The Spatial (Beta) library contains functions that deal with minimum distance and
result mapping.
The operators in the spatial library are available
only through XML, and are not available via the Expression Builder.
The minimum distance and
value mapping functionality has been updated since it was first introduced, however it is
still in beta form for testing purposes. These operators may change before they are
finalized.
Calculation of minimum distance from two node sets (the tire) to an element
set (the bumper fascia) using the NSMinDisance operator with the display
option set to “byall”: Figure 1.
The same operation with the display option set to “bymin”
shows a single vector from each “from” patch to the element set: Figure 2.
The result is a vector that can be plotted directly or contoured.
Mapping
of values from one model/result to another, can also be performed using
ValueMapToNode. The image below shows both a coarse and fine model: Figure 3.
The model on the left is fine (~37K elements), and shows values mapped to from
the coarse model on the right (~10K elements): Figure 4.
