FlexBodyPrep Overview

The FlexBody Prep wizard (or simply FlexPrep) allows you to create a flexible body H3D file using Optistruct, as well as translate an ADAMS MNF file or a mirrored H3D file. The FlexPrep also takes other types of input files, such as Nastran BDF.

From the FlexTools menu, select Flex Prep to access the FlexBodyPrep wizard.

Note: Use _flex.h3d in the filename to prevent confusion with other uses of the H3D format. Space in the .fem and .h3d file paths is currently not supported on Linux and Mac OSX.

From the FlexBodyPrep wizard, you can perform the following functions:

OptiStruct Flexbody Generation

Create OptiStruct prp (preparation) file and generate the h3d flexbody
Create OptiStruct prp (preparation) file (this is useful when certain OptiStruct cards are not directly supported by FlexPrep)
Create h3d flexbody using pre-existing prp (preparation) file

Refer to OptiStruct Flexbody Generation to learn more about generating a flexible body through OptiStruct.

Translation of Flexbody Files

Translate ADAMS mnf file into MV h3d flexbody
Mirror existing h3d flexbody
Translate the MV h3d flexbody into ADAMS mnf file
Translate MV h3d flexbody into ADAMS mtx file
Translate the NASTRAN pch file into MV h3d file
Translate the MV h3d flexbody into DAD fdf file

The dialog options change depending on the translation type you select.

Common dialog buttons include:

Table 1.
Mass/Length/Force/Time Units	Specify the units either in the input FEM (while creating the flexbody) or in the output MTX file (while translating from flex H3D to Adams MTX).
Clear	Clear your selections and reset the wizard.
OK	After making your selections, click OK to have the wizard create your file. OK assembles your wizard selections into set of command line arguments for flexprep and invokes flexprep. To run flexprep from command line: Copy and paste the arguments created by the Flexbody prep wizard into a script (UNIX) or .bat file (PC).
Cancel	Exit the FlexBodyPrep wizard.