3.4.8 What happens when deleted objects are referred to?

You should take care when deleting or renaming objects, such as materials and amplitudes, that may be referred to by other objects. For example, if you delete or rename a material, the sections that refer to the material become inconsistent. To resolve the missing reference, you can edit the section and refer to a new material, or you can create a new material with the same name as the deleted material.

Table 3–1 lists objects that are commonly referred to by other objects.

Table 3–1 Objects that are commonly referred to by other objects.

This objectCan be referred to by these types of objects
MaterialSection
ProfileSection, skin
SectionSection assignment
Interaction Output request, contact controls
Interaction propertyInteraction
AmplitudeLoad, predefined field, boundary condition, interaction
Connector sectionConnector section assignment
Region (set or surface)Boundary condition, predefined field, load, interaction, constraint, connector section assignment, output request, section assignment, beam section orientation, material orientation, output request, DOF monitor, adaptive mesh domain
LoadLoad case, output request
Boundary conditionLoad case
Datum coordinate systemBoundary condition, connector section assignment, material orientation, constraint
Datum planeLoad
Datum axisLoad
Datum pointConstraint
Part instanceConstraint
PartPart instance

Parts and part instances behave slightly differently. If you delete a part after you have instanced the part in the Assembly module, Abaqus/CAE suppresses the part instance in the assembly. You can delete the instance from the assembly. Alternatively, if you then create a new part that uses the same name, you can unsuppress the part instance to include it in the assembly. In addition, if you rename a part or a datum, objects that refer to the part or datum refer to the new name; and, as a result, the reference does not become inconsistent.