Complete Altair Hypermesh & Optistruct Course

Explore the hyper mesh GUI and learn to model an excavator by creating a model, choosing a solver profile across abacus, nastran, or ansys, and performing geometry, meshing, and connectors.

Interact with the model by translating, rotating, and zooming via keyboard, mouse, or view controls. Learn to set rotation centers, pan, dynamic zoom, and fit to model.

Explore import and export in HyperMesh, including model, solver deck, and geometry options, and export to H3D, INP, NAS, or BDF while preserving connectors and bill of materials.

Explore how to import and assemble a vehicle model in HyperMesh by combining model files, iges geometry, and an Optistruct solver, and learn export and re-import of solver decks.

Explore how to use the model browser in HyperMesh to manage components, elements and surfaces, highlight collectors, inspect IDs and colors, and isolate materials and loads for analysis.

Explore interactive model manipulation in Altair Hypermesh using the display panel. Learn to switch between components, elements, and geometry, toggle load collectors, and reverse visibility with the D shortcut.

Apply mask techniques to verify element connectivity, select and attach connected elements, and switch between element and geometry views to reveal or hide planes for final checks.

Learn how to use the mask browser to inspect a full vehicle model imported from optistruct, filter 2D and 3D elements, rigid and arbitrary elements, and masses for focused visualization.

Learn to use the delete function to remove entities in hypermesh, excluding nodes, with selection by face, by geometry, by configuration, by display, and more.

Import a CAD file, view it in isometric view, and determine solids versus surfaces using 3d topology and auto checks, then explore points, edges, and faces to build models.

Discover why modifying or creating geometries matters, using package tools to delete, trim, mirror surfaces, and verify surfaces, beams, and simple solids before applying to real projects.

Create and place nodes in the geometry page using F8 or x, y, z coordinates, including origin and points like 500,0,0 and 500,500,0, and verify mass placement with node coordinates.

Create nodes on geometry in Altair Hypermesh by placing nodes on points, lines, surfaces, and planes using selection filters and plane definitions.

Demonstrate creating and placing nodes in hypermesh, including arc center and line-based node creation, and using extract parametric and extract online to generate nodes with bounds, increments, and bias settings.

Learn to create interpolated nodes between two points and along lines or surfaces in Hypermesh, set linear bias, and place nodes at intersections with lines, planes, and surfaces.

Learn to measure distances in hypermesh with the distance panel and F4, measure between two or three nodes or points, create nodes between, and define circles by three nodes.

Explore essential commands for creating lines and circles in hyper mesh, including coordinates, node-based lines, arcs and circles, and midline and offset options.

Import line edit files, combine and split lines at points or joints, and extend or smooth lines to follow curvature and align with surfaces.

Master surface creation in HyperMesh by building squares, circles, cylinders, spheres, and taurus, using base points, planes, and trim operations for quick geometry edits.

Learn surface creation options like dragging along vector, along a line, or along the normal to model cylinders, circles, and connected surfaces with ruled, spline, or filler techniques.

Master surface edit in HyperMesh by trimming and splitting surfaces with nodes, lines, and normals; practice trim with plane and offset lines for heat affected zones, and handle self-intersecting surfaces.

Explore topology, how surfaces connect, and identify free edges, shared edges, and non-manifold edges (t-junctions), using 2d topology views and edge suppression.

Use geometry cleanup to fix missing surfaces, duplicates, extra edges, and hard points in CAD data. Clean geometry enables reliable mid-surface extraction and proper node connectivity with stitched, shared edges.

Explore geometry cleanup in hypermesh: identify shared, free, and suppressed edges, create filler surfaces, and stitch edges with tolerance, using quick edit and surface tools for clean meshing.

In this example, visualize a plastic tray, suppress shared edges and free edges, fill missing surfaces, remove duplicates, and verify with a wireframe view to ready the mid surface.

Master geometry cleanup techniques for cross member models by visualizing, suppressing edges, trimming, splitting surfaces, and using filter and filler surfaces to fix topology before meshing.

Explore the auto cleanup option to perform topology cleanup on selected surfaces, preserving edges, while recognizing it may miss some areas and require manual adjustments.

We examine defeaturing geometry by removing small holes, fillets, and chamfers that do not impact the analysis. Base defeaturing decisions on element size, part importance, and feature location.

Remove small holes and fillets using defeature to simplify the geometry for meshing, leveraging quick edit, unsplit surface, and d feature to delete pinholes and remove hard points.

Defeature by removing pinholes with diameter under 10 mm using the D feature option, then remove fillets with radius under 6 mm to simplify the geometry for meshing.

Apply 2d meshing when the largest plate dimension greatly exceeds the thickness, using the mid-surface for shell elements. Extract the mid-surface, assign thickness, and material, and model sheet metal components.

Learn to extract mid surface from surfaces and solids using the auto mid surface option with cloud solid, ensuring no free edges and correctly creating the mid-surface component.

Analyze 2d element shapes: quad and triangular, with linear and parabolic orders; quad elements are more accurate, triangular are stiffer, ideal shapes are square and equilateral triangle.

Create a mid surface from the plate and isolate the collector for 2D meshing. Set element size and mesh type, use first-order 2D elements, adjust density and edge, then recalculate.

Explore automesh in Altair Hypermesh, including deleting elements, dividing a surface with node creation, and using 2D automation to switch mesh types from code to triangular or quad.

Learn washer guidelines for 2D imaging, including diameter rules from 1.5D to 2D and even chord element sizing, plus 2D meshing steps in Hypermesh.

Ensure fillets use at least 2-3 layers of core elements to avoid missed transitions on constant-radius fillets, and adjust mesh size to satisfy min and max element constraints.

Master guidelines for triangular elements in hyper mesh, ensuring no adjacent triangles touch washer elements, avoiding boundary placement on surfaces, and using local remesh and smoothing to create quad elements.

This lecture demonstrates setting target and minimum element sizes, removing hard points, applying washers for holes, and using splitting, replace node, and remeshing to produce a proper quad mesh.

Learn step-by-step mid-surface extraction and targeted surface meshing for a holding bracket in HyperMesh, using 2D topology, by component, and local remeshing to create high-quality quad elements.

Learn to verify surface integrity, remove duplicates, and apply symmetry with the equivalence option to reflect and align mesh components across a chosen plane.

Explore 3D element shapes in Hypermesh, including hex, tetra, penta, and pyramid elements, with first and second order node configurations, and compare accuracy, generation effort, and stiffness.

Explain how to prepare simple, mappable geometry for 3D meshing by checking mappability, enabling hexa and tetra meshing through trimming solids with planes, surfaces, or lines and boolean operations.

Use line drag to map 2D elements into 3D elements, manage component collectors for 2D and 3D, and preserve connectivity during meshing.

Learn to mesh a taper size box using linear solid in Altair HyperMesh, setting 2D and 3D elements, aligning nodes, and maintaining consistent element counts for changing cross-sections.

Use the spin command to generate the Higgs element by spinning 2D geometry into 3D hex elements, adjusting mesh density and angles.

Master arm bracket meshing in Altair Hypermesh by performing 2d then 3d meshing, correcting mesh flow, and moving elements to proper collectors for a robust connectivity.

Master volume tetra meshing in altair hypermesh, using volume tetra for enclosed volumes and refining with curvature, feature angle, and use proximity to improve 3d data mesh.

Master tetra mesh by using the tetra mesh algorithm with pre-existing 2D elements, setting surface element size, and validating a closed volume before generating 3D tetra elements.

Learn how element quality drives finite element analysis accuracy and runtime. Review key quality parameters such as aspect ratio, skewness, jacobian, and warpage, plus minimum/maximum length and angle.

Explore aspect ratio in finite element meshes, the ratio of maximum to minimum length, and see how stretching squares, rectangles, and triangles alters stiffness, displacement, stress, with typical acceptable ranges.

Compute warpage, the out-of-plane deviation for chord elements in 2D families (not applicable to triangular elements with three nodes), defined as the angle between planes and kept under 15 degrees.

Explore skewness as an angular measure of element quality, using skewness = 90 minus theta minimum, and assess triangular and quad elements to maintain accuracy and guide remeshing when needed.

Evaluate element quality with the jacobian, the determinant measuring deviation from ideal shapes; first-order jacobian equals one, acceptable values exceed 0.6, and apply min/max length and angle guidelines.

Assess tetra collapse, a tetra meshing quality metric, by computing the minimum height over the square root of opposite-face area, then dividing by 1.24 to prevent zero-volume tetrahedra.

Learn the Altair HyperMesh project workflow: import geometry, create bottom plate and bracket, extract mid surfaces, assign thickness, project and mesh elements, and define welds.

Explore how to use translate to reposition components and surfaces in Altair Hypermesh, verify identical parts, duplicate parts to save time, and improve mesh quality by enforcing jacobean criteria.

Use the reflect command to mirror symmetric geometry about chosen axes, duplicate elements, and ensure proper connectivity with equivalence, yielding quad-only mesh around circles.

Learn to use the order change function to convert between first-order (linear) and second-order (parabolic) elements in 2D and 3D meshes, balancing accuracy and computation time per project needs.

Compare sheet metal and plastic components, noting constant thickness in sheet metal versus varying thickness in plastic parts, and contrast manufacturing methods like punching, bending, and injection molding.

Extract the mid surface of a plastic component using auto mid surface, compare with sheet metal, and assign variable thickness by creating thickness-based components and properties for accurate meshing.

Learn to automatically assign thickness to the mid surface in HyperMesh, including surface selection, component properties, and using range intervals with a renaming TCL script.

Learn to extract the mid-surface using the offset command in HyperMesh, duplicating surfaces, offsetting to half thickness, and ensuring proper surface connectivity through trim, extend, and point projection.

Master the surface pair technique to extract a mid surface in Altair Hypermesh by selecting surface pairs, enabling side one and side two, and validating topology and mesh integrity.

Learn to extract the mid surface via the mid line method, offset the bottom surface, project lines, and refine with trim, ruled surfaces, and replace point.

Extract the mid-surface and mesh a plastic boss feature, guiding 2D meshing by removing fillets, measuring thickness variation, and using two-layer elements with offset surfaces.

Solve a cantilever 1d bar under a 10,000 newton load using analytical and numerical methods, compute stress and displacement, then validate with HyperMesh and Optistruct post-processing.

Compare aluminium and steel cantilever results in HyperMesh and OptiStruct by updating material properties; observe displacement depends on Young's modulus, while stress remains constant within the elastic limit.

Explore a cantilever beam under transverse loading, derive bending stress and end displacement analytically using M, I, Y and circular cross-section inertia, and validate with hypermesh optistruct simulations.

Simulate a simply supported beam under a center transverse load using hinge constraints, compare analytical and FE results for deflection and stress in HyperMesh/OptiStruct.