© 2014 Altair, Proprietary and Confidential Pg 1 INIT |22/10/2014 | vx

#1133: Using PLOTEL3/4 Plate Elements to Reduce Result Size for Mode Shape Product: OptiStruct Product Version: OptiStruct 13.0 and newer Partner: - Computer Hardware: All supported Computer Operating System: Window Industry: All Categories: OptiStruct Subcategories: -

Topic Objective Using coarse plate elements (PLOTEL3/4) for display and visualization.

Background Coarse display model (PLOTEL3/4) is 1~2 % of the original detailed FE model size. It is used for pre- and post- visualization, and supported by HyperMesh and OptiStruct solver. The result files are much smaller.

Model Details It is an automotive front subframe.

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Boundary Condition Free Normal Mode

Step by Step Procedure Mesh Menu ! Create ! Coarse Mesh Select entities: “Components” and set Element Size to 100.0, then press the Mesh button.

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Above the new coarse model is PLOTEL3/4, the original model is now completely deleted. You can export .fem model, but do not save this Model with the original file name. You will lose the detail model, if you don’t rename it. Then you can import original model (normal mode) file to HyperMesh. You have to use “FE overwrite” for the import option.

MODEL card setup Analysis page ! control cards ! MODEL

Results & Reports Detailed model vs coarse display model. Same mode shape with much smaller result file size.

© 2014 Altair, Proprietary and Confidential Pg 4 INIT |22/10/2014 | vx