Importing an FE Model File

Engineering Solutions supports the following FE import file formats:

Finite Element:	OptiStruct, RADIOSS, AcuSolve, LS-DYNA, Nastran, FLUENT, C-Mold, MoldFlow, StarCD, CFD++, SC/Tetra, OpenFoam, CGNS
Custom:	Uses custom FE input translators (created by customers for any internal or proprietary solvers) to import finite element models.

1.	Click File > Import > Solver Deck or click the Import Solver Deck icon on the Standard toolbar. This opens the Import tab.

From the File Type drop-down list, select the solver-specific file type you want to import. This field is automatically set to the solver-specific file type of the currently loaded user profile. If Custom is chosen as the file type, a Reader field appears. Browse to locate the appropriate reader and click Open.

3.	In the File field, click the folder icon to browse for the file to import. Once the file is selected, click Open.

4.	To set advanced import options, click ∨ Import Options to expand the panel.

5.	If accepting the default import settings, click Import to import your file.

1.	The Import field defines the type of entities to import. Options include All or Custom.

•	All imports all entities in the selected file.

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Custom allows you to select which entities will be imported from the selected file. To define which entities to import, click Select Entities. In the window that opens, activate checkboxes as desired to import those selected entities. When finished, click OK to return to the Import tab. The import behavior for each entity is specified in import behavior.

The Display field allows you to decide if newly imported load collectors and/or system collectors should be displayed on or off. This can help improve the performance for FE input models containing large numbers of loads/systems. This is supported for all import readers. Existing load collectors and system collectors are not affected by this option. Display options include All or Custom.

•	All gives the behavior of all previous Engineering Solutions versions, where newly imported load collectors and system collectors are displayed on.

•	Custom gives you the ability to select exactly what entities to display on or off by clicking Select Entities.

3.	Solver-specific import options can be set by clicking Select Options. A window appears with various options, depending on the file (solver) type selected in Step 3. This option is only available for OptiStruct and RADIOSS solvers.

Model organization options for how a model is imported can be defined using the Create comps and Assign props fields. These will determine how components are created as well as how properties are assigned to elements during import. Each solver interface might work differently for these options, but general behavior is as follows:

Create comps Allows you to choose how the components are created on import

•	The By HM Comments option will honor the comments $HMNAME COMP, $HMMOVE and $HMDPRP in the selected file that were created by HyperMesh in any previous export of the model.

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The By Property option will ignore any $HMNAME COMP, $HMMOVE and $HMDPRP comments that may be in the selected file and will automatically create components based on each property in the file. The component name will be the name of the property. The property will also be created and assigned to the component, not the elements. (View a diagram of the data hierarchy)

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The By 1 Component option will ignore any $HMNAME COMP, $HMMOVE and $HMDPRP comments that may be in the selected file and will create one component into which all elements in the selected file will be organized. Properties will be created and assigned directly to the elements. (View a diagram of the data hierarchy)

Assign props Allows you to choose how properties are assigned to elements on import

•	The By HM Comments option will honor the $HMNAME COMP, $HMMOVE and $HMDPRP comments and assign properties to elements accordingly. Any elements listed in the $HMDPRP comment will have their property directly assigned and the remaining elements will take their property from the component.

•	The On Element option will honor the $HMNAME COMP and $HMMOVE comments, but will directly assign properties to all elements based on their card definitions

•	The On Component option will honor the $HMNAME COMP and $HMMOVE comments, while leaving all elements to take their property from their components.

Note:

It is important to understand that elements can take a property assignment from the component in which it resides, or it can have a property directly assigned to it. Direct assignment takes precedence over component assignment. Please refer to the corresponding Nastran and OptiStruct documentations for details.

5.	Make a selection in the Include files field:

preserve includes	Preserves the data in individual include files along with their references in the master model. You can review the contents of individual include files via the Model browser. When exporting, entities are written into the corresponding include files along with their references in the master file.
skip includes	The data in the include files is not imported. The include references are maintained and are written out to the master model during export.
merge includes	The contents from the all include files are imported into the model but their references are not maintained. When exporting, all entities are written into the master file.

6.	Activate the checkbox for FE overwrite. This option allows you to overwrite the entities that have matching IDs. If checked off, the IDs are offset to avoid duplicates.

7.	If the ID Offset checkbox is activated, click Define Offsets to adjust offset settings. This window allows you to define the value by which each entity should be offset. Check the Display import errors box to display any errors that occur during the import procedure.

8.	Click Import to apply the settings and import the model.