Learning Forum

[Ben_Ben]

Hello, I'm looking for some guidance on post-processing LS-DYNA contact results (INTFOR files) using PyDPF-Core. I'm trying to extract contact interface data (like contact forces/pressures), but I'm running into issues.

Context: I have an LS-DYNA simulation, and I’m using the Python PyDPF-Core library to read results. The standard workflow for reading D3Plot results works great for things like stress or displacement. 

Problem: The contact interface results are stored in a separate LS-DYNA INTFOR file. I tried to use a similar approach for the INTFOR file, but the typical D3Plot method doesn’t work here – I get an error when attempting to load or query the INTFOR data. In other words, simply pointing dpf.Model or DataSources to the .intfor file and trying to access contact results is not working for me (it fails to recognize the data or throws an error).

• I suspect that the workflow for D3Plot files doesn’t directly apply to INTFOR files. For D3Plot, results like stresses are readily accessible, but for contact forces in INTFOR, I'm not sure how to properly load them.

• I have read that PyDPF can handle LS-DYNA results (I see result keys like interface_contact_force in the documentation when using the binout), but I'm unsure how to plug in the .intfor file or get those contact results out.

Question: Has anyone successfully extracted contact interface results from an LS-DYNA INTFOR file using PyDPF-Core? If so, how can this be done?

Specifically, I'd appreciate guidance on:

• The correct way to include or load an INTFOR file in PyDPF-Core (e.g. via DataSources or another method) so that contact results become available. Do I need to use the LS-DYNA binout file instead of the raw .intfor?

I'm trying to be as clear as possible, and I apologise if I missed something obvious. Any advice or examples would be greatly appreciated! Thank you in advance for your help.

Cheers, 
B

[Ben_Ben]

I have opened the discussion on the Ansys Developer Forum: https://discuss.ansys.com/discussion/4835/pydpf-core-how-to-extract-contact-results-from-ls-dyna-intfor-file/p1?new=1

[Ashish Khemka]

Thanks for the update. I will close this post.

Regards,

Ashish Khemka