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Connectors
Create connections between parts of your model.
Attachments and Connectors
Attachments are an entity to facilitate the ease of joining subsystems.
Auto Connect
Use the Auto Connect tool to identify pair attachments to create connectors between or to create attachments from already existing connectors.

Welcome
What's New
View new features for Altair HyperWorks 2026.
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.
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.
- Connector Preferences
  Connector preferences describe how different connector realizations behave when changes are made.
- Connector Browser
  Use the Connector Browser to view and modify connectors in the current model.
- Define Connector Controls
  Use the Control Manager to create and edit the various types of controls that will be used later when realizing connectors.
- Create and Realize Connectors
  Use the tools in the Create tool set to create connectors, assign controls, and realize.
- Auto Point
  Create weld points at a predefined pitch distance so that the model build process can continue without the need to wait for the published weld data from CAD. The Auto Point tool is useful when working with elements, not geometry.
- Auto Fastener
  Use the Auto Fastener tool to identify and pair holes to create fastener connectors between components and parts. The process works on 2D/3D mesh.
- Auto Line
  Use the Auto Line tool to identify locations to create line connectors between components and parts. This process works on 2D geometry and mesh.
- Auto Area
  Use the Auto Area tool to identify locations to create area connectors between components and parts. This process works on mesh.
- Apply Mass
  Create a dummy connector entity to add mass to a part, or create areas of mass to represent parts not present in the CAD or FE data.
- Connector Quality Check
  Use the Quality controller to perform various checks on connectors and realized FE.
- Absorb
  Use the FE Absorb tool to create connectors from existing mesh that meet specific types of realizations.
- Realizations
  View details for different types of realizations.
- Element Organization
  Organize elements in the Browser Configuration dialog.
- Custom Connectors
  Create and add custom realizations in your workflow.
- Attachments and Connectors
  Attachments are an entity to facilitate the ease of joining subsystems.
  - Create Attachments
    Create attachments from projections, holes, nodes, or shapes.
  - FE Absorb Attachments
    Create attachments from existing elements such as rigid patches or rigid spiders. You can specify the elements to be absorbed, or you can allow HyperMesh to search and find the suitable elements in the model. OptiStruct can realize attachments without elements but only as a nodeset.
  - Auto Attachments
    Use the Auto Attachments tool to identify holes on parts and create attachments.
  - Create Link Attachments to Connectors
    Create new connectors from attachments or from existing collectors.
  - Create Link Attachments to FE Absorb Connectors
    If you have an existing mesh but no connector, you can create connectors and attachments by selecting the mesh manually and defining the control type, or automatically where HyperMesh finds any mesh that matches the control type.
  - Auto Connect
    Use the Auto Connect tool to identify pair attachments to create connectors between or to create attachments from already existing connectors.
- Connector Tools
  Use the Connector tools to further define connections between components.
- CAD Abstraction
  Abstract information incoming from the CAD hierarchy to robustly create connectors.
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 in HyperMesh and HyperView
Results data can be post-processed using both HyperMesh and HyperView.
Developer
The Developer ribbon contains tools for automation and customization.
Plot Data in HyperMesh and HyperGraph
Plot data can be post-processed using both HyperMesh and HyperGraph.
Multibody Modeling in MotionView
MotionView is a general pre-processor for Multibody Dynamics.
Media Files in MediaView
MediaView plays video files, displays static images, tracks objects, and measures distances.
Tabulate Results in TableView
Use TableView to create an Excel-like spreadsheet.
Text Files in TextView
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

Auto Connect

Use the Auto Connect tool to identify pair attachments to create connectors between or to create attachments from already existing connectors.

The connectors created using the Auto Connect tool will be Fasteners and can be viewed from the fastener tab in the Connector Browser.

From the Connectors ribbon, Attachments tool group, click the Auto Connect tool.

Figure 1.
Automatically identify existing attachments in the model.
1. From the guide bar, select Attachments.
2. Select or create a fastener connector control to define the connection between the attachments.
3. Click and define the following options.
  
  Max Angle
  
  The maximum angle between attachments.
  
  Only Two Layers
  
  Create connectors between two attachments only.
4. Click .
Connectors are created between the identified attachments. The connector type is defined from the control used in the guide bar.
Automatically identify already existing connectors in the model.
1. From the guide bar, select Connectors.
2. Select or clear the Realize checkbox to automatically realize the connectors after they are created.
3. Click .
Attachments are created for each layer of the already existing fastener heads. The attachment type is defined by the fastener head configuration.
Note: If the fastener’s head element configuration is not supported in attachments controls, the Auto Connect tool will not be able to create attachments.