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. HyperMesh
supports common methods of material orientation for each user profile. Specific
definitions vary by user profile. For example, the OptiStruct convention is shown in the following image.
Figure 1.
Material orientation can be set and reviewed through the right-click context menu of the Composite Browser.
Right-click anywhere in white space and select Orient > Material Reference Orientation from the context menu to apply orientations
or select Orient > Material Reference Review from the context menu to review
orientations.
