14.0 Release Highlights

Altair® HyperWorks® is the most comprehensive, open architecture CAE simulation platform in the industry. It offers the best technologies to design and optimize high performance, weight efficient, and innovative products.

HyperWorks includes best-in-class modeling, linear and nonlinear analyses, structural and system-level optimization, fluid and multibody dynamics simulation, electromagnetic compatibility (EMC), multi-physics analysis, model-based development, and data management solutions.

Our goal at Altair has always been to provide the best technology at the highest value to our customers, and the HyperWorks® 14.0 release is no exception.

The suite offers hundreds of new features, enabling you to continue to develop better products in shorter timescales. New and enhanced capabilities include:

•	Efficient parts and assemblies management

•	Extremely fast graphic engine, to handle even the largest models

•	New solutions for linear and nonlinear structural analysis

•	Multiphysics analysis structural, electromagnetic and fluid flow phenomenon

•	Optimization-based analysis and system-level design exploration

The following sections provide a quick overview of new and enhanced capabilities included in the new release.

Modeling and Visualization Capabilities

A new part-based workflow is available, bringing modularization to HyperMesh. One of its primary benefits is that it promotes flow of data from PDM to HyperMesh. Full representation management and configuration management are enabled with new data redundancy checks to ensure model integrity. The data can be read indirectly from PDM, via PLMXML, so the hierarchical structure is read and populated within HyperMesh. With the part-based workflow, the possibility of a common model approach is enabled.

A new browser-based workflow for meshing has been implemented. This workflow utilizes the new "mesh control" entity. This new entity enables the definition of formal, centralized, reusable meshing scenarios.

The Connector Entity Editor (CEE) can be found in the lower part of the Connector browser and gives easy access to all important connector attributes of currently selected connectors. With the CEE it’s now possible to precisely change single attributes and realize various connectors at once. All attributes are described with tooltips.

A new history mechanism has been introduced, enabling undo/redo operations for most of the geometry and meshing operations. The functionality is particularly focused on entity creation and editing.

Users with various levels of expertise can benefit from Automate. Engineers and analysts can run processes more efficiently. Methods teams and administrators can provide their customers with easy-to-use tools that incorporate best practices and advanced expertise.

Automate is a new and advanced utility in the HyperWorks Desktop environment for easily creating and executing process-based workflows. It allows users to add blocks, which can consist of several individually programmed tasks. The environment provides drag and drop functionality to arrange these blocks into a desired process.

HyperWorks 14.0 is extremely fast, handling even the largest models, paving the road to photo-realistic visualization of FE-models. Performance increase - compared to the previous HyperWorks 13.0 version - is up to 15x for large FE models with solid elements and up to 60x for geometry models, while using less hardware memory.

Analysis and Optimization

HyperWorks solver technology includes Finite-Element-Based Linear and Nonlinear Structural Analysis, design and optimization capabilities (OptiStruct), Finite-Element-Based Highly Nonlinear Structural Analysis under dynamic loading (RADIOSS), Thermal and Fluid Analysis (AcuSolve), computational electromagnetics (FEKO) as well as multibody simulation (MotionSolve). Combined with design optimization technology and multi-physics capabilities, HyperWorks enables users to drive the product-development process and make reliable decisions based on high-quality results.

With the HyperWorks 14.0 release, Altair continues a successful mix by adding new functionality to accommodate customer needs and latest research results, combined with usability enhancements and performance improvements by leveraging the latest computing technology.

Many new capabilities have been introduced to reinforce Altair’s leadership in simulation-driven design and design-oriented, optimization-enabled solutions:

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Concept Design: The greatest flexibility to impact the design of a product is at the conceptualization phase. To take advantage of this flexibility, methods aimed at driving design concepts should be employed at this stage. OptiStruct enhancements in this area include a new alternate optimization algorithm, 3D topology optimization for RADIOSS nonlinear analysis.

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Lattice Structure Design: A first-to-market solution for the design and optimization of lattice structures has been implemented in OptiStruct. Lattice structures are frequently used in designs for 3D printing. Based on well-established topology optimization technology, this novel solution is able to provide design concepts for a blended solid-and-lattice type structure.

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Composites Layout: In addition to the several enhancements included in OptiStruct and RADIOSS for composites design and analysis, HyperWorks now includes Multiscale Designer, a mathematically rigorous practical tool for the seamless integration of modeling, simulation, testing, and optimization of engineered products involving materials of multiple spatial and temporal scales.

An expanded number of solution types and material models broaden HyperWorks’ multi-physics offering. Here are some highlights:

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Contact: New contact algorithms have been implemented in OptiStruct. Finite sliding contact has been shown to be very effective modeling gears and other sliding problems. The fast small sliding contact algorithm provides up to 10 times faster analysis while giving same accuracy as the full-fledged iterative solution. MotionSolve now provides a new 3D rigid-to-rigid contact which is robust and fast.

•	Large Displacement Finite Elements: OptiStruct capabilities are more complete including now 1D elements like beams, bars, and bushings as well as follower forces.

•	Vibrations and Acoustics: OptiStruct solution speed has been further improved. Unique techniques like One-Step Transfer Path Analysis as well as BIOT materials have been made more robust and user friendly.

•	Crash Worthiness and Impact: Major improvements for airbags, in particular RADIOSS Starter capability to generate automatic Finite Volume Mesh for folded complex airbags to account for internal airbag topology.

•	Heat Transfer: In OptiStruct, transient temperature at multiple time steps can now be applied in thermal-structure coupling analysis, Thermal contact has been enhanced.

•	Materials and Failure: The library of material and failure models in RADIOSS has been further expanded. Thermal expansion and damage output are now possible. XFEM has been expanded to more use cases.

•	Advanced Driver and Road: Automotive multibody simulation library for MotionSolve has been expanded for full vehicle simulations using advanced driver and road models.

•	Turbulence Modeling – AcuSolve k-ω was improved to be more stable and accurate.

Altair HyperWorks utilizes parallel computer architectures for enhanced solvers performance:

•	High Scalability on CPU: RADIOSS scalability of up 8,192 cores and beyond on a 15 million-element model has been shown. OptiStruct parallelism has been further developed.

•	Fast Eigen Solutions: OptiStruct normal modes and frequency response analysis has been made faster through further improvement of numerical solver capabilities.

FEKO joins the Altair family and is included as part of the HyperWorks simulation software platform. In the 14.0 release FEKO boasts numerous extensions to both its user interface and electromagnetic solvers. Highlights include curvilinear segments, complete application automation for CADFEKO, script recording and extensions to higher order basis functions (HOBF).

The GUI components have been extended to support all new features and solution techniques in the FEKO solver. In addition to supporting the new solver features, numerous other features and improvements have also been implemented.

Value-based Business Model

HyperWorks stretches your software dollar through a patented, value-based license management system called HyperWorks Units, which allows metered usage of the entire suite of products. This value-based licensing model has been extended to partners’ products, providing a dynamic and on-demand platform which now also includes cloud-based solutions.

When you sign up for HyperWorks, you become eligible to download our entire suite of Altair Partner Alliance solutions. We have revolutionized the way you obtain software by eliminating the hurdles that prevent you from getting what you need. So at virtually no extra cost, your team can access a growing library of solutions that complement our own technology using a single pool of recyclable units.

An alternative solver licensing scheme has been implemented. This new scheme is compute node-based versus the traditional licensing per job. The solver license is associated with the total number of compute nodes used simultaneously by all solver jobs. This provides a great value for massive use of HyperWorks solvers.

•	Altair's innovative HyperWorks licensing model hosts licenses on the cloud, called Hosted HyperWorks Units (HHWU). This offering provides users with instant portability to their HyperWorks units, eliminating the IT burden of maintaining a license server in-house.

•	Continuing the legacy, HyperWorks 14.0 expands the availability of HHWU to the next-generation, cloud-based licensing system. In this new system, HyperWorks can be accessed from anywhere.

•	HHWU allows increased portability and scalability and reduced IT burden in maintaining a license server.

•	Please contact an Altair representative to learn how to take advantage of the added value and how your current licenses can be moved to the cloud.

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Altair's CAE cloud solutions capitalize on our unique position in the industry and experience in offering engineers and scientists the flexibility to run simulations. Users are able to run CAE simulations instantly on their desktops anywhere by leveraging our Hosted HyperWorks Units (HHWU). Customers can further extend their experience with enterprise capabilities to scale on-premise (HyperWorks Unlimited – Physical Appliance) or scale out to the public cloud (HyperWorks Unlimited – Virtual Appliance), while simultaneously keeping track of the entire simulation data with Altair's Simulation Cloud Suite. In all of the cases, users are provided with a comprehensive and intuitive web-based interface for managing data and knowledge in the cloud.

•	Altair's technical cloud solutions address the unique needs of enterprises by simplifying access to an HPC infrastructure, allowing engineers and scientists to focus on their work rather than deciding how and where their jobs are executed.

The Altair Partner Alliance continues to expand its portfolio of third-party technology.

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Applications from upwards of 40 strategic partners can be directly accessed with HyperWorks Units in the following domains: durability and fatigue, computational fluid dynamics, impact analysis, noise-vibration-harshness, electromagnetic analysis, 1D systems simulation, injection molding simulation, process structure interaction, composite modeling, stress analysis, material libraries, thermal analysis, complexity management, casting simulation, multibody dynamics analysis, project management, rendering, and rapid prototyping.

Ideation and Conceptual Design

solidThinking Inspire enables design engineers, product designers, and architects to create and investigate structurally efficient concepts quickly and easily. Inspire enhances the design process by generating a new material layout within a package space using the loads as an input. The software is easy to learn and works with existing CAD tools to help design structural parts right the first time, reducing costs, development time, material consumption, and product weight.

Key updates for Inspire 2015 include:

•	Fasteners and Joints: Connect multiple parts in a model using bolts, screws, pins, or sliding pins. Inspire’s workflow identifies areas in the model with aligned holes to make the process easy and intuitive.

•	Contacts: Users can now designate whether neighboring parts should be bonded, contacting, or have no contact for more realistic optimization results.

•	Gravity Loads: G loads can now be added to a model through the Model Browser.

•	Updated User Interface: To accommodate the new tools offered in Inspire 2015, a new ribbon style interface organizes the tools into tabs. Users are able to customize the tabs to tailor the workflow to their process.

•	Faster Geometry Functions: Geometry functions in the program are running up to 300% faster than previous versions of Inspire.

solidThinking Evolve allows industrial designers to develop forms faster, using either Windows or OS X. It enables you to capture an initial sketch, explore styling alternatives, and visualize products with realistic renderings generated in real time. Evolve provides organic surface modeling and parametric control, with NURBS-based surfaces and solids and a unique ConstructionTree history feature.

Key enhancements for solidThinking Evolve 2015 include:

•	New PolyNURBS toolset with Nurbify: Convert a polygonal model to an organic NURBS surface with a single click using the new Nurbify tool.

•	Photorealistic rendering: A completely redesigned rendering tool creates life-like images with an enhanced user interface.

•	Improved surface modeling: Enhancements to the surface modeling toolset create a seamless experience with greater control over modeling outcomes.

•	Better user interface: An updated user interface focuses on creating more efficient workflows.

•	Greater compatibility: Now compatible with 64-bit Mac OS X.

Design Exploration

HyperStudy 14.0 provides several exciting new features that enable users to explore designs more thoroughly and efficiently than ever before. From quickly picking your design parameters in HyperMesh to a new streamlined response definition experience, getting HyperStudy setup to run your investigation has never been easier.

The new inclusion matrix allows optimizers to utilize existing run information, increasing the optimizer’s efficiency and making the most out of your data. The automatic cross-validation check can save time by calculating checks on the Fit quality without a dedicated validation matrix.

Vertical Solutions

HyperWorks 14.0 extends the offer for manufacturing and engineering solutions, with new functionalities and an innovative delivery model to better capture knowledge for vertical processes.

Today's extrusion companies are forced to produce a higher mix of complex profiles in shorter product development cycles while simultaneously reducing their production costs. HyperXtrude is a simulation tool developed to analyze and validate the design of extrusion dies and process.

HyperXtrude® 2015 introduced a new CAD interface for HyperXtrude solver and takes giant leap to a direct CAD to solution approach. This approach automated and hid the meshing and data deck creation; and completely relegated it to the background. Hence, after creating the CAD model user submitted the job for analysis. HyperXtrude 2015 supports steady state and transient metal extrusion, tool deflection, and bearing optimization analysis.

Virtual Wind Tunnel is a vertical application to perform wind tunnel simulations of vehicles in an efficient, accurate and robust manner. An intuitive user interface streamlines the process to define parameters for meshing as well as CFD case setup. The definition of physical objects, like rotating wheels or heat exchangers, includes intelligent automation to reduce the user interaction to a minimum.

Automatic report generation is embedded in the system to summarize information about the numerical model, such as mesh statistics or boundary conditions, as well as the aerodynamic results, like lift and drag coefficient.

Based on Altair’s CFD solver AcuSolve, Virtual Wind Tunnel delivers highly accurate results and provides a platform for short product development cycles.

The HyperWorks Solutions are specialized packages of software and services that support the implementation and utilization of Altair’s solutions and technologies, tailorable to meet customers’ specific requirements and automate CAE workflows. Solutions include:

•	Reporting Automation Director: Streamlines the often time-consuming tasks associated with the mechanics of results generation and reporting, allowing focus to remain on the interpretation and understanding of results.

•	NVH Director: Designed to reduce the simulation cycle time, freeing CAE engineers to focus on optimizing product design and performance.

•	Impact Simulation Director: Automate the laborious, manual tasks associated with model set-up, analysis, post-processing and reporting.

•	Squeak & Rattle Director: Offers a complete set of capabilities to streamline the entire S&R simulation workflow process from model creation to results visualization.