Simplified 3D FEM Process

“Beginners” typically struggle to see the light at the end of the tunnel when it comes to simulation. Normally students are confronted with the theory of FEM then followed by hands-on exercises which represent an important part of a solid CAE education. It is the well known “learning by doing” lesson which help the students to learn about the multiple stumbling blocks along the simulation road.

Ideally, students (beginners) explore the effects of, for instance element type and mesh size in the framework of their homework – without  any time-killing introduction into the graphical user interface (GUI) beforehand. Hence, the GUI of the modeling tool needs to be very simple … 

On the other site, beginners evolve into experts fast asking for more sophisticated technologies (e.g. hexahedral meshing, morphing, midsurface generation, etc.). Instead of switching over to a new (expert) system, it is far more efficient to stick to the known GUI and “expand”  its functionality accordingly.  

Altair HyperWorks, particularly HyperMesh takes this demand into account by means of a simple FEM Process Guide.

The introduction into the GUI of HyperMesh is reduced to a minimum as students only need to learn some standard operations such as zooming, rotating and selecting entities. Everything else is driven by the FEM flow chart.

Download “How to start the FEM Process Manager” (HyperMesh 10.0)

Download “3D FEM Process Manager” (HyperMesh 10.0)

Download Models (HyperMesh 10.0)

• Cantilever_HM10.hm (4KB)
• Clip_HM10.hm (29 KB)

 

NEW

In the HyperWorks 11.0 Student Edition, this process guide is already implemented as user profile.  Of course, there is also a version available which can be used along with the regular HyperWorks 11.o version:

Simpified 3D FEM Process Guide (HyperWorks 11.0)

Three interactive videos are available (based on HyperWorks 11.0 Desktop):

The Simplified FEM Process (Basic Introdcution)

What is Happening in the Background (some remarks about the automation)

Basic Introduction into Topology Optimization