Interacting with the Current Model in Altair Inspire: A Simple Guide

Karthi Kandasamy

How to  interact with current model 

Below are the code examples that explains how we can interact with existing model.

SketchPart : Sketch Part hold only point, Curve and area feature in case of closed sketches. 

from hwx import inspire #get the current model model = inspire.getModel() # or you can use inspire.getActiveModel() #Model may consist of sketches, Parts, Named objects such as Force, Fastener, Motor. #Sketches and parts are defined by features  #How to retrieve features from sketches and parts  listofsketchpart =model.getChildren('SketchPart') # returns list of sketches present in the model.  #we can also filter the sketch part by its name listofsketchpart = model.getChildren(type ='SketchPart',name='Sketch 1')  # To get a the the object with  type SketchPart and name Sketch 1 sketchpart = model.getChild(type ='SketchPart',name='Sketch 1')  # How to retrieve the points, line, curve and area of the sketchpart  areaFeature = sketchpart.getFeatures(type='FeatureArea')  # finding the largest area Feature Planar from the sketch part.  largestareafeature = max(sketchpart.getFeatures(type = 'FeaturePlanar'), key=lambda f: f.area, default=None)  # finding the smallest area feature from the sketch part.  smallestareafeature = min(sketchpart.getFeatures(type = 'FeaturePlanar'), key=lambda f: f.area, default=None)  # finding the largest area feature from the sketch part.  largestareafeature = max(sketchpart.getFeatures(type = 'FeatureArea'), key=lambda f: f.area, default=None)  # finding the smallest area feature from the sketch part.  smallestareafeature = min(sketchpart.getFeatures(type = 'FeatureArea'), key=lambda f: f.area, default=None)   # finding the longest curve feature from the sketch part.  largestCurvefeature = max(sketchpart.getFeatures(type = 'FeatureCurve'), key=lambda f: f.length, default=None)  # finding the shortest curve feature from the sketch part.  smallestCurvefeature = min(sketchpart.getFeatures(type = 'FeatureCurve'), key=lambda f: f.length, default=None)  # FeatureCurve is the parent  of all the curve types FeatureLinear ,FeatureCircular ,FeatureCurveOther. # finding the longest linear curve feature from the sketch part.  largestlinearfeature = max(sketchpart.getFeatures(type = 'FeatureLinear'), key=lambda f: f.length, default=None)  # finding the shortest linear curve feature from the sketch part.  smallestlinearfeature = min(sketchpart.getFeatures(type = 'FeatureLinear'), key=lambda f: f.length, default=None)   

Part: In the case of 3D sketches, Part holds the vertices, edges, area, and volume features.

# How to get part from current model.   from hwx import inspire model = inspire.getModel() # retrieve  list of parts from the model  listofparts = model.getChildren(type='Part') # retrieve  Part object with the name Part 1 from the model  part1 = model.getChild(type='Part', name = 'Part 1')  #Similar to sketchpart we can get the feature from the part object. # finding the largest area Feature Areafrom the sketch part.  largestareafeature = max(part1.getFeatures(type = 'FeatureArea'), key=lambda f: f.area, default=None)  # finding the smallest area feature from the sketch part.  smallestareafeature = min(part1.getFeatures(type = 'FeatureArea'), key=lambda f: f.area, default=None) # FeatureArea is the parent  of all the area types FeaturePlanar,FeatureCylindrical,FeatureSpherical,FeatureConical,FeatureAreaOther  # finding the largest area Feature Planar from the sketch part.  largestareafeature = max(sketchpart.getFeatures(type = 'FeaturePlanar'), key=lambda f: f.area, default=None)  # finding the smallest area feature from the sketch part.  smallestareafeature = min(sketchpart.getFeatures(type = 'FeaturePlanar'), key=lambda f: f.area, default=None)  # finding the largest Cylindrical feature from the sketch part.  largestareafeature = max(sketchpart.getFeatures(type = 'FeatureCylindrical'), key=lambda f: f.radius, default=None)  # finding the smallest area feature from the sketch part.  smallestareafeature = min(sketchpart.getFeatures(type = 'FeatureCylindrical'), key=lambda f: f.radius, default=None)  # finding the largest Spherical feature from the sketch part.  largestareafeature = max(sketchpart.getFeatures(type = 'FeatureSpherical'), key=lambda f: f.radius, default=None)  # finding the smallest area feature from the sketch part.  smallestareafeature = min(sketchpart.getFeatures(type = 'FeatureSpherical'), key=lambda f: f.radius, default=None)

How to get a existing Force object and modify its magnitude 

from hwx import inspire model = inspire.getModel() #retrive list of forces in the model listofForces= model.getChildren(type='Force')  #get the force object named 'Force 1'  force1= model.getChild(type='Force',name ='Force 1') print(f"Current magnitude of {force1.name} is {force1.magnitude}")  #changing the force magnitude to 10 N force1.magnitude = 10 print(f"Current magnitude of {force1.name} is {force1.magnitude}")   #similarly direction of the force also can changed print(f"Current direction of {force1.name} is {force1.direction}")  #changing the force direction to to X direction force1.direction= [1,0,0] print(f"Current direction of {force1.name} is {force1.direction }")   

How to create and update the  model variables  

# How to update the model variables from hwx import inspire model = inspire.getModel()  # Add new variable model.variables.add("width", type="length", expression=1) # Alternatively model.variables["fov"] = "angle", 45  # Update variable model.variables.update("width", expression=2) # Alternatively model.variables["fov"] = "angle", 90

How to assign a Material to a part. 

from hwx import inspire  model = inspire.getModel()  # get default material defaultMaterial = inspire.Material.getDefault() print("Default material is: ", defaultMaterial.name) #get the dictionaries of existing materials name : material object pair  allMaterials =inspire.Material.getMaterials()  How to check a material available in the material dictionaries  print('Steel (C45E)'in inspire.Material.getMaterials().keys()) #how to assign a material to a part  part1 = model.getChild(type ='Part', name='Part 1') if 'Steel (C45E)'in inspire.Material.getMaterials().keys():   part1.material ='Steel (C45E)'   print(f" Material {part1.material.name} is assigned to {part1.name}") else:   print("'Steel (C45E)' is not available from the material dictionaries)   

How to assign thickness to a sheet part

from hwx import inspire  model = inspire.getModel() # get all the sheet parts from the model  #dimensions=1 Point  #dimensions=2 sheet  #dimensions=3 solid  sheetparts= model.getChildren(type='Part', dimensions=2)   #iterate over all the sheet part and assign 3 mm  as sheet thickness   for sheetpart in sheetparts:   #Applying 3 mm  as sheet thickness     sheetpart.sheetThickness = '3 mm'