A Post 26 Primer:

Post Processing over Multiple

Time/Load Steps in Mechanical APDL

Eric Miller
Co-Owner
Principal, Simulation and
Business Technologies

04/12/2012
PADT, Inc.

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 Agenda
Note: This presentation is being
recorded

Introductions
Fundamentals
Defining Variables
Viewing Variables
Calculating
Other POST26 Tools
Suggestions and
Recommendations

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Introductions

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 Upcoming Webinars
Upcoming Webinars
Feb 9, 2012 - 12:00 MST
Working Directly with Nodes and Elements in ANSYS Mechanical
Feb 23, 2012 - 12:00 MST
Assembly Meshing in ANSYS R14 CANCELED
March 8, 2012 - 12:00 MST
Intro to Workbench Framework Scripting - Controlling projects, materials, and solution execution with python
March 22, 2012 - 12:00 MST
Mastering the Remote Solver Manager (RSM) at R14
April 12, 2012 12:00 MST
A POST26 Primer: Post Processing over Multiple Time/Load Steps in Mechanical APDL
April 26, 2012 12:00 MST
A Constraint Equation Primer: How to Tie Degrees of Freedom Together
May 10, 2012 12:00 MST
Optimization with ANSYS DesignXplorer at R14
May 24, 2012 12:00 MST
Modeling Moisture Diffusion in ANSYS
Summer Break: June & July (maybe August)
Primers are new:
Oriented towards newer users or Workbench users who may not have experience with
some of the fundamentals in the ANSYS Mechanical APDL solver
See upcoming and past webinars at:
padtincevents.webex.com
Click on ANSYS Webinar Series

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 About PADT
PADT is an Engineering Services
Company
Mechanical Engineering
18 Years of Growth and Happy customers
70ish Employees
3 Business Areas
CAE Sales & Services
Consulting, Training, Sales, Support
Product Development
Rapid Prototyping & Manufacturing
Learn More: www.PADTINC.com

We Make Innovation Work

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 Cube HVPC Systems
Balance between speed and cost
Mini-Cluster
96 Cores / 512 GB RAM / 6 TB Disk
Mobile Rack / UPS / Monitor / Keyboard
$34,900
Compute Server
32 Cores / 256 GB RAM / 3 TB Disk
$14,250
Simulation Workstation (Intel)
12 Cores / 96 GB RAM / 3 TB Disk
$11,750
Simulation Workstation (AMD)
12 Cores / 64 GB RAM / 3 TB Disk
$6,300
www.CUBE-HVPC.com

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 PeDAL The APDL Editor
Side-by-side editor and help viewer layout.
Instant help on any documented APDL command by pressing F1.
Full syntax highlighting for ANSYS v12 Mechanical APDL.
Auto-complete drop downs for APDL Commands.
APDL Command argument hints while typing commands.
Search ANSYS help phrases and keywords.
Multiple tabs for the editor and html viewer.
Full capability web browser built in allows for rich web experience and web
searches.

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 Connect with PADT
Facebook: Email Subscriptions:
facebook.com/padtinc www.padtinc.com/epubs

Twitter: Web:
#padtinc www.PADTINC.com

LinkedIn: ANSYS User Blog:

Search on PADT, Inc. padtinc.com/focus

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Fundamentals

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 Assumptions
You know the basics of MAPDL
You are not an MAPDL expert or guru
Need reminders on where some of the commands are
That you will be accessing this via the MAPDL GUI, APDL
macros, and code snippets in Workbench

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 ANSYS Results
The ANSYS RST file stores results at various points
A point can be at a given time in a transient run or it can
be a location on a load curve for a static run
Not necessarily every point that a solution is calculated at
User determines how often results are saved
Each record has a time, load step, and sub step
associated with it
Static or Transient, even modal results are stored the
same way
Header and analysis type tell you what type of solution you
have
Do a SET,LIST to see what is in the file
Results are stored by node or element
DOF stuff by node
Stresses/Strains/etc by element at each corner node
So to get at Stress/Strains/etc you must
Average over an element
Un-averaged for a corner node
Average over all elements attached to a node

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 Conventions/Words
We will refer to a given loadstep/substep, time point, or frequency as a
point
Solution set is the collection of result solutions stored in the RST file. It is
made up of solution points.
The database is not the *.db file.
It is the model and result information currently stored in memory
An array is an APDL parameter of type array
A vector you can stick stuff in

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 POST1 vs. POST26
POST1, the general post processor
It looks at results across the whole model at a given point
LS/SS, Time, or Freq
Use it to make contour plots, animations, list results at a given point
SET,LS,SS,FACT,KIMG,TIME to store a given point in the database
POST26, the Time History Post Processor
Looks at a result value on a node or element over the solution set
Instead of loading all the results at a point into the database, it stores
the results over the solution set for user specified nodes or elements
No model plots, just lists and graphs (usually vs. time)
Allows complex calculations on results
You can do what POST26 does set,1,1
dim,myux,,nmstp
in POST1 with do loops *do,i,1,nmstp
But every step loads all results slow *get,myux(i),node,mynode,u,x
set,next
POST26 skips through the file - fast *enddo

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 Getting into POST26
/post26
Required, commands are filtered
Click on TimeHist PostPro in Main Menu

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 Its all About Variables
A table of a result item at a location in the model vs time or
frequency
Not an APDL parameter
But you can push one into an array
You tell POST26 what variables you want to create
Whole set of commands for defining, modifying,
mathamatizing, and controlling variables
Also a GUI tool to build the commands

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 Our Test Model finish
/clear
/prep7
blc4,-1,-1,2,2,60
et,1,185
mptemp,1,70
mpdata,ex,1,1,20e6

Infamous Tower of Test mpdata,nuxy,1,1,.23

mpdata,dens,1,1,.001
alphad,5
esize,.9

Transient, large deflection vmesh,all

/view,1,1,1,1
/vup,1,z

Move base in UX (time,ux):

eplot

nsel,s,loc,z,0

0,0 cm,nbt,node
nsel,all

d,nbt,uy,0

.1,1 d,nbt,uz,0
d,nbt,ux,1
time,.1

.2,5 antype,4
trnopt,full
lumpm,0

.3,0 nlgeom,1
kbc,0
timint,1

nsubst,40,40,40
1,0 outres,all,1
lswrite,1

Will post on blog

d,nbt,ux,5
time,.2
lswrite,2

d,nbt,ux,0
time,.3
lswrite,3

time,2
lswrite,4

/solu
lssolve ,1,4
finish
/post1
plnsol,u,sum

/POST26
FILE,'p26','rst','.'
/UI,COLL,1
NUMVAR,200
SOLU,191,NCMIT
STORE,MERGE
FILLDATA,191,,,,1,1
REALVAR,191,191
!*
NSOL,2,18,U,X, UX_2
STORE,MERGE
XVAR,1
PLVAR,2

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Defining Variables

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 Defining Variables
You have to tell POST26 what information you want and how
you want it:
Node/Element, Where in an element, What type of result, How to
average, etc
Each variable has a unique variable number
You access the variable with this number for operations/plotting/etc
You can also give it a name: Label only
Use:
ANSOL, NSOL, ESOL, EDREAD, RFORCE, JSOL, GSSOL, GAPF,
SOLU
Control with:
FORCE, LAYERP26, SHELL, CFACT, TVAR
Or use the Tool
NOTE: Time or Freq automatically created and is Var=1

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 Two Step Process
Define the variables with variable definition commands
Store them in the database
Separate Store for efficiency
Reads all the variables in at once

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 Time History Variable Tool
When you enter POST26 in the GUI, it comes up
Or click TimeHist Postpro->Variable Viewer
Even if you are doing scripting, use the GUI to figure it out

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 Defining Variables in the Tool
Click the Plus Sign
Pick from list
It handles all the options/different commands for you
Pick or give number of node/element
Example: Reaction Force on Bottom Node, in X
RFORCE,2,4,F,X, FX_2

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 More on Tool
Icons from Left to Right:
ADD | Delete | Graph | List | Properties | Import | Save | Overlay | Clear |
Refresh
Variable list shows all the stored variables with name, node/element,
what it is, min/max
Note that VAR number is not shown count or do a STAT
If you are not using the calculator, it gets in the way
Collapse and expand Variable list
Automatically does a Store

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 Variable Store Commands: Common
ANSOL, NVAR, NODE, Item, Comp, Name, Mat, Real, Ename
Average Nodal Data (stress/strain)
You can tell it what material/real/element type to use when node is on boundary
Uses RSYS
Uses AVPRIN to tell it how to average if default (average components then derive)
is not OK
ESOL, NVAR, ELEM, NODE, Item, Comp, Name
Element data (Stress/Strain)
If no node specified, then average for all nodes in element
Gets at a lot more values, including SMISC, NMISC
NSOL, NVAR, NODE, Item, Comp, Name, SECTOR
Nodal Data (DOF solutions)
Supports SECTOR for cyclic Symmetry
RFORCE, NVAR, NODE, Item, Comp, Name
Reaction Forces
JSOL, NVAR, ELEM, ITEM, COMP, Name
Joint information (U, V, A, Forces/Moments)

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 Variable Store Commands: LS-DYNA
EDREAD, NSTART, Label, NUM, STEP1, STEP2
Reads the various LSDYNA time history files and stores their entire
contents into multiple variables.
You specify a starting number (NSTART), not an NVAR
Files:
GLSTAT, MATSUM, SPCFORC, RCFORC, SLEOUT, NODOUT,RBOUT
NUM defines what item to read
part (MATSUM, RBDOUT)
node number (SPCFORC, NODOUT)
contact entity (SLEOUT, RCFORC)

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 Variable Store Commands: Other
SOLU: Stores solution (solver) information
Convergence, and solver parameters
CISOL: J-Integral Info
ENERSOL: Energies
GAPF: Gap Force Data
GSSOL: Generalized Plane Strain Length, Rotation, Force, Moment

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 What File to Get From
Jobname.rst is the default
You can change with:
GUI: TimeHist PostPro->Settings->File
Tool: File->Open Results
APDL: FILE, fname, ext
Use this to point to an LS-DYNA *.his file as well

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 Number of Variables
By default, in batch, you get room for 10 variables for
ANSYS runs
30 for LS-DYNA
If you are using the Tool, it automatically raises it to 200
You can raise that to 200, and you get 190
ANSYS needs 10 of its own
Has to do with how they very quickly get, store, and access
the variables efficiency
Change from default with:
GUI: TimeHist PostPro->Settings->File
Tool: Automatically sets at maximum
APDL: NUMVAR,nvar
Recommendation: Just put an numvar,200 in your macros

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 Reading in Your Own Variables
Data command
DATA, IR, LSTRT, LSTOP, LINC, Name, KCPLX
Must be followed by a FORTRAN format statement
I can never get this one to work
Use APDL Parameters
*TREAD to read into an APDL table array
Use VPUT to convert from APDL array to a Variable
Does not interpolate, you need the same time points as in your NSOL
type command - need to find a work around.
Recommended way
Use ~eui or Tool to read it in
Nice if you are going to do it a lot
Very specific format
See next slide for example

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 Tool or ~EUI format
~eui,'ansys::results::timeHist::TREAD d:\test1\harmonic.prn
TESTMID'
~eui,'ansys::results::timeHist::vputData TESTMID 5'

# TEST DATA FILE EXAMPLE

# ALL COMMENT LINES BEGIN WITH #
# Blank lines are ignored
#
# The first line without # sign must contain the variable names to be used
# for each column of data read into POST26. NOTE that for complex data only
# one variable name should be supplied per (real, imaginary) pair as shown below.
# The next line can either be left blank or have descriptors for each column
# such as REAL and IMAGINARY
#
# The data itself can be in free format with the columns "comma delimited",
# "tab delimited", or "blank delimited"
#
# The first column of data is always reserved for the independent variable
# (usually TIME or FREQUENCY)
#
FREQ TEST1 TEST2
REAL IMAGINARY REAL IMAGINARY
1.00000E-02 -128.32 0.17764 5.6480 -4.47762E-03
2.00000E-02 -150.08 0.36474 5.6712 -8.99666E-03
3.00000E-02 -163.12 0.57210 5.7097 -1.35897E-02
4.00000E-02 -147.63 0.81364 5.7629 -1.82673E-02
5.00000E-02 -133.90 1.1091 5.8298 -2.29925E-02
6.00000E-02 -172.38 1.4886 5.9080 -2.76290E-02

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 The Store Command
When in batch/command line you need to do a STORE
command to actually read the results in
STORE, Lab, NPTS
Lab:
Merge (default). Overwrites Vars that exist, adds new ones
New. Replace all data with new definitions
Appen. Appends data. Use this when you want to add time segments
ALLOC. Creates the data records for npts but does not create any
variables.
PSD. Create frequency points for PSD calculations
NPTS
Number of time (frequency) points.

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 STAT
STAT
Issue a STAT option first, then STAT
PRINT
STAT
Find out your listing options and what variables you have
Default
DEFINE
STAT
Tells you what
your settings are
and what
variables you
have defined
OPERATE
STAT
Lists any operation settings you may have, and variables defined
PLOTTING
STAT
Shows the POST26 display settings.

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Displaying
Variables

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 Plotting
Most of the time you will be making a line graph
Time on X axis, value on Y
You can stack multiple Variables
Tool: Use the graph button
GUI: TimeHist Postpro->Graph Variables
APDL: PLVAR

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 PLVAR
PLVAR, NVAR1, NVAR2, NVAR3, NVAR4, NVAR5, NVAR6,
NVAR7, NVAR8, NVAR9, NVAR10
Allows you to plot up to 10 variables against each other
Just give the variable number
Plot controlled by normal graphing controls
Google: focus graphing in ansys
Related Commands:
XVAR: Allows you to change X axis to a variable
PLCPLX: Change to allow for complex portion of results
PLTIME: Specify time range

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 Simple
The number of points you use with store, and your data,
determine graph resolution
Great for quick plots
ANSYS Mechanical?
If your code post processing snippet has a /show,png and you make
plots, those come back to ANSYS Mechanical

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 Listing
GUI: TimeHist Postpro->List Variables
TOOL: Little sheet of paper (List) icon
APDL: PRVAR
PRVAR, NVAR1, NVAR2, NVAR3, NVAR4, NVAR5, NVAR6
Standard listing commands and controls apply
Google: Tools of Post Processing: Listing focus
Also EXTREM
It lists the min and max for all variables
Related commands:
PRCPLX: Display complex values
PRTIME: Time range

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 Exporting and Such
If you want to do more you can put variables into APDL table
or array and then write it out with *VWRITE
If you save data to a file in the Tool, it writes the code for
you.
Modify to write as you want
Very easy to read into Excel as fixed width

*DEL,_P26_EXPORT
*DIM,_P26_EXPORT,TABLE,160,1
VGET,_P26_EXPORT(1,0),1
VGET,_P26_EXPORT(1,1),2
/OUTPUT,'foo','txt','.'
*VWRITE,'TIME','UX_2'
%14C %14C
*VWRITE,_P26_EXPORT(1,0),_P26_EXPORT(1,1)
%14.5G %14.5G
/OUTPUT,TERM

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Calculating

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 Operations
The calculator has a purpose: you can build calculations with
it
Uses standard operators
Variables use their names in {}
APDL has vector math commands
Add/Subtract/Multiply/Divide
Integrate/Differentiate
Sqrt/Absolute Value
/Logs/Exponent,
Find Large/Small
You can overwrite!
21 can be used in a calc and
be the destination as well

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 Example: FSUM
SQRT of the sum of the squares
Do it in the tool using the calculator or by writing in equation
Our put in commands
Good way to do a script is use calculator, then look at code
generated

rforce,11,8,f,x,FX_8
rforce,12,8,f,y,FY_8
rforce,13,8,f,z,FZ_8
prod,14,11,11
prod,15,12,12
prod,16,13,13
add,17,14,15,16
sqrt,18,17
plvar,18

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Example: Max Stress on 1,-1 Corner Edges
Grab nodes on top
Stick first nodes S1 into Variable 20
Loop on remaining nodes
Put S1 into Variable 21 nsel,s,loc,x,1
nsel,r,loc,y,-1
Overwrite 20 with max
*get,nnd,node,,count
of 20 and 21 (LARGE) nn = ndnext(-1)
Max is in 21 at end ansol,20,nn,s,1
nn = ndnext(nn)
*do,i,1,nnd
ansol,21,nn,s,1
large,20,20,21
nn = ndnext(nn)
*enddo
plvar,20
nsel,all

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 *GET tools
There is a whole set of *GET commands that read a variable
and return a scalar value
*get,myval,VARI,nvar,Item1,Item2
Item1,Item 2 can be:
EXTREM
Min, max, last value or the time that value occurs at
If nvar 32 is stresses, to get max stress and when it occurs:
*get,mxs,vari,32,extrem,vmax
*get,mxt,vari,32,extrem,tmax
Covariance between two variables
RTIME,t
Real Values at a given time
ITIME,t
Imaginary Values at a given time

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 Even more with VGET & VPUT
You can also transfer variables into APDL arrays with VGET
and the put it back with VPUT
Opens up the full spectrum of APDL array math

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 Full List of Commands
ABS: Forms the absolute value of a variable.
ADD: Adds variables.
ATAN: Forms the arctangent of a complex variable.
CLOG: Forms the common log of a variable
CONJUG: Forms the complex conjugate of a variable.
DERIV: Differentiates a variable.
EXP: Forms the exponential of a variable.
FILLDATA: Fills a variable by a ramp function.
IMAGIN: Forms an imaginary variable from a complex variable.
INT1: Integrates a variable.
LARGE: Finds the largest (the envelope) of three variables.
NLOG: Forms the natural log of a variable.
PROD: Multiplies variables.
QUOT: Divides two variables.
REALVAR: Forms a variable using only the real part of a complex variable.
SMALL: Finds the smallest of three variables.
SQRT: Forms the square root of a variable.

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Other POST26
Commands

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 Lots more Complex Stuff
This is a primer, so we are skipping the details on the
complicated stuff
Read manual for details

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 PSD
POST26 will take Mode Shapes and PSD data and calculate
Covariance and Response PSD
Covariance
Get variable for the nodes and quantities
you want covariance on
Use CVAR on two variables
Then use *get,par,VARI,nvar,extrem,cvar
Response PSD
Store PSD file information with STORE,PSD
Get variable for the nodes and quantities
you want response at
Use RPSD to calculate the response PSD

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Make Response Spectrum from a Transient Run
RESP command
You create a table with the oscillator frequencies in it.
Use FILLDATA or DATA
You fill a variable with the time dependent result you want a
response spectrum for
Use RESP to get U, V, A
See Theory Manual for details
Or run using Tool

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 Smoothing Data
SMOOTH command
SMOOTH, Vect1, Vect2, DATAP, FITPT, Vect3, Vect4, DISP
Lots of options
Vect1 is the Independent value, Vect2 is the time variable
Backwards
Vect3 and Vect4 contain the smoothed data after the
command is run
Not a button in calculator, you have to type in:
Smoothed_response = SMOOTH ({UY_AT_MIDPOINT},{TIME},2)

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 Suggestions &
Recommendations

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 Crawl, Walk, Run
Really not very complex
But can get complicated bookkeeping wise
Use a simple model (ToT) to prove out your process
Remember you can use APDL (VGET/VPUT) if what you are
looking for is not in POST26 commands
Get your head around the fact that you are working with data
at a point, over time.
Not data at a lot of points at a single time (POST1)

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 Working with Mechanical
For many things, probes do what POST26 does

If you are using POST26 as a post processing snippet:

Dont forget to put a FINISH and /POST26 at the top of your script
Use a /SHOW,PNG to bring back any plots
*get scalar results can also be brought back as parameters

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 Resources
Go the Focus Blog (www.padtinc.com/focus) and Ill post the
macro I used and a workbench example
This PowerPoint as well
The manuals
www.ansys.net
Has some post26 examples. Best is a Bode plot by Bill Bullat

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 Thank You
PADT Enjoys doing these webinars
Please consider us as your partner
ANSYS Related
Training, Mentoring
Consulting Services
Customization
Sales (if in AZ, NM, CO, UT, NV)
Stratasys 3D Printers and Systems
CUBE HVPC Systems
Product Development
High-end engineering with practical, real world application
Rapid Prototyping
SLA, SLS, FDM, PolyJet, CNC, Soft Tooling,
Injection Molding
Help us by letting us Help you

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