Abaqus 6.14 Release - Note

Abaqus Release Notes
ABAQUS 6.14
RELEASE NOTES
Abaqus ID:
Printed on:
Abaqus
Release Notes
Abaqus ID:
Printed on:
Legal Notices
CAUTION: This documentation is intended for qualified users who will exercise sound engineering judgment and expertise in the use of the Abaqus
Software. The Abaqus Software is inherently complex, and the examples and procedures in this documentation are not intended to be exhaustive or to apply
to any particular situation. Users are cautioned to satisfy themselves as to the accuracy and results of their analyses.
Dassault Systmes and its subsidiaries, including Dassault Systmes Simulia Corp., shall not be responsible for the accuracy or usefulness of any analysis
performed using the Abaqus Software or the procedures, examples, or explanations in this documentation. Dassault Systmes and its subsidiaries shall not
be responsible for the consequences of any errors or omissions that may appear in this documentation.
The Abaqus Software is available only under license from Dassault Systmes or its subsidiary and may be used or reproduced only in accordance with the
terms of such license. This documentation is subject to the terms and conditions of either the software license agreement signed by the parties, or, absent
such an agreement, the then current software license agreement to which the documentation relates.
This documentation and the software described in this documentation are subject to change without prior notice.
No part of this documentation may be reproduced or distributed in any form without prior written permission of Dassault Systmes or its subsidiary.
The Abaqus Software is a product of Dassault Systmes Simulia Corp., Providence, RI, USA.
Dassault Systmes, 2014
Abaqus, the 3DS logo, SIMULIA, CATIA, and Unified FEA are trademarks or registered trademarks of Dassault Systmes or its subsidiaries in the United
States and/or other countries.
Other company, product, and service names may be trademarks or service marks of their respective owners. For additional information concerning
trademarks, copyrights, and licenses, see the Legal Notices in the Abaqus 6.14 Installation and Licensing Guide.
Abaqus ID:
Printed on:
CONTENTS
Contents
1.
Introduction to Abaqus 6.14
Key features of Abaqus 6.14

Abaqus products
Changes in interpretation of input data
Changes in interpretation of input data for Abaqus/CAE
2.
General enhancements
Accessing the Learning Community from Abaqus/CAE

3.
3.1
3.2
3.3
3.4
3.5
3.6
3.7
3.8
3.9
3.10
3.11
Analysis procedures
The AMS eigensolver can extract coupled structural-acoustic eigenmodes

AMS eigensolver performance improvements
Specifying additional volume in a fluid cavity
Kepsilon realizable turbulence model in Abaqus/CFD
Matrix quality check
Flexible body generation
5.
2.1
Modeling
Sizing optimization
Optimization across multiple models
Viewing the progression of an optimization by combining output database files
Monitoring an optimization process
Additional criteria for creating soft elements
New design responses
Specifying the rate at which optimization data are saved
Writing optimization files
Switching the context for model instances in Abaqus/CAE
Associating geometric faces created from an orphan mesh with the mesh
Bidirectional import of parameters using the CATIA V6 Associative Interface
4.
1.1
1.2
1.3
1.4
4.1
4.2
4.3
4.4
4.5
4.6
Analysis techniques
Defining a local coordinate system for materials in Eulerian elements

Enhancement to adaptive mesh refinement
Enhancements to the XFEM-based crack propagation capability
Enhancements to the XFEM-based crack propagation capability in Abaqus/CAE
Parallel enhancement for DEM analysis
Abaqus ID:rnb-toc
Printed on: Fri April 18 -- 9:07:50 2014
5.1
5.2
5.3
5.4
5.5
CONTENTS
Enhancements to CZone for Abaqus for composite crush simulation

Vehicle ride comfort and durability co-simulation
Logical-Physical co-simulation using Abaqus and Dymola
Enhancements to the SIMULIA Co-Simulation Engine
SIMULIA Co-Simulation Engine API availability
Enhancements for co-simulation
MpCCI connector to the SIMULIA Co-Simulation Engine
6.
Materials
Enhancements to parallel rheological framework

Enhancements to creep models
User-defined frequency domain viscoelastic behavior
New hybrid formulations for user-defined material behavior
Different stiffness in tension versus compression for traction-separation elasticity
Eulerian elements with anisotropic materials
Element deletion controlled by state variables
7.
9.1
9.2
Interactions
Edge-to-edge contact for general contact in Abaqus/Standard

Improved contact at complex intersections in Abaqus/Explicit
Enhancement to the contact detection tool in Abaqus/CAE
11.
8.1
8.2
8.3
Constraints
New attachment method for mesh-independent fasteners

Enhanced domain decomposition of thermal ties
10.
7.1
7.2
Prescribed conditions
Initial conditions on damage initiation

Enhancements for prescribed conditions in Abaqus/CFD
Acoustic base motion for SIM-based procedures
9.
6.1
6.2
6.3
6.4
6.5
6.6
6.7
Elements
Support for coupled temperaturepore pressure elements in Abaqus/CAE

Linear pyramid acoustic element
8.
5.6
5.7
5.8
5.9
5.10
5.11
5.12
10.1
10.2
10.3
Execution
Job execution control enhancements

GPGPU acceleration of the AMS eigensolver
GPGPU accelerated direct equation solver
User control of domain decomposition
11.1
11.2
11.3
11.4
ii
Abaqus ID:rnb-toc
CONTENTS
SIM database utilities

Enhancements for translating Abaqus data to modal neutral files
12.
Output and visualization
Output of mode mix ratios during mixed mode delamination

Output of last converged increment
Output of contact-related energies
Magnitude output of vector nodal variables
Equivalent plastic strain rate
Principal stresses with bounding values for output field filtering
Writing results from an Abaqus analysis to a SIM database
Requesting reference sink temperature and film coefficient field output in Abaqus/CAE
Generating tabular reports for free body cuts from multiple frames
Selecting the area centroid as the summation point for free body cuts
Reading XY data from free bodies defined on view cuts
Performing display group Boolean operations on linked viewports
13.
13.2
13.3
13.4
13.5
14.1
14.2
Summary of changes
Changes in Abaqus elements

Changes in Abaqus options
Changes in Abaqus user subroutines
Changes in Abaqus output variable identifiers
I.1
13.1
Abaqus Scripting Interface
Enhancements to the addData method

Enhancement to the nodes member of the OdbSet object
15.
12.1
12.2
12.3
12.4
12.5
12.6
12.7
12.8
12.9
12.10
12.11
12.12
User subroutines, utilities, and plug-ins
VEXTERNALDB: User subroutine that gives control to the user at key moments of the
analysis
VUCHARLENGTH: User subroutine to define the characteristic element length at a
material point
Enhancements to user subroutine UMAT
Allocatable arrays
Parallel user subroutines
14.
11.5
11.6
15.1
15.2
15.3
15.4
Product Index
iii
Abaqus ID:rnb-toc
INTRODUCTION TO Abaqus 6.14
1.
Introduction to Abaqus 6.14
This document introduces features in Abaqus that have been added, enhanced, or updated since the
Abaqus 6.13 release.
Chapter 1 provides a brief overview of the Abaqus products included in this release. Chapters 214
provide short descriptions of new Abaqus 6.14 features in Abaqus/Standard, Abaqus/Explicit, Abaqus/CFD,
and Abaqus/CAE, categorized by subject:
Chapter 2, General enhancements: general changes to the Abaqus interface.

Chapter 3, Modeling: features related to creating your model.
Chapter 4, Analysis procedures: features related to defining an analysis.
Chapter 5, Analysis techniques: features related to analysis techniques in Abaqus.
Chapter 6, Materials: new material models or changes to existing material models.
Chapter 7, Elements: new elements or changes to existing elements.
Chapter 8, Prescribed conditions: loads, boundary conditions, and predefined fields.
Chapter 9, Constraints: kinematic constraints.
Chapter 10, Interactions: features related to contact and interaction modeling.
Chapter 11, Execution: commands and utilities for running any of the Abaqus products.
Chapter 12, Output and visualization: obtaining, postprocessing, and visualizing results from Abaqus
analyses.
Chapter 13, User subroutines, utilities, and plug-ins: additional user programs that can be run with
Abaqus.
Chapter 14, Abaqus Scripting Interface: using the Abaqus Scripting Interface to write user scripts.
Each entry in these chapters clearly indicates the Abaqus product or products to which the feature applies
and includes cross-references to more detailed information. Chapter 15, Summary of changes, summarizes
in tabular format the changes to Abaqus elements, keyword options, user subroutines, and output variable
identifiers.
1.1
Key features of Abaqus 6.14
This section provides a list of the most significant new capabilities and enhancements available in Abaqus 6.14;
refer to the table of contents for a complete list of new features.
General performance improvements:

addData method enhancements
11
Abaqus ID:
Printed on:
Contact enhancements:

Output:
Abaqus output database in SIM format for use in the Physics Results Explorer app on the
3DEXPERIENCE Platform
AMS eigensolver:
GPGPU acceleration performance improvements

Constraint equation handling performance improvements
Coupled structural-acoustic eigenmodes extraction
Materials:
Parallel rheological framework enhancements

Local coordinate system for materials in Eulerian elements
Use of anisotropic materials in Eulerian elements
Crack modeling and propagation:
XFEM enhancements
Fluid analysis:
k realizable turbulence model

Prescribed conditions for turbulence models
Co-simulation:
SIMULIA Co-Simulation Engine API general availability
Optimization:
Sizing optimization
Combining output database files
Abaqus/CAE geometry and modeling:
Bidirectional support for CATIA V6 Associative Interface

Associate geometric faces with mesh
Switch context for model instances
Visualization:
Display group operations on linked viewport
12
Abaqus ID:
Printed on:
Free body cut summation at area centroid

XY data from free bodies defined on view cuts
Free body reports from multiple frames
The remaining chapters in this book provide details on these and other new features of Abaqus 6.14. In
addition to the enhancements listed here, most of the known bugs in Abaqus 6.13 are corrected.
1.2
Abaqus products
Individual components of the Abaqus suite are described in this section.
Analysis
Abaqus/Standard:
Abaqus/Explicit:
This general-purpose analysis product can solve a wide range of linear and
nonlinear problems involving the static, dynamic, thermal, electrical, and electromagnetic response
of components. Abaqus/Standard includes all analysis capabilities except those provided in the
Abaqus/Explicit and Abaqus/CFD programs and the add-on analysis functionality described below.
This product provides nonlinear, transient, dynamic analysis of solids and structures
using explicit time integration. Its powerful contact capabilities, reliability, and computational efficiency
on large models also make it highly effective for quasi-static applications involving discontinuous
nonlinear behavior.
Abaqus/CFD: This product is a computational fluid dynamics program with support for preprocessing,
simulation, and postprocessing in Abaqus/CAE. Abaqus/CFD provides scalable parallel CFD simulation
capabilities to address a number of nonlinear coupled fluid-thermal and fluid-structural problems.
Preprocessing and postprocessing
Abaqus/CAE: This product is a Complete Abaqus Environment that provides a simple, consistent
interface for creating, submitting, monitoring, and evaluating results from Abaqus simulations.
Abaqus/CAE is divided into modules, where each module defines a logical aspect of the modeling
process; for example, defining the geometry, defining material properties, generating a mesh, submitting
analysis jobs, and interpreting results.
This subset of Abaqus/CAE contains only the postprocessing capabilities of the

Visualization module. It uses the output database (.odb) to obtain results from the analysis products.
The output database is a neutral binary file. Therefore, results from an Abaqus analysis run on any
platform can be viewed on any other platform supporting Abaqus/Viewer. It provides deformed
configuration, contour, vector, and XY plots, as well as animation of results.
Abaqus/Viewer:
13
Abaqus ID:
Printed on:
Add-on analysis
Abaqus/Aqua: This add-on analysis capability for Abaqus/Standard and Abaqus/Explicit provides a
capability for calculating drag and buoyancy loads based on steady current, wave, and wind effects for
modeling offshore piping and floating platform structures. Abaqus/Aqua is applicable for structures that
can be idealized using line elements, including beam, pipe, and truss elements.
Abaqus/Design: This add-on analysis capability for Abaqus/Standard allows the user to perform
design sensitivity analysis (DSA). The derivatives of output variables are calculated with respect to
specified design parameters.
Optimization Module: This capability is available in Abaqus/CAE to perform shape and topology
optimization. This functionality requires an additional license to submit an optimization process for
analysis.
Abaqus/Foundation: This analysis option offers more efficient access to the linear static and dynamic
analysis functionality in Abaqus/Standard.
CZone for Abaqus: This add-on capability for Abaqus/Explicit provides access to a state-of-the-art
methodology for crush simulation based on CZone technology from Engenuity, Ltd. Targeted toward the
design of composite components and assemblies, CZone for Abaqus provides for inclusion of material
crush behavior in simulations of composite structures subjected to impact.
Optional analysis functionality
Abaqus/AMS: This add-on analysis capability for Abaqus/Standard allows the user to select
the automatic multi-level substructuring (AMS) eigensolver when performing a natural frequency
extraction.
Co-simulation with MpCCI: This add-on analysis capability for Abaqus can be used to solve
multiphysics problems by coupling Abaqus with any third-party analysis program that supports the
MpCCI interface.
Associative interfaces and geometry translators
SIMULIA Associative Interface for Abaqus/CAE: This add-on capability for Abaqus/CAE creates
a connection between a CATIA V6 session and an Abaqus/CAE session. This connection can be used to
transfer model information from CATIA V6 to Abaqus/CAE. Subsequent modifications to the model in
CATIA V6 can be propagated to the Abaqus/CAE model while retaining any analysis features (such as
loads or boundary conditions) that were defined on the model in Abaqus/CAE. The CATIA V6 model in
an assembly file (.eaf) format can also be imported directly into Abaqus/CAE.
This add-on capability for Abaqus/CAE creates a connection

between a CATIA V5 session and an Abaqus/CAE session. This connection can be used to transfer
model information from CATIA V5 to Abaqus/CAE. Subsequent modifications to the model in
CATIA V5 can be propagated to the Abaqus/CAE model while retaining any analysis features (such
as loads or boundary conditions) that were defined on the model in Abaqus/CAE. The geometry of
CATIA V5 Associative Interface:
14
Abaqus ID:
Printed on:
CATIA V5-format Part (.CATPart) and Product (.CATProduct) files can also be imported directly
into Abaqus/CAE.
SolidWorks Associative Interface: This add-on capability for Abaqus/CAE creates a connection
between a SolidWorks session and an Abaqus/CAE session. This connection can be used to transfer
model information from SolidWorks to Abaqus/CAE. Subsequent modifications to the model in
SolidWorks can be propagated to the Abaqus/CAE model while retaining any analysis features (such as
loads or boundary conditions) that were defined on the model in Abaqus/CAE.
Pro/ENGINEER Associative Interface: This add-on capability for Abaqus/CAE creates a
connection between a Pro/ENGINEER session and an Abaqus/CAE session. This connection can be
used to transfer model information between Pro/ENGINEER and Abaqus/CAE. Modifications to the
model in Pro/ENGINEER can be propagated to the Abaqus/CAE model without affecting any analysis
features (such as loads or boundary conditions) that were defined on the model in Abaqus/CAE,
and certain geometric modifications can be made in Abaqus/CAE and propagated to the model in
Pro/ENGINEER.
Abaqus/CAE Associative Interface for NX: This add-on capability for Abaqus/CAE creates
a connection between an NX session and an Abaqus/CAE session. This connection can be used
to transfer model data and to propagate design changes between NX and Abaqus/CAE. The
Abaqus/CAE Associative Interface for NX can be purchased and downloaded from Elysium
Inc. (www.elysiuminc.com).
Geometry Translator for CATIA V4: This add-on capability allows the user to import the geometry
of CATIA V4-format parts and CATIA V4 assemblies (.model, .catdata, and .exp files) directly
into Abaqus/CAE.
Geometry Translator for Parasolid: This add-on capability allows the user to import the geometry
of Parasolid-format parts and Parasolid assemblies (.x_t, .x_b, and .xmt files) directly into
Abaqus/CAE.
Translator utilities
Abaqus translators are provided with the release. They are invoked through the Abaqus execution
procedure (the driver). The translators and the commands to invoke them are described below:
abaqus fromansys translates an ANSYS input file to an Abaqus input file.
abaqus fromdyna translates an LS-DYNA keyword file to an Abaqus input file.
abaqus fromnastran translates a Nastran bulk data file to an Abaqus input file.
abaqus frompamcrash translates a PAM-CRASH input file to a partial Abaqus input file.
abaqus fromradioss translates a RADIOSS input file to a partial Abaqus input file.
abaqus adams translates the results in an Abaqus SIM database file into an MSC.ADAMS modal
neutral (.mnf) file, the format required by ADAMS/Flex.
abaqus moldflow translates finite element model information from a Moldflow analysis into a
partial Abaqus input file.
15
Abaqus ID:
Printed on:
abaqus tonastran translates an Abaqus input file to Nastran bulk data file format.
abaqus toOutput2 translates an Abaqus output database file to the Nastran Output2 file format.
abaqus tozaero enables you to exchange aeroelastic data between the Abaqus and ZAERO analysis
products.
Other utilities
Additional programs are included with the release. They are all invoked through the Abaqus execution
procedure (the driver). The utilities and the commands to invoke these programs are described below:
abaqus append joins separate results files into a single file.
abaqus ascfil translates Abaqus results files between ASCII and binary formats, which is useful for
moving results files between different computer types.
abaqus cosimulation runs a co-simulation using a single command where the analysis job options
specify two Abaqus jobs.
abaqus cse runs the SIMULIA Co-Simulation Engine (CSE) Director process that governs cosimulation between Abaqus and third-party solvers. Typically, when performing a co-simulation
between Abaqus solvers only, you are not required to invoke the CSE Director process; it is invoked
automatically when you run the Abaqus co-simulation procedure using abaqus cosimulation.
abaqus doc accesses the Abaqus documentation collection using a web browser.
abaqus dymola runs a co-simulation between an Abaqus/Standard or Abaqus/Explicit model and
a model exported from Dymola.
abaqus emloads converts results output from an electromagnetic analysis for use as loads in a
subsequent analysis.
abaqus encrypt creates an encoded, password-protected version of an Abaqus input file,
while abaqus decrypt converts an encrypted file back into its original, unencoded format.
abaqus fetch extracts example input files from the libraries included with the release.
abaqus findkeyword provides a list of sample problems that use the specified Abaqus options. This
utility will help users find examples of features they may be using for the first time.
abaqus free converts all fixed format data in an input file to free format.
abaqus licensing provides management and monitoring tools for FLEXnet and Dassault Systmes
(DS) licensing.
abaqus make compiles and links user-written postprocessing programs for Abaqus and creates
user-defined libraries of Abaqus/Standard and Abaqus/Explicit user subroutines.
abaqus mtxasm assembles element matrices contained in a SIM document and, optionally, writes
the assembled matrices to text files.
abaqus networkDBConnector creates a connection to a network ODB server that can be used to
access a remote output database.
abaqus restartjoin appends an output database file produced by a restart analysis of a model to the
output database produced by the original analysis of that model.
16
Abaqus ID:
Printed on:
abaqus odbcombine combines the results data in two or more Abaqus output database files into a
single output database file.
abaqus odbreport creates organized reports of output database information in text, HTML, or CSV
file formats.
abaqus python accesses the Python interpreter.
abaqus resume resumes an Abaqus analysis job.
abaqus script initiates a Python scripting session.
abaqus sim_version converts a SIM database file from one release to another, queries a SIM
database file for its SIM release level, or determines the SIM release level of the current code you
are using.
abaqus substructurecombine combines the model and results data produced by two of a models
substructures into a single output database file.
abaqus suspend suspends an Abaqus analysis job.
abaqus terminate terminates an Abaqus analysis job.
abaqus upgrade upgrades an input file or output database file from previous versions of Abaqus to
the current version.
Platform support
Analysis products (Abaqus/Standard, Abaqus/Explicit, and Abaqus/CFD) and interactive products
(Abaqus/CAE and Abaqus/Viewer) are supported on the following platforms:
Windows/x86-64
Linux/x86-64
Changes to documentation
Because the translation functionality in the Abaqus Interface for Moldflow has been integrated into
Abaqus/Standard as the abaqus moldflow execution procedure, the Abaqus Interface for Moldflow Users
Guide has been removed from the Abaqus documentation collection. For information about running the
abaqus moldflow execution procedure, see Translating Moldflow data to Abaqus input files, Section 3.2.37
of the Abaqus Analysis Users Guide. For translation examples, see Moldflow translation examples,
Section 1.3.19 of the Abaqus Example Problems Guide.
1.3
Changes in interpretation of input data
A list of changes to the Abaqus input file interface is provided in Chapter 15, Summary of changes.
17
Abaqus ID:
Printed on:
1.4
Changes in interpretation of input data for Abaqus/CAE
The following change in Abaqus/CAE 6.14 is a change from previous releases:
Python interprets numbers with leading zeros as octal numbers (for example, 0123 is interpreted as
83.0). Previously, numbers with leading zeros entered in text fields were interpreted as octal numbers.
Now, Abaqus/CAE will ignore leading zeros in numbers in text fields before Python interprets them; such
numbers are evaluated as decimals. For more information, see Entering expressions, Section 3.2.2 of
the Abaqus/CAE Users Guide.
18
Abaqus ID:
Printed on:
GENERAL ENHANCEMENTS
2.
General enhancements
This chapter describes the following general enhancement that has been made to Abaqus:
2.1
Accessing the Learning Community from Abaqus/CAE, Section 2.1
Product:
Abaqus/CAE
Benefits: Abaqus/CAE provides easy access to the Learning Community.

Description:
You can now access the Learning Community (http://www.3ds.com/productsservices/simulia/academics/simulia-learning-community) from the main menu bar in Abaqus/CAE.
The Learning Community contains online tutorials and technical content. The community also hosts a
question-and-answer area that enables the global community of users to share their expertise and learn how
to leverage the latest features and enhancements available in the SIMULIA portfolio.
Abaqus/CAE Usage:
All modules:
HelpLearning Community
Reference:
Abaqus/CAE Users Guide
Accessing the Learning Community, Section 2.6.5
21
Abaqus ID:
Printed on:
MODELING
3.
Modeling
This chapter discusses features related to creating your model, such as part and assembly definition in
Abaqus/CAE, importing and exporting models to or from Abaqus/CAE, and optimization. It provides an
overview of the following enhancements:
3.1
Sizing optimization, Section 3.1

Optimization across multiple models, Section 3.2
Viewing the progression of an optimization by combining output database files, Section 3.3
Monitoring an optimization process, Section 3.4
Additional criteria for creating soft elements, Section 3.5
New design responses, Section 3.6
Specifying the rate at which optimization data are saved, Section 3.7
Writing optimization files, Section 3.8
Switching the context for model instances in Abaqus/CAE, Section 3.9
Associating geometric faces created from an orphan mesh with the mesh, Section 3.10
Bidirectional import of parameters using the CATIA V6 Associative Interface, Section 3.11
Sizing optimization
Product:
Abaqus/CAE
Benefits: You can now create a sizing optimization that optimizes a shell model by modifying the thickness
of the shell elements.
Description: In addition to topology and shape optimization, you can now create a sizing optimization.
Sizing optimization is applied to shell parts and optimizes the thickness of the shell elements in the design area.
When you configure a sizing optimization, you can specify that selected regions should contain clusters of
shell elements of equal thickness. You can use clustering to generate strengthening ribs or rings in the sheet
metal structure you are optimizing or to define borders between regions of equal thickness. Clustered regions
can be reproduced in manufacturing using sheets of constant thickness; for example, a vehicle body in white
formed by welding and stamping individual sheet metal structures.
When you view the results of a sizing optimization, by default the Visualization module displays the
thickness of the shell elements.
Abaqus/CAE Usage:
Optimization module:
TaskCreate, Name: optimization task name, Type: Sizing optimization
31
Abaqus ID:
Printed on:
MODELING
References:
Creating an optimization task, Section 18.6.1, in the HTML version of this guide
Configuring a sizing optimization task, Section 18.6.4, in the HTML version of this guide
Abaqus Example Problems Guide
3.2
Sizing optimization of a gear shift control holder, Section 11.3.1

Sizing optimization of a car door, Section 11.3.2
Product:
Abaqus/CAE
Benefits: You can now create an optimization design response that covers multiple models. This allows you
to create an optimization with nonlinear load cases.
Description: You can incorporate multiple models into your optimization when linear perturbations about
a base state are no longer sufficient as load cases. For example, you can simulate nonlinear load cases (which
are not supported by Abaqus/CAE) by creating multiple copies of your nonlinear model and by creating a
step in each model during which different loads and boundary conditions are applied. Each model must have
the same Abaqus/CAE geometry, the same mesh, and the same section assignments, and the models must be
open in your Abaqus/CAE session.
Abaqus/CAE Usage:
Design ResponseCreate, Name: design response name,
Type: Single-term, Steps, Specify: Model, Step and Load Case
References:
3.3
Creating and editing a design response, Section 18.7.1, in the HTML version of this guide
Selecting the data source of a design response, Section 18.7.2, in the HTML version of this guide
Viewing the progression of an optimization by combining output

database files
Product:
Abaqus/CAE
32
Abaqus ID:
Printed on:
MODELING
Benefits: Each design cycle of an optimization process now creates a separate output database file. To view
the results of the optimization in the Visualization module, you must combine the separate output database
files with the optimization results into a single output database file.
Description: Previous releases of Abaqus/CAE stored the analysis results from each design cycle into a
single output database file, resulting in very large output database files that consumed a lot of disk space and
were slow to process. By default, Abaqus/CAE continues to save optimization data after every design cycle
in optimization files. However, the individual output database files created during each design cycle are now
saved only at specified intervals. Alternatively, you can control the rate at which analysis data is saved in
output database files as follows:
after every design cycle,

from the initial, first, or last design cycles, or
after every n design cycles.
To view the results of an optimization in the Visualization module, you must first combine the separate
output database files and the optimization files into a single output database file. When you merge output
database files, you can select the steps and load cases to merge; you can also select the field variables to
include in the combined output database file. In addition, if your optimization process included multiple
models, you can select the models to include; Abaqus/CAE creates a combined output database file for each
model.
Abaqus/CAE Usage:
Job module:
OptimizationCombine, Name: design response name
Reference:
3.4
Combining optimization results, Section 19.12.8, in the HTML version of this guide
Product:
Abaqus/CAE
Benefits: You now have more flexibility when monitoring the progression of an optimization process.
Description: Abaqus/CAE can now display output data in a table that allows you to monitor the progression
of an optimization process to ensure it is converging on an acceptable solution. You can select which variables
to monitor, and you can display selected variables in an XY plot in a new viewport.
Abaqus/CAE Usage:
Job module:
OptimizationMonitor, Name: task name
33
Abaqus ID:
Printed on:
MODELING
Reference:
3.5
Monitoring your optimization process, Section 19.12.6, in the HTML version of this guide
Product:
Abaqus/CAE
Benefits: During a topology optimization, Abaqus creates soft elements that have a negligible influence
on the stiffness of the resulting structure but are still relevant for the number of degrees of freedom of the
structure. Choosing to delete soft elements is recommended when you are optimizing a nonlinear model
because those elements would otherwise degenerate or collapse and prevent Abaqus from converging on a
solution. Additional criteria have been added that define when an element is considered soft.
Description: You specify the criteria for creating soft elements when you create a topology optimization
task. The additional criteria are:
Maximum shear strain

Minimum principal strain
Maximum elastoplastic strain
Volume compression
In addition, if you choose the standard or aggressive criteria, you can prevent isolated soft elements from
being removed by choosing to delete only soft elements that have neighboring soft elements.
Abaqus/CAE Usage:
TaskCreate, Name: task name, Type: Topology optimization, Advanced
Reference:
3.6
Configuring advanced options in Configuring a topology optimization task, Section 18.6.2, in the
HTML version of this guide
Product:
Abaqus/CAE
Benefits: You can now create scaled element centroidal von Mises stress and energy stiffness measure design
responses.
34
Abaqus ID:
Printed on:
MODELING
Description: The energy stiffness measure design response is now available when you create general
topology and sizing optimizations. In addition, the scaled, element centroidal, von Mises stress design
response is now available when you create a general topology optimization. The energy stiffness measure
has no physical meaning but can be used as an objective function or a constraint to optimize the stiffness of a
structure that is subjected to both external loading and prescribed displacements.
Abaqus/CAE Usage:
Design ResponseCreate, Name: design response name,
Type: Single-term, Variable: Stress or Energy stiffness measure
Reference:
Abaqus Analysis Users Guide
3.7
Design responses, Section 13.2.1
Product:
Abaqus/CAE
Benefits: You now have more flexibility when specifying the rate at which the optimization process saves
the files created by the Abaqus jobs, such as the status file, the message file, and the output database.
Description: With previous releases of Abaqus/CAE you could choose to save analysis data from the
Abaqus job either every design cycle or from the first and last design cycles when creating an optimization
process. You can now specify the rate at which optimization data are saved as follows:
after every design cycle,

from the initial, first, or last design cycles, or
after every n design cycles.
Abaqus/CAE Usage:
Job module:
OptimizationCreate, Name: optimization process name, Optimization: Data save
Reference:
3.8
Creating and editing optimization processes, Section 19.12.1, in the HTML version of this guide
Product:
Abaqus/CAE
35
Abaqus ID:
Printed on:
MODELING
Benefits: You now create the files that are needed to run the optimization with an Abaqus execution
procedure from the command line.
Description: When you are managing an optimization process, you can create copies of the optimization
parameter (.par) file and the Abaqus input (.inp) file in your working directory. The parameter file contains
parameters that are used to execute the optimization and contains information about the input file that is
associated with the optimization; the input file, in turn, defines the Abaqus model you are optimizing.
You can run the optimization from the command line with the following command:
abaqus optimization -task parameter file -job results folder
The parameter file and the input file must be saved in the same directory. During the optimization, Abaqus
creates the results folder in which the results of the optimization are stored.
Abaqus/CAE Usage:
Job module:
OptimizationWrite Files; Name: optimization process name
Reference:
3.9
Creating the optimization files, Section 19.12.2, in the HTML version of this guide
Product:
Abaqus/CAE
Benefits: You can now use the Model Tree to switch the context for model instances and their child part
instances, making it easier to access the original model or part for editing.
Description: You can select a model instance or a child part instance from the Model Tree and switch the
context to the original model or part from which the selected instance was created.
Abaqus/CAE Usage:
Assembly module or Mesh module:
Select model or child part instance from the Model Tree, then click mouse button 3 and
select Switch to part/model context from the menu.
Reference:
Using the Model Tree to switch the context for part or model instances, Section 13.10.3, in the HTML
version of this guide
36
Abaqus ID:
Printed on:
MODELING
3.10
Associating geometric faces created from an orphan mesh with

the mesh
Product:
Abaqus/CAE
Benefits: When you create a geometric face from orphan element faces in a part, Abaqus/CAE now
associates the new face with the mesh by default.
Description: You can use the Geometry Edit toolset to create geometry from the faces of orphan mesh
elements. By default, the new geometric face is associated with the mesh; you have the option to change this
behavior, as shown in Figure 31.
Figure 31 Options for creating geometric faces from orphan element faces.
Abaqus/CAE Usage:
Part module:
ToolsGeometry Edit; Face: From element faces; Options: toggle Associate face with mesh
Reference:
Create face from element faces, Section 69.7.10, in the HTML version of this guide
3.11
Bidirectional import of parameters using the CATIA V6 Associative

Interface
Product:
Abaqus/CAE
Benefits: After importing a model using the CATIA V6 Associative Interface, you can modify geometry
parameters in the model. Both the Abaqus/CAE model and the original CATIA V6 model are updated based
on the modified parameters, which allows you to keep your Abaqus/CAE and CATIA V6 models synchronized
while you iterate on a design.
37
Abaqus ID:
Printed on:
MODELING
Description: The parameter update capability for the CATIA V6 Associative Interface allows you to work
exclusively in Abaqus/CAE after importing a model from CATIA V6 while keeping the original CATIA V6
model up to date with any geometric changes. Certain geometry parameters can be modified in Abaqus/CAE,
then these modifications are propagated to the original CATIA V6 model (this functionality was previously
available for only CATIA V5 and Pro/ENGINEER models).
To use bidirectional import, you must first specify the parameters and their values in the CATIA V6
model that will be imported into Abaqus/CAE. These parameters are used to define dimensions in the CATIA
V6 model; for example, a parameter may be used to specify the radius of a hole feature. When you import
the model into Abaqus/CAE using the CATIA V6 Associative Interface, the list of specified parameters is
also imported. You use the CAD Parameters dialog box in Abaqus/CAE to modify the values of each
parameter. When you click Update, the features associated with the modified dimensions are regenerated,
and the models geometry is updated in Abaqus/CAE and in the CATIA V6 model.
For detailed instructions on using bidirectional import, download the CATIA V6 Associative Interface
Users Guide from the Dassault Systmes Knowledge Base at www.3ds.com/support/knowledge-base.
Abaqus/CAE Usage:
Part module:
ToolsCAD Parameters.
Assembly module:
ToolsCAD InterfacesCAD Parameters.
Reference:
Updating geometry parameters in an imported model, Section 60.2
38
Abaqus ID:
Printed on:
ANALYSIS PROCEDURES
4.
Analysis procedures
This chapter discusses features related to defining an analysis. It provides an overview of the following
enhancements:
4.1
The AMS eigensolver can extract coupled structural-acoustic eigenmodes, Section 4.1
AMS eigensolver performance improvements, Section 4.2
Specifying additional volume in a fluid cavity, Section 4.3
Kepsilon realizable turbulence model in Abaqus/CFD, Section 4.4
Matrix quality check, Section 4.5
Flexible body generation, Section 4.6
The AMS eigensolver can extract coupled structural-acoustic

eigenmodes
Product:
Abaqus/Standard
Benefits: The coupled structural-acoustic eigenmodes can be computed by the AMS eigensolver and stored
using the SIM architecture. In addition, the modal methods can utilize these modes for modal superposition.
Description: If the model includes structural-acoustic coupling, the AMS eigensolver can extract coupled
modes. Previously, this functionality was available only with the Lanczos eigensolver. This enhancement
allows you to take advantage of the superior performance offered by the AMS eigensolver. For example,
extracting about 1,000 coupled modes of a 2.5 million degree-of-freedom car body model takes 3 hours and
3 minutes with the Lanczos eigensolver; the AMS eigensolver needs only 32 minutes, which is almost six
times faster. This benchmarking was performed using 16 cores on a Sandy Bridge machine with 128 GB of
memory.
The coupled structural-acoustic modes computed by the AMS eigensolver are supported in the following
modal procedures that use the SIM architecture:
complex eigenvalue extraction,

mode-based steady-state dynamic analysis,
subspace-based steady-state dynamic analysis, and
substructure generation.
References:
Natural frequency extraction, Section 6.3.5
41
Abaqus ID:
Printed on:
ANALYSIS PROCEDURES
Abaqus Keywords Reference Guide
*COMPLEX FREQUENCY
*FREQUENCY
*STEADY STATE DYNAMICS
*SUBSTRUCTURE GENERATE
Abaqus Theory Guide
Coupled acoustic-structural medium analysis, Section 2.9.1
4.2
Products:
Abaqus/Standard Abaqus/AMS
Benefits: The performance of the AMS eigensolver has been improved for large models that contain many
distributing coupling constraints or other features with Lagrange multipliers (for example, fasteners, contact
interactions, connectors, or hyperelastic materials).
Description: Enhanced handling of constraint equations in the AMS eigensolver delivers improved
performance for large-scale models with many constraints. Table 41 illustrates the performance improvement
in the AMS eigensolver for one industrial vehicle model that has 18.6 million degrees of freedom and
1.3 million constraint equations. The frequency extraction analysis for the vehicle body model was run on a
Linux machine with dual 2.6 GHz Intel Sandy Bridge processors (2 8 cores) and 128 GB of memory. In
the table, the Total Standard includes the times for the constraint solver, AMS eigensolver, and non-solver
part of the AMS eigensolution procedure.
Table 41 Performance improvement in the AMS eigensolver.
Abaqus 6.13 Wall Clock
Time (sec.)
Abaqus 6.14 Wall Clock

Time (sec.)
Speedup Factor
Constraint Solver
3027
52
58.2
AMS eigensolver
3264
3242
N/A
Total Standard
8362
5311
1.6
42
Abaqus ID:
Printed on:
ANALYSIS PROCEDURES
References:
4.3
*FREQUENCY
Product:
Abaqus/Standard
Benefits: You can now specify an additional volume for a fluid cavity in an Abaqus/Standard analysis.
Description: This feature, which was previously available only in Abaqus/Explicit, is now available in
Abaqus/Standard as well. You can specify an additional volume that will be added to the actual volume of
the cavity.
References:
Fluid cavity definition, Section 11.5.2
4.4
*FLUID CAVITY
Product:
Abaqus/CFD
Benefits: You can now apply the k realizable turbulence model to fluid flow problems.
Description: The k realizable model is a two-equation turbulence model that evolves an equation for
the turbulent kinetic energy, k, and the energy dissipation rate, . The model equations are developed from
fundamental physical principles and dimensional analysis; the equation for k is derived using first principles,
and the equation for is postulated using physical insight. This particular version uses realizability constraints,
which imposes mathematical consistency in the Reynolds stresses (such as enforcing the positivity of the
normal stresses and the Cauchy-Schwarz inequality) to modify the model coefficients and the epsilon equation.
These modifications guarantee the physical consistency in the predicted Reynolds stresses. To increase the
accuracy of the k realizable model in cases where the mesh is not fine enough to resolve the viscous sub-layer
in wall-bounded flows, a near-wall model, known as the two-layer model, is implemented.
43
Abaqus ID:
Printed on:
ANALYSIS PROCEDURES
References:
Incompressible fluid dynamic analysis, Section 6.6.2
4.5
*TURBULENCE MODEL
Product:
Abaqus/Standard
Benefits: You can now check the quality of the generated stiffness and mass matrices in matrix generation
or substructure generation analyses.
Description: You can request rigid body mode checks for the generated stiffness and mass matrices in
the matrix generation or substructure generation procedures. The quality of the generated global assembled
matrices is checked in the matrix generation procedure. The quality of the generated condensed substructure
matrices is checked in the substructure generation procedure. The matrix check generates six artificial rigid
body modes and projects the matrices onto the rigid body modal subspace. It is expected that the projected
6 6 stiffness matrix (also known as the rigid body energy matrix) is close to zero in the absence of the
boundary conditions and constraints. To perform the stiffness matrix quality check, the boundary conditions
and multipoint constraints can be suppressed in the matrix generation procedure. The total inertia statistics
for the model are extracted from the projected 6 6 rigid body mass matrix. You can specify the center of
rotation for creating the artificial rotational rigid body modes and calculating the global inertia tensor. If the
matrix quality check is requested, the check results are printed in the data (.dat) file.
References:
Defining substructures, Section 10.1.2

Generating matrices, Section 10.3.1
*MATRIX CHECK
*MATRIX GENERATE
44
Abaqus ID:
Printed on:
ANALYSIS PROCEDURES
4.6
Product:
Abaqus/Standard
Benefits: You can now generate a flexible body from a substructure. In flexible body dynamic simulations,
this capability can eliminate the need to store the full substructure recovery matrix, which is often very large,
improving performance and reducing the size of the substructure .sim file.
Description: Abaqus/Standard can generate a flexible body from a substructure. The generated flexible
body can be used in flexible body dynamic simulations using external solvers. Abaqus/Standard supports
generation of several flexible body types that can be used by external flexible body dynamics solvers. The
generated flexible body entities are stored in the substructure .sim file and can be converted to conventional
flexible body representations by postprocessing programs.
References:
Defining substructures, Section 10.1.2
*FLEXIBLE BODY
45
Abaqus ID:
Printed on:
ANALYSIS TECHNIQUES
5.
Analysis techniques
This chapter discusses features related to analysis techniques in Abaqus. It provides an overview of the
following enhancements:
5.1
Defining a local coordinate system for materials in Eulerian elements, Section 5.1
Enhancements to the XFEM-based crack propagation capability, Section 5.2
SIMULIA Co-Simulation Engine API availability, Section 5.3
Enhancement to adaptive mesh refinement, Section 5.4
Enhancements to the XFEM-based crack propagation capability in Abaqus/CAE, Section 5.5
Parallel enhancement for DEM analysis, Section 5.6
Enhancements to CZone for Abaqus for composite crush simulation, Section 5.7
Vehicle ride comfort and durability co-simulation, Section 5.8
Logical-Physical co-simulation using Abaqus and Dymola, Section 5.9
Enhancements to the SIMULIA Co-Simulation Engine, Section 5.10
Enhancements for co-simulation, Section 5.11
MpCCI connector to the SIMULIA Co-Simulation Engine, Section 5.12
Defining a local coordinate system for materials in Eulerian

elements
Product:
Abaqus/Explicit
Benefits: You can now define a local coordinate system for materials in Eulerian elements. Therefore,
orientation-based materials can be used with Eulerian elements.
Description: In the Eulerian section definition you can now define an orientation for one or more materials
in the section. Abaqus/Explicit remaps the material orientation as the material flows through element faces.
Anisotropic linear elastic materials, orthotropic linear elastic materials, anisotropic hyperelastic materials,
and materials with Hill Plasticity can now be used with Eulerian elements.
References:
Eulerian analysis, Section 14.1.1
*EULERIAN SECTION
*ORIENTATION
51
Abaqus ID:
Printed on:
ANALYSIS TECHNIQUES
5.2
Product:
Abaqus/Standard
Benefits: The extended finite element method (XFEM) allows you to model discontinuities, such as cracks,
along an arbitrary, solution-dependent path during an analysis. This method can now be extended to include
the pore pressure degrees of freedom to account for the discontinuities of pore pressure as well as the fluid flow
within the cracked element surfaces. This capability is very useful to accurately assess the hydraulic fracture
process in the oil-gas industry as well as fluid flow in the life science and consumer goods industries. To
improve the accuracy, you can now use nonlocal averaging stress and strain fields to determine if the damage
initiation criterion is satisfied and to determine the crack propagation direction. In addition, output of some
quantities on the cracked element surfaces is supported.
Description: XFEM allows you to model crack growth without remeshing the crack surfaces since it does
not require the mesh to match the geometry of the crack. The XFEM-based cohesive segments method is
extended to model hydraulically driven fracture. In this case additional phantom nodes with pore pressure
degrees of freedom are introduced to model the fluid flow within the cracked element surfaces and to represent
the discontinuities of displacement and fluid pressure in a cracked element. The fluid flow continuity, which
accounts for both tangential and normal flow within and across the cracked element surfaces as well as the
rate of opening of the cracked element surfaces, is maintained. The fluid pressure on the cracked element
surfaces contributes to the traction-separation behavior of the cohesive segments in the enriched elements,
which enables the modeling of hydraulically driven fracture.
In previous releases you could use the local stress and strain fields of an element ahead of the crack tip
to determine the crack propagation and if the fracture criterion was satisfied. In the case of coarse and/or
unstructured meshes a nonlocal averaging of the stress and strain fields ahead of the crack tip can lead to
a more accurate evaluation of those fields, which can improve the accuracy of the computed propagation
directions.
You can now output and visualize some surface variables on the cracked element surfaces.
References:
Modeling discontinuities as an enriched feature using the extended finite element method,
Section 10.7.1
Boundary conditions in Abaqus/Standard and Abaqus/Explicit, Section 34.3.1
Pore fluid flow, Section 34.4.7
*BOUNDARY
*CFLOW
*CONTACT OUTPUT
52
Abaqus ID:
Printed on:
ANALYSIS TECHNIQUES
*DAMAGE INITIATION
*ENRICHMENT
Abaqus Benchmarks Guide
Propagation of hydraulically driven fracture using XFEM, Section 1.19.5
5.3

Abaqus/Standard Abaqus/Explicit Abaqus/CFD
Products:
Benefits: The SIMULIA Co-Simulation Engine API, which allows you to couple in-house codes with
Abaqus solvers, is now generally available with the Abaqus media.
Description: The SIMULIA Co-Simulation Engine (CSE) API allows you to couple in-house codes with
Abaqus solvers. Co-simulation and embedding the CSE API in client code are intended for advanced users
who are familiar with Abaqus, their in-house software, the co-simulation technique, and programming. You
are encouraged to discuss your co-simulation requirements with your SIMULIA local support office.
The CSE API kit is distributed with the Abaqus media. When you install Abaqus, the CSE API kit is
installed in the following location:
install_dir/api/cse/6.14-x_platform_CSE-api.zip
For example, if you install Abaqus 6.14 in C:\SIMULIA\Abaqus\6.141, the CSE API kit for the
Windows 64-bit platform is available in the following location:
C:\SIMULIA\Abaqus\6.141\api\cse\6.14-1_win86_64_CSE-api.zip
The .zip file contains the CSE API headers, libraries, documentation, and example problems.
References:
Chapter 17, Co-simulation
Abaqus Installation and Licensing Guide
5.4
The Abaqus parent directory, Section B.2
Product:
Abaqus/Explicit
Benefits: You can now apply the adaptive mesh refinement feature to a subset of elements in an Eulerian
section.
53
Abaqus ID:
Printed on:
ANALYSIS TECHNIQUES
Description: This feature benefits models in which the refinement region remains a small part of an Eulerian
domain and does not vary much during the analysis. When the job is run with multiple domains, the elements
in this subset can be decomposed independently and assigned to different processors. Load balance between
processors can be greatly improved with this approach. For models in which the refinement region varies
during the analysis, load imbalance can be reduced through the dynamic load balancing scheme.
References:
Parallel execution in Abaqus/Explicit, Section 3.5.3

Defining adaptive mesh refinement in the Eulerian domain, Section 14.1.4
5.5
*ADAPTIVE MESH REFINEMENT

*DOMAIN DECOMPOSITION

in Abaqus/CAE
Product:
Abaqus/CAE
Benefits: In Abaqus/CAE you can specify if the stress/strain values at the element centroid, at the crack tip,
or the combination of both locations are used to measure the crack propagation criterion, which increases the
coverage of Abaqus product functionality.
Description: Abaqus/CAE now supports the options for local calculations of the stress and strain fields
ahead of the crack tip. You can specify if the stress/strain values at the element centroid, at the crack tip, or
the combination of both locations are used to determine if the damage initiation criterion is satisfied and to
determine the crack propagation direction (if needed).
Abaqus/CAE Usage:
Property module:
material editor: MechanicalDamage for Traction Separation Laws:
Quade Damage, Maxe Damage, Quads Damage, Maxs Damage, Maxpe Damage,
or Maxps Damage: PositionCentroid, Crack tip, or Combined
Reference:
Defining damage, Section 12.9.3, in the HTML version of this guide
54
Abaqus ID:
Printed on:
ANALYSIS TECHNIQUES
5.6
Product:
Abaqus/Explicit
Benefits: Discrete element method (DEM) simulations run more efficiently due to domain decomposition
of the DEM computations.
Description: Computations associated with DEM particle contact are now implemented in domain parallel,
enabling better parallel scaling if multiple CPUs are used. Similar to parallel smoothed particle hydrodynamic
(SPH) analysis, an evolving domain decomposition is used to avoid large spatial overlap among DEM domains
(and, therefore, to maintain good parallel scaling) after large relative motions of DEM particles.
Reference:
5.7
Discrete element method, Section 15.1.1
Enhancements to CZone for Abaqus for composite crush

simulation
Product:
Abaqus/Explicit
Benefits: The CZone for Abaqus add-on capability has been enhanced to provide a more integrated solution
for modeling composite crush in Abaqus/Explicit.
Description: CZone for Abaqus is an add-on product that combines the CZone methodology for composite
crushing with the analysis capabilities of Abaqus/Explicit. This combination enables the inclusion of crushing
behavior in FEA simulations of composite structures subjected to impact. The localized loading behavior in
CZone for Abaqus is modeled using a surface-to-surface contact interaction.
The CZone for Abaqus functionality has been enhanced to provide a more integrated solution for
composites crush simulations in Abaqus/Explicit. The enhancements include extended coverage of Abaqus
functionality as well as significant improvements to the user interface and the execution process:
Composite shell sections with orientations defined on individual layers or using distributions are now
supported.
Field variables are no longer needed to define and report the crushing contact state.
New interface for the definition of the crush stress of the material.
New interface for the definition of CZone crushing contact interactions.
New output variable for CZone crushing state.
Simplified execution process, without the need to use a precompiled Python script (fileReader.py)
to run a CZone for Abaqus analysis.
55
Abaqus ID:
Printed on:
ANALYSIS TECHNIQUES
For additional information about CZone for Abaqus, see the following page at www.3ds.com/simulia:
www.3ds.com/products-services/simulia/portfolio/abaqus/abaqus-portfolio/abaqus-add-ons/czone-forabaqus/.
5.8
Products:
Abaqus/Standard Abaqus/Explicit
Benefits: Co-simulation with Abaqus and FTire (from Cosin Scientific Software) is now available for vehicle
ride comfort and durability simulation.
Description: The Abaqus co-simulation technique is used with FTire to solve complex comfort and
durability simulation of a vehicle maneuvering on an uneven road. Maneuvers such as accelerating, braking,
rolling, and skidding can be modeled. The vehicle, its suspension, and wheel rims are modeled in Abaqus.
The tire, the road, and the movement of the tire on the road are modeled in FTire (Flexible Ring Tire
Model). Abaqus computes displacements and rotations associated with the forces and torques arising from
the vehicle moving on the road, which are computed by FTire. Most of the Abaqus features are available for
use, including nonlinear materials, nonlinear geometric effects, contact, and connectors. The complex tire
phenomena is explained on a strictly mechanical, tribological, and thermodynamical basis in FTire.
Co-simulation with Abaqus and FTire is supported and qualified by SIMULIA.
References:
5.9
Co-simulation: overview, Section 17.1.1

Preparing an Abaqus analysis for co-simulation, Section 17.2.1
Products:
Benefits: You can now use co-simulation to model the interaction between logical and physical components.
You can model logical controls (electronics), electric motors, pneumatics, or hydraulic devices in Dymola and
model the mechanical, thermal, and acoustic physics in Abaqus.
Description: You can now use co-simulation between the logical modeling software Dymola and Abaqus to
include the modeling of control electronics or electric devices in conjunction with the mechanical, thermal, or
acoustical modeling. At any given time, sensor information computed in Abaqus can be exported into Dymola,
which processes this information to produce an actuation. The actuation is then imported into Abaqus to drive
the model to the desired state. Examples include the following:
Robotic arms (modeled in Abaqus) actuated by electronically controlled electric motors (modeled in
Dymola) to achieve a desired path for the payload
56
Abaqus ID:
Printed on:
ANALYSIS TECHNIQUES
Automotive ABS systems where tires (modeled in Abaqus) are required to maintain a rolling motion
(detected via sensors) while the braking torque (actuationcomputed in Dymola) is maximized
Earth moving machinery such as backhoes (modeled in Abaqus) that require a controlled hydraulic
pressure (computed in Dymola) to move their components to the desired effect
References:

Structural-to-logical co-simulation, Section 17.4.1
*CO-SIMULATION REGION
Analysis of a speaker using Abaqus-Dymola co-simulation, Section 9.1.3
5.10
Products:
Benefits: The SIMULIA Co-Simulation Engine is enhanced to allow the definition of multiple co-simulation
regions and to provide a configuration file upgrade capability.
Description: The SIMULIA Co-Simulation Engine now supports multiple regions and multiple fields for
Abaqus/Standard and Abaqus/Explicit coupled with certain partner products. A client can specify one or
more regions as its co-simulation interface. The co-simulation interface region can be a set of discrete points,
a surface region, a volume region, or a mixture of these types. Corresponding regions between clients need
to be of the same region type, co-located, and have the same region boundaries.
Multiple regions can be used for:
Transferring different field types across different co-simulation interfaces

Coupling between points, surface regions, and volume regions
Assigning different search and mapping tolerances in areas of complex geometry where mapping
difficulties are expected
The CSE director process can automatically upgrade the schema for the configuration file from previous
releases.
57
Abaqus ID:
Printed on:
ANALYSIS TECHNIQUES
References:
SIMULIA Co-Simulation Engine director execution, Section 3.2.3

5.11
Products:
Benefits: Several enhancements, including support for volume coupling, exchanging thermal fields on both
faces of shell elements, and configuration file generation for third-party clients, improve the usability of the
co-simulation technique.
Description: The following enhancements for co-simulation are available:
Abaqus/Explicit now supports co-simulation where the interface region is a volume. Volume coupling
allows coupling physics where the interface occupies the same space, as in the case of electromagneticto-structural coupling.
In Abaqus/Standard and Abaqus/Explicit thermal fields can now be exchanged on both the SPOS and
SNEG faces of shell elements. In previous releases only the SPOS or SNEG face was supported for
thermal coupling. If both sides are loaded, you must define two regions, one containing the SPOS faces
and the other containing the SNEG faces.
In the SIMULIA Co-Simulation Engine configuration file, you can now specify the treatment for nodes
and elements for which no intersection is found during the spatial mapping. You can specify a default
value or specify that the value of the nearest neighbor node or element is to be used.
The input file preprocessor for Abaqus/Standard and Abaqus/Explicit now writes a model description
file that contains the co-simulation definitions (e.g., region names, field and their causality, etc.) This
information can be used by a third-party client to generate the co-simulation configuration file without
having to parse the Abaqus input file.
The Run Time Environment (SRE) of the SIMULIA Co-Simulation Engine now supports version
control. If incompatible SRE libraries are detected in either the CSE director or any of the clients, the
co-simulation is terminated with an appropriate message.
Reference:
58
Abaqus ID:
Printed on:
ANALYSIS TECHNIQUES
5.12
Products:
Benefits: The SIMULIA Co-Simulation Engine now supports an interface with MpCCI, expanding the
number of third-party solvers that can be coupled with Abaqus.
Description: Prior to the Abaqus 6.14 release, the MpCCI client software was embedded in
Abaqus/Standard and Abaqus/Explicit. With the Abaqus 6.14 release, Fraunhofer SCAI has developed a
connection between the MpCCI server and the SIMULIA Co-Simulation Engine. This connection extends
the co-simulation capability to nonpartner, MpCCI-compliant solvers that can be coupled with Abaqus. This
connector supports the latest capabilities available with the SIMULIA Co-Simulation Engine, including
implicit iterative coupling.
The connector process is distributed by Fraunhofer SCAI. For more information on MpCCI, see
www.mpcci.de. For more information about coupling with third-party software, see the Co-simulation page
at www.3ds.com/simulia.
Third-party code coupling with Abaqus via MpCCI is qualified and supported by Fraunhofer SCAI.
Reference:
59
Abaqus ID:
Printed on:
MATERIALS
6.
Materials
This chapter discusses new material models or changes to existing material models. It provides an overview
of the following enhancements:
6.1
Enhancements to parallel rheological framework, Section 6.1

Eulerian elements with anisotropic materials, Section 6.2
Enhancements to creep models, Section 6.3
User-defined frequency domain viscoelastic behavior, Section 6.4
New hybrid formulations for user-defined material behavior, Section 6.5
Different stiffness in tension versus compression for traction-separation elasticity, Section 6.6
Element deletion controlled by state variables, Section 6.7
Products:
Benefits: You can now use the power law creep model or a user-defined creep model that includes
pressure and total deformation dependency to define the viscous response in the viscoelastic network. In the
equilibrium network, the response that includes plasticity with combined isotropic and kinematic hardening
can now be defined. The implementation of nonlinear kinematic hardening will be most beneficial for
applications that include cycling loading. In addition, transferring results between various Abaqus analyses
is now supported for models defined using the parallel rheological framework.
Description: The viscous response in the viscoelastic network can be defined using a new, power law creep
model that includes pressure dependency. In addition, a user-defined creep model can include dependency on
pressure and total deformation through appropriate invariants. In Abaqus/Standard the equilibrium network
response has been enhanced and can include plasticity with combined isotropic and nonlinear kinematic
hardening. The implementation of the nonlinear kinematic hardening is based on the Armstrong-Frederick
model and allows multiple backstresses to be specified. Finally, the import capability for material models
defined using a parallel rheological framework is now fully supported.
References:
Transferring results between Abaqus analyses: overview, Section 9.2.1

Parallel rheological framework, Section 22.8.2
*VISCOELASTIC
61
Abaqus ID:
Printed on:
MATERIALS
Abaqus User Subroutines Reference Guide
UCREEPNETWORK, Section 1.1.23
Abaqus Verification Guide
Transferring results with parallel rheological framework, Section 3.14.20
6.2
Product:
Abaqus/Explicit
Benefits: You can now perform a coupled Eulerian Lagrangian analysis with anisotropic materials.
Description: For analyses involving extreme deformation, coupled Eulerian-Lagrangian analyses are more
effective than traditional Lagrangian analyses because the elements do not deform and materials are allowed
to flow through the element faces. This technology can now be used for models involving materials with
anisotropic behavior.
References:
Eulerian analysis, Section 14.1.1
6.3
*ANISOTROPIC HYPERELASTIC
*EULERIAN SECTION
*ORIENTATION
Product:
Abaqus/Standard
Benefits: The classical deviatoric creep behavior has been enhanced by introducing three new creep models:
Anand, Darveaux, and double power. These three creep laws are particularly well suited for modeling the
behavior of solder alloys used in electronic packaging and have been shown to produce accurate results for a
wide range of temperatures and strain rates.
Description: Three new creep models (Anand, Darveaux, and double power) have been implemented in
Abaqus/Standard. These models can be used to define metal creep behavior as well as the viscous behavior
for a two-layer viscoplastic material.
The double power model consists of two terms that introduce the effects of two mechanisms responsible
for creep: climb (low stress) and combined glide/climb (high stress).
62
Abaqus ID:
Printed on:
MATERIALS
The Darveaux model takes into account both primary and secondary creep. The secondary creep is
described by a standard hyperbolic sine law, which is modified to incorporate primary creep effects. The
temperature dependence is introduced through an Arrhenius-type term.
The Anand model describes creep strain using a hyperbolic sine model, which is modified by introducing
a single internal variable, the deformation resistance. This variable represents isotropic resistance to inelastic
deformation, and its evolution is defined by a separate rate equation. The temperature dependence is described
by an Arrhenius-type term and by making the initial deformation resistance a function of temperature and the
hardening/softening parameter a function of temperature and creep strain rate.
References:
Rate-dependent plasticity: creep and swelling, Section 23.2.4

Two-layer viscoplasticity, Section 23.2.11
6.4
*CREEP
*VISCOUS
Product:
Abaqus/Standard
Benefits: You can now define frequency domain viscoelastic behavior through user subroutine UMAT.
Description: Viscoelastic behavior in the frequency domain requires specification of a storage modulus
(material stiffness) and a loss modulus (material damping). The UMAT interface and implementation has been
enhanced to support the specification of both material stiffness and material damping. This feature allows you
to define viscoelastic response with a complex frequency dependence, which is not supported by the built-in
models in Abaqus/Standard.
References:
User-defined mechanical material behavior, Section 26.7.1
*USER MATERIAL
UMAT, Section 1.1.41
63
Abaqus ID:
Printed on:
MATERIALS
6.5
UMAT and UHYPER, Section 4.1.21
Product:
Abaqus/Standard
Benefits: You can now define almost incompressible and fully incompressible nonlinear elastic material
behavior with hybrid elements through user subroutine UMAT.
Description: The default formulation used by Abaqus when a user material is used to define the response
of a hybrid element is suitable for material models that use an incremental formulation (for example, metal
plasticity) but is not consistent with the total formulation that is commonly used for hyperelastic materials. In
the latter situation the default formulation may lead to convergence problems. Such convergence problems
may be observed, for example, when an almost incompressible nonlinear elastic user material is subjected to
large deformations. Abaqus/Standard now provides an alternate total formulation for such situations. This
formulation is consistent with the native almost incompressible formulation used by Abaqus for hyperelastic
materials and works better than the default formulation in these situations. Abaqus/Standard also provides, for
the first time, the capability to define a fully incompressible response through user subroutine UMAT. The total
hybrid formulation can be implemented with minimal changes to an existing UMAT. For fully incompressible
materials user subroutine UMAT needs to define the deviatoric part of the material response only.
References:
*USER MATERIAL
6.6
UMAT and UHYPER, Section 4.1.21
Different stiffness in tension versus compression for

traction-separation elasticity
Product:
Abaqus/Standard
64
Abaqus ID:
Printed on:
MATERIALS
Benefits: You can now define uncoupled traction-separation elastic behavior with different values of
stiffness in tension and compression.
Description: In some applications that utilize cohesive elements to model adhesive behavior in both tension
and compression, it is useful to be able to specify different values of stiffness in tension versus compression
traction-separation responses. This capability affects only the normal traction component.
References:
Defining the constitutive response of cohesive elements using a traction-separation description,

Section 32.5.6
*ELASTIC
6.7
Elastic materials, Section 2.2.1
Products:
Abaqus/Standard
Benefits: In Abaqus/Standard deletion of solid, shell, membrane, and beam elements can now be controlled
using state variables. Deleted elements have no ability to carry stresses and do not contribute to the stiffness
of the model. They also do not undergo element quality checks, so an analysis cannot be terminated due to
excessive distortion of such elements.
Description: Deletion of elements can now be controlled by state variables in Abaqus/Standard, similar
to the functionality previously available in Abaqus/Explicit. The number of the state variable that controls
deletion must be specified, and it can be different for each material. The state variable stores the element
deletion flag, which can have a value of zero or one. A value of one indicates that the material point is
active, while a value of zero indicates that the material point is inactive and the stresses at this point are set
to zero. Once a material point is deleted, it cannot be reactivated. The deletion flag can be modified by any
of the Abaqus/Standard user subroutines that use state variables and that are called at the material point. If
all the material points of an element become inactive, the element is deleted. The status of an element can be
monitored by requesting the output variable STATUS.
65
Abaqus ID:
Printed on:
MATERIALS
References:
User subroutines: overview, Section 18.1.1

*DEPVAR
66
Abaqus ID:
Printed on:
ELEMENTS
7.
Elements
This chapter discusses elements available in Abaqus. It provides an overview of the following enhancements:
7.1
Support for coupled temperaturepore pressure elements in Abaqus/CAE, Section 7.1

Linear pyramid acoustic element, Section 7.2
Support for coupled temperaturepore pressure elements in

Abaqus/CAE
Product:
Abaqus/CAE
Benefits: You can now assign element types from the coupled temperaturepore pressure family of elements
to your model in Abaqus/CAE.
Description: Coupled temperaturepore pressure elements are used in Abaqus/Standard for modeling fully
or partially saturated fluid flow through a deforming porous medium in which the stress, fluid pore pressure,
and temperature fields are fully coupled to one another. The Element Type dialog box in the Mesh module
now enables you to assign element types from the coupled temperaturepore pressure family of elements,
which includes element types C3D8PT, C3D8PHT, C3D8RPT, C3D8RPHT, and C3D10MPT.
Abaqus/CAE Usage:
Mesh module
MeshElement Type: Family: Coupled Temperature-Pore pressure
References:
Three-dimensional solid element library, Section 28.1.4
7.2
Element type assignment, Section 17.5.3
Product:
Abaqus/Standard
Benefits: The pyramid element is useful to transition between brick elements and tetrahedra elements during
mesh generation.
Description: Acoustic elements are provided in Abaqus/Standard for modeling acoustic domain in a purely
acoustic analysis or in a coupled acoustic-structural analysis. The new 5-node pyramid element AC3D5
71
Abaqus ID:
Printed on:
ELEMENTS
supports all of the loadings, material behaviors, and boundary conditions supported by the existing acoustic
elements.
References:
Three-dimensional solid element library, Section 28.1.4
Eigenvalue extraction for single unconstrained elements, Section 1.2.1

Acoustic modes, Section 1.2.3
Patch test for acoustic elements, Section 1.5.10
Analysis of unbounded acoustic regions, Section 1.11.8
Acoustic submodeling, Section 3.8.14
Volumetric drag, Section 3.9.1
Impedance boundary conditions, Section 3.9.2
Transient acoustic wave propagation, Section 3.9.3
Acoustic model change: steady state, Section 3.10.8
Surface-based tie constraint, Section 5.1.27
72
Abaqus ID:
Printed on:
PRESCRIBED CONDITIONS
8.
Prescribed conditions
This chapter discusses loads, boundary conditions, and predefined fields. It provides an overview of the
8.1
Initial conditions on damage initiation, Section 8.1

Enhancements for prescribed conditions in Abaqus/CFD, Section 8.2
Acoustic base motion for SIM-based procedures, Section 8.3

Products:
Benefits: You can now define initial conditions directly on the damage initiation measures for the ductile,
shear, and the Mschenborn and Sonne forming limit diagram based damage initiation criteria.
Description: This capability is particularly useful in situations where a metal forming operation is carried
out in one analysis, which is followed by a separate analysis that subjects the formed metal part to further
deformation. The damage initiation measures at the end of the first analysis can be directly specified as
initial conditions for the second analysis. An alternate but approximate way of modeling initial conditions
on damage initiation is by specifying initial values of the equivalent plastic strain. Abaqus computes damage
initiation measures based on the specified initial equivalent plastic strain, assuming a linear strain path between
the initial (undeformed) state and the final (deformed) state. This approximation does not work well for
deformation paths that deviate significantly from linearity in the strain space.
References:
Initial conditions in Abaqus/Standard and Abaqus/Explicit, Section 34.2.1
*INITIAL CONDITIONS
8.2
Progressive damage and failure of ductile metals, Section 2.2.21
Product:
Abaqus/CFD
81
Abaqus ID:
Printed on:
Benefits: The process to specify initial conditions and boundary conditions for the turbulence model
variables is enhanced to be more intuitive and flexible.
Description: You can now specify more intuitive turbulence quantities, such as the turbulence intensity or
the turbulent viscosity ratio, and Abaqus/CFD calculates the actual values of the turbulence model variables.
Previously, you were required to precompute values for the turbulence variables. The new turbulence
quantities can be used to specify initial conditions and boundary conditions for all of the turbulence models.
For example, you can prescribe the turbulence intensity
and a characteristic velocity scale
to
specify the turbulent kinetic energy for the k RNG, k realizable, and k SST turbulence models as
References:
Initial conditions in Abaqus/CFD, Section 34.2.2

Boundary conditions in Abaqus/CFD, Section 34.3.2
8.3
*FLUID BOUNDARY
*INITIAL CONDITIONS
Product:
Abaqus/Standard
Benefits: You can now use acoustic media with prescribed pressure values, with different values for different
constraint points in the mode-based analysis (similar to the functionality available in a direct-solution steadystate dynamic analysis). This feature is useful in the automotive industry; for example, to analyze mufflers
and fuel tanks.
Description: Acoustic pressure base motion is implemented in modal SIM-based transient dynamic and
steady-state dynamic (including subspace projection) analyses as secondary bases.
To enable nonzero boundary conditions in the modal analysis, Abaqus uses the big mass method.
Mathematically, this method is a variant of the penalty method. Abaqus uses secondary base motion to support
the nonzero boundary conditions in modal procedures. Named secondary bases are defined by specifying
boundary conditions in the frequency extraction step. In consecutive modal analysis steps, these boundary
conditions can be associated with amplitude curves and applied as base motions. You can now apply the
secondary base motion to the acoustic pressure degree of freedom 8; in previous releases, you could apply
the secondary base motion only to the mechanical degrees of freedom (16). Because acoustic excitation is a
scalar value (as opposed to mechanical degrees of freedom), the orientation of the node is irrelevant.
82
Abaqus ID:
Printed on:
Acoustic pressure base motions are implemented for the following models:
acoustic media only

combined acoustic and structural media; uncoupled modes
combined acoustic and structural media; coupled modes (modal steady-state dynamic, including
subspace projection, analyses only)
References:
Dynamic analysis procedures: overview, Section 6.3.1

Prescribed motions in modal superposition procedures in Transient modal dynamic analysis,
Section 6.3.7
*BASE MOTION
83
Abaqus ID:
Printed on:
CONSTRAINTS
9.
Constraints
This chapter discusses kinematic constraints. It provides an overview of the following enhancements:
9.1
New attachment method for mesh-independent fasteners, Section 9.1

Enhanced domain decomposition of thermal ties, Section 9.2

Products:
Benefits: You can now preserve the position and direction of the connection for mesh-independent fasteners.
Description: Previously, all the attachment methods for mesh-independent fasteners allowed the fastening
point to move to lie on the normal to the first attachment surface. The new attachment method, which must
use connector elements for attachment, preserves the position and direction of the connection.
References:
Mesh-independent fasteners, Section 35.3.4
9.2
*FASTENER
Product:
Abaqus/Explicit
Benefits: Domain decomposition for thermal ties has been improved. The improvement results in a more
equitable domain decomposition of thermal ties as well as the elements whose faces are involved in the tie
constraints. The performance is especially improved for models that have large thermal ties, and better scaling
is observed for execution with a large number of processors.
Description: There are no changes to the keyword interface. Improved domain decomposition is the default
behavior.
References:
Fully coupled thermal-stress analysis in Abaqus/Explicit in Fully coupled thermal-stress analysis,

Section 6.5.3
91
Abaqus ID:
Printed on:
INTERACTIONS
10.
Interactions
This chapter discusses features related to contact and interaction modeling. It provides an overview of the
Edge-to-edge contact for general contact in Abaqus/Standard, Section 10.1

Improved contact at complex intersections in Abaqus/Explicit, Section 10.2
Enhancement to the contact detection tool in Abaqus/CAE, Section 10.3
10.1
Product:
Abaqus/Standard
Benefits: Edge-to-edge contact is extended to include feature edges on solid and shell-like surfaces and
shell perimeter edges for more automated and robust resolution of contact between edges. New contact output
variables allow visualizing contact enforcement with edge-to-edge contact.
Description: Feature edges on solid and shell-like surfaces and shell perimeter edges can now participate
in edge-to-edge contact within the general contact framework. These changes vastly expand the edge-to-edge
contact capability compared to the previous release, where only contact between edges on beam surfaces
(beam-to-beam contact) was supported. Various robustness and accuracy improvements have also been made.
While edge-to-edge contact is the primary formulation for contact between beams, in other cases (for example,
between feature edges), it supplements the edge-to-surface and the surface-to-surface contact when those
formulations are active.
New surface nodal output variables, CLINELOAD and CPOINTLOAD, are provided to visualize contact
loads in active contact regions involving edges. Output variable CLINELOAD has units of force per length
and provides a mesh-independent contact load measure where the active contact region is a curve rather than
an area. Beam-to-beam contact using the radial formulation and edge-to-surface contact contribute to this
output variable. Output variable CPOINTLOAD has units of force and helps visualize contact between nonparallel edges where the active contact region can be idealized as a point. The contact stresses, CSTRESS,
reflect contributions from surface-to-surface, edge-to-surface, and edge-to-edge contact with units of force
per area.
Figure 101 shows initial and deformed configurations of a chain falling under gravity. The individual
chain links are meshed with beam, shell, or solid elements such that beam, shell perimeter, and feature edges
are activated to participate in edge-to-edge contact. Edge-to-edge contact supplements the edge-to-surface
and surface-to-surface contact, which are also active in this model between the individual links and between
the chain and the rigid platform. Figure 102 shows contact load CPOINTLOAD between the edges of the
individual links due to edge-to-edge contact.
101
Abaqus ID:
Printed on:
INTERACTIONS
Figure 101 Chain falling under gravity onto a rigid platform:

initial (left) and deformed (right) configurations.
CPOINTLOADN
+3.510e+00
+2.808e+00
+2.106e+00
+1.404e+00
+7.021e01
+5.000e05
+0.000e+00
Figure 102 Contour plot of contact load CPOINTLOAD.

References:
Abaqus/Standard output variable identifiers, Section 4.2.1

Contact interaction analysis: overview, Section 36.1.1
Defining general contact interactions in Abaqus/Standard, Section 36.2.1
Surface properties for general contact in Abaqus/Standard, Section 36.2.2
*CONTACT FORMULATION
102
Abaqus ID:
Printed on:
INTERACTIONS
*CONTACT OUTPUT
*SURFACE PROPERTY ASSIGNMENT
10.2
Product:
Abaqus/Explicit
Benefits: Contact at complex intersections (edges connected to more than two faces) is improved.
Description: Surface offsets at complex intersections were always set to zero in previous releases of
Abaqus/Explicit, even if you specified a nonzero reference surface offset for the underlying elements. This
limitation sometimes caused undesirable solution behavior. It is removed in the current release.
Figure 103 shows a scenario in which a block slides along shell elements whose reference surface
corresponds to the bottom surface of a shell. The bottom surface of the shell happens to correspond to the shell
reference surface because a nonzero offset has been specified. The fact that the larger body has a T-junction
should not be particularly relevant to this model, but the previous limitation (surface offset set to zero) caused
the T-junction to have a large effect.
Shell element thickness profiles are represented in Figure 103, but these profiles do not reflect the effect
of the previous limitation on the contact surface geometry. The sequence of four deformed-configuration plots
at the top of Figure 103 shows the effect of the previous limitation as the block nears the T-junction: a gap
appears between the bodies (even though significant contact forces are still being transmitted). Solution noise
remains in this example even after the block is well past the T-junction. The sequence of plots at the bottom
of Figure 103 shows the improved (physically realistic) behavior. In this case the block simply slides along
the other body as expected, with very little deformation of either part.
This enhancement is in effect by default.
Reference:
Surface offset in Assigning surface properties for general contact in Abaqus/Explicit, Section 36.4.2
10.3
Product:
Abaqus/CAE
Benefits: You can now include model instances when you search for contact pairs involving different regions
on the same instance. This enhancement improves the usability of the contact detection tool in Abaqus/CAE.
Description: The contact detection algorithm has been extended to include model instances when you search
for contact pairs involving different regions on the same instance.
103
Abaqus ID:
Printed on:
INTERACTIONS
Figure 103 Block sliding on a flat portion of a T-junction structure

with the previous behavior (top) and current behavior (bottom).
Abaqus/CAE Usage:
Interaction module:
InteractionFind contact pairs: select Whole model or select Instance and child part instances
from the viewport, toggle on Include pairs with surfaces on the same instance
References:
The contact detection algorithm, Section 15.6.2

Specifying search criteria for contact detection, Section 15.16.1, in the HTML version of this guide
104
Abaqus ID:
Printed on:
EXECUTION
11.
Execution
This chapter discusses commands and utilities for running the Abaqus products. It provides an overview of
the following enhancements:
GPGPU acceleration of the AMS eigensolver, Section 11.1

GPGPU accelerated direct equation solver, Section 11.2
User control of domain decomposition, Section 11.3
Job execution control enhancements, Section 11.4
SIM database utilities, Section 11.5
Enhancements for translating Abaqus data to modal neutral files, Section 11.6
11.1
Products:
Abaqus/Standard Abaqus/AMS
Benefits: The AMS eigensolver can use compute-capable GPGPU cards to reduce the run time for frequency
extraction analyses.
Description: GPGPU acceleration of the reduced eigensolution phase of the AMS eigensolver delivers
improved performance for large-scale models requiring more than 10,000 eigenmodes. In addition, the
parallel scaling of the reduced eigensolution phase is improved compared to Abaqus 6.13 for the same kind
of models. Table 111 illustrates the performance improvements of the AMS eigensolver due to GPGPU
acceleration for two industrial models: Model 1 is a 2.5 million degree-of-freedom vehicle body model, and
Model 2 is a 9.4 million degree-of-freedom vehicle body model. Both analyses were run on a Linux machine
with dual 2.6 GHz Intel Sandybridge processors (2 8 cores), 128 GB memory, and 2 Nvidia Kepler cards
(K20X). In all cases 16 cores are used.
References:
*FREQUENCY
111
Abaqus ID:
Printed on:
EXECUTION
Table 111 Performance improvements due to GPGPU acceleration of the AMS eigensolver.
Model
Degrees
of
Freedom
Number
of
Modes
Abaqus
6.13
Abaqus
6.14
Abaqus 6.14
with 2 GPUs
Abaqus
6.14 GPU
Acceleration
Speedup Factor
Model 1
2.5 million
16,926
3816 s
3433 s
2662 s
1.29
Model 2
9.4 million
10,743
1293 s
1159 s
837 s
1.38
11.2
Product:
Abaqus/Standard
Benefits: Performance of the GPGPU accelerated direct equation solver has been improved, and GPGPU
memory requirements have been reduced.
Description: For large models where the solution time is dominated by the direct equation solver, use of
GPGPU can reduce the overall time of the analysis significantly, as shown in Figure 111. These types of
models use predominantly solid elements and have more than 1 million equations.
Reference:
Parallel execution in Abaqus/Standard, Section 3.5.2
11.3
Product:
Abaqus/Explicit
Benefits: Improved parallel scalability can be achieved when localized regions are computationally
intensive.
Description: You can influence the domain decomposition by specifying a region to be independently
decomposed or by specifying that all elements of a particular element set should be constrained to the same
parallel domain. This option is not recommended for widespread use. It can be beneficial to parallel scalability
for some cases in which a localized region requires more extensive contact or other computations than other
regions, but this option may degrade performance. For example, specifying the impact region in a bird
strike model as an independent domain decomposition region may improve parallel scalability. Coupled
Eulerian-Lagrangian simulations with localized adaptive mesh refinement (where elements are refined adding
to the computational cost) may also benefit from defining a local domain decomposition region. With this
112
Abaqus ID:
Printed on:
EXECUTION
Abaqus/Standard Speedup with GPU

Symmetric Solver
HP SL250, 2 Intel E5-2660 cpus (16 cores)
2 Nvidia K20m gpus
128 Gb memory
6.13 SMP
6.14 SMP
2.31
2.29
2.23
Speedup Factor (relave to 16 core without GPUs)
2.20
2.08
2.02
1.96
1.90
1.79
1.94
1.86
1.80
1.71
1.54
1.31 1.33
10Tflops
17Tflops
28.4Tflops
43.6Tflops
68.1Tflops
88.7TFlops
155Tflops
175Tflops
Solver Floang Point Operaons
Figure 111 GPGPU accelerated direct solver performance improvement.
approach, each processor will process multiple domains: for example, one domain associated with a localized
region and one domain associated with the rest of the model.
Multiple domain decomposition regions can be specified. The number of domains in total is the total
number of domain decomposition regions times the user-specified number of domains per region. The number
of domain decomposition regions is often one more than the number of user-defined domain decomposition
regions because elements not explicitly defined to be in a domain decomposition region will form a separate
domain decomposition region.
References:
Parallel execution in Abaqus/Explicit, Section 3.5.3
113
Abaqus ID:
Printed on:
EXECUTION
11.4
Products:
Benefits: You can now control job execution remotely; previously, you were required to execute job control
commands on the machine running the analysis. In addition, two new command line options are available for
network connections.
Description: The execution procedures for job execution control include abaqus suspend, abaqus resume,
and abaqus terminate. These utilities are used to suspend, resume, and terminate Abaqus analysis jobs. You
can now execute these commands remotely; you are not required to execute these commands on the machine
running the analysis.
The host and port options are used to specify the host name and port number, respectively, for the
connection running the analysis job. You can specify either the job option or the host and port options to
suspend, resume, or terminate Abaqus analysis jobs.
Reference:
Job execution control, Section 3.2.39
11.5
Products:
Benefits: The new SIM database utilities provide tools that allow you to convert SIM database files to make
them compatible with other releases.
Description: You can use the abaqus sim_version utilities to convert a SIM database file from one release
to another, to query a SIM database file for its SIM release level, or to determine the SIM release level of
the current code you are using. For more information on the SIM database file, see Writing results from an
Abaqus analysis to a SIM database, Section 12.1.
Reference:
SIM database utilities, Section 3.2.19
11.6
Product:
Abaqus/Standard
114
Abaqus ID:
Printed on:
EXECUTION
Benefits: The translation of Abaqus results to a modal neutral file is significantly faster and the size of the
modal neutral file can be significantly smaller than in previous releases.
Description: Two enhancements to the abaqus adams translator are available. The translator now reads
inertia invariants computed during substructure generation rather than computing them, which makes
translating the results in an Abaqus substructure SIM database file to an MSC.ADAMS modal neutral
(.mnf) file significantly faster. Now, the translator only needs to process an interesting subset of the
displacement modes, which can result in a significantly smaller modal neutral file.
Reference:
Translating Abaqus data to MSC.ADAMS modal neutral files, Section 3.2.36
115
Abaqus ID:
Printed on:
OUTPUT AND VISUALIZATION
12.
Output and visualization
This chapter discusses obtaining, postprocessing, and visualizing results from Abaqus analyses. It provides
an overview of the following enhancements:
Writing results from an Abaqus analysis to a SIM database, Section 12.1

Output of mode mix ratios during mixed mode delamination, Section 12.2
Output of last converged increment, Section 12.3
Output of contact-related energies, Section 12.4
Magnitude output of vector nodal variables, Section 12.5
Equivalent plastic strain rate, Section 12.6
Principal stresses with bounding values for output field filtering, Section 12.7
Requesting reference sink temperature and film coefficient field output in Abaqus/CAE, Section 12.8
Generating tabular reports for free body cuts from multiple frames, Section 12.9
Selecting the area centroid as the summation point for free body cuts, Section 12.10
Reading XY data from free bodies defined on view cuts, Section 12.11
Performing display group Boolean operations on linked viewports, Section 12.12
12.1
Products:
Abaqus/Standard Abaqus/Explicit Abaqus/CFD Abaqus/CAE
Benefits: You can now write results to a SIM database (.sim) file, which allows you to import the results
of an Abaqus analysis into the Physics Results Explorer app on the 3DEXPERIENCE Platform for highperformance postprocessing.
Description: The new SIM database (job-name.sim) is the file format used to exchange bulky FEA
data between 3DEXPERIENCE Platform apps and computationally intensive components like implicit and
explicit solvers. For example, the Physics Results Explorer app uses the SIM database for high-performance
postprocessing of analysis results.
The Abaqus output database is now available in two formats, ODB and SIM. By default, the results
output is created in ODB format. Only results in SIM format can be imported into the 3DEXPERIENCE
Platform for high-performance postprocessing. For Abaqus/Standard and Abaqus/Explicit analyses the new
resultsformat command line option provides control over the output format for Abaqus results, including
writing results in both formats. For Abaqus/CFD analyses you use the field and history command line options
to write results in SIM format.
Your choice of output format depends on your level of experience with high-performance visualization,
the Physics Results Explorer app, and your postprocessing needs.
121
Abaqus ID:
Printed on:
If you are still learning to use high-performance visualization and you want to compare your results with
Abaqus/Viewer, write results in both formats.
If the model is large and you need the improved performance of the Physics Results Explorer app, as
well as the capabilities of Abaqus/Viewer, write results in both formats.
If you are confident that the high-performance visualization features in the Physics Results Explorer app
provide all the capabilities you need, write results in SIM format.
A subset of options in Abaqus/Standard and Abaqus/Explicit are not supported for analyses that produce
results in SIM format; Abaqus/CFD has no restrictions on output in SIM format. If you include one or more
of these options or parameters in your analysis and write results in SIM format or both formats, the analysis
will either terminate with errors or produce limited results. For more information, see Limitations when
writing results in SIM format in Output, Section 4.1.1 of the Abaqus Analysis Users Guide.
Abaqus/CAE Usage:
Job module:
JobEdit: General tabbed page: Results Format: ODB, SIM, or Both (Abaqus/Standard
and Abaqus/Explicit only)
References:
Abaqus/Standard, Abaqus/Explicit, and Abaqus/CFD execution, Section 3.2.2

Output, Section 4.1.1
The job editor, Section 19.2.4
12.2
Product:
Abaqus/Standard
Benefits: For delamination behavior modeled with cohesive elements, you can now output the mode mix
ratios both at the initiation of damage and during damage evolution.
Description: Delamination is a common failure mode for laminated composite materials, and the energy
required for delamination is generally a strong function of the mode mix ratio in the delamination zone. The
mode mix ratio refers to the relative proportion of tensile to shear deformation. In most practical situations,
the delamination process is strongly mixed mode in nature, and the mode mix ratio often varies significantly
during the delamination process. The new output variables, MMIXDMI and MMIXDME, measure the mode
mix ratios at integration points in cohesive elements at damage initiation and during damage evolution,
respectively. These variables provides an accurate measure of the mode of failure (tensile versus shear)
during mixed mode delamination.
122
Abaqus ID:
Printed on:
References:
Defining the constitutive response of cohesive elements using a traction-separation description,

Section 32.5.6
*OUTPUT
Transferring results from one Abaqus/Standard analysis to another Abaqus/Standard analysis,

Section 3.14.2
12.3
Product:
Abaqus/Standard
Benefits: If a general step in an Abaqus/Standard analysis fails to converge, the results from the last
converged increment are written to the output database. This can be helpful in diagnosing why convergence
failed.
Description: The default output behavior has been modified to output the last converged increment when
convergence is not achieved. The output is written only if there are convergence difficulties beyond the first
increment. This default behavior is available for all general steps in Abaqus/Standard.
Reference:
Output to the output database, Section 4.1.3
12.4
Product:
Abaqus/Standard
Benefits: New contact-related whole model energies have been introduced, and energy accounting
(ETOTAL) has been improved.
Description: New energy output variables are available to avoid drifting of the total energy balance
ETOTAL and provide insight to simulation behavior. These new output variables account for elastic contact
energy, dissipative energies associated with contact stabilization and contact damping, and energy associated
with contact constraint discontinuity work, as described in Table 121.
123
Abaqus ID:
Printed on:
Table 121 New output variables for contact-related energy.

Description
Elastic contact energy
Output
variable
Energy stored among all penalty springs and
softened contact constraints associated with
normal contact constraints
ALLCCEN
Energy stored among all penalty springs associated

with tangential contact constraints
ALLCCET
Energy stored among all penalty springs and

softened contact constraints associated with
normal and tangential contact constraints (equal to
the sum of ALLCCEN and ALLCCET)
ALLCCE
Energy dissipation
associated with contact
stabilization and contact
damping
Normal contact direction for the whole model
ALLCCSDN
Tangential contact direction for the whole model
ALLCCSDT
Whole model (equal to the sum of ALLCCSDN

and ALLCCSDT)
ALLCCSD
Energy associated
with contact constraint
discontinuity work
Accounts for the portion of the work done by

contact forces when contact conditions change
that is not accounted for by other contact energy
variables
ALLCCDW
The existing output variables ALLSD and ALLVD continue to account for dissipative energies associated
with contact stabilization and contact damping as they have in previous releases of Abaqus.
The elastic contact energies and dissipative energies associated with contact stabilization and contact
damping are associated with numerical effects that would be zero in idealized situations, such as infinite
penalty stiffness or zero stabilization stiffness. Significant values of these output variables compared to other
physically based energies in a model, such as internal energy (ALLIE), are sometimes indicative of solution
inaccuracy. The contact constraint discontinuity work will tend to zero as the time increment size becomes
very small. However, as discussed in Energy computations in a contact analysis, Section 1.1.25 of the
Abaqus Example Problems Guide, it is quite common for ALLCCDW to have a significant value without
causing solution inaccuracy.
References:

Abaqus/Standard output variable identifiers, Section 4.2.1
124
Abaqus ID:
Printed on:
Whole model contact-related energy variables in Defining general contact interactions in

Abaqus/Standard, Section 36.2.1
*ENERGY OUTPUT
*ENERGY PRINT
Energy computations in a contact analysis, Section 1.1.25
12.5
Product:
Abaqus/Explicit
Benefits: You can now output the magnitude of translational vector nodal quantities for displacement,
velocity, acceleration, and reaction force.
Description: Four new nodal output variables have been introduced: spatial displacement magnitude
UMAG, spatial velocity magnitude VMAG, spatial acceleration magnitude AMAG, and reaction force
magnitude RFMAG. These new output variables are available for history output requests.
References:

Abaqus/Explicit output variable identifiers, Section 4.2.2
*NODE OUTPUT
12.6
Product:
Abaqus/Explicit
Benefits: You can now output the equivalent plastic strain rate for both history and field output element
output requests.
Description: A new element output variable, PEEQR, representing the equivalent plastic rate that is used
for the evaluation of strain-dependent materials has been introduced. This quantity accounts for the filtering
factor used to alleviate nonphysical high-frequency oscillations. This output quantity is available for both
field and history element output requests.
125
Abaqus ID:
Printed on:
References:

Abaqus/Explicit output variable identifiers, Section 4.2.2
Material data definition, Section 21.1.2
*ELEMENT OUTPUT
12.7
Product:
Abaqus/Explicit
Benefits: You can now apply a filter with a bounding value for maximum, intermediate, or minimum
principal stress field output.
Description: When applying field filtering to the output, each component of a tensor or vector quantity
is filtered individually and the maximum, minimum, or absolute maximum value and the limiting values
are reported separately for each component.You can, however, apply a filter directly to an invariant. Three
new values for the invariant parameter on field filtering are introduced: MAXP representing the maximum
principal stress, INTERMP representing the intermediate principal stress, and MINP representing the
minimum principal stress.
References:
*ELEMENT OUTPUT
*FILTER
12.8
Requesting reference sink temperature and film coefficient field

output in Abaqus/CAE
Product:
Abaqus/CAE
Benefits: You can now request reference sink temperatures and reference film coefficient values in
Abaqus/CAE, which increases the coverage of Abaqus product functionality.
126
Abaqus ID:
Printed on:
Description: For coupled thermal-stress, coupled thermal-electrical, coupled thermal-electrical-structural,

and heat transfer procedures, the following field output variables are now available in Abaqus/CAE:
SINKTEMP: Reference sink temperature

FILMCOEF: Reference film coefficient value
Abaqus/CAE Usage:
Step module:
Field output request editor: Output Variables: Thermal: SINKTEMP and FILMCOEF
Reference:
Creating and modifying output requests, Section 14.4.5
12.9
Product:
Abaqus/CAE
Benefits: You can now create tabular reports of the resultant forces and moments in free body cuts from
multiple frames. This enhancement is also available for free body cuts based on view cuts.
Description: When selecting options for free body cut reports, you can choose the frames from which
Abaqus/CAE reads data, as shown in Figure 121. You can choose to use the current step/frame, all active
steps/frames, or selected active steps/frames. For multiple frames, the time associated with each frame is
included in the report.
Figure 121 Selecting multiple steps/frames for free body cut reports.
Abaqus/CAE Usage:
Visualization module:
ReportFree Body Cut; All active steps/frames
127
Abaqus ID:
Printed on:
Reference:
Selecting options and thresholds for free body cut reports, Section 54.3.4, in the HTML version of this
guide
12.10 Selecting the area centroid as the summation point for free
body cuts
Product:
Abaqus/CAE
Benefits: A new option is available for specifying the summation point for free body cuts.
Description: For the summation point in free body calculations, you can now specify that the area centroid
or the nodal average be used.
In previous releases the Centroid of cut option in the Edit Free Body Cut dialog box placed the
summation point at the average of the nodal coordinates of the selected elements of the free body cross-section.
That behavior is now obtained by choosing the Nodal average option.
Now when you choose the Centroid of cut option for the summation point, the area centroid of the
polygon formed by the external boundary edges of the selected faces is used in the free body calculations.
Figure 122 shows the available options for the summation point in free body cuts.
Abaqus/CAE Usage:
ToolsFree Body CutCreate; Summation Point: Centroid of cut or Nodal average
Reference:
Creating or editing a free body cut, Section 67.2, in the HTML version of this guide
12.11 Reading XY data from free bodies defined on view cuts

Product:
Abaqus/CAE
Benefits: Abaqus/CAE can now read XY data from free body cuts defined on view cuts; previously, only
XY data from free body cuts that were defined using nodes and elements could be used to create XY data
sets.
Description: Abaqus/CAE reads XY data from all the active free body cuts defined in your session. If
more than one slice is specified for free bodies based on view cuts, an XY data set is created for each slice.
128
Abaqus ID:
Printed on:
Figure 122 Summation point options.

Abaqus/CAE Usage:
ToolsXY DataCreate; Free body
Reference:
Reading XY data from all active free body cuts, Section 47.2.4
12.12 Performing display group Boolean operations on linked viewports

Product:
Abaqus/CAE
Benefits: In the Visualization module you can now perform selected display group operations
simultaneously in all linked viewports. You can also display a list of items common between linked
viewports when you create display groups.
Description: You can now perform selected display group operations simultaneously in all linked viewports.
If you select specific items for the display group by names or labels, the same display group operation is
performed in all linked viewports that share the items specified. This option applies only in the Visualization
module.
129
Abaqus ID:
Printed on:
When you are creating a display group, you now have the option to display items common to all linked
viewports in the Method list. For Part instances, viewports containing model databases or output databases
are considered; for other model components, only viewports containing output databases are considered.
Abaqus/CAE Usage:
ViewportLinked Viewports: toggle Link viewports, toggle Display groups
ToolsDisplay groupCreate: toggle Show common list between linked viewports
References:
Linking viewports, Section 4.5.2, in the HTML version of this guide

Creating or editing a display group, Section 78.2.1, in the HTML version of this guide
1210
Abaqus ID:
Printed on:
USER SUBROUTINES, UTILITIES, AND PLUG-INS
13.
User subroutines, utilities, and plug-ins
This chapter discusses additional user programs that can be run with Abaqus. It provides an overview of the
VEXTERNALDB: User subroutine that gives control to the user at key moments of the analysis,
Section 13.1
VUCHARLENGTH: User subroutine to define the characteristic element length at a material point,
Section 13.2
Enhancements to user subroutine UMAT, Section 13.3

Allocatable arrays, Section 13.4
Parallel user subroutines, Section 13.5
13.1
VEXTERNALDB: User subroutine that gives control to the user

at key moments of the analysis
Product:
Abaqus/Explicit
Benefits: You can now use user subroutine VEXTERNALDB to dynamically exchange data among Abaqus
user subroutines and with external programs or files.
Description: User subroutine VEXTERNALDB is called automatically once at the beginning of the analysis,
at the beginning of each step, before each increment, at the start of each increment, at the end of each
increment, at the end of each step, and finally at the end of the analysis; thus ceding control to you at key
moments. You can modify the suggested time increment and trigger output of restart data, if desired. You
can also instruct Abaqus to skip the remainder of the current step or to terminate the whole analysis. You
can use the new allocatable local array utilities to coordinate data between various other user subroutines
on a given process. Further, you can deploy the allocatable global arrays and the MPI mechanism within
VEXTERNALDB to synchronize your data among the processes in domain parallel analyses.
References:
VEXTERNALDB, Section 1.2.3

Obtaining parallel processes information, Section 2.1.4
Allocatable arrays, Section 2.1.23
131
Abaqus ID:
Printed on:
13.2
VUCHARLENGTH: User subroutine to define the characteristic

element length at a material point
Product:
Abaqus/Explicit
Benefits: You can now use user subroutine VUCHARLENGTH to define the characteristic element length as
a function of element topology, nodal and material point coordinates, and material orientation.
Description: The characteristic element length defined in user subroutine VUCHARLENGTH is used by
Abaqus in regularization schemes needed to mitigate mesh dependency in constitutive models that include
strain softening. It can be used with the built-in Abaqus material models as well as with user subroutinebased
material models.
References:
*CHARACTERISTIC LENGTH
VUCHARLENGTH, Section 1.2.11
VUCHARLENGTH, Section 4.1.32
13.3
Product:
Abaqus/Explicit
Benefits: You can now use user subroutine UMAT to define the damping part of the material response for
frequency-domain viscoelastic material behavior, to define almost incompressible nonlinear elastic response
for hybrid elements using a total hybrid formulation, and to fully incompressible nonlinear elastic response
for hybrid elements.
Description: Viscoelastic behavior in the frequency domain requires specification of a storage modulus
(material stiffness) and a loss modulus (material damping). The UMAT interface and implementation has been
enhanced to support the specification of both material stiffness and material damping. This feature allows
you to define viscoelastic response with a complex frequency dependence that is not supported by the built-in
models in Abaqus/Standard.
The default formulation used by Abaqus when a user material is used to define the response of a hybrid
element is suitable for material models that use an incremental formulation (for example, metal plasticity)
but is not consistent with the total formulation that is commonly used for hyperelastic materials. In the
latter situation the default formulation may lead to convergence problems. Such convergence problems may
be observed, for example, when an almost incompressible nonlinear elastic user material is subjected to
132
Abaqus ID:
Printed on:
large deformations. Abaqus/Standard now provides an alternate total formulation for such situations. This
formulation is consistent with the native almost incompressible formulation used by Abaqus for hyperelastic
materials and works better than the default formulation in these situations. Abaqus/Standard also provides,
for the first time, the capability to define a fully incompressible response (for hybrid elements) through user
subroutine UMAT. The total hybrid formulation can be implemented with minimal changes to an existing
UMAT. For fully incompressible materials, the UMAT needs to define the deviatoric part of the material response
only.
References:
*USER MATERIAL
13.4
Allocatable arrays
Products:
Benefits: To facilitate data accumulation and transfer between user subroutines, Abaqus provides utility
functions for users to create and manage their own dynamic storage in the form of allocatable arrays.
Description: Two kinds of arrays are supported: global and thread-local.
Global arrays are visible and accessible from all threads in an executable. To prevent race conditions,
write access to these arrays from multiple threads must be protected by mutexes. Using mutexes on every
access will incur a performance penalty. In some situations it is possible to avoid this by restricting all threads
to operate on non-intersecting ranges of a global array. Another alternative is to use thread-local arrays.
Thread-local arrays are local to a thread. Each thread holds its own private copy of an array. They are
deliberately not shared, and, thus, do not need to be locked or protected from competing threads. In fact, one
thread cannot cross-reference a local array of another thread. However, all user subroutines running in one
thread can access all arrays of that thread. Without the need for locking, thread-local arrays can be accessed
concurrently and, thus, are faster than global arrays.
These arrays are meant as a thread-safe replacement for common blocks. You can create any number
of global or thread local arrays, in either Fortran or C++. At the time of creation, you assign an integer ID
to each. Later, in other user subroutines, you can reference these arrays simply by their IDs and use them as
native C++ or Fortran arrays.
Reference:
133
Abaqus ID:
Printed on:
13.5
Products:
Benefits: Parallel user subroutines are supported in all parallel modes: thread-parallel and MPI-parallel.
Description: Infrastructural and procedural changes have been put in place to support parallel execution of
Abaqus User Subroutines.
For threads, a number of parallel primitives has been exposed in Fortran that allow you to write safe
multithreaded code in Fortran. These primitives have also been exposed in the C++, although this language
has its own facilities for writing multithreaded code.
For MPI, full native support has been enabled and provided for both Fortran and C++. All MPI calls are
available from within Abaqus user subroutines.
Special arrangement have been made to provide thread-shared and thread-local storage for users needs.
References:
Parallel execution: overview, Section 3.5.1
134
Abaqus ID:
Printed on:
Abaqus SCRIPTING INTERFACE
14.
Abaqus Scripting Interface
This chapter discusses using the Abaqus Scripting Interface to write user scripts. Abaqus makes every attempt
to be backward compatible and can execute most Abaqus Scripting Interface scripts from previous releases
of Abaqus. However, backward compatibility is not guaranteed beyond several releases of Abaqus, and it
is recommended that you upgrade your commands to the most recent release. A complete list of Abaqus
Scripting Interface commands that have changed is included in Summary of Abaqus Scripting Interface
changes between Abaqus 6.13 and Abaqus 6.14 in the Abaqus Scripting Reference Guide. This chapter
provides an overview of the following enhancements:
Enhancements to the addData method, Section 14.1

Enhancement to the nodes member of the OdbSet object, Section 14.2
14.1
Product:
Abaqus/CAE
Benefits: The addData method is enhanced for the C++ ODB API.
Description: For the C++ ODB API, the addData method is enhanced to support adding double precision
nodal data. In addition, the performance of the addData method is improved for adding large amounts of data.
Reference:
Abaqus Scripting Reference Guide
addData, Section 61.7.10
14.2
Product:
Abaqus/CAE
Benefits: The nodes member of the OdbSet object is enhanced for the Python ODB API and C++ ODB API.
Description: For the Python ODB API and C++ ODB API, the nodes member of the OdbSet object is
enhanced to return valid nodes that constitute the surface for element-based surface sets in addition to nodebased surface sets.
141
Abaqus ID:
Printed on:
Abaqus SCRIPTING INTERFACE
References:
Abaqus Scripting Reference Guide
OdbSet object, Section 34.23

OdbSet object, Section 61.24
142
Abaqus ID:
Printed on:
SUMMARY OF CHANGES
15.
Summary of changes
This section summarizes the changes and the additions that have been made to the items that define an Abaqus
model, including elements, keywords, user subroutines, and output variables. For more information on these
modifications, refer to the preceding chapters.
The following identifiers are used:
15.1
new
New in 6.14.
mod
Existed in 6.13 but has been modified or enhanced in 6.14.
rem
Existed in 6.13 but has been removed in 6.14.
(S)
New, modified, or removed in Abaqus/Standard.
(E)
New, modified, or removed in Abaqus/Explicit.
(C)
New, modified, or removed in Abaqus/CFD.
Changes in Abaqus elements
This section summarizes the changes and the additions that have been made to the elements that can be used
in an Abaqus model.
new (S)
15.2
AC3D5
5-node linear acoustic pyramid element.
Changes in Abaqus options
This section summarizes the changes and the additions that have been made to the options that define an
Abaqus model.
mod (E)
*ADAPTIVE MESH REFINEMENT

Use the new COARSENING parameter to specify if refinement can be removed once
the refinement criteria are no longer met.
mod (S)(E)(C)
*AMPLITUDE
The DEFINITION parameter can now be used to define the amplitude via
co-simulation with a logical modeling program.
new (S)
*BEAM SECTION OFFSET

Define an offset for the beam cross-section origin.
151
Abaqus ID:
Printed on:
SUMMARY OF CHANGES
mod (S)
*BOUNDARY
The PHANTOM parameter can now be set equal to EDGE to apply boundary
conditions to a phantom node located at an element edge in enriched elements.
mod (S)
*CFLOW
The PHANTOM parameter is now available to apply concentrated flows to a
phantom node located at an element edge or located coincident with a specified real
node in enriched elements.
new (E)
*CHARACTERISTIC LENGTH
Define characteristic element length at a material point.
mod (S)
*CONTACT OUTPUT
The SURFACE parameter is now available in Abaqus/Standard for small-sliding
contact between cracked surfaces in enriched elements.
mod (S)(E)
*CO-SIMULATION
The PROGRAM parameter is no longer set to a value of LOGICAL for co-simulation
with Dymola. The parameter setting PROGRAM=MULTIPHYSICS is now used for
Dymola co-simulation.
mod (S)
*CREEP
The LAW parameter can now be set to choose an Anand law, a Darveaux law, or a
double power law.
mod (S)(E)
*DAMAGE INITIATION
The R CRACK DIRECTION parameter is available for calculating the averaged
stress/strain used to obtain the crack propagation direction.
new (E)
Define a region for domain decomposition and/or define constraints on the domain
decomposition.
mod (S)(E)
*ELASTIC
The COMPRESSION FACTOR parameter is now available for defining different
elastic moduli in tension and compression for uncoupled traction-separation elastic
behavior.
mod (S)(E)
*FASTENER
The
ATTACHMENT
METHOD
can
now
take
the
value
CONNECTORDIRECTION
to
establish
fastening
points
on
the
respective surfaces based on the axial direction of the connector element associated
with the fastener.
152
Abaqus ID:
Printed on:
SUMMARY OF CHANGES
mod (E)
*FILTER
The INVARIANT parameter can now take the values MAXP, INTERMP, and MINP
to apply the filtering to the maximum principal stress, the intermediate principal
stress, or the minimum principal stress, respectively.
new (S)
*FLEXIBLE BODY
Generate a flexible body from a substructure.
mod (S)
*FLUID CAVITY
The ADDED VOLUME parameter is now available in Abaqus/Standard.
mod (S)(E)
*INITIAL CONDITIONS
The TYPE parameter now supports a new value, DAMAGE INITIATION. A new
parameter, CRITERION may be set to DUCTILE, SHEAR, or MSFLD to specify
the damage initiation criterion for which the initial measure is being provided.
new (S)
*MATRIX CHECK
Check the quality of the generated stiffness and mass matrices.
mod (S)
*MATRIX GENERATE
Use the new optional FIELD, MPC, and SOURCE parameters to indicate that
matrices are generated for the structural or acoustic parts of the model, to
apply the multipoint constraints during the matrix generation, and to generate
matrices including contributions from the finite elements or from the matrix input,
respectively.
mod (C)
*TURBULENCE MODEL
The TYPE parameter can now be set to specify the realizable - turbulence model.
mod (S)
*USER MATERIAL
The new HYBRID FORMULATION parameter is now available in
Abaqus/Standard. It can be set to TOTAL or to INCOMPRESSIBLE to define
almost-incompressible or incompressible nonlinear elastic user material response.
mod (S)(E)
*VISCOELASTIC
The LAW parameter can now be set to choose a power law model.
mod (S)
*VISCOUS
The LAW parameter can be set to choose an Anand law, a Darveaux law, or a double
power law.
15.3
Changes in Abaqus user subroutines
This section summarizes the changes and the additions that have been made to user subroutines that can be
used in an Abaqus model.
153
Abaqus ID:
Printed on:
SUMMARY OF CHANGES
mod (S)
UCREEPNETWORK
Four new variables can be defined:
outputData(io_creep_deqcreepinc_dinv1),
the derivative:
outputData(io_creep_deqcreepinc_dinv2),
the derivative:
outputData(io_creep_deqcreepinc_ddetf),
the derivative:
outputData(io_creep_deqcreepinc_dpress),
the derivative:
Four variables can now be passed in for information:
r_array(ir_creep_inv1),
the first invariant, , of the left Cauchy-Green strain tensor,
r_array(ir_creep_inv2),
the second invariant, , of the left Cauchy-Green strain tensor,
r_array(ir_creep_detf),
the determinant of the deformation gradient,
r_array(ir_creep_press),
Kirchhoff pressure
mod (S)
UEXTERNALDB
The LOP variable to be passed in for information can take new values. LOP=5
indicates that the user subroutine is being called at the start of a step. LOP=6 indicates
that the user subroutine is being called at the end of a step.
mod (S)
UMAT
Variable JSTEP(1) can now be passed in to identify the step number.
new (S)
UXFEMNONLOCALWEIGHT
User subroutine to define the weight function used to compute the average
stress/strain to determine the crack propagation direction.
new (E)
VEXTERNALDB
User subroutine that gives control to the user at key moments of the analysis so
that data can be exchanged dynamically among Abaqus user subroutines and with
external programs or files.
new (E)
VUCHARLENGTH
User subroutine to define characteristic element length at a material point.
154
Abaqus ID:
Printed on:
SUMMARY OF CHANGES
15.4
Changes in Abaqus output variable identifiers
This section summarizes the changes and the additions that have been made to output variable identifiers used
in Abaqus.
Element integration point variables
new (S)(E)
MMIXDME
Mode mix ratio during damage evolution.
new (S)(E)
MMIXDMI
Mode mix ratio at damage initiation.
new (E)
PEEQR
Equivalent plastic strain rate.
Whole element variables
new (S)
ALEAKVRBXFEM
Accumulated leak-off flow volume at the bottom cracked surface of the enriched
element.
new (S)
ALEAKVRTXFEM
Accumulated leak-off flow volume at the top cracked surface of the enriched
element.
new (S)
GFVRXFEM
Gap fluid volume rate of the enriched element.
new (S)
LEAKVRBXFEM
Leak-off flow rate at the bottom cracked surface of the enriched element.
new (S)
LEAKVRTXFEM
Leak-off flow rate at the top cracked surface of the enriched element.
new (S)
PFOPENXFEM
Fracture opening of the enriched element.
new (S)
PORPRES
Fluid pressure of the enriched element.
Nodal variables
new (E)
AMAG
Magnitude of translational accelerations.
155
Abaqus ID:
Printed on:
SUMMARY OF CHANGES
new (S)
CLINELOAD
Contact load due to line contact from edge-to-surface and radial edge-to-edge
constraints in units of force per length. The normal (CLINELOADN) and frictional
shear (CLINELOADT) components are available only for general contact to the
.odb file.
new (S)
CPOINTLOAD
Contact load in units of force due to point contact from edge-to-edge constraints
using the cross formulation. The normal (CPOINTLOADN) and frictional shear
(CPOINTLOADT) components are available only for general contact to the .odb
file.
new (E)
RFMAG
Magnitude of reaction forces.
new (E)
UMAG
Magnitude of translational displacements.
new (E)
VMAG
Magnitude of translational velocities.
Surface variables-nodal quantities
new (S)
CRKDISP
Crack opening and relative tangential motions on cracked surfaces in enriched
elements.
mod (S)
CSDMG
Damage variable for cracked surfaces in enriched elements.
Total energy output quantities
new (S)
ALLCCDW
Contact constraint discontinuity work.
new (S)
ALLCCE
The sum of ALLCCEN and ALLCCET.
new (S)
ALLCCEN
Contact constraint elastic energy in normal direction due to penalty constraint
enforcement.
new (S)
ALLCCET
Contact constraint elastic energy in tangential direction due to friction penalty
constraint enforcement.
156
Abaqus ID:
Printed on:
SUMMARY OF CHANGES
new (S)
ALLCCSD
The sum of ALLCCSDN and ALLCCSDT.
new (S)
ALLCCSDN
Contact constraint stabilization dissipation in normal direction.
new (S)
ALLCCSDT
Contact constraint stabilization dissipation in tangential direction.
State and field variables
rem (C)
ENSTROPHY
Enstrophy per unit mass.
rem (C)
HELICITY
Dot product of vorticity and velocity.
new (C)
QCRIT
Coherent structure visualizator, known as Qcriteria.
Turbulence variables
new (C)
TURBOMEGA
Specific turbulent energy dissipation rate.
new (C)
TURBVISCOSITYRATIO
Eddy to molecular viscosity ratio.
157
Abaqus ID:
Printed on:
PRODUCT INDEX
I.
Product Index
Abaqus/Standard
Section 4.1
Section 4.2
Section 4.3
Section 4.5
Section 4.6
Section 5.2
Section 5.3
Section 5.8
Section 5.9
Section 5.10
Section 5.11
Section 5.12
Section 6.1
Section 6.3
Section 6.4
Section 6.5
Section 6.6
Section 6.7
Section 7.2
Section 8.1
Section 8.3
Section 9.1
Section 10.1
Section 11.1
Section 11.2
Section 11.4
Section 11.5
Section 11.6
Section 12.1
Section 12.2
Section 12.3
Section 12.4
Section 13.4
Section 13.5
The AMS eigensolver can extract coupled structural-acoustic eigenmodes

Different stiffness in tension versus compression for traction-separation
elasticity
Allocatable arrays
I1
Abaqus ID:
Printed on:
PRODUCT INDEX
Abaqus/Explicit
Section 5.1
Section 5.3
Section 5.4
Section 5.6
Section 5.7
Section 5.8
Section 5.9
Section 5.10
Section 5.11
Section 5.12
Section 6.1
Section 6.2
Section 8.1
Section 9.1
Section 9.2
Section 10.2
Section 11.3
Section 11.4
Section 11.5
Section 12.1
Section 12.5
Section 12.6
Section 12.7
Section 13.1
Section 13.2
Section 13.3
Section 13.4
Section 13.5
Defining a local coordinate system for materials in Eulerian elements

Enhancements to CZone for Abaqus for composite crush simulation
VEXTERNALDB: User subroutine that gives control to the user at key moments
of the analysis
VUCHARLENGTH: User subroutine to define the characteristic element length
at a material point
Allocatable arrays
Abaqus/CFD
Section 4.4
Section 5.3
Section 5.11
Section 8.2
Section 11.4
Section 11.5
Section 12.1

I2
Abaqus ID:
Printed on:
PRODUCT INDEX
Section 13.4
Section 13.5
Allocatable arrays
Abaqus/CAE
Section 2.1
Section 3.1
Section 3.2
Section 3.3
Section 3.4
Section 3.5
Section 3.6
Section 3.7
Section 3.8
Section 3.9
Section 3.10
Section 3.11
Section 5.5
Section 7.1
Section 10.3
Section 12.1
Section 12.8
Section 12.9
Section 12.10
Section 12.11
Section 12.12
Section 14.1
Section 14.2

Sizing optimization
Viewing the progression of an optimization by combining output database files
Associating geometric faces created from an orphan mesh with the mesh
Bidirectional import of parameters using the CATIA V6 Associative Interface
Enhancements to the XFEM-based crack propagation capability in Abaqus/CAE
Support for coupled temperaturepore pressure elements in Abaqus/CAE
Requesting reference sink temperature and film coefficient field output in
Abaqus/CAE
Selecting the area centroid as the summation point for free body cuts
Reading XY data from free bodies defined on view cuts
Performing display group Boolean operations on linked viewports
Abaqus/AMS
Section 4.2
Section 11.1

I3
Abaqus ID:
Printed on:
Dassault Systmes, the 3DEXPERIENCE Company, provides business and people

with virtual universes to imagine sustainable innovations. Its world-leading solutions
transform the way products are designed, produced, and supported. Dassault Systmes
collaborative solutions foster social innovation, expanding possibilities for the virtual world
to improve the real world. The group brings value to over 170,000 customers of all sizes
in all industries in more than 140 countries. For more information, visit www.3ds.com.
ollaborative
Ap
l&C
ps
cia
So
SOLIDWORKS
Modeling Apps
3D
CATIA
Intelligenc
eA
pp
s
Our 3DEXPERIENCE Platform powers our brand

applications, serving 12 industries, and provides a rich
portfolio of industry solution experiences.
ENOVIA
3DSWYM
tion
ma
for
In
Dassault Systmes SIMULIA applications, including Abaqus, Isight, Tosca, and

Simulation Lifecycle Management, enable users to leverage physics-based
simulation and high-performance computing to explore real-world behavior of
products, nature, and life. As an integral part of Dassault Systmes 3DEXPERIENCE
platform, SIMULIA applications accelerate the process of making highly informed,
mission-critical design and engineering decisions before committing to
costly and time-consuming physical prototypes. www.3ds.com/simulia
GEOVIA
Co
n te
nt &
3DVIA
Europe/Middle East/Africa
Dassault Systmes
10, rue Marcel Dassault
CS 40501
78946 Vlizy-Villacoublay Cedex
France
S i m u la ti o n
DELMIA
Ap
EXALEAD
NETVIBES
ps
SIMULIA
Asia-Pacific
Dassault Systmes
Pier City Shibaura Bldg 10F
3-18-1 Kaigan, Minato-Ku
Tokyo 108-002
Japan
Americas
Dassault Systmes
175 Wyman Street
Waltham, Massachusetts
02451-1223
USA
Dassault Systmes 2014, all rights reserved. 3DEXPERIENCE, CATIA, SolidWorks, ENOVIA, SIMULIA, DELMIA, 3DVIA, 3DSwYm, EXALEAD, and Netvibes are registered trademarks of Dassault Systmes or its subsidiaries in the US and/or other countries.
About SIMULIA

Abaqus 6.14 Release - Note

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Abaqus 6.14 Release - Note

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Abaqus 6.14 Release - Note

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Abaqus Release Notes

Introduction to Abaqus 6.14

Key features of Abaqus 6.14

Accessing the Learning Community from Abaqus/CAE

The AMS eigensolver can extract coupled structural-acoustic eigenmodes

Defining a local coordinate system for materials in Eulerian elements

Enhancements to CZone for Abaqus for composite crush simulation

Enhancements to parallel rheological framework

Edge-to-edge contact for general contact in Abaqus/Standard

New attachment method for mesh-independent fasteners

Initial conditions on damage initiation

Support for coupled temperaturepore pressure elements in Abaqus/CAE

Job execution control enhancements

SIM database utilities

Output and visualization

Output of mode mix ratios during mixed mode delamination

Changes in Abaqus elements

Abaqus Scripting Interface

Enhancements to the addData method

User subroutines, utilities, and plug-ins

INTRODUCTION TO Abaqus 6.14

Introduction to Abaqus 6.14

Chapter 2, General enhancements: general changes to the Abaqus interface.

Key features of Abaqus 6.14

General performance improvements:

GPGPU accelerated direct equation solver

INTRODUCTION TO Abaqus 6.14

Edge-to-edge contact for general contact in Abaqus/Standard

GPGPU acceleration performance improvements

Parallel rheological framework enhancements

Crack modeling and propagation:

k realizable turbulence model

SIMULIA Co-Simulation Engine API general availability

Abaqus/CAE geometry and modeling:

Bidirectional support for CATIA V6 Associative Interface

Display group operations on linked viewport

INTRODUCTION TO Abaqus 6.14

Free body cut summation at area centroid

Individual components of the Abaqus suite are described in this section.

Preprocessing and postprocessing

This subset of Abaqus/CAE contains only the postprocessing capabilities of the

INTRODUCTION TO Abaqus 6.14

Optional analysis functionality

Associative interfaces and geometry translators

This add-on capability for Abaqus/CAE creates a connection

CATIA V5 Associative Interface:

INTRODUCTION TO Abaqus 6.14

INTRODUCTION TO Abaqus 6.14

INTRODUCTION TO Abaqus 6.14

Changes in interpretation of input data

INTRODUCTION TO Abaqus 6.14

Changes in interpretation of input data for Abaqus/CAE

The following change in Abaqus/CAE 6.14 is a change from previous releases:

Accessing the Learning Community from Abaqus/CAE, Section 2.1

Accessing the Learning Community from Abaqus/CAE

Benefits: Abaqus/CAE provides easy access to the Learning Community.

Accessing the Learning Community, Section 2.6.5

Sizing optimization, Section 3.1

Abaqus Example Problems Guide