You can use the Special menu in the Interaction module to define the following engineering features:
Inertia. You can define lumped mass, rotary inertia, and heat capacitance at a point on an assembly. In an Abaqus/Standard analysis you can also define mass and inertia proportional damping and composite damping. For more information, see Chapter 33, “Inertia.”
Crack. You can study the initiation and propagation of cracks using the following techniques:
An embedded seam crack with duplicate overlapping nodes
A contour integral analysis
The extended finite element method (XFEM)
The virtual crack closing technique (VCCT)
For more information, see “Modeling cracks and seams.”
Springs/Dashpots. You can define springs and dashpots that exhibit the same linear behavior independent of field variables. You can also define both spring and dashpot behavior on the same set of points. In an Abaqus/Explicit or an Abaqus/Standard analysis, you can model springs and dashpots that connect two points, following the line of action between the two points. In an Abaqus/Standard analysis, you can also model springs and dashpots that connect two points, acting in a fixed direction, or that connect points to ground. For more information, see Chapter 37, “Springs and dashpots.”
Fasteners. You can model point-to-point connections between two or more faces using point-based or discrete fasteners. Point-based fasteners can be defined using attachment points, reference points, or orphan nodes. Discrete fasteners can be defined using attachment lines. For more information, see Chapter 29, “Fasteners.”
When you model cracks, you assign seams to regions of your model. Abaqus/CAE places overlapping duplicate nodes along a seam when the mesh is generated. A seam cannot extend along the boundaries of a part and must be embedded within a face of a two-dimensional part or within a cell of a solid part. Because a seam modifies the mesh, you cannot create a seam on a dependent part instance.
For fracture mechanics, a seam defines an edge or a face with overlapping nodes that can separate during an analysis. You can include a seam crack in your model. Alternatively, you can refer to the seam when creating a contour integral; however, you cannot use a seam crack with the extended finite element method (XFEM). For more information, see Chapter 31, “Fracture mechanics.”
For an Abaqus/CFD analysis involved in a fluid-structure interaction with shells/membranes, a seam defines a zero-thickness shell in the mesh. You can create a double-sided surface that represents the seam and select that surface as the region for the fluid-structure interaction boundary. For more information, see “Defining a fluid-structure co-simulation interaction,” Section 15.13.15.
To assign a seam:
From the main menu bar in the Interaction module, select Special
CrackAssign seam.
From the model in the viewport, select the entities representing the seam. The entities must be embedded edges within a face of a two-dimensional part or embedded faces within a cell of a solid part; you cannot select any entities that lie on the boundary of the part.
Click mouse button 2 to indicate that you have finished selecting the seam.
Abaqus/CAE creates the seam.
