pyaedt : Hfss3DLayout : unable to use variables in Layer properties (e.g. thickness)

[ALL-SPACE-Nuno]

Hi,

Consider the following example

from ansys.aedt.core import Hfss3dLayout
hfss = Hfss3dLayout(
        close_on_exit=True,
        non_graphical=True,
        project='~/test.aedt',
        version='2025.1'
    )
hfss['$layer1_thickness'] = '100um'
hfss.modeler.layers.add_layer('layer1', thickness='$layer_thickness')

I would get the following error

PyAEDT INFO: Python version 3.12.8 (main, Dec 12 2024, 16:30:29) [GCC 8.5.0 20210514 (Red Hat 8.5.0-22)].
PyAEDT INFO: PyAEDT version 0.16.2.
PyAEDT INFO: Initializing new Desktop session.
PyAEDT INFO: Log on console is enabled.
PyAEDT INFO: Log on file /tmp/pyaedt_63e811ea-ffcd-41be-9760-478f3a6da67c.log is enabled.
PyAEDT INFO: Log on AEDT is disabled.
PyAEDT INFO: Debug logger is disabled. PyAEDT methods will not be logged.
PyAEDT INFO: Launching PyAEDT with gRPC plugin.
PyAEDT INFO: New AEDT session is starting on gRPC port 39163.
PyAEDT INFO: Electronics Desktop started on gRPC port: 39163 after 17.35235071182251 seconds.
PyAEDT INFO: AEDT installation Path /opt/ansys_inc/v251/AnsysEM
PyAEDT INFO: Ansoft.ElectronicsDesktop.2025.1 version started with process ID 1877596.
PyAEDT INFO: Project test has been created.
PyAEDT INFO: No design is present. Inserting a new design.
PyAEDT INFO: Added design 'HFSS 3D Layout Design_847' of type HFSS 3D Layout Design.
PyAEDT INFO: Aedt Objects correctly read
PyAEDT INFO: Loading Modeler.
PyAEDT INFO: Modeler loaded.
PyAEDT INFO: EDB loaded.
PyAEDT INFO: Layers loaded.
PyAEDT INFO: Primitives loaded.
PyAEDT INFO: Modeler class has been initialized! Elapsed time: 0m 0sec
PyAEDT ERROR: **************************************************************
PyAEDT ERROR:   File "~/test.py", line 9, in <module>
PyAEDT ERROR:     hfss.modeler.layers.add_layer('layer1', thickness='$layer_thickness')
PyAEDT ERROR: Could not convert string to float: '$layer_thickness' on create_stackup_layer
PyAEDT ERROR: **************************************************************
PyAEDT INFO: Desktop has been released and closed.

Similar behavior for design variables or other numeric based properties.

Any advice or workaround to handle this limitation?

Thanks