Midsurface Thickness Map

Geometric surfaces that represent the mid-plane of a part have thickness information stored in their definition if they are extracted using the HyperMesh midsurface function. The thickness data can be a single value for the entire part or a varying function.

Note: This utility may behave differently under different user profiles.

To access the Midsurface Thickness Map tool, select Mesh > Assign > Midsurface Thickness Map. This opens the tool in a new tab.

Mouse over each option in the image to see a description.

See below for additional explanation on certain tools within the Midsurface Thickness Map tool.

Organization Method
Most solvers only have Z-offset defined on the element card, so this value will always be populated on the element cards for any solver that supports z-offset. In order to execute this mode, a base property named t0 must be defined. The t0 property definition will be used for all created properties based on the option specified in the Organization Method section described below. This option performs the following generic steps:

1. Creates components and properties with name "t[thickness value]" by copying the properties of the base property t0 and assigning the appropriate thickness based on the value of the Organization Method.
2. Assigns to property to its corresponding component.
3. Removes any property assignments to the elements.
4. Organizes the elements that have thickness values within the specified ranges into the new components based on the value of the Organization Method.You can also choose Organize only to create new components and sort the selected elements into them according to the Organization Method.
   

Use Z-Offset values
HyperMesh uses z-offsets when midsurfacing parts that have variable thickness; the z-offset (which is saved as part of the midsurface data) tells a solver how much of a positive-normal offset exists between the actual part surface and the midsurface:

To assign z-offset values to the element cards for supported solvers, check the Use Z-offset values checkbox. This option is only valid for certain user profiles.

Gauge File
Click here for details on the format of the gauge file.

Contour
The Contour is very useful for visualizing and verifying the results of the utility before applying the Midsurface Thickness Map mapping operation. If you choose Properties on elements, Properties on components, or Organize only under the Assign thickness to option, HyperMesh honors the Organization method settings during the contour process and the contour value is assigned based on that organization. This allows the contour to match with the applied results.

If you choose Elements or Properties on components for the Assign thickness to option, and choose to use Nodal values for the Thickness calculation method, the values may not exactly match the nodal values that are actually applied. There can be multiple thicknesses associated to a node if it shares an edge with multiple surfaces. Since HyperMesh can only provide one value for the contour, it always chooses the first value which might not match exactly with all of the applied values in these situations.