Preferences

Configure the view and behavior of HyperWorks CFD.

To open preferences, from the menu bar, click File > Preferences.
Tip: Use the search bar in the top-left of the Preferences dialog to find and filter options.

Application Preferences

General

Show splash screen at startup
Show splash screen when the application starts.
Show Getting Started screen at startup
Show Getting Started when the application starts.
Show export options dialog
Show export options dialog.
Show import options dialog
Show import options dialog.
Show icon labels
Show text labels under the ribbon icons.
Scale UI
Scale icons up in size if screen resolution is more than 2000 pixels for at least one dimension.
Theme
Select a color theme for the interface.
Language
Select a language for the interface.
After changing the language, restart the application for the modification to take effect.
Recent files
Change the number of recently viewed files displayed in the File menu.

Ribbons

Highlight new tools
Highlight new tools with blue text.
Aerospace menu
Show the Aerospace menu with additional tools specially designed for Aerospace modeling practices.
Marine menu
Show the Marine menu with additional tools specially designed for Marine modeling practices.

Selection

Coincident picking
Activate the coincident picking tool when selecting coincident entities.
Supported entities: nodes, elements, loads and systems.
Pick tolerance
Change the maximum distance, in pixels, the cursor can be from a graphical entity in order to select it.

Model Control

Allow off-screen rotation
Keep the center of rotation in the same location even if that center is moved off the screen.
Rotate angle
Change the angle, in degrees, used to rotate the model with the arrow keys.
Zoom factor
Change the multiplication factor used to zoom in/out on the model.

Graphics Preferences

Graphics

Anti-aliasing
All graphic lines are anti-aliased, that is drawn smoother.
Show newly created entities
If new entities are created/updated in a collector that is hidden, this option forces them to be shown. Avoids accidentally creating duplicates.
Tooltips in graphics
Show tooltips when you mouse over entities in the graphics area.
Node level of detail
Node size will vary on zoom in or out of the model in the graphics area, and no longer shows overlapping of nodes.
Lighting
Select a light source.
For one light, select the direction of the light source from the drop-down menu.
Specularity
Change the reflection level of the light source on shaded surfaces.

Mesh

1D elements position
Select where to position 1D elements when viewed in 3D visualization mode.
Thick 1D elements
Double the width of 1D elements.
CAUTION:
Displaying thick mesh lines and thick 1D elements may effectively negate this option, since both types of lines will be displayed in identical thicknesses.
Thick mesh lines
Double the width of mesh lines.
Ply thickness factor
Change the thickness factor used to display plies when viewed in 3D visualization mode.
Shading
Select a light-based shading for elements.
1D zoom detail
Change the proximity at which you need to be zoomed into 1D elements in order to display mesh lines.
2D/3D zoom detail
Change the proximity at which you need to be zoomed into 2D/3D elements in order to display mesh lines.

Geometry

Adjust edge width with zoom
Check this box on to change the geometry line widths dynamically when zooming in and out.
Solid edge width
Geometry solid edge line width thickness.
Zoom detail
Change the proximity at which you need to be zoomed into geometry in order to display geometry lines.

Display

Display Model Info
Show the file path of the current model in the graphics area.

Browsers Preferences

Selection

Autofit graphics
Automatically size graphics to fit inside the display window when performing Show/Hide/Isolate from graphics or a browser.
Autoscroll browser
Automatically scrolls the browser to the selection when an entity is selected graphically.
Autosort
Causes the browser tree to automatically sort items in the tree in alphanumerical order.
Live filtering
Enables live filtering of entities on data modification with a filter applied.
Tree lines
Displays line connections between folders and entities in the hierarchy tree.

Geometry Preferences

Geometry Cleanup Tolerance

Automatic/Manual
Change the default tolerance used to automatically cleanup geometry data when performing geometry creation and cleanup operations.

Face Selection

Geometry feature angle
When entities are selected by face, attached adjacent surfaces are progressively selected as long as the feature angle between them is less than or equal to the mesh feature angle
This angle is also used to detect features on geometry import.

Geometry Creation

Auto-stitching
Select a method for stitching newly created surfaces to the model.
Within same component
Stitch created surfaces to neighboring surfaces that belong to the same component.
Across any component
Stitch created surfaces to all neighboring surfaces.
From attached to selection
Stitch created surfaces to surfaces attached to selected surfaces/edges.
From selection only
Stitch created surfaces to selected surfaces, or surfaces that have edges or vertices selected.

Display

Surface lines
Change the default number of dashed lines to draw on new surfaces when they are displayed with surface lines on.

CAD

Show updates immediately
Show CAD updates as they are made.
Import Options
Opens the CAD Import Preferences dialog.
For more information, see CAD Import.

Meshing Preferences

Element

Default size
Change the default edge length for elements created when meshing.
Element size will be in the same units that the loaded model was created in (mm, inches, and so on).

Node Cleanup Tolerance

Automatic/Manual
Change the tolerance used to maintain finite element data in the model.
Any two nodes are considered to be coincident if the distance between them is less than the node tolerance.

Face Selection

Mesh feature angle
When entities are selected by face, attached adjacent elements are progressively selected as long as the feature angle between them is less than or equal to the mesh feature angle.
This angle will also effect automatic mesh cleanup.

Advanced

Element order
Select whether to create mid-edge nodes on elements when meshing.
First
Create elements using corner nodes only.
Second
Create elements using corner and mid-edge nodes.
Treatment to connected mesh
Select how newly created elements and any adjacent existing elements are connected.
Element organization
Select which component the newly created elements are placed in.
CAD topology revision
Select a remeshing method for revising modified topology.
Keep mesh
Keep existing mesh.
Delete mesh
Delete existing mesh.
Remesh
Remesh using default values.
Note: Node/surface associativity is not always retained, resulting in orphanded elements.
Advanced remesh
Remesh while maintaining node associations with surfaces.
Allow duplicate IDs
Check this box to permit items in different groups to have the same ID.
Duplicate items cannot exist in the same group.
Mixed property warning
Show a warning when components contain both direct and indirectly assigned properties.
Retain loads and BCs
Check this box to not automatically delete loads and boundary conditions that are applied to nodes when remeshing.
Retain Element Values
Check this box in order to retain element value properties, offsets, nodal thicknesses, orientation and 1D element values while remeshing.

Colors Preferences

Axes

Global X
Pick a color to display the X global axis vector.
Global Y
Pick a color to display the Y global axis vector.
Global Z
Pick a color to display the Z global axis vector.
Label
Pick a color to display axis labels.

Surface Edges Display

Free
Pick a color to display surface edges that do not connect to other surfaces.
Shared
Pick a color to display surface edges that connect to two surfaces.
T-Junctions
Pick a color to display edges shared by three or more surfaces.
Suppressed
Pick a color to display shared edges that have been manually suppressed so that the automesher treats the shared surfaces as if they were one surface, allowing elements to cross the edge as if it were not there at all.

3D Solid Edges

Free
Pick a color to display surface edges that do not connect to other surfaces.
Shared
Pick a color to display surface edges that connect to two surfaces.
T-Junctions
Pick a color to display edges shared by three or more surfaces.
Suppressed
Pick a color to display shared edges that have been manually suppressed so that the automesher treats the shared surfaces as if they were one surface, allowing elements to cross the edge as if it were not there at all.

3D Solid Faces Display

Partial split
Pick a color to display surfaces that partially split 3D solid entities.
Bounding faces
Pick a color to display the outer faces of solid entities.
Partition faces
Pick a color to display the faces of adjoined solids.
2D surfaces
Pick a color to display 2D faces that are not part of solids.
Ignored faces
Pick a color to display 2D faces.
Component edges
Pick a color to display mesh edges when the geometry visualization mode is set to by comp.

Mappable

Ignore
Pick a color to display solids that require partitioning to become mappable.
Not mappable
Pick a color to display solids that have been modified, but still require further partitioning to create mappable solids.
1 direction mappable
Pick a color to display solids that can be mapped in one direction for 3D meshing.
3 direction mappable
Pick a color to display solids that can be mapped in three directions for 3D meshing.

Elements

Mesh line
Pick a color to display the lines of mesh, which indicate the edges of mesh elements.
No Prop/Mat
Pick a color to display elements that do not have properties or materials assigned to them.
Elements can be assigned properties and materials directly, or they can be inherited from the collectors the elements reside in.

Plies

Link color and orientation
Auto update colors based on ply orientation.
0
Pick a color to display plies having an orientation angle of 0.
90
Pick a color to display plies having an orientation angle of 90.
45
Pick a color to display plies having an orientation angle of 45.
-45
Pick a color to display plies having an orientation angle of -45.
Other
Pick a color to display plies having an orientation angle other than -45, 0, 45, 90.

Legend

Transparency
Allow legend background transparency.
Background color
Pick a color for the legend background.

Performance Preferences

Undo/Redo

Number of undo actions
Change the number of undo/redo actions that can consecutively be performed.
Maximum undo memory (MB)
Change the maximum amount of memory that can be used for undo/redo operations.

Display

Geometry faceting
Select a level of refinement level to control how smooth curved surfaces and lines display when closely zoomed in.
Note: The degree of faceting is arbitrarily numbered from 1 to 5, with 5 being the most refined and 1 being the coarsest. Higher values may affect rendering performance. Select Auto to automatically increase the geometry resolution when zooming in on a model.
Hover highlighting
Highlight entities on mouse hover.
Transparent Highlight
Transparent display of selected entities.

Model Rotation

View simplification
Select a model element to produce a smoother animation of when rotating and panning the model.
The calculation and rendering of the model element will be abstained until the model stops moving.
Dynamic center of rotation
Dynamic center during model rotation.
Simplify current component
Retain full detail of the current component during view simplification.
Check this box to apply the view simplification to the current component, along with the other components.
Hide handles during rotation
Auto hide element handles during model rotation.

Debug

Write to command file
Check this box off to disable writing each command to the command file.
Display information message
Check this box to display information messages in the status bar while a script is running.
Display error messages
Check this box to display error messages in the status bar while a script is running.
Entity highlighting
Highlight entities in the modeling window upon selection while a script is running.
Graphics redraw
Check this box to redraw graphics while a script is still running.

Appearance Preferences

Connectors

Size
Change the display size, in model units, of connectors.
Color by
Select a color scheme to define how connectors are color-coded.

Colors cannot be changed for each item, but clearing the box next to each item turns its display off.

Display cylinder bolts
Show cylinder bolts.
Cylinder transparency
Adjust the level of transparency for cylinder bolts.
Display CWELDS
Show a graphical representation of the CWELD definition.

Constraints

Labels
Show constraint labels.
Size
Change the display size, in model units, of constraints.

Context Menu

Show quick exit button
Display the quit exit option in the right-click context menu when a tool is active.

Elements

Show element handle
Show element labels and handles.
Show equation handle
Change the display size of handles on equations.
Shrink factor
Change the shrink factor used to draw elements.
A shrink size of zero draws each element so that its corners directly connect to its nodes. A shrink size greater than zero scales the element by the specified value about its centroid so that its corners do not appear to touch its nodes. The shrink size must be between 0 and 1.

Geometry

Show line handle
Show free line handles.

Handle Labels

Solver/HyperMesh
Select which labels to display for elements and loads when the option to show those handles is on.

Lines

Show line directions
Show markers on line entities in the modeling window to indicate the direction of the line.

Loads

Show load handle
Show load labels.
Show load magnitude
Show labels on load entities.
Supported loads: forces, moments, pressures, accelerations, velocities, temperatures, fluxes.
Arrow position
Select which end of the load line to display load arrow.
Pixel based scaling
Set new scaling options.
Base size
Change the base size of loads.
Limits
Set scale type fixed or limits on load entities.
Min
Change the minimum size of loads.
Max
Change the maximum size of loads.

Morphing

Show domain handle
Show domain handles.
Handle Size
Change the display size, in model units, of morphing handles.
Symmetry size
Change the display size, in model units, of morphing symmetries.
Volume edge points
Change the number of points each morph volume edge will use to represent curves.
Use larger numbers for smoother curves, and smaller numbers for faster rendering.
Volume face transparency
Select the level of transparency to display flat faces of morph volumes.
Wireframe
Only the morph volume edges and handles display.
Transparent
Faces display semi-opaque.
Opaque
Morph volumes' transparency is set to zero.
Colors
Domains
Pick a color to display morph domains.
Faces
Pick a color to display morph faces.
Morph Volumes
Pick a color to display morph volumes.
Symmetries
Pick a color to display morph symmetries.

Post

Bitmap animation
Render animation sequences as a series of 2D images instead of full 3D modeling.
Contours
Select a result contour type.
Discrete contours
Produces discrete color bands on contour plots with distinct boundaries between contour levels.
Blended contours
Interpolates the contour colors from the undeformed shape (with a zero value) to the result variable reported from the solver.

Scale

Show scale
Enabling this option will display the scale regardless of the current tool.
Position
Position of the scale.
Size
Size of the scale.
Color
Pick a color to display.

Selection

Selection color
Pick a color for selection highlights.

Systems

Size
Change display size, in model units, of systems.

Tags

Push tags to foreground
Push all of the active tags to the foreground of the modeling window.
If the entity the tag is attached to is visible, the tag will also display. If the entity is not visible, the tag will be hidden.
Text
Select the type of text to display along with tags.
Icon
Select how tags display.

Topology

Solid transparency
Adjust the transparency level of solid entities.

Triad

Show global axes
Display the global xyz axis.

Vectors

Show vector handles
Show handles on vector entities.
Show labels
Show labels on vector entities.
Size
Vector size.
Automatic
Vector size is set automatically.
Percentage
Size as a percentage of the vector value.
Uniform
Vector size is uniform.

Plots

Show plots
Show plots when loading model.

Mouse Control Preferences

General

Presets
Select whether to use HyperWorks CFD or Legacy mouse controls.
Quick advanced selection
Hold Alt to enable advanced selection of elements by face or edges and nodes and lines by path.
Auto append selection
Always add to the current selection in idle mode without holding Ctrl.
Reverse zoom direction
Reverse scroll wheel direction.