Preface

This section lists various resources that are available for help with using Abaqus Unified FEA software, including technical engineering and systems support, training seminars, and documentation.


Support

Both technical engineering support (for problems with creating a model or performing an analysis) and systems support (for installation, licensing, and hardware-related problems) for Abaqus are offered through a network of local support offices. Regional contact information is listed in the front of each Abaqus manual and is accessible from the Locations page at www.simulia.com.


Support for SIMULIA products

SIMULIA provides a knowledge database of answers and solutions to questions that we have answered, as well as guidelines on how to use Abaqus, SIMULIA Scenario Definition, Isight, and other SIMULIA products. You can also submit new requests for support. All support incidents are tracked. If you contact us by means outside the system to discuss an existing support problem and you know the incident or support request number, please mention it so that we can query the database to see what the latest action has been.

Many questions about Abaqus can also be answered by visiting the Products page and the Support page at www.simulia.com. The information includes:

  • Abaqus systems information and computer requirements

  • Abaqus performance data

  • Status reports

  • Abaqus documentation price list

  • Training seminar schedule

  • INSIGHTS Magazine/Realistic Simulation News Magazine

  • Technology briefs

  • Customer conference papers


Technical engineering support

Technical support engineers are available to assist in clarifying Abaqus features and checking errors by giving both general information on using Abaqus and information on its application to specific analyses. If you have concerns about an analysis, we suggest that you contact us at an early stage, since it is usually easier to solve problems at the beginning of a project rather than trying to correct an analysis at the end.

Please have the following information ready before calling the technical engineering support hotline, and include it in any written contacts:

  • Your site identifier, which can be obtained by typing abaqus whereami at your system prompt (or by selecting HelpAbout Abaqus from the main menu bar in Abaqus/CAE or Abaqus/Viewer).

  • The release of Abaqus that are you using, which can also be obtained by typing abaqus whereami at your system prompt. In addition:

    • The release numbers for Abaqus/Standard, Abaqus/Explicit, and Abaqus/CFD are given at the top of the data (.dat) file.

    • The release numbers for Abaqus/CAE and Abaqus/Viewer can be found by selecting HelpAbout Abaqus from the main menu bar.

    • The release information for the Abaqus Interface for Moldflow and the Abaqus Interface for MSC.ADAMS are output to the screen.

    • The release information for Abaqus for CATIA V5 can be found by selecting HelpAbout Abaqus for CATIA V5 from the main menu bar in either of the Abaqus for CATIA V5 workbenches.

  • The type of computer on which you are running Abaqus.

  • The symptoms of any problems, including the exact error messages, if any.

  • Workarounds or tests that you have already tried.

When calling for support about a specific problem, any available Abaqus output files may be helpful in answering questions that the support engineer may ask you.

The support engineer will try to diagnose your problem from the model description and a description of the difficulties you are having. The more detailed information you provide, the easier it will be for the support engineer to understand and solve your problem.

If the support engineer cannot diagnose your problem from this information, you may be asked to supply the input data. The data can be attached to a support incident in the online system. It can also be sent by means of e-mail, disc, or ftp. Please check the Support page at www.simulia.com for the media formats that are currently accepted.

If you are contacting us via telephone to discuss an existing problem, please give the receptionist the support engineer's name. If you are contacting us via e-mail, please include the support engineer's name at the top of any e-mail correspondence. If you are contacting us online (preferred for written communication), update the existing incident/support request for the problem.


Systems support

Systems support engineers can help you resolve issues related to the installation and running of Abaqus, including licensing difficulties, that are not covered by technical engineering support.

You should install Abaqus by carefully following the instructions in the Abaqus Installation and Licensing Guide. If you are able to complete the installation, please make sure that the product verification procedure was run successfully at the end of the installation procedure. Successful verification for licensed products would indicate that you can run these products on your computer; unsuccessful verification for licensed products indicates problems with the installation or licensing (or both). If you encounter problems with the installation, licensing, or verification, first review the instructions in the Abaqus Installation and Licensing Guide to ensure that they have been followed correctly. If this does not resolve the problems, consult the knowledge database for information about known installation problems. If this does not address your situation, please create an incident/support request in the online system and describe your problem, including the output from abaqus info=support. If you call, mail, e-mail, or fax us about a problem (instead of communicating online), please provide the output from abaqus info=support. It is important that you provide as much information as possible about your problem: error messages from an aborted analysis, output from the abaqus info=support command, etc.


Anonymous ftp site

To facilitate data transfer with SIMULIA, an anonymous ftp account is available at ftp.simulia.com. Login as user anonymous, and type your e-mail address as your password. Contact support before placing files on the site.


Contacting technical support

Use the SupportMy Support page at www.simulia.com, or obtain local support office contact information from the Locations page at www.simulia.com.

In addition, contact information for offices and representatives is listed in the front of each manual.


Support for academic institutions

Under the terms of the Academic Software License Agreement we do not provide support to users at academic institutions. Academic users can purchase a technical support account to coincide with their annual software lease. For more information, please see www.simulia.com or contact your local support office.


Training

All offices and representatives offer regularly scheduled public training classes. The courses are offered in a traditional classroom form and via the Web. We also provide training seminars at customer sites. All training classes and seminars include workshops to provide as much practical experience with Abaqus as possible. For a schedule and descriptions of available classes, see www.simulia.com or call your local office or representative.

The Introduction to Abaqus class covers basic modeling using Abaqus/CAE and linear and nonlinear applications, such as large deformation, plasticity, contact, and dynamics using Abaqus/Standard and Abaqus/Explicit.

Advanced classes cover topics of interest to customers with experience using Abaqus, such as engine analysis, metal forming, fracture mechanics, and heat transfer.

On-site training seminars can be one or more days in duration, depending on customer requirements. The training topics can include a combination of material from our introductory and advanced classes. Workshops allow customers to exercise Abaqus on their own computers.

Web-based classes are typically shorter in duration than their classroom counterparts. Both live and on-demand Web classes are available.


Feedback

We welcome any suggestions for improvements to Abaqus software, the support program, or documentation. We will ensure that any enhancement requests you make are considered for future releases. If you wish to make a suggestion about the service or products, refer to www.simulia.com. Complaints should be made by contacting your local office or through www.simulia.com by visiting the Quality Assurance section of the Support page.


User documentation

The following user documentation is available from SIMULIA and can be installed in electronic format with an Abaqus installation.

For information about supplementary documentation for Abaqus add-on products and capabilities, see the knowledge database entry “Supplementary Abaqus documentation.”


Modeling and visualization

Abaqus/CAE User's Manual: This manual includes detailed descriptions of how to use Abaqus/CAE for model generation, analysis, and results evaluation and visualization. Abaqus/Viewer users should refer to the information on the Visualization module in this manual.


Analysis

Abaqus Analysis User's Manual: This manual contains a complete description of the elements, material models, procedures, input specifications, etc. It is the basic manual for Abaqus/Standard, Abaqus/Explicit, and Abaqus/CFD. Both input file usage and Abaqus/CAE usage information are provided in this manual.


Examples

Abaqus Example Problems Manual: This manual contains detailed examples designed to illustrate the approaches and decisions needed to perform meaningful linear and nonlinear analyses. Many of the examples are worked with several different element types, mesh densities, and other variations. Typical cases are large motion of an elastic-plastic pipe hitting a rigid wall; inelastic buckling collapse of a thin-walled elbow; explosive loading of an elastic, viscoplastic thin ring; consolidation under a footing; buckling of a composite shell with a hole; and deep drawing of a metal sheet. It is generally useful to look for relevant examples in this manual and to review them when embarking on a new class of problem.

Abaqus Benchmarks Manual: This manual contains benchmark problems and analyses used to evaluate the performance of Abaqus; the tests are multiple element tests of simple geometries or simplified versions of real problems. The NAFEMS benchmark problems are included in this manual.


Training

Getting Started with Abaqus: Interactive Edition: This manual is a self-paced tutorial designed to help new users become familiar with using Abaqus/CAE to create solid, shell, and beam and truss models and Abaqus/Standard or Abaqus/Explicit to perform static, quasi-static, and dynamic stress analysis simulations. It contains a number of fully worked examples that provide practical guidelines for performing structural analyses with Abaqus. In addition, three comprehensive tutorials are provided to introduce users familiar with the Abaqus solver products to the Abaqus/CAE interface.

Getting Started with Abaqus: Keywords Edition: This manual is designed to help new users become familiar with the Abaqus input file syntax for static and dynamic stress analysis simulations. The Abaqus keyword interface is used to model examples similar to those included in Getting Started with Abaqus: Interactive Edition.


Documentation information

Using Abaqus Online Documentation: This manual contains instructions for navigating, viewing, and searching the Abaqus HTML and PDF documentation.


Reference

Abaqus Keywords Reference Manual: This manual contains a complete description of all the input options that are available in Abaqus/Standard, Abaqus/Explicit, and Abaqus/CFD.

Abaqus Theory Manual: This manual contains detailed, precise discussions of all theoretical aspects of Abaqus. It is written to be understood by users with an engineering background.

Abaqus Verification Manual: This manual contains basic test cases, providing verification of each individual program feature (procedures, output options, MPCs, etc.) against exact calculations and other published results. It may be useful to run these problems when learning to use a new capability. In addition, the supplied input data files provide good starting points to check the behavior of elements, materials, etc.

Abaqus User Subroutines Reference Manual: This manual contains a complete description of all the user subroutines available for use in Abaqus analyses. It also discusses the utility routines that can be used when writing user subroutines.

Abaqus Glossary: This manual defines technical terms as they apply to the Abaqus Unified FEA Product Suite.


Update information

Abaqus Release Notes: This manual contains brief descriptions of the new features available in the latest release of the Abaqus product line.


Programming

Abaqus Scripting User's Manual: This manual provides a description of the Abaqus Scripting Interface, which is an application programming interface (API) to the models and data used by Abaqus. The manual describes how commands can be used to create and analyze Abaqus/CAE models, to view the results of the analysis, and to automate repetitive tasks. It also contains information on using the Abaqus Scripting Interface or C++ as an API to the output database.

Abaqus Scripting Reference Manual: This manual provides a command reference that lists the syntax of each command in the Abaqus Scripting Interface.

Abaqus GUI Toolkit User's Manual: This manual provides a description of the Abaqus GUI Toolkit, which allows you to customize the Abaqus/CAE Graphical User Interface by creating your own dialog boxes, GUI modules, and even applications. The manual explains how to use the components of the toolkit by providing snippets of example code.

Abaqus GUI Toolkit Reference Manual: This manual provides a complete listing of the Abaqus GUI Toolkit programming interface, but it does not describe how to use the toolkit. For an explanation of how to use the Abaqus GUI Toolkit, see the Abaqus GUI Toolkit User's Manual.


Interfaces

Abaqus Interface for MSC.ADAMS User's Manual: This manual describes how to use the Abaqus Interface for MSC.ADAMS, which creates Abaqus models of MSC.ADAMS components and converts the Abaqus results into an MSC.ADAMS modal neutral file that can be used by the ADAMS/Flex program.

Abaqus Interface for Moldflow User's Manual: This manual describes how to use the Abaqus Interface for Moldflow, which creates a partial Abaqus input file by translating results from a Moldflow polymer processing simulation.


Installation and licensing

Abaqus Installation and Licensing Guide: This manual describes how to install Abaqus and how to configure the installation for particular circumstances.


Additional publications

In addition to the user documentation, the following publications are available from SIMULIA. Contact your local office or representative for information.


Lecture notes

These notes are available on many topics to which Abaqus is applied. They are used in the technical seminars that are presented to help users improve their understanding and usage of Abaqus (see the “Training” section above for more information about these seminars). While not intended as stand-alone tutorial material, they are sufficiently comprehensive that they can usually be used in that mode. A list of lecture notes is available in the Training Services section of the Services page at www.simulia.com.


Quality Assurance Plan

This document describes the QA procedures followed by Dassault Systèmes Simulia Corp. It is a controlled document, provided to customers who subscribe to the Quality Monitoring Service.