AE4131
ABAQUS Lecture
Part II
Patrick Roberts
gt0398b@prism.gatech.edu
x5-2773
Weber 201
Overview
•
•
•
•
•
What is ABAQUS CAE?
Why learn ABAQUS CAE?
Online Tutorials
Sample problem
Some helpful hints
What is ABAQUS CAE?
ABAQUS CAE provides a complete
modeling and visualization environment for
ABAQUS analysis products. With direct
access to CAD models, advanced meshing
and visualization, and with an exclusive view
towards ABAQUS analysis products,
ABAQUS/CAE is the modeling environment
of choice for many ABAQUS users.
(From www.abaqus.com)
Why learn ABAQUS CAE?
• Building input files by hand for large or
complex models are too difficult.
• Build most models very quickly
• Gives you a method to import models
created by other software packages.
• Allows for Python scripting.
ABAQUS CAE files
• ABAQUS CAE creates a binary file with a
.cae file extension.
• When viewing your results it uses the
.odb and .fil files
• CAE created an input file to run the
analysis.
• You can import an input file to CAE to
manipulate the model.
ABAQUS CAE structure
• In CAE you make parts, then assemble
those parts into a model which is then
analyzed.
• To work through these step you will work
with individual modules in CAE.
CAE layout
Title bar
Toolbox
area
Menu bar
Canvas
and
drawing
area
Toolbar
Viewport
Context bar
Prompt
area
Message
area or
command
line interface
ABAQUS CAE modules
•
•
•
•
•
•
Part – Create individual parts
Property – Create and assign material properties
Assembly – Create and place all parts instances
Step – Define all analysis steps and the results you want
Interaction – Define any contact information
Load- Define and place all loads and boundary
conditions
• Mesh – Define your nodes and elements
• Job – Submit your job for analysis
• Visualization- View your results
Online tutorials
ABAQUS CAE has three very good tutorials
1. Simple 3D cantilever beam
2. Two hinges/ rigid pin assembly
3. Viewing and working with your output
Starting ABAQUS CAE
You can start ABAQUS CAE from the
START menu or with a command line by
typing abaqus cae in a Command
window.
TIP: You should open a Command Window, navigate to
the directory you want to use, and finally, start ABAQUS
CAE via command line. This way all your results files will
end up in this directory (where you want them!).
Plane stress problem
• To start learning ABAQUS CAE we will
work through building a cantilevered beam
that is subjected to a pressure load on the
top of the beam of 0.5 MPa.
• This will be a plane stress problem so it
will have unit thickness. The length of the
beam is 200 mm, height is 25 mm.
Part Module
• Create a new part as
– 2-D planar
– Type : Deformable
– Basic feature: shell
– Approximate size:
Your plane stress part
Property Module
• We will add the material Steel and give it
values of 209 × 103 MPa and Poisson's
ratio of 0.3.
• We will create a section called
BeamSection and give it a category of
solid, type Homogeneous.
• We then assign this material to this
section.
Assembly Module
• We will create one instance of this beam.
Step Module
• We will add a step after the system
created Initial step called Load Step.
• The procedure type is General and the
type is Static.
• For the output we want stresses, strains,
displacements, forces/reaction.
Load Module
• We want to fully constrain (encastre) the left
end of the beam. Fixed boundary conditions
must be placed in the system created Initial step.
We will call this boundary condition Fixed.
• The pressure load must be added in the step we
created earlier called Load Step. Call this
load Pressure and it has a value of 0.5 and is
applied to the top of the beam.
Beam with BC’s and loading
Mesh Module
• First we need to decide on the Mesh controls. In
this case we will use quadrilateral.
• Next we choose element type. Under Family
you will see Plane stress highlighted. If we
choose linear with reduced integration we will be
using the following element.
• CPS4R: A 4-node bilinear plane stress
quadrilateral, reduced integration, hourglass
control.
Mesh Module (cont.)
• We need to define how course/fine the
mesh will be by the use of seeds.
• The system will suggest a seed value. To
make the mesh finer enter a smaller
number. Larger numbers will make the
mesh more course.
• The system suggested 20 so we’ll choose
15.
Mesh Module (cont.)
When we mesh this instance we get the
following.
Job Module
• We will create a job called
2DPlaneStressBeam
• Once this has been created just submit the
job.
• The analysis should only take a couple of
minutes.
Visualization Module
• Once your analysis is complete we want to
see the results.
• If we look at Von Mises stress distribution
we see
Stress distribution
Additional Results
To see additional results choose Field
Output and you can choose the type of
output you would like to see. It will only
show you what you initially choose in the
Step Module.
All of the results files are in the directory you
started CAE in. For any errors, warning or
other system data on how the analysis ran
look at those files.
Some additional tips
• If you want to capture an image for later
placement in a paper you need bring up
the view you want to capture, then print to
a file. If you are using Word then use the
TIFF format. If you use Latex use the eps
format.