Reference orientation specifies the 0° 1-direction for each ply. Reference
orientation is set either by element or by property and is a rotation from the
default solver element system x direction. Specific definitions vary by user
profile.HyperMesh supports common methods of
material orientation for each user profile. For example, the OptiStruct convention is shown in the following image. Figure 1.
Material orientation can be set in the Composite Browser (v2020.1 and later) (View > Browsers > HyperMesh > Composite), Composite Panel 2d > Composites > Material Orientation, or in the Aerospace Material Orientation Tab (Engineering Solutions > Aerospace User Profile > Aerospace > Composites > Material Orientation).
The composites panel is convenient for methods that involve vector projection or
system assignment. The Material Orientation tool should be used to assign an
orientation by curve.
