Tutorial – 1

Basic introduction to HyperWorks Student Edition.

Getting started with HyperWorks, Import, Export, Open, Save, Working with panels, Rotate, Zoom, pan… etc.

Tools
The HyperMesh – Student Edition interface contains several areas. Each is described below.

Title Bar

Menu bar

Toolbars

Graphics Area Main Menu

Pages

Tab Area

Main Menu

Command Window
Status Bar

Title bar The bar across the top of the interface is the title bar. It contains the version of HyperMesh that you are running and
the name of the file you are working on.

Menu Bar Located just under the title bar. Like the pull-down menus in many graphical user interface applications, these menus
"drop down" a list of options when clicked. Use these options to access different areas of HyperMesh functionality.

Toolbars Located around the graphics area, these buttons provide quick access to commonly-used functions, such as changing
display options. They can now be dragged and placed at top or side of the graphics area.

Tab Area The Tab Area is so named because various specialized tools display on tabs in this area of the interface. Two such
examples are the Model Browser and the Utility Menu.
 The Model tab contains the Model Browser. This tool displays the contents of a
model in a hierarchical tree format. It can be used to create and edit many types of
entities, and also to organize them and control their display status.
 The Utility Menu contains four pages of tools that perform various functions,
accessed via buttons at the bottom of the menu. By default, the Disp page is active;
the Disp page tools control how a model is displayed in the graphics area. The other
pages available are QA/Model (element checking tools), Geom/Mesh (tools for
working with a model’s geometry as well as for creating and editing meshes), and
User (custom tools you create). The content of the Utility tab changes based upon the
selected user profile.

Graphics area The graphics area under the title bar is the display area for your model. You can interact with the model in three-
dimensional space in real time. In addition to viewing the model, entities can be selected interactively from the
graphics area.
Main menu The main menu displays for each page the functions available on that page. You access those functions by clicking on
the button corresponding to the function you wish to use.

Main menu The main menu pages menu divides the main menu into groups of related functions. Only one page of the main menu
pages is displayed at a time.
The Geom page contains functions for creating and editing geometry.
The 1D, 2D, and 3D pages contain element creation and editing tools grouped according to element type.
The Analysis page contains functions to set up the analysis problem and define the boundary conditions.
The Tool page contains miscellaneous tools and model checking functions.
The Post page contains post-processing functions.

Command You can type HyperMesh commands directly into this text box and execute them instead of using the HyperMesh
window graphical user interface. This window is not displayed by default, but can be opened via the View menu.

Status bar The status bar is located at the bottom of the screen. The left end of the status bar displays your current location in
the main menu. By default, Geometry is displayed. The three fields on the right side of the status bar display the
current Include file, current component collector, and current load collector. All three fields are blank by default.
As you work in HyperMesh, any warning or error messages also display in the status bar. Warning messages appear in
green and error messages appear in red.

Hint: You can hold the left mouse button down on top of a panel to see a description for it in the status bar.

Starting HyperMesh
To start HyperMesh on a PC, go to Start > Programs > Altair HyperWorks 11.0 Student Edition > Altair HyperWorks.

Open the HyperMesh model file

1. Access the Open File… dialog in one of the following ways:
 From the menu bar, choose File > Open > Model.
 From the standard toolbar, click Open Model ( )
2. Open the model file, bumper_cen_mid1.hm.
The model file, bumper_cen_mid1.hm, is now loaded. This file contains mesh and geometry data.

HyperMesh model file, bumper_cen_mid1.hm, opened in HyperMesh

Import the HyperMesh model file

1. Access the Import tab in one of the following ways:
 From the menu bar, choose File > Import > Model.

 From the standard toolbar, click Import ( ).

2. From the Import tab in the tab area, click the Import HM model icon , if not already active.

3. Under File selection, click the file icon ( ) and browse to select the file, bumper_mid.hm.
4. Click Import.
The file, bumper_mid.hm, is now imported into the session.
 HyperMesh model file, bumper_mid.hm, imported on top of existing data in the HyperMesh session

Import the IGES geometry file

1. From the Import tab in the tab area, click the Geometry icon .
2. In the File type: field, select IGES from the pull-down menu.

3. Click the file icon ( ) and browse to select the file, bumper_end.iges.
4. Click Import.
Geometry data is added to the model.

IGES geometry file, bumper_end.igs, imported into the session

Import the OptiStruct input file

1. From the Import tab in the tab area, click the Import Solver Deck icon .
2. In the File type: field, select OptiStruct from the pull-down menu.
3. In the File field, click the folder icon and browse to bumper_end_rgd.fem.
4. Click Import.
This OptiStruct input file contains mesh for the bumper’s end portion. The mesh is added to the existing data in the
current HyperMesh session and will be located in the same area as the geometry representing the bumper’s end.

OptiStruct input file, bumper_end_rgd.fem, imported on top of data in the current HyperMesh session
Save the HyperMesh session as a HyperMesh model file
1. From the menu bar, click File >Save As > Mode.
2. Enter the name, practice.hm.
3. Click Save.
The data currently loaded in HyperMesh is now saved in a HyperMesh binary data file of the name you entered.

Export the model’s geometry data to an IGES file

1. Access the Export tab in one of the following ways:
a. From the menu bar, choose File > Export > Geometry.

b. From the standard toolbar, click Export Geometry .

2. In the Export tab, click the Export Geometry icon if not already selected.
3. Set the File type: field to IGES.
4. Click the folder icon in the File field, browse to the desired destination folder, and enter practice.igs.
5. Click Export.
All of the geometry loaded in HyperMesh (points, lines, surfaces) is now saved in an .iges file with the name you entered.

Export the model’s mesh data to an OptiStruct input file

1. In the Export tab, click the Export FE model icon .
2. Under File selection, choose File type: OptiStruct from the pull-down menu.
3. Under File selection, click the folder icon in the File field, browse to the desired destination folder, and enter practice.fem.
4. Click Export.
All of the finite element data loaded in HyperMesh (nodes, elements, loads, etc.) is now saved as an .fem file with the
name you entered

Delete all data from the current HyperMesh session by starting a new session
1. Access the New HyperMesh Model function in one of the following ways:
a. From the menu bar, click File > New > Model.

b. From the standard toolbar, click New Model ( ).

2. Answer Yes to the pop-up question "Do you wish to delete the current model? (y/n)”.

Controlling the Display

Retrieve the HyperMesh model file, bumper.hm.

When performing finite element modeling and analysis setup, it is important to be able to view the model from different
vantage points and control the visibility of entities. You may need to rotate the model to understand the shape, zoom in to view
details more closely, or hide specific parts of the model so other parts can be seen. Sometimes a shaded view is best, while other
times, a wireframe view allows you work on details inside the model.
HyperMesh has many functions to help you control the view, visibility, and display of entities

Manipulate the model view using the mouse controls

The CTRL + mouse keys are used to rotate the model, change the center of rotation, zoom, fit, and pan
1. Move the mouse pointer into the graphics area.
2. Press the CTRL key + left mouse button and move the mouse around.
The model rotates with the movement of the mouse.
A small white square appears in the middle of the graphics area, indicating the center of the rotation.
Release the left mouse button and press it again to rotate the model in a different direction.
3. Press the CTRL key and quick-click the left mouse button anywhere on the model.
The center of rotation square appears near where you clicked
HyperMesh searches for one of the following conditions in the listed order and relocates the center of rotation at or near the
first condition identified (if none of the conditions are met, the center of rotation is relocated to the center of the screen):
 A nearby node or surface vertex.
 A nearby surface edge to project onto.
 A nearby geometry surface or shaded element.
 4. Press the CTRL key + left mouse button to rotate the model and view the change in rotation behaviour.
5. Press the CTRL key and quick-click the left mouse button anywhere in the graphics area, except for on the model.
The center of rotation square is relocated to the center of the screen.
6. Press the CTRL key + left mouse button to rotate the model and observe the change in rotation behaviour.
7. Press the CTRL key + middle mouse button, move the mouse around, and then release the mouse button.
A white line is drawn along the path of the mouse movement. When the mouse button is released, HyperMesh zooms in on
the portion of the model where the line was drawn. You can also simply draw a line to zoom in on a portion of the model.
8. Press the CTRL key + quick-click the middle mouse button.
The model is fitted to the graphics area.
9. Press the CTRL key and spin the mouse wheel.
The model zooms in or out depending on which direction you spin the mouse wheel.
10. Move the mouse pointer to a different location in the graphics area and repeat #9.
Notice the model zooms in or out from where the mouse handle is located.
11. Press the CTRL key + quick-click the middle mouse button to fit the model to the graphics area.
12. Press the CTRL key + right mouse button and move the mouse around.
The model is panned (translated) according to the mouse movement.

Control the display of components using the toolbar

1. On the Visualization toolbar, click Shaded Elements and Mesh Lines, .
2. Notice the shell elements now have been shaded.

3. Right-click Shaded Elements and Mesh Lines, , and switch to Shaded Elements and Feature Lines, .
4. Notice now the elements shading does not show any mesh lines. Only feature lines are displayed.

5. Right-click Shaded Elements and Feature Lines, , to access Shaded Elements, .

6. Notice now the feature lines are also removed from the display.

7. Click Wireframe Elements (Skin Only), , to return to the wireframe shading mode.

Control the display of entities using the Mask panel

1. Click Mask to open the Mask panel.

2. Go to the mask subpanel if not already there.
3. With the elems selector active, select elems >> by collector.
4. Select the component, mid1.
5. Click select to complete the selection of components.
6. From the graphics area, manually select a few elements in the center (blue) component.
7. Click mask to mask the elements.
The elements in the mid1 component and the elements you selected from the graphics area are no longer displayed.
8. In the Model Browser, notice that the elements ( ) for the components center and mid1 are still displayed. Their display
icons indicate that they are activated even though some or all of the elements in these components are masked (hidden).

9. In the Mask panel, click unmask all, or on the Display toolbar click unmask all ( ).
All the elements in the components, center and mid1, are visible again. Notice the elements in the other components are not
displayed. This is because these components are not active in the Display panel.
10. Click return to exit to the main menu.