In ANSYS Workbench post-processing, sometimes we need to view contour plots within a specified range, such as areas where stress exceeds 500 MPa, or displacement exceeds a certain limit. This operation allows us to quickly identify potential danger zones, making it easier to strengthen product design in those corresponding areas.
Below is a demonstration of the specific workflow using this model, showing the stress contour plot as follows.
In the Display options, by default, the Geometry display mode is set to Exterior. In addition to this mode, there are three other modes:
1. IsoSurfaces
2. Capped IsoSurfaces
3. Section Plane
For IsoSurfaces and Section, you are probably not unfamiliar with them—one is an isosurface, the other is a section plane. For Capped IsoSurface, you can think of it as a range isosurface display. To achieve the goal mentioned earlier, we mainly rely on this function.
Click Geometry and switch the mode to Capped IsoSurface. At this point, the Capped Isosurface button on the right becomes active.
This button has the following settings:
ISO: Represents the threshold value. When the user clicks this, the model contour plot displays the three-dimensional isosurface corresponding to this value.
TOP: Represents the area less than this ISO value.
Bottom: Represents the area greater than or equal to this ISO value.
Below is a demonstration of the operation effect using the above model as an example.
Requirement: Display the area where von Mises stress is greater than or equal to 500 MPa. The specific setting is ISO = 500, select Bottom, and in the Edges dropdown, select Show Undeformed Model. The resulting contour plot is as follows.
When we click Top, the display reverses, showing the area where stress is less than 500 MPa, as shown below:
If we want to save this area, the current method is to export it as an STL file, then process it with other software.
As shown below, click the object, right-click and select Export -> STL File.
Open the exported STL file in SpaceClaim, as shown below:
The above operations are particularly effective for viewing the distribution of certain danger zones. Interested students might want to give it a try!
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ANSYS Structural Institute
April 13, 2026
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