Converting Variables Between Cell Centered and Nodal

Question:

How do I convert a cell centered variable to be nodal, or vice versa?

Solution:

This can be done by creating a new variable in the Specify Equations dialog (Data>Alter>Specify Equations). By using the new var location field, a new variable equal to an existing variable can be created with values stored in either location.

For example, say a dataset has a cell centered variable named Velocity:

To convert this cell centered variable to a nodal variable, open the Specify Equations dialog (Data>Alter>Specify Equations) and create a new variable, say Velocity_Nodal. Set the New var location to Node then select Compute:

A new nodal variable Velocity_Nodal can now be found in each zone’s variable list:

Exporting Cell Centered Variables:

Tecplot 360 can write out data as comma separated variables using the Write Data as Formatted Text tool (Tools>Write Data as Formatted Text). However, this tool only allows the writing of nodal data. By converting cell centered data to nodal using the method above, the nodal versions of cell centered variables can be written out: