Curve file

Curve files are used to store tables of data, and are widely used in the LS-DYNA peripheral programs supplied by Oasys. A curve file is a text file with tabs, commas or spaces separating fields.

Curve file

The format of the file is as follows:

Title
X label <TYPE/FACTOR>;
Y label <TYPE/FACTOR>;
Curve identifier
x0, y1
x1, y1
…
CONTINUE
Title
X label <TYPE/FACTOR>;
Y label <TYPE/FACTOR>;
Curve identifier
x0, y1
x1, y1
…

By default TYPE is undefined and the FACTOR is 1. This is to allow backwards compatibility in that old programs reading curve files would not require any modification: the labels would just give some additional information. Newer versions would be able to read this information and give tighter control over the data.

Unit types

The current options for TYPE are:

UNDEFINED	1ST_MOMENT_AREA	ANGULAR_ACCELERATION
FORCE	2ND_MOMENT_AREA	FLOW_RATE
LENGTH	VOLUME	FREQUENCY
MASS	PER_LENGTH	ANGULAR_FREQUENCY
TIME	PER_AREA	PERIOD
TEMPERATURE	PER_VOLUME	THERMAL_EXPANSION
DISP	CS_AREA	TEMPERATURE_GRADIENT
PRESSURE	CS_AREA_PER_LENGTH	IMPULSE
ACCEL	INERTIA	MOMENTUM
WORK	DENSITY	ANGULAR_MOMENTUM
MOMENT	AREA_DENSITY	DAMPING
STRESS	WEIGHT_DENSITY	ENERGY
FORCE_PER_LENGTH	MASS_PER_LENGTH	ENERGY_DENSITY
MOMENT_PER_LENGTH	PER_MASS	DEGREE
MOMENT_PER_ROTATION	VELOCITY	PERCENT
STRAIN	ROTATION
AREA	ANGULAR_VELOCITY

The FACTOR is the value by which the data values should be multiplied to convert to SI units (e.g. 0.01 for cm).

Example

Test curve
Time <TIME>;
Relative acceleration <ACCELERATION/0.001>;
Reference point 1
0, 0
1, 1
2, 4
3, 9
4, 16