Introduction to ABAQUS

27th February, 2007

Units
Before starting to define any model, you need to decide which
system of units you will use. ABAQUS has no built-in system
of units.
Quantity

SI

SI (mm)

Length

mm

Force

Mass

kg

tonne (103 kg)

Time

Stress

Pa (N/m2)

MPa (N/mm2)

Energy

mJ (103 J)

Density

kg/m3

tonne/mm3

Example -a model of an overhead hoist

Material Properties
General properties:
=7800kg/m3

Elastic Properties
E=200x109
v=0.3
All members are circular
steel rods, 5mm in diameter

Procedure
Sketch the two-dimensional geometry and create a part
representing the frame
Define the material properties and section properties of
the frame
Assemble the model
Configure the analysis procedure and output requests
Apply loads and boundary conditions to the frame
Mesh the frame
Create a job and submit it for analysis
View the results of the analysis

Creating Part
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

start ABAQUS/CAE
Create Model Database from the Start Session
In the Model Tree, double-click the Parts
Name the part Frame. Choose a two-dimensional
planar deformable body and a wire base feature
In the Approximate size text field, type 4.0
ABAQUS/CAE automatically enters the Sketcher. The Sketcher
contains a set of basic tools that allow you to sketch the twodimensional profile of your part

Creating Part
1.
2.

3.

4.

Select Rectangle tool

to
draw a rectangle
Select the Delete tool
>
choose Constraints >Using
[Shift]+Click, select the four
perpendicular constraints and
delete them (press Done)
Use the Add Constraint
tool
to constrain the top and bottom
edges so they remain parallel to
each other
Use the Add Dimension
tool
to dimension the edges of the
rectangle

Creating Parts
Now sketch the interior edges of the frame:
1.
Use the Connected tool
to start the first line at the
upper-left corner of the sketch and extend it to any point that
snaps onto the bottom edge and continue the second line to
the upper-right corner
2.
Use the Split tool
to split the bottom edge at the point
where it intersects the two lines by selecting the bottom
edge as the first entity to define the split point and select
either of the two interior lines as the second entity
3.
Add Constraint tool
to constrain the two segments of
the bottom edge so they are of equal length
To complete the sketch, click Done to exit the Sketcher
From the main menu bar, select File Save

Creating a material

1.
2.
3.
4.

To define a material:
In the Model Tree, double-click the Materials container
to create a new material
Name the material Steel
In the menu bar, choose
MechanicalElasticityElastic
Type a value of 200.0E9 for Young's modulus and a
value of 0.3 for Poisson's ratio in the respective fields

Defining and assigning section properties

The section properties of a model is defined by creating sections

in the Property module

To define a truss section

-requires only a material reference and the cross-sectional area
1.
Choose Sections to create a section.
2.
Name the section FrameSection > select Beam in the Category
list >select Truss in the Type list
3.
select Steel for the Material
4.
In the Cross-sectional area field, enter a value of 1.963E-5
To assign the section to the frame:
1.
Under Parts ,expand the Frame item
2.
Double-click Section Assignments > highlights the entire frame
>click Done in the prompt area to assign the frame to section

Defining the assembly

define the geometry of the assembly by creating instances of
a part and then positioning the instances relative to each
other in a global coordinate system

To define the assembly:

1.
Click Assembly under the Module list > double-click
Instances
2.
select Frame

Configuring your analysis

1.
2.
3.
4.

To create a static, general analysis step

double-click the Steps
Change the step name to Apply load
Select Static, general
In the Description field, type 10 kN central load

Requesting data output

Once you create a step, ABAQUS/CAE generates a default output
request for the step

Applying boundary condition

Prescribed conditions, such as loads and boundary conditions,
are step dependent, which means that you must specify the step
or steps in which they become active
Define BC at left end
1.
In the Model Tree, double-click the BCs container.
2.
Name the boundary condition Fixed
3.
select Initial as the step in which the boundary condition will be
activated. All the mechanical boundary conditions specified in the
Initial step must have zero magnitudes
4.
Choose Mechanical > select Displacement/Rotation, and click
Continue
5.
select the vertex at the bottom-left corner of the frame
6.
Toggle on U1 and U2 since all translational degrees of freedom
need to be constrained

Applying boundary condition and load

Define B.C at the right end

Repeat the above procedure to constrain degree of freedom U2 at

the vertex at the bottom-right corner of the frame. Name this
boundary condition Roller
Applying a load to the frame

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Double click load

Name the load Force
From the list of steps, select Apply load
Choose Mechanical > Concentrated force
select the vertex at the bottom center of the frame as the region
where the load will be applied
Enter a magnitude of -10000.0 for CF2

Meshing the model

1.
2.
3.

To assign an ABAQUS element type

double-click Mesh
From the main menu bar, select Mesh > Element Type.
selects the entire frame as the region to be assigned an element
type
4.
In the dialog box, select the following:
Standard as the Element Library selection (the default).
Linear as the Geometric Order (the default).
Truss as the Family of elements.

Meshing the model

Basic meshing is a two-stage operation: first you seed the edges

of the part instance, and then you mesh the part instance

To seed and mesh the model:

1.
Seed > Part to seed the part instance.
2.
specify an approximate global element size of 1.0
3.
Mesh > Part to mesh the part instance
display the node and element numbers

View > Part Display Options >Toggle on Show node labels and
Show element labels

Creating an analysis job

To create an analysis job

double-click the Jobs

Name the job Frame
In the Description field, type Two-dimensional overhead hoist
frame
Submit the job

Postprocessing with ABAQUS/CAE

Displaying and customizing a deformed
shape plot

Plot Deformed Shape; or use the tool

the toolbox

in

To display node and element numbers:

select Options > Common; or use the tool

in the toolbox.

The Common Plot Options dialog box

appears.

Click the Labels tab.

Toggle on Show node labels and show

element labels

Postprocessing with ABAQUS/CAE

To generate field data reports

select Report Field Output

Integration Point>Click the triangle next to S: Stress

components > S11.

In the Setup tabbed page, name the report Frame.rpt

The element stresses are written to the report file

change the position to Unique Nodal in the Report Field Output

dialog box

Toggle off S: Stress components, and select U1 and U2 from

the list of available U: Spatial displacement variable

toggle off U: Spatial displacement, and select RF1 and RF2

from the list of available RF: Reaction force variables