HM-3430: Part Replacement Through Connectors

In this step you will open and view the model file.

1. Start HyperMesh Desktop.
2. In the User Profile dialog, select OptiStruct
3. Click OK.
4. Open a model file by clicking File > Open > Model from the menu bar, or by clicking on the Standard toolbar.
5. In the Open Model dialog, open the frame_assembly_3.hm file.
   A model appears in the graphics area.
6. Observe the model using various visualization options available, such as rotation and zooming.

In this step you will load the Connector Browser.

1. Open the Connector Browser by clicking View > Browsers > HyperMesh > Connector from the menu bar.
2. Review the layout of the Connector Browser. Currently there are no components or connectors listed because there are no connectors in the model.
   Note: You can use the Connector Browser to view and manage the connectors in your model. The top portion of the browser is referred to as the Link Entity Browser, and it displays information about the linked entities in your model. The middle portion is referred to as the Connector Entity Browser, and it contains a list of the connectors in your model. The bottom portion of the browser is referred to as the Connector Entity Editor, and it displays attributes assigned to the connector(s) selected in the Connector Entity Browser. HyperMesh groups the connectors based on their connection type.

   
   
   Figure 1.

In this step you will import rear_truss_1_new.hm to set up the link update.

1. In the Model Browser, Component folder, right-click on Rear_Truss_1 and select Isolate from the context menu.

   
   
   Figure 2.

2. From the menu bar, click File > Import > Model.
3. Under File selection, click .
4. In the Open dialog open the file, rear_truss_1_new.hm.
5. Click Import.
   HyperMesh imports rear_truss_1_new on top of rear_truss_1.

   
   
   Figure 3.

In this step you will use the Connector Browser to update the connector links to the new component.

1. In the Connector Browser, Link Entity Browser, right-click on Rear_Truss_1 and select Find Attached from the context menu.
2. In the Connector Entity Browser, right-click on any of the highlighted connector names and select Update Link from the context menu.
3. In the Update window, click the Link Select field in the Search column.

   
   
   Figure 4.

4. In the panel area, click component.
5. Select the component, Rear_Truss_1.
6. Click proceed.
   HyperMesh inserts Rear_Truss_1 into the Link Select field.

   
   
   Figure 5.

7. In the Replace column, click the Link Select field.
8. In the panel area, click component.
9. Select Rear_Truss_1.1.
10. Click proceed.
    HyperMesh inserts Rear_Truss_1.1 in the Link Select field.

    
    
    Figure 6.

11. Click Update.
    The connector links are updated.
12. Close the Update window by clicking X next to Update.

In this step you will realize the connectors in the component Con_Rear_Truss.

1. In the Model Browser, Component folder, right-click on Con_Rear_Truss and select Make Current from the context menu.
2. Open the Spot panel by right-clicking in the Connector Entity Browser and selecting Create > Spot from the context menu.
3. Go the realize subpanel.
4. Click connectors >> displayed.
5. Click type= and select weld.
6. In the tolerance= field, type 10.
7. Set the mesh dependent/mesh independent toggle to mesh dependent.
8. Under mesh dependent, set the adjust realization/adjust mesh toggle to adjust realization.
9. Click realize.
   The connectors are realized.
10. Return to the main menu by clicking return.

In this step you will save the connector information to an XML file.

1. At the bottom of the Connector Browser, click (Export connectors -XML).
2. In the Export to file dialog, navigate to the location where you would like to save the XML file and click Save.
3. In a text editor, open the XML file.
4. Inspect the file and observe how the connector information has been saved. In the future, you can use the XML file to import connectors.