *.stl)

StressCheck Data

• StressCheck compatibility workfile (*.sci)
• Parameters and formulae (*.par)
• Solution and extraction settings (*.scsettings)

Options

Use File > Options to activate the Options dialog shown in Figure 3. This dialog lets you control a variety of default and startup program settings. You may choose the default Units, default Window Layout, the default display format, the default border thickness of geometric boundaries, the default element edge resolution used to render your model in the Model View, etc.

Note: the default Options file (Default.prf) is found in the “ui” folder within the installation directory.

Path to Scratch Directory

Specify the path to a scratch (working) directory. By default, the path is set to the AppData\Local\Temp folder of the current user profile name (e.g. C:\Users\(user profile name)\AppData\Local\Temp).

• The scratch directory may be set to any unrestricted and permissible path, either locally or on a (fast & stable) network/shared location.
  • It is recommended to move the solver scratch directory to the fastest local hard disk available.
  • The scratch directory’s hard disk must enough disk space is available to compute solution data.
• On startup, a temporary folder within the specified scratch directory will be automatically generated to store the current session’s data files.
  • These temporaries directory will have the format “dataset-xxxxxxxxx-xxxxxxxx”.
  • If the session terminates successfully, these temporary directories are automatically deleted.
  • If the session terminates unexpectedly, the contents of the temporary folder will be preserved such that recovery is possible at the start of the next session.

Note: Previous versions of StressCheck used the dataset folder as a scratch directory when solving. Since this folder no longer exists, the scratch directory option was made available.

For more information on setting the scratch directory path refer to What Can Affect Model Performance and Integrity?

Units

This option allows you to specify your preferred unit system for the model. You can choose from in/lbf/sec/F (US, default), mm/N/sec/C (SI), or Other (user-defined). Note that units cannot be modified after geometric objects are imported or constructed.

Graphics

This option allows you to choose your preferred graphics driver, including Auto (default), DirectX, or OpenGL.

Check

This option allows you to check the current graphics driver being used.

Window Layout

This option allows you to specify your preferred window layout. You can choose from Last Session (default), Default (factory setting), or a user-defined window layout.

Toolbar Size

This options allows you to specify the desired toolbar icon size (in pixels) from 16×16, 20×20 or 24×24, with 16×16 being the default.

Geometry Resolution

This option allows you to specify the smoothness of geometry rendering on a scale of 0-150, with 100 being the default.

For more information refer to Display Menu Overview.

Border Thickness

This option allows you to specify the thickness of element/geometry borders in pixels, with 1 being the default.

Element Resolution

This option allows you to specify the smoothness of element rendering on a scale of 0-20, with 8 being the default.

For more information refer to Display Menu Overview.

Context Menu

This option (enabled by default), allows the user to display context menus when right-clicking the mouse button on white space, objects or plot legends in the Model View.

• If enabled, the user may also specify the minimum time (in millseconds, Default = 150) the right mouse button must be held down in order to display the context menu.

To learn more about context menus, refer to Context Menu Overview.

Display Format

This option allows you to specify the numerical precision and format of the data value display using the C language format. The default format is %10.4e.

• The Display Format accepts %f, %e, and %g specifiers.
  • %f = Display the floating point number using decimal representation.
  • %e = Display the floating point number using scientific notation with e.
  • %g = Use shorter of the two representations: f or e.
• The Display Format precision is defined by “.number”, where number controls the number of digits printed after the decimal point.
  • For example, using “%.3f” would represent “3.14159” as “3.142”.

For more information refer to Display Menu Overview.

Solid Color

Specify the default color for imported/new solid bodies (Default = Blue).

Label Font

Specify the font name, style and size for the display of object labels, markers and other text displayed in the Model View. Default is Courier New, 10 pt.

Legend Font

Specify the font name, style and size for the display of plot legend text. Default is Lucida Console, 9 pt.

Show Warning Messages

This option allows you to enable or disable the display of warning message prompts. Note that warning messages will always be logged.

Objects Preview

This option is used to enable or disable the preview of geometric objects to be created, as well as a preview of the contour method integral radius when extracting in the Fracture tab via click and drag.

Perspective

This option allows you to enable or disable 3D perspective in the current model view. The default is enabled.

Image Export Dimensions

Model View image export settings. Images may be exported as JPEG, PNG, TIFF, Postscript, Encapsulated Postscript, HOOPS Metafile, HOOPS Stream file, and Stereolithograph File via File > Export.

Model Window

This option allows you to capture the contents of the entire Model View to a file when exporting images.

Custom

This option allows you to capture a custom window size when exporting the Model View content as an image.

Exit

The File > Exit menu option closes StressCheck. If there were any changes since the last save, or if no save has occurred during the session, a prompt will appear asking to save the latest changes.