Results: Cycle histograms

These graphs plot a histogram of the rainflow cycle counts for the selected result, generated as follows:

1. A time history is extracted for the specified variable and period.
2. This time history is cycle-counted using the rainflow cycle-counting algorithm which produces a list of half-cycles.
3. The half-cycles are binned.
4. Finally, the half-cycle counts are divided by two to give full cycle counts.

To obtain a cycle histogram:

• Select the cycle histogram result type.
• Select the object.
• Select the period.
• Select the variable. More than one variable can be selected.
• Choose whether to report the cycles as counts or as percentages of the total number of cycles. Note that this can also be specified on the options panel of the histogram as described below.
• Click the show button.

The histogram display can be customised from the options panel which can be opened by clicking on the arrow in the bottom right of the window, as highlighted in the image below:

The options panel allows you to choose between reporting the cycles as counts or as percentages. You can also modify the bin size. A value of ~ means that OrcaFlex chooses a default bin size based on the range of the data and the total number of cycles.