Abaqus python scripting: how difficult is it? 18/11/21, 8:12 a. m.

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Scripting in Abaqus is a powerful way to reduce working hours and ensure a

consistent method is used. Previously, we have given an example of Subscribe to our Blog.
postprocessing and tips on getting started. Now I want to discuss what kinds
of problems are easy or more challenging to script by using examples. Your Email (to subscribe)
Hopefully this will make it easier to find a suitable problem and get started
scripting. Country*
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Overview: types of scripts from simple to
challenging
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Let’s start with an overview, before we go into the details. The types of
problems we’ll discuss, going from simple to challenging are:

Exactly repeat what is done before

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Abaqus python scripting: how difficult is it? 18/11/21, 8:12 a. m.

Modifying a parameter Search All Blogs

Looping over a parameter
Modifying a location
Changing the (imported) geometry Search criteria (and push enter)
Making a script generally applicable

Example model
As an example, I’ll use a bending beam, since it is simple and mechanical
engineers tend to like it . The model is created in Abaqus/CAE. The Posts by Tag
beam is constrained on one side, while a pressure is applied to the top.
Abaqus (143)
Steel material properties are used.
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Figure 1: Model set-up. Abaqus
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Various modifications to this model will be made using scripts. Selection
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Level 1: exactly repeat what is done 3DEXPERIENCE platform:
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The simplest scripts to create, are those in which you exactly repeat
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something that is done before. This can be creating a material with specific
'Concrete Modelling’
properties (for a specific model name), creating a reference model, or doing
postprocessing (when all names are the same). In those cases, we can
simply record a macro. This can be done via file --> macro manager.
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Figure 2: Accessing the Macro manager

Click on Create to make a new Macro, name it and choose whether it will be
stored in the Home directory, or in the current work directory. Macros in the
home directory are always accessible by the user and therefore more
suitable for general purposes, macros in the work directory are only
available in the current work directory and therefore more suitable for
specific applications.

Figure 3: Macro manager dialog box and create Macro dialog box. In this
case there are no existing macros. Once they are created, they will be listed
in the Macro Manager.

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After clicking Continue make the (modification to) the model you are
interested in and stop the recording. In this case we will create a material
named steel with linear elastic properties. The createSteelMaterial macro
appears in the Macro Manager. If we delete the current steel material model
and run the macro, the material will be recreated. Similarly, if we open a new
model database and run the macro, the material will be created.

Level 2: modifying a parameter

Macros that exactly reproduce what was done are often not very useful,
because they are not generally applicable. In the previous example, with the
steel material model, it would be nice if we can also use a different name, a
different Young’s modulus and/or create the material in a different model.
This can easily be done by slightly modifying the script. Let’s first take a look
at the version created before, by opening it in Abaqus PDE (File --> Abaqus
PDE). In Abaqus PDE select File --> Open and open abaqusMacros.py.
This is in the home or the work directory, depending on where you chose to
save the macro. In the code, we can recognize the model name, material
name and material properties. These can all be given a name and value. By
filling in different values for these parameters, the macro is more generally
applicable. Save the modified version and reload and run it via the Macro
manager to try things out.

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Figure 4: Original version of the macro, and an alternative version of the last
section where model name, material name, Young’s modulus and Poisson’s
ratio can easily be modified.

Aside: asking for inputs in a dialog box

To make things even more user friendly, it would be nice to have a dialog
box pop up, that asks for these inputs. This can be used with the getInputs-
function. An example is given in Figure 5.

Figure 5: using getInputs to obtain a dialog box to request input

The resulting dialog box is shown in Figure 6.

Figure 6: dialog box created using getInputs

It is possible to make it more ‘fancy’ by adding a title etc; check the manual
for the available options.

Level 3: Looping over a parameter

Often most benefit from scripting can be gained, if a slightly different version
of a model is run multiple times. This means not modifying a parameter
once, as we did before, but automatically filling in different values and
rerunning the model each time. This parameter can be related to anything. It
can be a material property, shell thickness, friction coefficient, … : anything

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that is described with a value in Abaqus/CAE. The script is typically just a

few lines of code. We’ll show an example of rerunning a model with all
stiffnesses from 150,000 MPa to 250,000 MPa, with increments of 25,000.

Obtain code when modifying stiffness manually

The easiest way to create the basis of the script is to record actions done in
CAE in a macro or the .rpy file. In this case we record a macro when the
stiffness is changed from 210,000 MPa to 190,000 MPa, a new job is
created and the job is submitted. The exact values or names used do not
matter, the main point is that we can see the command that is used to
modify the stiffness and run the job.

Create script to repeat this process

A new function is now added to abaqusMacros.py (Figure 7).

Figure 7: Recorded function when modifying the material properties,

creating a job and running it.

We will now save the file under a different name, as a python script (.py
extension). All macros except the one we are currently interested in, can be
removed. Do leave the import statements at the top of the file. Remove the
line containing ‘def’ and the indentation of the rest of the lines, so the code is

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no longer inside a function. We can then add the loop, a for-loop. In python,
the syntax is as you can see in Figure 8. As you can see, there is no code to
denote the end of the for-loop; this is clear because the indentation stops.
Indentation is therefore very important in python.

Figure 8: Code to run the model with stiffness from 150000 to 250000 and
increments of 25000. It would be more elegant to define a name for the job,
as was done in the previous section for the model name and material name.
This version is shown since it has least modifications to the original code.

The variable i takes all variables in the range of 150,000 up to and excluding
250,001 with increments of 25,000. This variable is then used to specify the
stiffness (first line in the loop) and to define the job name. With this method,
the jobs all have a different and sensible name and data is not overwritten.
In cases like this, you typically want to wait for the first job to complete
before starting the second one. The function waitForCompletion does this.
Only a few modifications to the macro therefore allow us to run a number of
models without any further interference from the user.

Level 4: Changing a location

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In the example before a parameter was changed, something that is denoted

with a value in Abaqus. We can use the same approach and modify the
location of the load, rather than the stiffness of the material. This gives the
function shown in Figure 9.

Figure 9: Excerpt from macro to change the surface on which the load is
applied using default settings.

This script uses the command getSequenceFromMask to specify the faces

on which the load is applied. This is very efficient, but difficult to interpret by
humans.

You can choose how Abaqus defines geometry in replay files: via
COORDINATE, INDEX or COMPRESSEDINDEX (the default). You can set
this to coordinate by entering:

session.journalOptions.setValues(replayGeometry=COORDINATE)

in the command line interface. [The command line interface takes the same
space as the message area, underneath the viewport. It is hidden by
default, and can be accessed by clicking on the >>>-icon left of the
message area.].

The macro resulting when replayGeometry is set to COORDINATE and the

same steps are taken as before is shown in Figure 10.

Figure 10: Excerpt from macro to change the surface on which the load is
applied, using replayGeometry=COORDINATE

The code is now understood and modified more easily: if a different face is
to be found, we can fill in the X- Y- and Z-coordinate of a point on this face.
This point should not be shared with other faces.

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Level 5: Changing the (imported)

geometry
Up to now we have only changed part of the model and had relatively short
scripts to achieve that. It is quite common to want to have the same
simulation conditions on a different geometry. How can we achieve that?

If we would do it manually in Abaqus/CAE, then if the geometry is imported

(which typically is the case) we need to redo the model set-up, such as
reassigning sections and locations for boundary conditions and loads.

This means the script will be longer. In this example of a very simple model,
when changing the geometry I already had 58 lines of code (excluding
import statements),
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variations expected; on that later (level 6).

It can be time consuming to create such a script. In some cases, especially

when the geometry is simple such as in an axisymmetric model, it may then
be more efficient to draw the geometry in Abaqus, in such a way that the
dimensions that are to be varied are geometrical parameters. If these are
modified, the surface ids will not change. Loads, boundary conditions or
interactions applied to them are automatically updated. This requires more
time during set-up of the initial model, but will allow you to make a geometric
modification using the techniques mentioned under level 2, rather than level
4; which is much easier.

Level 6: Making a script generally

applicable
The most challenging aspect of creating a script is usually to make it
generally applicable. The more we know about the model the script should
be applied to, the easier it becomes to create the script. If we know the
name of a material and the material model used, then changing a few
parameters is straight forward. If we don’t know the type of material – it can

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be e.g. a hyperelastic rubber, or a plastic metal – then there are more

choices to be incorporated in the script.

Especially geometric locations can be challenging to specify in a generally

applicable manner. If we know there is a single face at a specified location,
that is easy to script (as shown in level 4). If the surface we need consists of
an unknown number of faces, and we do not know the exact location, it is
more challenging. A definition of the faces must be provided. This is not
always directly obvious and can be something such as the faces parallel to
the xy-plane with the largest z-coordinate. Once this definition is deduced it
must be converted to code, which can be a challenge in itself.

Conclusion
Getting started with python scripting does not have to be challenging: the
difficulty depends on the problem at hand. A macro is typically a good
starting point for a script. The closer the intended result is to the macro, the
easier it will be to script. Changing parameters tends to be simple, changing
geometry tends to be hard, especially if the script should be generally
applicable and there is limited knowledge on the to be expected geometry.

Discover more on Abaqus Scripting at our training course, find more details
below.

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Topics: Abaqus, python scripting

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