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Please, have a look at the detailed Tutorial here.
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With Options-> Missions-> Nastran it is possible to directly switch to MSC Apex where only the meshing of the geometry and the creation of a 3D Element Property needs to happen for an analysis to be ready to go.
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During the Mapping Loads & Materials of symmetrical designs only half of the LBCs are mapped to the structure as only half were applied to the model. Please add the other LBCs before running an analysis with MSC Apex.
Note: If you open and update a model from a version older than the 2023.3 it can happen that some forces are only visible in the nastran mission. In this case, it is advisable to change the discrete tie from rigid to compliant.
There are two possible workflows with two different geometry types:
NURBS-Geometry Workflow
Select the Smooth Geometry in the Post Processing and choose the options in the Transfer Design Candidate Button. Activate the Map LBCs and Material option and press the Transfer button to get the transition started. The following steps are automatically done by the software:
The Smooth Geometry is transferred to the Pre Processing and the Facet to NURBS Tool is automatically executed with the chosen Density of the NURBS Patches.
When the transformation is completed, the NURBS Geometry is intersected with the Design Space to receive the Nominal Geometry.
Next, the new functionality is executed and the Loads & Boundary Conditions as well as the Material information are mapped to the Nominal NURBS Geometry.
Check the status of the Transfer in the Map LBC tab and if necessary adjust any LBCs by double clicking on the specific Load or Constraint.
Save the database in MSC Apex Generative Design and close the software.
Open MSC Apex and open the just saved Generative Design database. A copy of the database is created and opened in MSC ApexGo to Options → Missions → Nastran to switch to MSC Apex as the pre-processor for MSC Nastran.
Mesh the Design Candidate and add any Loads & Boundary conditions you want to include in the analysis.
If you have used anisotropic material behaviour, please check if the used material coordinate system is orientated correctly.
Start the analysis in MSC Apex.
Faceted-Geometry Workflow
Select the Smooth Geometry in the Post Processing and choose the options in the Transfer Design Candidate Button. Switch to the Convert Design Candidate to Facet Body option and activate the Map LBCs and Material option. Press the Transfer button to get the transition started. The following steps are automatically done by the software:
The Smooth Geometry is transferred to the Pre Processing and is intersected with the Design Space to receive the Nominal Geometry.
Next, the new functionality is executed and the Loads & Boundary Conditions as well as the Material information are mapped to the Nominal Faceted Geometry.
Check the status of the Transfer in the Map LBC tab and if necessary adjust any LBCs by double clicking on the specific Load or Constraint.
Save the database in MSC Apex Generative Design and close the software.
Open MSC Apex and open the just saved Generative Design database. A copy of the database is created and opened in MSC ApexGo to Options → Missions → Nastran to switch to MSC Apex as the pre-processor for MSC Nastran.
Mesh the Design Candidate and add any Loads & Boundary conditions you want to include in the analysis.
If you have used anisotropic material behaviour, please check if the used material coordinate system is orientated correctly.
Start the analysis in MSC Apex.
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