Manufacturing Solutions

HX-0000: Introduction to HyperXtrude

HX-0000: Introduction to HyperXtrude

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HX-0000: Introduction to HyperXtrude

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HyperXtrude® is a finite element program that enables you to:

Analyze material flow and heat transfer problems in extrusion and rolling applications
Perform several analyses starting from a coarse mesh
Perform mesh refinements automatically
Solve problems commonly encountered in the metal and polymer extrusion industries where materials undergo plastic deformation
Solve both isothermal and non-isothermal flows
Handle several material models with robust solution algorithms

The process flow for a typical HyperXtrude run is shown in the diagram below:

 

The HyperXtrude Solution Process


HX_0000_01

HyperXtrude process flow

The HyperMesh Window


HX_0000_02

There are several main areas in the window:

Area

Description

Title bar

The bar across the top of the interface is the title bar. It contains the version number you are running and the name of the current file.

Graphics area

The graphics area under the title bar is the display area for your model. You can interact with the model in three-dimensional space, in real time. In addition to viewing the model, entities can be selected interactively from the graphics area.

Menu bar

Located just under the title bar.  Like the drop down menus in many graphical user interface applications, these menus "drop down" a list of options when clicked.  Use these options to access different areas of functionality.

Toolbar

These buttons provide quick access to commonly used functions, such as changing display options.

Command Window

You can type HyperMesh commands directly into this text box and execute them instead of using the graphical user interface.

Utility Menu

This area contains macros and steps that guide the user to create HyperXtrude solver input files. Other macro pages also available and the content of the Utility Menu changes based upon the selected user profile.

Status bar

Any warning or error messages display in the status bar. Warning messages appear in green and error messages appear in red.

Panel menu

The panel menu displays for each page the functions available on that page. You access those functions by clicking on the button corresponding to the function you wish to use.

 

Utility Menu


The Utility menu allows you to customize the standard interface to include: buttons, radio options, and text that has HyperMesh-supplied and user-defined macros associated with it. The menu can be docked on either the left or right side of the graphics area.

A macro file controls the display and available operations of the Utility menu. Attributes that you can change include:

Page that displays the menu
Text to be displayed on the control
Location and size of the menu
Help message to be displayed on the menu bar
Macro to call, with optional arguments to pass

 

Using the Mouse


The mouse attached to your system is integral to HyperMesh and can be used in almost every aspect of user input. A two- or three-button mouse may be used.

The mouse buttons have these functions:

Button

Function

Left mouse button

Performs selection operations.

Right mouse button

Deselects entities in the graphics area.   Aborts graphics operations.

Middle mouse button

In the rotate (r) and arc dynamic motion (a) modes, selects a new center of rotation when you pick a node in the model.

CRTL + left mouse button

Dynamically rotates the model

CRTL + middle mouse button

Zooms into an area of the model

CRTL + right mouse button

Pans the model

You can also use CTRL + C and CTRL + V to copy and paste text and numeric information.

 

HyperXtrude User Profile


HyperMesh is designed to accommodate many different FE solvers. As a result, some panels may be too general for HyperXtrude users. By selecting the HyperXtrude user profile, you can work with pre-defined panels that are more specific to HyperXtrude usage.

Step 1: Load the HyperXtrude user profile

1.From the Start menu select: All Programs > Altair > HyperXtrude to launch the HyperXtrude user interface.
2.The User Profiles dialog appears with Manufacturing Solutions as the default application. If it does not appear, you can access it from the menu bar by clicking Preferences > User Profiles.
3.Select HyperXtrude and Metal Extrusion.
4.Click OK.

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HyperXtrude Utility Menu


The buttons in the Utility Menu fall into three categories: a) shortcuts to native HyperMesh panels, b) TK popup menus, and c) opens other macro panels.

Import Data

CAD

Import CAD drawing

HM

Import a HyperMesh file

HX

Import HyperXtrude mesh (*.grf file) and the parameter (*.hx) files with process parameters

Select Units

Set the units used in modeling the problem

2D Elems

Control 2D element display

3D Elems

Control 3D element display

BCs

Control display of loads

Lines

Control display of lines

Surfs

Control display of surfaces

Clear Temp Nodes

Remove all temporary nodes

Extrusion Wizard

Process automation tool to help create HyperXtrude analysis files

Material Data

Select materials from material database and assign material properties to different components. You can also view Viscosity/Flow stress graph for a material

Boundary Conditions

Create/Edit BC

Define and assign boundary conditions on element faces

Check Undefined BC

Check for the element faces without any loads defined for them

Check Duplicate BC

Identify element faces with duplicate loads

Update 7.0 BC

Read old data files created for HyperXtrude 7.0 and converts boundary conditions to native HyperMesh format

Process Data

Parameters

Specify run control parameters

Extract Points

Define solution monitoring points in the mesh

Model Summary

Displays a summary of number and types of elements in the model

Export Data

HX

Create HyperXtrude data files

Save HM

Save the data in HyperMesh format

Launch Solver

Launch the HX Solver using the current model, using the data deck or using a restart file

Step 2: Retrieve a HyperMesh Database File

The model files for this tutorial are located in the file mfs-1.zip in the subdirectory \hx\MetalExtrusion\. See Accessing Model Files.

To work on this tutorial, it is recommended that you copy this folder to your local hard drive where you store your HyperXtrude data, for example, “C:\Users\HyperXtrude\” on a Windows machine. This will enable you to edit and modify these files without affecting the original data. In addition, it is best to keep the data on a local disk attached to the machine to improve the I/O performance of the software.

1.From the File menu, click Open.
2.Browse to the file HX_0000.hm.
3.Click Open.

Step 3: Save Your Work as a HyperMesh Binary Database

1.From the File menu, click Save As.
2.Type the file name in the file browser. Make sure to give it a .hm file extension.
3.Click Save.

 

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