u/Ebelosele

I am working on a heat transfer/inclusion problem in Abaqus CAE 2026 and I am struggling with properly visualizing the temperature contours through the center of my model.

My model consists of:
- A 3D cube matrix with a spherical inclusion at the center
- Heat transfer analysis using a coupled temperature-displacement/heat transfer step
- NT11 temperature contours are successfully generated
- The simulation runs successfully and the ODB file is created

Current issue:
I can only see the temperature contours on the external surface of the cube, which appear mostly square/patchy due to the mesh. My professor expects smooth circular/radial contour patterns through the inclusion cross-section.

What I have already tried:
- Created View Cuts using Tools → View Cut → Manager
- Activated cuts and moved the position slider
- Changed contour display from Discrete to Continuous
- Increased contour intervals
- Enabled nodal averaging/smoothing
- Tried Free Body Cut and View Cut options
- Used NT11 as the primary variable
- Used tetrahedral mesh with refined mesh near the inclusion

However, I still cannot properly visualize the internal circular contour rings through the center of the inclusion. Either the external face remains visible or the contours still do not appear as expected.

Questions:

1. What is the correct way to create a center cross-sectional contour plot in Abaqus Visualization module?
2. Should I use View Cut, Free Body Cut, or another tool?
3. How can I hide the exterior surface and only display the internal contour slice?
4. Are there specific contour display or interpolation settings required for smooth circular temperature contours?
5. Is there a recommended element type or meshing strategy for cleaner radial heat-transfer contours in a spherical inclusion problem?

Any guidance or step-by-step instructions would be greatly appreciated.