1.	To save the Assembly definitions in XML files, click the icon.

Subassembly files can be specified by clicking the ‘-‘ icon in the XML file path column. Navigate to the desired folder and specify a file name. Export of subassembly files can be controlled by checking/unchecking of the checkbox in the Export column.

1.   Right-click any module and select Edit Representations. This opens the Edit Module tab, and the Representation sub-tab is shown.

2.   Select a module from the drop-down menu marked Module to select a different module. To create a representation for the selected module, right-click inside the top part of the Representation tab.      

3. Select Add to add a representation.  

5.   After a representation has been added, use the Type field to select an appropriate Type and a file to be associated with the representation, and click Apply. Two convenient options can be selected during this step:

6.   Aside from file based representations, a templated Lumped Parameter (LP) representation can also be defined using the LP templates included in the NVH Director, or user created templates.  

7.   Select one of the representations to be the active Display or Analysis  representation by checking the appropriate radio buttons.

8.   Repeat the process by selecting another module through the drop-down box on the top right side.

9.   Once all representations are defined, click the Assembly tab to review the assembly hierarchy with active Display and Analysis representations.

1.   From the Base View of the Assembly browser, select the root Module Model.

2.   Right-click and select Import Display Rep to load the active Display models. Module representation include files specified as the display representation are loaded here.

Tagpoints displayed in the 3D graphics area can be customized via the TagPoint Display tool setting. By default, tagpoints are indicated with a grey sphere along with the label. Other options are available using the pull-down menu.

3.   Repeat the extraction process to complete tagpoint definitions of all modules.

In the previous two steps, you have assumed that the representation file is already in an FE entity ID range that would not cause conflicts with other modules in the assembly, and all necessary tagpoints already exist in the file as 10th field comments on the respective grid cards. However, these assumptions are not met in most practical applications. Necessary preparation work needs to be done to get the module representation files to a state that is ready for assembly. This section describes how to accomplish this task.    

In the Prepare Module Mode the HyperMesh database is first cleared to remove any potentially conflicting FE entities, and then the root representation file is loaded into HyperMesh. A module ID summary is then presented with all necessary information needed for you to determine if the IDs need to be renumbered, and what range they should be renumbered to.

This dialog shown below opens as a part of the Prepare Module action. It is split into two sections. The bottom section describes the finite element entity ID in the imported FE file. The top section provides a way to renumber the IDs, if necessary, into a range that is not in conflict with other modules in the assembly. The Proposed range is what the dialog has identified as one conflict free range, which can be modified based on options to the right. Action is a user specified operation to organize IDs into the Proposed range.

Once an appropriate ID management action has been applied, NVH Director enters the Prepare Module Mode, and a Prepare Module tab opens up in the browser area with sub-tabs designed to help you perform many functions, such as:

In addition, a number of functionalities on the TagPoints tab of the Edit Module are enabled for you to manually add tagpoints and assign them to grids in the module. Lock ID’s provide you with a means to maintain the ID’s of tagpoints without getting renumbered by locking them. This prevents accidental renumbering of tagpoints. Lock ID’s have a higher preference than the sub ranging utility. If ID’s are locked for tagpoints, then sub ranging will not renumber those locked ID’s in prepare module mode. This utility can lock the ID’s of existing tagpoints using edit tagpoints or it can lock the tag ID while creating it using the create tagpoint utility.

A tagpoint mapping tool is also available in the Prepare Module tab via the icon. The mapping tool is able to reconcile in bulk the current tagpoint definition in the assembly database with what is in the root module file. You can also create new tagpoints by reading a .csv file that contains hard point coordinate and label information.

You will be prompted with four representation file save options with information on ID renumbering. Yes: The root representation file is to be saved, in this case, intra and inter ID conflict flag will be set to Yes. No: The root representation file is not to be saved, in this case, intra and inter ID conflict flag will be set to No. Cancel: The exit Prepare Module Mode action is aborted. No, but VALIDATE: In this case there is no change to the file and no need to save the file, but intra and inter ID conflict flag will be set to yes.

At the individual module level, the ID tab of the Edit Module will also be populated.

It is also possible to view mass and damping information using the Property View in the Assembly browser.

1.   Click the icon to launch the connection Interactive Create tool.  

2.   Connections can be created between modules to be connected either by selecting tagpoints from the list box in the dialog, or by picking tagpoints. Hint: Pick and drag on the left hand side of the tags to ease selection off the screen after clicking the icon. You can also provide a description for the connector created, specify an owning module, a local coordinate system, connector location for the center of motion, and a collector for the connector created. Force ID's for connectors gives you an option to define the numbering pattern to a connector, so that the connection elements created by realization of those connectors fall in the defined numbering pattern. ID's are forced to connector elements and properties after realizing them. 

3.   Connections can also be created using the Auto Create tool, which can be invoked by clicking the icon. Two automated creation approaches are available: auto creation by Proximity or by Tagpoint Matching.

4.   To review the connections that were created, click View > Connector Browser.

The Connector browser is divided into two browser panes. The top pane is the Module Pane, where connected modules are listed. You can view connections attaching to modules using typical browser functions, such as Show/Hide/Isolate.

The lower pane is the Connector Pane, where individual connections are listed.

The following connection views are available from the Connector Pane.  

•	Connectivity View : Columns in this view focus on connectivity related details. Of particular importance are the following columns:

PointA/PointB: These two columns show the two tagpoints on two modules that are being connected for each connection. The same order (PointA first and PointB second) is used when generating connection FE entities during connector realization. PointA/PointB may be shown with two incomplete status indications (in square brackets): [N/A] indicates that the tagpoint exists in the assembly database, but is not available in the HyperMesh session (not imported.) [Undefined]  indicates that the tagpoint does not exist in the current assembly database, which means the tagpoint is either deleted or the sub .xml file it travels with is not imported in the session.

Owning module: This column indicates which module owns the particular connection. The owning module is always the module on the PointA side of the connection. The connection definition and properties always travel with or organized under their owning modules when sub .xml files are written.

Distance: This column shows the distance between PointA and PointB. It can be used as a metric for checking the validity of the connection. Connections spanning large distances are potentially connected by mistake. Some NVH engineers prefer to keep all connections at zero length due to fear that non-zero length springs may introduce unintended dynamic motion, which is a valid concern if celas type spring elements are used during connector realization. When cbush type spring and rbe2 type rigid elements are used, this is the case for all current NVH Director supported realization types, correct dynamic motion is ensured by element formulation, and there is no longer a need to maintain zero connection length.

Switch nodes: This column shows if there is a need to switch the order by which PointA and PointB are used in generating rbe2 rigid elements during connector realization. This need is driven solely by dependency considerations of the connected points, since a point that is already dependent cannot be made the dependent point again in the connection element definition. Four possible states of this column are possible. No: If PointA is independent, regardless of the dependency of PointB. Yes: If PointA is dependent, but PointB is independent, in which case PointB will be made the independent point in realizations involving rbe2. Unresolvable: This happens when both PointA and PointB are already dependent, in which case a realization involving rbe2 is not possible, and the connection will fail to realize. Unknown: If PointA’s dependency status is unknown or if PointA is dependent and PointB’s dependency status is unknown.

Forced ID: Force ID's for connectors gives you an option to define the numbering pattern to a connector, so that the connection elements created by realization of those connectors fall in the defined numbering pattern.  

•	Property View : Columns in this view focus on connection property types defined, local coordinate systems used and property set that is active.

•	Location View : Columns in this view focus on the location definition.

5.   To review unattached modules, go to the Assembly browser and select Find Unattached Modules. This action removes all modules attached by connections and provides a good way check if all components shown in the 3D graphics window are intentionally unattached.

6. Similarly, select Find Unattached TagPoints to see if some TagPoints are unattached by accident.

1.   Connection properties can be defined by first selecting a connector, right-click, and select Edit Connection. This opens the General tab of the Connection Manager, where you can edit the connector’s general information including Name, Description and Owning module.

2.  Click Update to save the changes. A connection location type can be defined by selecting one of the options from the pull-down menu: Point A, Point B, Midpoint, or a CustomLocation. When CustomLocation is selected, the location can be defined either by specifying a specific coordinate, or by mapping it to a Hardpoint location.

3.   Click Update to save the changes.

Information related to Connected Points, and distance between them, is displayed in the next section. You can modify any connecting tagpoint by clicking the icon next to its label, which opens the Tagpoint Selection tool. You can then select a module first in the Module pull-down list, select a tagpoint owned by the module, or click the icon and pick a tagpoing on the screen in the 3D graphics window, and then click Select. The tagpoint list can be further filtered by clicking the icon and selecting one of the tagpoint types: Response, Connection, Input, Plot, or All (default).

When checked, the Switch Nodes checkbox allows you to change the independent node from Point A to Point B, based on their dependency status, to avoid an already dependent node being specified as dependent again when the connection is realized into new rigid elements. Connection properties are defined in the States tab of the Connection Manager.

The first step in defining connection properties is to select a State Set. State Set is designed to capture a unique hardware part with its own set of connection properties. For example, hydromount vs. a base rubber part. By default, a base State Set is already created and assigned to the connector. Therefore, unless there is a need for multiple sets of properties, the default base State Set selection does not need to be changed.

4.   To select another State Set click the Edit button. This opens the Select State Set dialog.

State Sets can be added by clicking the icon, or deleted by clicking the icon. You can double-click a State Set to edit its name, and click Select to finalize the selection.

The second step in defining connection properties is to select a LCS (local coordinate system) for the properties to be defined in the next step.

As seen in the screenshot above, four options are available in specifying coordinate systems used by any element generated during connection realization:

When the Owned local coordinate system is selected, a local coordinate system managed in the assembly can be created using the Define Local Coordinate System dialog. Three types of coordinate systems can be defined:

The last step in defining connection properties is to define property states.

As seen in the screenshot above, five options are available in specifying property states:

5.    Click Apply to save each property state definition. Property states can also be imported using the Import From File option by clicking the icon. The Import States dialog opens.  

6.   Browse and select a connection property template file, select a connection property set, and click Import to load the property states.

7.    Repeat the above process for all connections to complete property definition.

An Analysis is a collection of module, connection and loadcase selections that completely specifies the assembly definition for a particular simulation event. The Analysis Manager is invoked by clicking the icon.      

1.   To add an analysis by extracting active module and connection settings, click the  icon. To add an analysis by copying module and connection settings from the selected analysis, click the icon. To add a blank analysis, click the icon.      

The top section of the Analysis Manager is used to define analysis, which is further divided into parts. The first part is for module representation and state selection, the second is for connection state selection and the third part is for loadcase definition.  

5.	Highlight an existing definition or add a new one by clicking the icon.

The lower section of the Analysis Manager is used to apply the module representation and state selections to the modules in the assembly, realize connections to states defined into corresponding FE entities and render the defined loadcase into solver cards. Once an analysis has been applied, the Job options section is enabled.