OptiStruct and Nastran Profiles

The browser’s tree structure lists relevant control cards and loadstep information, organized into folders.


Figure 1.
There are many functions available, accessed by right-clicking on the tree background or on individual or multiple items. For the OptiStruct and Nastran profiles, these options include:
Function Description
New loadstep Create a new loadstep, either from scratch or by creating an exact copy of an existing loadstep.
Edit options Depending on the entity selected, this will bring up an appropriate GUI for editing of the loadstep or control card information.
Edit card Review the selected entity in the HM card editor.
Delete Delete the selected entity or entities.
Rename Rename the selected entity.
Renumber Renumber the selected entity.
Summary table Generates a summary table of the selected loadsteps.
Contour Loads This launches the Contour Loads utility and automatically selects the loadcols associated with the selected loadstep.
Loads summary This launches the Loads Summary utility and automatically selects the loadcols associated with the selected loadstep.
Collapse all/selection Collapses all selected folders and subfolders, or all folders if none are selected.
Expand all/selection Expands all selected folders and subfolders, or all folders if none are selected
Auto-manage load references This option is for users who wish to have existing DLOAD, LOAD, MLOAD, MOTION, MPCADD and SPCADD cards auto-managed. This option creates a copy of loadcols with these card images and converts them into an auto-managed naming convention for easy editing/reviewing inside the Edit options popup.
OptiStruct Opens the OptiStruct panel in HyperMesh.
In addition, every loadstep listed in the tree has a small checkbox next to it as well as an export state indicator. You can click these to toggle them back and forth:
The loadcols in the loadstep display in the HyperMesh graphics area.
The loadcols in the loadstep do not display in the HyperMesh graphics area.
This loadstep will not be exported.
This loadstep will be exported.
Note: When you first open the Loadsteps Browser, all of the loadsteps in the model default to the blank (unchecked) state.

Create a New Loadstep

  1. Right-click anywhere in the Loadsteps Browser and select New loadstep.
    A pop-up window opens, allowing you to:
    • Type in a loadstep name
    • Select the same as option, if desired, then pick an existing loadstep to base the new one on. When this option is active, the new loadstep is an exact copy of the existing one.
  2. Click create.
    Another pop-up window opens, allowing you to edit the loadstep.

Edit a Loadstep

  1. Right-click on the desired loadstep folder, or any subfolder in the Loadsteps Browser, and select Edit.
    Note: This step is skipped when you create a loadstep.
    A pop-up window opens, allowing you to edit the loadstep. The pop-up has several tabs to gather the relevant information.
  2. To activate an option, check the box next to the desired option and fill in the required fields.
    Depending on the Loadstep Type, the list of appropriate Load References will change accordingly. A tree structure lists the load references that are available for the selected loadstep type.
    • A bold reference signifies that the load reference is defined.
    • A red indicator signifies that a load reference is mandatory for the loadstep type and requires attention.
    • A green indicator signifies that a load reference is mandatory for the loadstep type and is defined.
  3. The table on the left lists the loadcols that are valid for a particular load reference, depending on the card image or types of loads contained within.
    • Depending on the load reference selected in the tree, the list will change accordingly.
    • You can sort the loadcols by clicking on the column heading that you wish to sort by (repeated clicks alternate between ascending and descending order).
      Note: You cannot sort based on the display column.
    • Name, ID, Type, and Color filtering is available by using standard filtering syntax (color filtering is based on the HyperMesh color ID number).
  4. The table on the right lists the loadcols currently selected for that load reference. To add a loadcol to the load reference, select the loadcol in the left table and use the right arrow to add the loadcol to the table on the right.
    • If a loadcol is assigned and that loadcol is not appropriate for that particular load reference, a warning message appears to notify you.
    • If a loadcol is assigned and that loadcol does not exist in the database, a warning message appears to notify you.
    • When importing a model, it is possible that the loadstep may reference loadcols that have not been imported (they are in a separate include file). In order to support this, use the Add <unavailable> load reference ID option to modify a loadstep and add in references to loadcols that do not exist in the current model. These references are also listed in the right table with a warning message to notify you that the loadcol does not exist in the database.
  5. To remove a loadcol from the load reference, select the loadcol in the right table and use the left arrow to remove the loadcol.
  6. To select multiple loadcols, use the all/none/reverse buttons where appropriate.
    These buttons select loadcols from the currently active table.
  7. Right-click options allow for additional functionality depending on the current selection.
    Use the Add <unavailable> load reference ID option to add a reference to a loadcol ID that does not currently exist in the database.
  8. Click Accept to apply your changes and close the editing window.

    Alternatively, click cancel to close the window, discarding your changes.

You can also edit multiple loadsteps simultaneously by selecting more than one loadstep in the browser, such as by shift-clicking, before you choose edit options from the right-click menu.
  • For each of the options, if the option values are the same for all selected loadsteps, that option is checked "on" and shown with the appropriate values. If the option values are not the same for all selected loadsteps, that option is checked "off" and shown with the default values.
  • If the loadstep type is not the same for all selected loadstep, it shows a blank value on the Loadstep Type tab.
  • If the loadstep type is not the same, the Load References tab will only display the load reference types that are in common between all of the loadstep types for the selected loadsteps.

Any edits you make will be applied equally to all of the selected loadsteps. Any values that are checked "off" will not be modified, but options checked "on" will all be set to the same values.

Display a Loadstep

  1. Check/uncheck the display checkbox next to the loadstep of interest.
    Additional control is also available at both the Global Options and Loadstep Load References level:


    Figure 2.
  2. Click the display checkboxes for each desired loadstep to check (display) or clear (hide) it.
    • All of the loads contained in a loadcol display regardless of their relevance to the load reference they are assigned to. It is up to you to organize their loads for proper display.
    • Global load references are not checked on/off by selecting or deselecting a loadstep. You must determine the appropriate loadcols to check on/off depending on the loadstep type.
    Note: You can also launch the BCs Contour and Loads Summary utilities from the Loadsteps Browser. The selected utility launches with the loadcols associated with the selected loadstep automatically selected.

Rename, Renumber, Delete or Edit the Card of a Loadstep

  1. Right-click on the appropriate loadstep or loadcol.
  2. Select the desired option from the pop-up menu.
  3. For renaming and renumbering, an entry box appears so that you can enter the appropriate information in the browser.

Edit the Global Options

Editing Global Options works exactly like editing a loadstep, except that the first step is to right-click the Global Options folder or any of its sub-folders, instead of clicking on a specific loadstep’s folder or sub-folder.