ALTAIR FLUX - V2019

CH2 - GENERAL OPERATION

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Altair Flux, v2019

CHAPTER 2 - GENERAL OPERATION

2. General operation
• Flux Supervisor
• Supervisor window zones
• 2D Skew, 3D and PEEC examples
• Online help, FAQs
• Options
• memory size management; macros management; customization
• License manager
• Units manager
• Environment
• working environment
• python editor
• process progress bars
• graphic view
• Data management
• dialog boxes
• data handling commands
• visualization of entities
• selection of entities
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 © 2019 Altair Engineering, Inc. Proprietary and Confidential. All rights reserved.
Altair Flux, v2019

FLUX SUPERVISOR - OVERVIEW

• Zones in the Supervisor window
Dimensions

How to proceed?

Customized
Contexts zone
Working
directory

Cross functions
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 © 2019 Altair Engineering, Inc. Proprietary and Confidential. All rights reserved.
Altair Flux, v2019

FLUX SUPERVISOR - OVERVIEW

• 2D, Skew, 3D and PEEC examples
• Readme and Flux projects

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 © 2019 Altair Engineering, Inc. Proprietary and Confidential. All rights reserved.
Altair Flux, v2019

OPEN EXAMPLES WORKFLOW

Open Flux Supervisor

context
Select Application

Flux 2D Skew Flux 3D PEEC

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Altair Flux, v2019

OPEN EXAMPLES WORKFLOW

• Select application, for example Flux 2D
• In the context choose [open example]
• Select an example [Brushless IPM motor cogging torque]
• Select [computation of the cogging torque]

• Build geometry and mesh: double click on geometry and meshing

• Physics: double click on physics
• Solving: double click on solving
• Postprocessing: double click on Postprocessing

• A new folder will be created in the current working directory

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 © 2019 Altair Engineering, Inc. Proprietary and Confidential. All rights reserved.
Altair Flux, v2019

FLUX SUPERVISOR - OPTIONS

• Memory size management

• Numerical/Character/GUI/System

• 32-bit processor
• 3GB mode
• 64-bit processor

• Examples of use:
• To increase memory size for meshing
in 3D or for solving in 2D/3D
• To process applications requiring more
memory:
3GB/64-bit mode

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Altair Flux, v2019

FLUX SUPERVISOR - OPTIONS

• Macros management → …\Extensions\Macros\

• Select macros to load by default when creating a new project in:
• 2D
• Skew
• 3D

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 © 2019 Altair Engineering, Inc. Proprietary and Confidential. All rights reserved.
Altair Flux, v2019

FLUX SUPERVISOR - OPTIONS

• Customization options

• Language
• Recent files
• File types
• Shortcuts
• Macros
• Sketcher/Modeler

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 © 2019 Altair Engineering, Inc. Proprietary and Confidential. All rights reserved.
Altair Flux, v2019

FLUX LICENSE
• License Manager
• allows configuring the license
• How to install the license file

Double click to load the

license file
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 © 2019 Altair Engineering, Inc. Proprietary and Confidential. All rights reserved.
Altair Flux, v2019

FLUX SUPERVISOR - UNIT MANAGER

• Allows the user to:
• Have the units associated to the quantity visible upon analysis
• Choose the unit system by default
• Choose specific units for the analysis
• Define user units and quantities

Modifications should be carried out before opening and analyzing a Flux

project

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 © 2019 Altair Engineering, Inc. Proprietary and Confidential. All rights reserved.
Altair Flux, v2019

FLUX SUPERVISOR - UNIT MANAGER

• The quantities and the units supervised via the manager are saved in dictionaries stored in
C:\Program Files\Altair\2019\Flux\Flux\Resources\UnityQty

DefaultUnitiesQty.dico Reference dictionary 1:

(modifications not allowed) • Quantities and measurement units proposed by default

DefaultUnitiesZone.dico Reference dictionary 2:

(modifications not allowed) • List of measurement units by default for each unit
systems considered (International and US)
CurrentUnitiesQty.dico Current dictionary:
(modifications allowed) • Current quantities and dictionaries, defined by the user

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 © 2019 Altair Engineering, Inc. Proprietary and Confidential. All rights reserved.
Altair Flux, v2019

ENVIRONMENT - WORKING ENVIRONMENT

Menus bar

Title bar Menus

toolbars
Graphic zone Context
toolbars bar

Graphic zone

Data tree

Transparency
Output scale

Pyflux

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 © 2019 Altair Engineering, Inc. Proprietary and Confidential. All rights reserved.
Altair Flux, v2019

ENVIRONMENT - MODIFYING THE ENVIRONMENT

• To modify the look of the Flux window on the screen

• to modify the background color

• click on Reverse video
in the View menu

• to display/hide zones
• use the icons Minimize/Maximize
Resizing
• to resize the zone handle
• click on the side of concerned zone
with the left button of the mouse
• move the side of the concerned
zone in the new position
(keep the left button pressed)

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Altair Flux, v2019

ENVIRONMENT - PYTHON EDITOR

• The python editor is divided in 3 parts:
1. log py files: to save commands performed by the user during a flux session
2. editor python: to open, read and create script
3. command prompt zone: to test commands without saving py file

3 2 1

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Altair Flux, v2019

ENVIRONMENT - PYTHON BARS

• Bar to visualize the progress of a long process (meshing, solving process)
• possible shutdown of the process (Stop button)

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Altair Flux, v2019

ENVIRONMENT - MODIFYING THE GRAPHIC VIEW

• What is possible:
• to move a view (translation)
• to resize a view (enlarge/reduce)
• to rotate a view (3D only)
• How to modify a view:
• using the mouse
• by View commands (or icons)
• using the keyboard shortcuts
• Predefined views:
• standard view 1, standard view 2
• X plane view, Y plane view, Z plane view
• opposite view
• 4 views mode
• display of the full device

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 © 2019 Altair Engineering, Inc. Proprietary and Confidential. All rights reserved.
Altair Flux, v2019

GENERAL OPERATION - DATA ORGANIZATION

• The handled data (entities) depend on the phase of the finite elements project
description: geometry, mesh, etc.
• all entities are stored in the data tree
• graphic entities are represented in the graphic zone
• entities form entity categories
• example: Point comprises Point[1], Point[2],…

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 © 2019 Altair Engineering, Inc. Proprietary and Confidential. All rights reserved.
Altair Flux, v2019

GENERAL OPERATION - DATA BOXES

• An entity dialog enables
• to enter / check / modify information
concerning the entity
Identifier

Entity type

Specific characteristics

Direct access to the non-filled Online help on the

required fields entity

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Altair Flux, v2019

GENERAL OPERATION - DATA BOXES (CONTINUED)

Information on Information on
• A data array enables Modifying values of all the entity DOWN the entity UP
entities
• to check information relating to selected
entities
• to modify all selected entities

Structure
(database)

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Altair Flux, v2019

GENERAL OPERATION - FORMULA EDITOR

• An entity can contain information
in the form of formulas

• A formula editor
• is open by means of the button
• displays the formula in PyFlux
language in the Expression zone
• checks syntax errors, as well as data
errors, by means of an integrated
syntax checker

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Altair Flux, v2019

GENERAL OPERATION - TO EXECUTE A COMMAND

• 4 ways to execute a command from the
toolbar

from the graphic

zone

from the menus

bar

from the data

tree

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 © 2019 Altair Engineering, Inc. Proprietary and Confidential. All rights reserved.
Altair Flux, v2019

GENERAL OPERATION - GRAPHIC PRESENTATION OF ENTITIES

• Display of entities
• entities, which icon is activated in the display list, are displayed in the graphic zone
• the display list can be modified by means of commands
• from the Display menu
• from the toolbar

• example: points and lines are displayed

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 © 2019 Altair Engineering, Inc. Proprietary and Confidential. All rights reserved.
Altair Flux, v2019

GENERAL OPERATION - GRAPHIC PRESENTATION OF ENTITIES

(CONTINUED 1)
• Graphic appearance of entity (characteristics of visibility and color)
• an entity is presented visible / invisible in the graphic zone according to the characteristic of visibility
• the characteristic of visibility can be modified in the dialog opened by the Edit / Edit array commands

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 © 2019 Altair Engineering, Inc. Proprietary and Confidential. All rights reserved.
Altair Flux, v2019

GENERAL OPERATION - GRAPHIC PRESENTATION OF ENTITIES

(CONTINUED 2)
• Graphic transparency of faces and volumes
• the transparency level of faces and volumes can be set using a scale of transparency
• gives the possibility to visualize the inside of the device geometry, without setting faces and volumes
invisible

Transparent Opaque

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 © 2019 Altair Engineering, Inc. Proprietary and Confidential. All rights reserved.
Altair Flux, v2019

GENERAL OPERATION - SELECTING ENTITIES

• Graphic selection
• in the data tree (for all entities)
• in the graphic zone (for graphic entities)

• Selection by identifier (name/number)

• Selection by criterion
• by the intermediary of the existing relations between the various entities (points belonging to a line,
etc.)
• by the intermediary of characteristics common to several entities (faces with the same color, faces on
the same surface, etc.)

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 © 2019 Altair Engineering, Inc. Proprietary and Confidential. All rights reserved.
Altair Flux, v2019

GENERAL OPERATION - SELECTION FILTER

• A selection filter
• identifies, at any time, the selectable entity-type
• is updated within the selection (for graphic and non-graphic entities)
• when choosing an entity-type in the data tree
• within the opening of the selection dialog box
• …
• is possible to set for graphic entities by means of commands
• from the Select menu
• from the toolbar

• Multiple selection
• with the CTRL key

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 © 2019 Altair Engineering, Inc. Proprietary and Confidential. All rights reserved.
Altair Flux, v2019

GENERAL OPERATION - SELECTING BY CRITERION (RELATION)

• 3-phase operation: 1a. Click on
• choice of a criterion
• selecting entities
1b. Click on
• choice of an operator Selection by face

• Selection criteria
• Select all
• Selection by line/face/volume/ surface/linear 2. Enter the face number
region/face region/volume region… following by the Enter key
• Selection by color/visibility … 3. Click on Union

• Selection operators
• Exclude
• Union
• Intersect

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 © 2019 Altair Engineering, Inc. Proprietary and Confidential. All rights reserved.
Altair Flux, v2019

HOW TO RUN PYTHON SCRIPT

• Open Flux
1) Select application (2D, Skew, 3D or PEEC)
• METHOD 1: From supervisor

2) Select python
script
Python scripts

3) Click on run
the selected
script
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 © 2019 Altair Engineering, Inc. Proprietary and Confidential. All rights reserved.
Altair Flux, v2019

HOW TO RUN PYTHON SCRIPT

• Open Flux
1) Select application (2D, Skew, 3D or PEEC)
• METHOD 2: Open new project

2) Select new
project

3) Click start a
new project

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 © 2019 Altair Engineering, Inc. Proprietary and Confidential. All rights reserved.
Altair Flux, v2019

HOW TO RUN PYTHON SCRIPT

• Open Flux
• METHOD 2: Once new project is opened

Leave the sketcher

Select the folder

Select the python script

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 © 2019 Altair Engineering, Inc. Proprietary and Confidential. All rights reserved.
Altair Flux, v2019

QUESTIONS & ANSWERS

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