Frequently Asked Questions
Graphical User Interface Questions
- How do I clear past runs from the screen?
- How do I change plotting attributes, such as x & y-labels?
- The help button for the graphing component does not work!
- How do I save the graphs for use in other programs?
FORTRAN Source Questions
Heat Release Questions
General Questions
Graphical User Interface Questions
Q:
How do I clear past runs from the screen?
A: Click under the main menu / Edit...Clear
Runs.
Q:
How do I change plotting attributes, such as x & y-labels?
A: Position the cursor over one of
the graphs and right-click the mouse button. You will be presented with
a dialog box that has all of the graph attributes at your disposal.
Q:
The help button for the graphing component does not work!
A: Unfortunately, the installation program used for the
GUI does not properly load the help file for the graphing component. However,
you can download that file here (OLCH2D-U.HLP)
and double-click on this file to start the help feature.
Q:
How do I save the graphs for use in other programs?
A: There are a number of options that have been incorporated
into the GUI to save the heat release results/graphs. If you wish to replot
all of the results available, the easiest way to do so is through the
output file generated (see). This
file contains all of the results in a comma-delimited file that can be
opened by other programs such as Microsoft Excel or Kaleidagraph. However,
this output file contains only the results of the latest run.
In order to save all of the runs for an individual graph, you can use
the Save option under the
File menu while the graph
is highlighted (the current window). If you wish to save all
of the graphs and runs, you can use the Save
All Graphs option under the File
menu while the graph is highlighted. You will then need to enter in a
file name which will become the header for all of the files (ex:
sample.txt will become sample_MFBvCAS.txt for mass fraction burned vs.
crank angle, sample_MFBvVS.txt for mass fraction burned vs. volume). You
can also save the plots as JPEG or PNG images under Save
As Image.
FORTRAN Source Questions
Heat Release Questions
Q:
Can I expect negative values for Mass Fraction Burned?
A: In the case of incorrect input values (ex: compression ratio)
or errors from physical models (ex: heat transfer), it is possible to
calculate negative values for the mass fraction burned. In order to combat
this erroneous result, the authors have limited the values of mass fraction
burned to be greater than or equal to zero. If this is a result that people
would like to see, please notify the authors and this switch can be turned
off. Please note that this would be only for illustrative purposes and
the value will still be limited to zero during subsequent use.
General Questions
Q:
Do I need to include an output file?
A: YES!!! The output file is used by the GUI to read in all of
the results from the FORTRAN source calculation. This was the best way
that the authors found in order to enable the GUI to plot ALL of the results
of the heat release calculation. This is because there are 30+ arrays
that would have to be sent to the FORTRAN source to be updated, and without
dynamically allocating these arrays, the program would use a huge amount
of memory. Yes, the arrays could have been sent in COMMON blocks initiallized
in C++, and read in FORTRAN, however when using the code as a dll, this
was not possible. The idea was to separate the FORTRAN as much as possible
from the Visual C++ code to allow other users to work with just the heat
release source code. Plus, the added benefit of having the output file
is that ALL of the results are sent here and can be easily used within
a spreadsheet program, such as Microsoft Excel (comma-delimited file).
Unless otherwise expressly stated, all
original material of whatever nature created by Dr. Christopher D. Depcik
(chris) and included
in this website and any related pages is licensed under a Creative
Commons License.
Date Created: 05/28/2003
Date Revised:
10/11/2005