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Zones

Zones are panels and beams of constant cross-section that are analyzed to return margins of safety and optimum Sizing results. They are the fundamental entity in HyperX - as cross-section dimensions, materials, and failure criteria/settings are all assigned to and/or optimized for each Zone.

Important

HyperX analyzes panel and beam Zones, not finite elements. A Zone is a collection of finite elements used to represent a panel or a beam.

In the image below, a wing box is shown modeled with a panel Zone per bay. Each of these panels can have its own Sizing/Analysis results.

zone-example.png

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HyperX panel and beam designs replace FEM properties. They provide structural detail to the model in order to find optimal lightweight concepts, dimensions, materials, and laminates while achieving positive margins to aerospace analyses methods for all load cases. Read more on the Feature Page on our main website, found here.

About

Elements ID selections are used to define the coverage of Zones - much like property assignment to elements works in the FEM-world. An element can only belong to one Zone at a time.

In order to be Sized and/or Analyzed:

  • Zones must belong to a Structure in order to be Sized/Analyzed.

  • A Design Property must be assigned to a Zone to apply corresponding design space definitions to selected Zone(s) for Sizing/Analysis.

  • A Load Property must be assigned to a Zone to apply the corresponding loads processing technique to the selected Zone(s).

  • An Analysis Property must be assigned to a Zone to apply the corresponding Failure Modes and their respective analysis defaults to the selected Zone(s).

Note

Zones can optionally be organized into Sets to aid with model management.

Types

typesOfZones

There are two primary types of Zones, delineated by the FEM element types of which they are comprised:

  1. Beams/1D Zones - Made up of 1-dimensional (bar) FEM elements, can only be assigned Beam (1D) Design Properties.

  2. Panels/2D Zones - Made up of 2-dimensional (shell) FEM elements, can only be assigned Panel(2D) Design Properties.

zones-types.png

Note

Panel Segments can be considered a special kind of Zone corresponding to discretely stiffened panels but they are not organized in the same way as Beam and Panel Zones.

Settings

Panel Settings

The Panel Settings form can be accessed by right-clicking on the desired panel in the viewport and then selecting "Panel Settings." Any of these settings can be applied to multiple zones at once in a tabulated manner using the Zone Settings Table.

Beam Settings

The Beam Settings form can be accessed by right-clicking on the desired beam in the Viewport and then selecting "Beam Settings." Any of these settings can be applied to multiple Zones at once in a tabulated manner using the Zone Settings Table.

Zone Settings Table

The Zone Settings Table contains all of the settings found on the Panel Settings and Beam Settings menus presented in a tabular format. This form is useful for viewing or modifying the settings on many Zones at once. The table can be accessed by either right-clicking on Zones in the Viewport, or from the button in the "Edit Zones" group of the Structures tab on the Ribbon.

ZoneSettingsTable.png

The "find and replace" button on the top-left of the form can be used to quickly change data in multiple cells. The tools on the top-right of form can be used to hide or show columns, as well as create a data template with the current hidden/shown state of columns.

Create

Two methods for creating Zones are described below.

Size

Tip

See Sizing vs. Analysis for recent updates to the Sizing and Analysis workflows.

All Zones - whether they be panels or beams - are sized by following the basic steps.

  1. Tell HyperX what you'd like to size.

    The first step is to Import a FEM. During this process, HyperX will recognize all property cards (NASTRAN/Optistruct) or Section Definitions (Abaqus) as individual analysis entities. However, these entities are only considered Zones - and therefore can only be Sized - if they have been grouped into a Structure. See Create Structures.

  2. Define the design space for each Zone.

    All design space inputs are applied via Design Property. First, Design Properties should be created (see 'Create Design Properties'). Then they should be assigned to their respective Zones (see 'Assign Design Properties'). When selecting and defining a Design Property, the two most consequential decisions are:

    1. Concept - what cross-section would you like your zone to be? Note that panels and beams have their own respective concept options. See: Panel and Beam Design Properties

    2. Sizing Mode - What sizing strategy will HyperX use to evaluate your zones? See: Sizing Modes

      Sizing is implemented by selecting a Sizing Mode and filling out the corresponding variable definitions. Sizing inputs are treated separately from Analysis inputs - even though they can be defined on the same Design Property.

  3. Define the loads for each Zone. This requires two parts:

    1. Define the load scenarios that will be assessed. This is done by creating:

    2. Define how the element-by-element forces (for each Design Load Case) are processed into a set of Design-to Loads.

      The FEA Loads Processing Technique is selected and assigned to desired zones via Load Property

  4. What methods am I sizing to?

    HyperX offers 100s of native failure criteria for sizing and analyzing your structure. Individual methods and their corresponding settings are defined in Failure Modes. Failure Modes are then collected and assigned to selected Zones via Analysis Property.

    Company-or-program-specific methods that are not implemented natively in HyperX can be added to the framework via Analysis Plugin. They can then be used alongside native methods within the Failure Mode/Analysis Property paradigm.

  5. Select the zones you'd like to size, and click 'Size'

    zone_sizing.png

Analyze

Tip

See Sizing vs. Analysis for recent updates to the Sizing and Analysis workflows.

All Zones - whether they be panels or beams - are analyzed by following the basic steps.

  1. Tell HyperX what you'd like to analyze.

    The first step is to Import a FEM. During this process, HyperX will recognize all property cards (NASTRAN/Optistruct) or Section Definitions (Abaqus) as individual analysis entities. However, these entities are only considered Zones- and therefore can only be Analyzed - if they have been grouped into a Structure. See Create Structures.

  2. Define the design space for each Zone.

    All design space inputs are applied via Design Property. First, Design Properties should be created (see 'Create Design Property'). Then they should be assigned to their respective Zones (see 'Assign Design Property'). When selecting and defining a design property, the two most consequential decisions are:

    1. Concept - What cross-section would you like your zone to be? Note that panels and beams have their own respective concept options. See: Panel and Beam Design Properties

    2. Analysis Inputs - What dimension and material system should be analyzed?

      Analysis is implemented by selecting the 'Analysis' radial button and filling out the corresponding dimensions. Analysis inputs are treated separately from Sizing inputs - even though they can be defined on the same Design Property.

  3. Define the loads for each Zone. This requires two parts:

    1. Define the load scenarios that will be assessed. This is done by creating:

    2. Define how the element-by-element forces (for each Design Load Case) are processed into a set of Design-to Loads.

      The FEA Loads Processing Technique is selected and assigned to desired zones via Load Property

  4. What methods am I assessing?

    HyperX offers 100s of native failure criteria for sizing and analyzing your structure. Individual methods and their corresponding settings are defined in Failure Modes. Failure Modes are then collected and assigned to selected Zones via Analysis Property.

    Company-or-program-specific methods that are not implemented natively in HyperX can be added to the framework via Analysis Plugin. They can then be used alongside native methods within the Failure Mode/Analysis Property paradigm.

  5. Select the zones you'd like to analyze, and click 'Analyze'

    zone-analyzing.png

Export

Grid points along Zone boundaries can be exported in a variety of formats (.txt, .igs, .stp) to aid the mapping between HyperX zones and CAD models in scenarios where the Zone coverage has been modified within HyperX.

  1. Select Zones in the Viewport to be exported.

  2. Click the "Export Zone Edges" button on the Structures tab of the Ribbon.

    Zones_boundary_export_button.png

  3. Choose the location of the exported file.

  4. Choose the format of the exported file.

  5. Click "Export".

Zones_manual_creation_form.png

Delete

Two options for deleting Zones are described below. HyperX does not edit FEM element definitions or their corresponding grid definitions. Therefore, when a Zone is 'deleted,' the associated elements are not removed from the Database but rather become unassociated with a HyperX entity (or, back in the unused FEM).

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