OptiStruct Interface

Overview of the OptiStruct interface.

  • The OptiStruct user profile is designed to support OptiStruct version 2020.1, although several entries are unsupported.
  • Elements of different types (solids, shells, bars, and so on) should be organized into separate components. This is most important for shell and solid elements where the component card image contains the referenced property definition.
  • On importing an input file:
    • The interface requires that continuation cards follow the referencing card. An error message is issued if the continuation card does not follow the referencing card.
    • Warnings and error messages are displayed in an Import Process Messages pop-up window and are also written to a file in the current run directory called optistruct.msg.
    • If a line in the input file that is not a continuation line and starts with a keyword that is not recognized or supported, then the entire card gets written to the appropriate unsupported card section (CTRL_UNSUPPORTED_CARD, SUBCASE_UNSUPPORTED or BULK_UNSUPPORTED_CARD). Also, if the name of a PARAM or DOPTPRM entry is unrecognized, it is stored as an UNSUPPORTED_PARAM or UNSUPPORTED_DOPTPRM, respectively.
    • If the continuation line for a supported card is formatted incorrectly or if a certain feature for a recognized keyword is not supported, then the corresponding line gets written to the .hmx file.
  • The bulk data input translator supports free, fixed and large field formats.
  • Two templates are available for exporting and viewing (editing) OptiStruct cards. The OptiStruct template outputs all cards in single precision, fixed format. The optistructlf template outputs System, Grid, Element, Load, Subcase, Property, Material, and Optimization cards in fixed, double precision (Long) format.
  • Engineering Solutions reads and writes certain Engineering Solutions commands to the OptiStruct input files as comments. These comment cards enable the preservation of pre-defined preferences across sessions. It is strongly suggested that you do not hand edit these cards.
  • All settings necessary to interface with OptiStruct can be loaded by their respective user profiles.