This is a question that comes frequently and some causes for the missing the *.h3d file are described on this article.

But before going into the  causes, there are some bits of information that I would like to add .

In Radioss 2019 and newer versions the option to write output directly into the *.h3d format was implemented via the keyword /H3D/DT and associated keyword options for types of results.

Please refer to the keyword /H3D/DT in the help documentation for more information.

The link below directs to the documentation:

https://2021.help.altair.com/2021.2/hwsolvers/rad/topics/solvers/rad/h3d_dt_engine_r.htm

With this, the *.h3d is written on the fly, and user can post process and animate the results with HyperView.

However, before the implementation of /H3D keyword, in order to have the animation files, the Engine deck has to contain the keyword /ANIM/DT and the associated type of output needed (e.g.  /ANIM/VECT/VEL for velocity,  /ANIM/ELEM/VONM for v-Mises element stress etc).

The Animation files are recognized by the user thru the file name ‘RunNameA001’, ‘RunNameA002’ and so on.

Having the animation files, they can be animated and contoured in HyperView .

By using  /ANIM/DT, the RunName.h3d file is not generated by the Solver Radioss as it runs or after it completes.

The *.h3d file, in fact,  is generated by the application called HvTrans.exe.

The execution of HvTrans.exe converts the N animations files into one more compacted *.h3d file.

The *.h3d format is really a good option to reduce the amount of files and also the size of data for eventual storage.

HvTrans.exe is installed along with the HyperWorksDesktop package. It is not installed if user chose only the Mechanical Solvers package.

Now that we explained the animation files and how the *.h3d is generated from these files, let us identify the two ways that you can launch Radioss jobs on local machine.

These options are valid either on Windows and Linux Operation System.

1)  Radioss jobs can be launched using the HyperWorks Solver Run Manager.

With the Solver Run Manager, there are two executions that happen in tandem.

First Radioss is called and the model is analyzed.

As soon as the Radioss execution finishes completely, and animation files are written, the Solver Run Manager calls the HvTrans.exe to convert the N Animation files into one *.h3d.

As side note, the user can set the option “ -noh3d” to avoid the conversion to *.h3d.

Therefore Radioss does not either perform the conversion nor call the converter. HvTrans is called by the Run Manager.

2) Radioss jobs can be launched via the command line
The way to call Radioss is using the script located on the path <ALTAIR HOME>\<VERSION>\hwsolvers\scripts\radioss.bat 

( the *.bat is the script for Windows. In the Linux version it has different extension, but is located at same installation folder).

With this launch option, and  if ‘-noh3d’ is omitted, the HvTrans.exe is executed at the end of the Radioss execution. And the *.h3d file is generated.

There is in fact a third option to launch Radioss jobs that is within the HyperMesh environment. But this option will not be explained as the  two described above are the most common ways.

At this moment, you may be asking: But what happens if I am running jobs thru a PBS manager, like Altair Access, on remote cluster?

In this case, the Application , that is in general used on Linux OS, is configurated to call Radioss  execution files and all the options to run it, but likely not using the batch file (or the equivalent on Linux ) as it is done via  command line.

Due to that, it can happen that the option to call HvTrans.exe is not added.

By the way, with Altair Access the conversion to *.h3d is set when it is deployed.

Ok, now we know how:

- How Radioss /ANIM is set to writes out the animation files
- How The animation files are converted into *.h3d
- How to Execute the Radioss Jobs.
 

With all these bits of information we can tackle the potential causes for missing the *.h3d at the end of the Radioss Job:

HvTrans.exe is missing.  It may mean that the HyperWorksDesktop package was not installed.  It is recommended to install the HWDesktop and the Mechanical solver packages using the MasterInstaller executable.
If the HvTrans.exe were present:
The execution of the Radioss Job launch, via either Run Manager or command line,  has the option ‘-noh3d’ set.
Running thru PBS, the call of HvTrans.exe is not configurated on the execution scripts.
Or in the Engine deck keyword, maybe the /ANIM/DT is missing.
 

As a positive point, even if the *.h3d is not created when the job is completed, the conversion can be performed by the user calling the HvTrans.exe apart from the Radioss Job execution.

Considering that the animation files were written.

As last  comment, the implementation of the /H3D  to write out directly into a *.h3d brings benefits on files management and storage saving, therefore being the suggested option to request output from the Radioss analysis.

I hope this article helps clarify the problem and how to verify the cause.

Regards