Home
Sketching
Create and edit 2D parametric sketch geometry.
Introduction to Sketching
Learn about sketching basics including the sketch plane, legend, constraints, context menu options, and construction geometry.
Sketch Units
All sketch data and parameter entities are handled according to the current unit system. All dimension values, variable manager values, and sketch entity data like line length, circle radius, or point position are appended with the current units system.

Welcome
What's New
View new features for Altair HyperWorks 2024.1.
Get Started
Learn the basics and discover the workspace.
Tutorials
Learn more about the Altair HyperWorks suite of products with interactive tutorials.
Startup Procedures and Customizations
Start and configure the applications.
Tool Finder
View a list of deprecated panels and their newer, equivalent workflows.
Manage Files and Data
Create, open, import, and save models.
Sessions and Report Templates
Set up sessions and create report templates.
Interface with External Products
Solver interfaces supported in HyperMesh.
Entities and Solver Interfaces
A solver interface is made up of a template and a FE-input reader.
Browsers
Browsers provide a structured view of model data, which you can use to review, modify, create, and manage the contents of a model. In addition to visualization, browsers offer features like search, filtering, and sorting, which enhance your ability to navigate and interact with the model data.
Sketching
Create and edit 2D parametric sketch geometry.
- Introduction to Sketching
  Learn about sketching basics including the sketch plane, legend, constraints, context menu options, and construction geometry.
  - Sketch Plane
    Select a sketch tool, then select a sketch plane to begin sketching.
  - Sketch Legend
    The Sketch Legend in the upper left corner of the modeling window indicates whether a sketch entity is Projected or Intersected, and whether a sketch curve is Underdefined, Fully Defined, or Overconstrained.
  - Sketch Constraints
    Apply geometric relationships such as tangency and perpendicularity to sketch curves.
  - Sketch Context Menu Options
    Create a sketch imprint, remove constraints, align axes, convert sketches to construction geometry, and show or hide grids, points, constraints, construction lines, dimensions, or intersection curves.
  - Construction Geometry
    Construction geometry is used as a reference to line up or define other geometry.
  - Sketch Units
    All sketch data and parameter entities are handled according to the current unit system. All dimension values, variable manager values, and sketch entity data like line length, circle radius, or point position are appended with the current units system.
- Variables
  Create and assign variables to parameterize a model. This allows you to quickly iterate and compare design concepts by tweaking the values of the variables.
- New Sketch
  Start a new sketch and select a sketch plane.
- Project
  Project selected geometry onto the sketch plane as construction geometry.
- Intersect
  Extract curves resulting from the intersection of the sketch plane with selected parts.
- Point/Lines
  Sketch and edit a point, line, polyline, or line-arc.
- Rectangles
  Sketch and edit a rectangle.
- Polygons
  Sketch and edit a parallelogram or a regular polygon.
- Circles
  Sketch and edit a circle.
- Ellipses
  Sketch and edit an ellipse or an elliptical arc.
- Arcs
  Sketch and edit an arc.
- Splines
  Sketch and edit a spline.
- Dimension
  Use the Dimension tool to define and/or constrain the dimensions of a sketch.
- Transform
  Translate or rotate sketch entities.
- Trim/Break
  Trim or split a sketch curve.
- Extend
  Extend or shorten an entity of a sketch curve.
- Fillet
  Round the corners of 2D sketch curves to create fillets with the same radius or different radii.
- Offset/Mirror
  Offset or mirror a sketch curve.
- Pattern
  Create a linear or circular pattern of sketch entities.
Topology
Create, edit, and cleanup geometry.
FE Geometry
FE geometry is topology on top of mesh, meaning CAD and mesh exist as a single entity. The purpose of FE geometry is to add vertices, edges, surfaces, and solids on FE models which have no CAD geometry.
Meshing and Elements
Explore the different types of mesh you can create in HyperMesh and create and edit 0D, 1D, 2D, and 3D elements.
Model Build and Assembly
Create, organize and manage parts and subsystems.
Composites
HyperMesh composites modeling.
Connectors
Create connections between parts of your model.
Morph
Rapidly change the shape of the FE mesh without severely sacrificing the mesh quality.
Skeleton Modeling
Create a reduced ordered model to facilitate optimization at the concept phase.
Design Space
Workflow to support topology optimization model build and setup.
Optimization
Setup an Optimization in HyperMesh.
Design Explorer
Multi-disciplinary design exploration and optimization tools.
Validate
Validate the model built before running solver analysis.
Analyze
Models require loads and boundary conditions in order to represent the various physics and/or physical equivalents to bench and in-use testing.
Axisymmetry
Reduce a full 3D model with axisymmetric surfaces while accounting for imperfections.
Concept Modeling
Tools and workflows that are dedicated to rapidly creating new parts for specific use cases, or amending existing parts. The current capabilities are focused on stiffening parts.
Crash and Safety
Tools used for crash and safety analysis.
Airbag
Use airbag folder utilities and export a resulting airbag in a Radioss deck.
Aerospace
Essential utility tools developed using HyperMesh-Tcl.
Aeroelasticity
Import an aeroelastic finite element model with Nastran Bulk Data format.
Certification
Framework to plug certification methods to assess margin of safety from the model and result information.
PhysicsAI
Use PhysicsAI to build fast predictive models from CAE data. PhysicsAI can be trained on data with any physics or remeshing and without design variables.
Results Data
Results data can be post-processed using both HyperMesh and HyperView.
Developer
The Developer ribbon contains tools for automation and customization.
Plot Data
HyperGraph is a data analysis and plotting tool with interfaces to many file formats.
Multibody Modeling
MotionView is a general pre-processor for Multibody Dynamics.
Media Files
MediaView plays video files, displays static images, tracks objects, and measures distances.
Tabulate Results
Use TableView to create an Excel-like spreadsheet.
Text Files
TextView math scripts reference vector data from HyperGraph windows to automate data processing and data summary.
Publishing and Reporting
Create, define, and export reports.

View All Altair HyperWorks Help

Sketch Units

All sketch data and parameter entities are handled according to the current unit system. All dimension values, variable manager values, and sketch entity data like line length, circle radius, or point position are appended with the current units system.

The default unit system is MMKS (mm kg N s). Opening or importing previous HM files containing sketch data are interpreted with this default unit system. Unit systems can be changed from Preferences > Sketching > Units.

Note:

When opening/importing CAD data into a session, you need to choose your target units as what is set in the sketching units.
When the sketching unit system is changed, all the sketches and parameter data present in the session are scaled based on the unit system value, including its realized lines and surfaces.
Units can not be changed while sketching is in progress.

Use the Scale sketch data preference option to change the sketch data of your choice with or without scaling the data. Scale sketch data can be changed from Preferences > Sketching > Scale sketch data.

The Scale sketch data option is useful for legacy files, especially when there are no units. Previously, you would use unitless numbers. Now, you can change the units (for example, mm to cms or cms to mms) without scaling the model by selecting the Scale sketch data option.

Note: If you have two models with separate units, it is not recommended or then we do not recommend and support importing mixed units models. Instead, you should bring the models to common units in separate HyperMesh sessions, save the file with consistent units, and then import these models.

Grid Spacing

Grid spacing is interpreted from the values specified and the selected unit system.

HyperMesh has five progressive levels of grid spacing, available in Preferences > Sketching > Grid Spacing. To change the default spacing for a particular grid, enter a value in the text box. Grid spacing for metric and English unit systems are maintained separately.