If you have already selected one or more objects, you can expand your selection to include all adjacent objects of the same type. Adding adjacent objects is an alternative to using drag-select or the angle method (see “Drag-selecting multiple objects,” Section 6.2.2, and “Using the angle and feature edge method to select multiple objects,” Section 6.2.3, respectively) to quickly select multiple objects. Selecting adjacent objects allows you to expand your selection in all directions, regardless of the shape of surrounding features or the angle at which objects are joined. It also allows you to pick multiple areas of interest in a model and expand the selection set in each area at the same time.
To add adjacent objects to the current selection, click mouse button 3 over an existing selected object and select Add Adjacent Entities. Abaqus/CAE expands your selections to all adjacent objects of the same type, including objects that are not included in the current display. If necessary, Abaqus/CAE adds the newly selected objects to the current display group to make them visible. Adjacent objects are defined in terms of the currently selected entities as follows:
Edges that share a common vertex with one or more selected edges
Vertices that share a common edge with one or more selected vertices
Faces that share a common vertex or edge with one or more selected faces
Nodes that share a common edge with one or more selected nodes
Elements that share a common element edge or node with a selected element
