2.3.

5 Eulerian surface definition

Product: Abaqus/Explicit
References
• “Surfaces: overview,” Section 2.3.1
• “Eulerian analysis,” Section 13.1.1
• “Contact interaction analysis: overview,” Section 32.1.1
• *EULERIAN SECTION
• *SURFACE
Overview
An Eulerian surface:
• must be three-dimensional;
• must be defined as model data;
• can be used with the general contact algorithm in Abaqus/Explicit; and
• is created by specifying the name of an Eulerian material instance.

What are Eulerian surfaces and why use them?

An Eulerian surface represents the exterior surface of a particular Eulerian material instance in
an Abaqus/Explicit analysis. Since Eulerian materials flow through the Eulerian mesh, their
surfaces cannot be defined by a simple list of element faces. Instead, these surfaces often lie
within Eulerian elements and must be computed in each time increment using element volume
fraction data.
You can use Eulerian surfaces to define specific interactions with Lagrangian surfaces in
Abaqus/Explicit's general contact algorithm. Once defined, you can reference Eulerian surfaces
in inclusions, exclusions, and interaction definitions. You cannot combine or crop Eulerian
surfaces.
Eulerian surface definitions are not required for the use of Eulerian-Lagrangian contact. If you
specify “automatic” contact for the entire model, the exterior surface of all Eulerian materials
will automatically be considered for contact.

Advantages of creating Eulerian surfaces

You can use Eulerian surfaces to:
• Assign contact properties for contact interactions involving a particular Eulerian material
instance.
• Exclude interactions between Eulerian materials and Lagrangian bodies that are unlikely to
make contact, simplifying the contact problem and reducing computational cost.

Creating an Eulerian surface

To create an Eulerian surface, you must specify the name of a material instance that is present
in the model. The material instance names are defined as part of the Eulerian section (see
“Eulerian elements,” Section 29.15.1). Abaqus/Explicit calculates the exterior boundary of the
specified material instance and defines a surface corresponding to that boundary. The surface
is recalculated in each time increment as the material deforms.

Input File Usage: *SURFACE, TYPE=EULERIAN MATERIAL, NAME=name

material instance name,
12.12.3 Creating Eulerian sections

Eulerian sections are used to specify the materials that can be present in an Eulerian domain.
Eulerian sections can be assigned only to Eulerian-type parts, and a single Eulerian section must
be assigned to an entire Eulerian part.
An Eulerian section does not create material within an Eulerian part; rather, it provides a list of
materials that may exist within the part. The Eulerian part contains only void by default. After
creating an Eulerian section, you can add material to the part using a material assignment
predefined field (see “Defining a material assignment field,” Section 16.11.8). For more
information, see “Eulerian analysis,” Section 13.1.1 of the Abaqus Analysis User's Manual. For
an overview of modeling Eulerian analyses in Abaqus/CAE, see Chapter 27, “Eulerian
analyses.”
To create an Eulerian section:
1. From the main menu bar, select Section Create.
A Create Section dialog box appears.
Tip: You can also click Create in the Section Manager or select the create section tool
in the Property module toolbox.
2. Enter a section name. For more information on naming objects, see “Using basic dialog box
components,” Section 3.2.1.
3. Select Solid as the section Category and Eulerian as the section Type, and click Continue.
The Eulerian section editor appears.
4. Each material present in the Eulerian section is represented by a row in the Material
Instances table. To add rows to the table, click mouse button 3 on a row and select Insert
Row Before or Insert Row After from the menu that appears.
5. For each row in the Material Instances table, enter the following data:
Base Material
A material that may be present in the Eulerian part. Click in the Base Material column,
then click the arrow that appears to display the list of available materials, and select the
appropriate material.
Instance Name
A name that is used to refer to the base material in assembly-related modules, such as when
you are defining the initial composition of an Eulerian domain using the material
assignment predefined field (see “Defining a material assignment field,” Section 16.11.8).
Separate output is created for each material instance name (see “Viewing output from
Eulerian analyses,” Section 27.7). In some situations it may be necessary to create multiple,
unique material instance names that refer to the same base material; for example, if you
want separate output data for different regions of the model that contain the same base
material. Abaqus/CAE automatically creates a material instance name when you select a
base material; however, you can overwrite this default instance name if desired.
6. Click OK to save your changes and to close the Eulerian section editor.
13.1.1 Eulerian analysis

Products: Abaqus/Explicit Abaqus/CAE

References
• “Eulerian surface definition,” Section 2.3.5
• “Eulerian elements,” Section 29.15.1
• *EULERIAN SECTION
• *INITIAL CONDITIONS
• *SURFACE
• “Creating Eulerian sections,” Section 12.12.3 of the Abaqus/CAE User's Manual
• “Defining a material assignment field,” Section 16.11.8 of the Abaqus/CAE User's
Manual
• Chapter 27, “Eulerian analyses,” of the Abaqus/CAE User's Manual

Overview
In a traditional Lagrangian analysis nodes are fixed within the material, and elements deform
as the material deforms. Lagrangian elements are always 100% full of a single material, so the
material boundary coincides with an element boundary.
By contrast, in an Eulerian analysis nodes are fixed in space, and material flows through
elements that do not deform. Eulerian elements may not always be 100% full of material—
many may be partially or completely void. The Eulerian material boundary must, therefore, be
computed during each time increment and generally does not correspond to an element
boundary. The Eulerian mesh is typically a simple rectangular grid of elements constructed to
extend well beyond the Eulerian material boundaries, giving the material space in which to
move and deform. If any Eulerian material moves outside the Eulerian mesh, it is lost from the
simulation.
Eulerian material can interact with Lagrangian elements through Eulerian-Lagrangian contact;
simulations that include this type of contact are often referred to as coupled Eulerian-
Lagrangian (CEL) analyses. This powerful, easy-to-use feature of Abaqus/Explicit general
contact enables fully coupled multi-physics simulation such as fluid-structure interaction.

Applications
Eulerian analyses are effective for applications involving extreme deformation, up to and
including fluid flow. In these applications, traditional Lagrangian elements become highly
distorted and lose accuracy. Liquid sloshing, gas flow, and penetration problems can all be
handled effectively using Eulerian analysis. Eulerian-Lagrangian contact allows the Eulerian
materials to be combined with traditional nonlinear Lagrangian analyses.
An example of using Eulerian analysis for a severe deformation analysis is discussed in “Rivet
forming,” Section 2.3.1 of the Abaqus Example Problems Manual; using coupled Eulerian-
Lagrangian contact for a fluid-structure interaction application is illustrated in “Impact of a
water-filled bottle using Eulerian-Lagrangian contact,” Section 2.3.2 of the Abaqus Example
Problems Manual.

Eulerian volume fraction

The Eulerian implementation in Abaqus/Explicit is based on the volume-of-fluid method. In
this method, material is tracked as it flows through the mesh by computing its Eulerian volume
fraction (EVF) within each element. By definition, if a material completely fills an element, its
volume fraction is one; if no material is present in an element, its volume fraction is zero.
Eulerian elements may simultaneously contain more than one material. If the sum of all material
volume fractions in an element is less than one, the remainder of the element is automatically
filled with “void” material. Void material has neither mass nor strength.
Material interfaces
Volume fraction data are computed for each Eulerian material in an element. Within each time
increment, the boundaries of each Eulerian material are reconstructed using these data. The
interface reconstruction algorithm approximates the material boundaries within an element as
simple planar facets (the Eulerian method is implemented only for three-dimensional elements).
This assumption produces a simple, approximate material surface that may be discontinuous
between neighboring elements. Therefore, accurate determination of a material's location
within an element is possible only for simple geometries, and fine grid resolution is required in
most Eulerian analyses.
The discontinuities in an Eulerian material surface can lead to physically unrealistic
configurations when visualizing the results of an Eulerian analysis. Abaqus/CAE can apply a
nodal averaging algorithm to estimate a more realistic, continuous surface during visualization.
For more information on visualizing the material interfaces in an Eulerian model, see “Viewing
output from Eulerian analyses,” Section 27.7 of the Abaqus/CAE User's Manual.

Eulerian section definition

An Eulerian section definition lists all of the materials that may appear within an Eulerian
element. Void material is automatically included in this list.
The material list supports an optional material instance name. Material instance names are
required to uniquely identify materials that you use more than once. Repeated materials are
useful, for example, in mixing simulations where the motion of a material interface is to be
computed: the water in a tank could be divided by creating water material instances named
“water_left” and “water_right,” and the evolution of the interface between these materials could
be simulated.
By default, all Eulerian elements are initially filled with void material, regardless of the section
assignment. You must introduce nonvoid material into your Eulerian mesh using an initial
condition (see “Initial conditions” below).

Eulerian mesh deformation

The Eulerian time incrementation algorithm is based on an operator split of the governing
equations, resulting in a traditional Lagrangian phase followed by an Eulerian, or transport,
phase. This formulation is known as “Lagrange-plus-remap.” During the Lagrangian phase of
the time increment nodes are assumed to be temporarily fixed within the material, and elements
deform with the material. During the Eulerian phase of the time increment deformation is
suspended, elements with significant deformation are automatically remeshed, and the
corresponding material flow between neighboring elements is computed.
At the end of the Lagrangian phase of each time increment, a tolerance is used to determine
which elements are significantly deformed. This test improves performance by allowing those
elements with little or no deformation to remain inactive during the Eulerian phase. The inactive
elements typically have no impact on the visualization of an Eulerian analysis; however,
plotting an Eulerian mesh using a very large deformation scale factor may reveal slight
deformations for elements within the deformation tolerance.

Eulerian material advection

As material flows through an Eulerian mesh, state variables are transferred between elements
by advection. The variables are assumed to be linear or constant in each old element, then these
values are integrated over the new elements after remeshing. The new value of the variable is
found by dividing the value of each integral by the material volume or mass in the new element.
Second-order advection
Second-order advection assumes a linear distribution of the variable in each old element. To
construct the linear distribution, a quadratic interpolation is constructed from the constant
values at the integration points of the middle element and its adjacent elements. A trial linear
distribution is found by differentiating the quadratic function to find the slope at the integration
point of the middle element. The trial linear distribution in the middle element is limited by
reducing its slope until its minimum and maximum values are within the range of the original
constant values in the adjacent elements. This process is referred to as flux limiting and is
essential to ensure that the advection is monotonic.
Second-order advection is used by default, and it is recommended for all problems, ranging
from quasi-static to transient dynamic shock.

Input File Usage: *EULERIAN SECTION, ADVECTION=SECOND ORDER

Abaqus/CAE Usage: The second-order advection method is used by default in Abaqus/CAE.

First-order advection
First-order advection assumes a constant value of the variable in each old element. This method
is simple and computationally efficient; however, it tends to diffuse sharp gradients over time.
Therefore, this technique should be used only as a computationally efficient alternative for
quasi-static simulations.
Input File Usage: *EULERIAN SECTION, ADVECTION=FIRST ORDER

Abaqus/CAE Usage: The first-order advection method cannot be specified in Abaqus/CAE.

Reducing the stable time increment based on the advection speed

The stable time increment size is adjusted automatically to prevent material from flowing across
more than one element in each increment. When the material velocity approaches the speed of
sound (for example, in simulations involving blast and shocks), further restrictions on the time
increment size may be needed to maintain accuracy and stability. You can specify a flux limit
ratio to restrict the stable time increment size such that material can flow across only a fraction
of an element in each increment. The default flux limit ratio is 1.0, and recommended values
range from 0.1 to 1.0.
Input File Usage: *EULERIAN SECTION, FLUX LIMIT RATIO=maximum ratio

Abaqus/CAE Usage: The flux limit ratio cannot be modified in Abaqus/CAE.

Initial conditions
You can apply initial conditions to Eulerian nodes and elements in the same way that they are
used for Lagrangian nodes and elements. Initial stress, temperature, and velocity are common
examples. In addition, most Eulerian analyses require the initialization of Eulerian material.
By default, all Eulerian elements are initially void. You can use initial conditions to fill Eulerian
elements with one or more of the materials listed in the Eulerian section definition. By
selectively filling elements, you can create the initial shape of each Eulerian material.
To fill an Eulerian element, you must define an initial volume fraction for each available
material instance. Material is filled until a volume fraction of 1.0 is reached; any excess material
is ignored. The initial conditions apply only at the beginning of an analysis; during the analysis
the materials deform according to the applied loads, and the volume fractions are recalculated
accordingly.
Input File Usage: *INITIAL CONDITIONS, TYPE=VOLUME FRACTION

Abaqus/CAE Usage: Load module: Create Predefined Field: Step: Initial: choose Other
for the Category and Material Assignment for the Types for Selected
Step

Boundary conditions
By default, Eulerian material can flow freely into and out of the Eulerian domain through mesh
boundaries. You can constrain degrees of freedom at Eulerian nodes to restrict material flow.
For example, you can define typical fluid “stick” or “sliding” walls using constraints normal
and/or tangential to the boundary. Since Eulerian nodes are automatically repositioned during
the Eulerian transport phase, you cannot apply prescribed displacement boundary conditions to
them.
You can use prescribed velocity or acceleration conditions on Eulerian nodes to control material
flow. Prescribed velocity or acceleration is implemented in an Eulerian frame, so material
velocity will reach the prescribed value as the material passes the Eulerian node. If velocity is
directed outward at an Eulerian mesh boundary, either by prescribed condition or naturally as
a result of dynamic equilibrium, material may flow out of the Eulerian domain. This material
is lost from the simulation, and corresponding decreases in total mass and energy will occur.
Similarly, if velocity is directed inward at a boundary, inflow of material into the Eulerian
domain will occur. When materials flow into an element through a boundary face, the material
content and the state of each inflowing material are equal to that which presently exists within
the element. For example, if a boundary element contains 60% hot water and 40% cold air and
the interface normal is parallel to the boundary face, inflow velocity will introduce a mixture
of 60% hot water and 40% cold air. In this case corresponding increases in total mass and energy
will occur.
You can also define inflow and outflow conditions at an Eulerian domain boundary, as
described in “Defining Eulerian boundaries,” Section 13.1.2.
Loads

You can apply loads to Eulerian nodes, elements, and faces in the same way as to their
Lagrangian counterparts. Eulerian loads act in an Eulerian frame: they affect Eulerian material
as it passes the point of load application.

Material options
You can define material properties for Eulerian analysis in the same way as for Lagrangian
analysis. Liquids and gases can be modeled using equation of state materials (see “Equation of
state,” Section 22.2.1). Hyperelastic and anisotropic materials are not supported because of
inaccuracies introduced to deformation gradient and orientation data during material transport.
Brittle cracking is not supported because the failure mode is anisotropic.
Eulerian analysis allows materials to undergo extreme strain without the mesh distortion
limitations of Lagrangian analysis. Therefore, it is especially important to define your material
behavior through the entire strain range, which often requires definition of a failure behavior.
Isotropic material failure is supported using a damage variable to characterize the failure level.
Element deletion is suppressed for Eulerian sections because undamaged material may flow
into “failed” elements. Porous metal plasticity and shear failure models are not supported.
Elements
The Eulerian method is implemented in element type EC3D8R. The underlying formulation of
this element is based on the Lagrangian C3D8R element with extensions to allow multiple
materials and to support the Eulerian transport phase. The formulation applies the same strain
to each material in the element, then allows the stress and other state data to evolve
independently within each material. These stresses are combined using volume fraction data to
create element averaged values, which are integrated to obtain nodal forces. Element averaged
values of other state data are computed similarly for output purposes.
The EC3D8R element requires eight nodes. Degenerate elements are not supported. The
Eulerian method is not implemented for two-dimensional elements. Axisymmetry can be
simulated using a wedge-shaped mesh and symmetry boundary conditions.
By default, the EC3D8R element uses viscous hourglass control. Hourglass control is disabled
by default for incompressible liquids modeled using equation of state material types. These
choices can be modified using section controls (see “Section controls,” Section 24.1.4).

Constraints
Since Eulerian nodes are automatically repositioned during the Eulerian transport phase, you
cannot use Eulerian nodes in Lagrangian modeling features such as elements, connectors, and
constraints. However, constraints between Eulerian materials and Lagrangian parts can be
modeled using tied contact interfaces.

Interactions
Eulerian material instances interact with each other with a sticky behavior. This sticking occurs
because of the kinematic assumption that a single strain field is applied to all materials within
an element. Tensile stress can be transmitted across an interface between two Eulerian
materials, and no slip occurs at these interfaces. This Eulerian-to-Eulerian contact behavior can
be reasonable in some situations, such as in a simulation of a lead bullet penetrating a steel
plate. Ablation of the bullet surface against the steel is captured by the sticky behavior within
the Eulerian elements at the bullet-steel interface. Relative motion along this interface will
occur only due to shearing of the lead material.
Eulerian-to-Eulerian contact occurs by default in an Eulerian analysis; you do not need to define
contact interactions between Eulerian materials.
More complex contact interactions can be simulated when one of the contacting bodies is
modeled using Lagrangian elements. This powerful capability supports applications such as
fluid-structure interaction, where an Eulerian fluid contacts a Lagrangian structure.
The implementation of Eulerian-Lagrangian contact is an extension of general contact in
Abaqus/Explicit. The general contact property models and defaults apply to Eulerian-
Lagrangian contact (see “Mechanical contact properties: overview,” Section 33.1.1). For
example, by default, tensile stresses are not transmitted across an Eulerian-Lagrangian contact
interface, and the interface friction coefficient is zero. Specifying automatic contact for an entire
Eulerian-Lagrangian model allows for interactions between all Lagrangian structures and all
Eulerian materials in the model. You can also use Eulerian surfaces (see “Eulerian surface
definition,” Section 2.3.5) to create material-specific interactions or to exclude contact between
particular Lagrangian surfaces and Eulerian materials.
Input File Usage: Use both of the following options to define contact between all
Lagrangian bodies and all Eulerian materials:
*CONTACT
*CONTACT INCLUSIONS, ALL EXTERIOR
Use the following options to include or exclude contact between
particular Lagrangian surfaces and Eulerian materials:
*CONTACT
*CONTACT INCLUSIONS
Lagrangian_surface, Eulerian_surface
*CONTACT EXCLUSIONS
Lagrangian_surface, Eulerian_surface

Abaqus/CAE Usage: Use the following option to define contact between all Lagrangian
bodies and all Eulerian materials:
Interaction module: Create Interaction: General contact (Explicit):
Included surface pairs: All* with self
Use the following options to include contact between particular
Lagrangian surfaces and Eulerian materials:
Interaction module: Create Interaction: General contact (Explicit):
Included surface pairs: Selected surface pairs: Edit, select the
Lagrangian surface in the left column and the Eulerian material
instance in the right column, then click the arrows to transfer them to
the list of included pairs
Use the following options to exclude contact between particular
Lagrangian surfaces and Eulerian materials:
Interaction module: Create Interaction: General contact (Explicit):
Excluded surface pairs: Edit, select the Lagrangian surface in the left
column and the Eulerian material instance in the right column, then
click the arrows to transfer them to the list of excluded pairs

Formulation of Eulerian-Lagrangian contact

The Eulerian-Lagrangian contact formulation is based on an enhanced immersed boundary
method. In this method the Lagrangian structure occupies void regions inside the Eulerian
mesh. The contact algorithm automatically computes and tracks the interface between the
Lagrangian structure and the Eulerian materials. A great benefit of this method is that there is
no need to generate a conforming mesh for the Eulerian domain. In fact, a simple regular grid
of Eulerian elements often yields the best accuracy.
If the Lagrangian body is initially positioned inside the Eulerian mesh, you must make sure that
the underlying Eulerian elements contain void after material initialization. During the analysis
the Lagrangian body pushes material out of the Eulerian elements that it passes through, and
they become filled with void. Similarly, Eulerian material flowing toward the Lagrangian body
is prevented from entering the underlying Eulerian elements. This formulation ensures that two
materials never occupy the same physical space.
If the Lagrangian body is initially positioned outside the Eulerian mesh, at least one layer of
void Eulerian elements must be present at the Eulerian mesh boundary. This creates a free
surface on the Eulerian material inside the Eulerian mesh boundary and provides a source for
void material to replace Eulerian material that is driven out of interior elements. Several layers
of void elements are typically used above free surfaces to allow simulation of crater formation
and backsplashing before this material leaves the Eulerian domain.
Eulerian-Lagrangian contact also supports failure and erosion in the Lagrangian body.
Lagrangian element failure can open holes in a surface through which Eulerian material may
flow. When modeling erosion of a solid Lagrangian body, the interior faces of the solid body
must be included in the contact surface definition (see “Modeling surface erosion” in “Defining
general contact interactions in Abaqus/Explicit,” Section 32.4.1).
Eulerian-Lagrangian contact constraints are enforced using a penalty method, where the default
penalty stiffness parameter is automatically maximized subject to stability limits.

Output
The set of element output variables EVF gives the Eulerian volume fraction for each material
in the Eulerian section definition, including void. It is important to request output for EVF in
all Eulerian analyses because visualization of Eulerian material boundaries is based on the
material volume fractions.
Material-specific Eulerian field output variables are distinguished by appending material names
to the base field name. For example, if you request output variable S (stress components) in an
Eulerian analysis involving material instances named “steel” and “tin,” you will see results for
individual material stresses named “S_steel” and “S_tin.”
Several volume fraction averaged field data are also available for output. For example, output
variable SVAVG gives a single value of stress for each element computed as a volume fraction
average of stress over all materials present in the element. Use of these volume fraction
averaged output data has the advantage of substantially reducing the size of the output database
for the case where several materials are defined in the Eulerian section. See “Abaqus/Explicit
output variable identifiers,” Section 4.2.2, for a complete list of Eulerian-specific output
variables.
Output variables EVF and SVAVG are included in the PRESELECT variable list when
EC3D8R elements appear in the model.

Limitations
Eulerian analyses are subject to the following limitations:
• Boundary conditions: You cannot apply prescribed nonzero displacement boundary
conditions to Eulerian nodes.
• Lagrangian attachments: You cannot attach Lagrangian elements to Eulerian nodes. Use
tied contact interfaces instead.
• Constraints: You cannot apply Lagrangian constraints (MPCs, etc.) to Eulerian nodes.
Use tied contact interfaces instead.
• Materials: Hyperelastic materials and materials with orientation (anisotropic, etc.) are
not supported for Eulerian elements. Brittle cracking and shear failure models are also
not supported.
• Elements: The Eulerian formulation is implemented only for the EC3D8R element.
• Element import: Eulerian elements are not available for import.
• Double-sided contact: Penetration of Eulerian material through the contact interface can
occur in some cases involving Eulerian material contacting Lagrangian shell or
membrane elements. This type of contact introduces complexity because the sign of the
outward normal direction must be determined on the fly as material approaches the
Lagrangian element; contact with either side of the element is potentially allowable.
You should simplify the contact problem wherever possible by using Lagrangian solid
elements instead of shell or membrane elements, since the outward normal direction at
solid element faces is unique. For example, if a model involves Eulerian material
flowing around a rigid Lagrangian obstacle, mesh the obstacle with solid elements rather
than shell elements.
 • Contact penetration: In some cases Eulerian material may penetrate through the
Lagrangian contact surface near corners. This penetration should be limited to an area
equal to the local Eulerian element size. Penetration can be minimized by refining the
Eulerian mesh or adding a fillet to the Lagrangian mesh with radius equal to the local
Eulerian element size.
• Contact types: Eulerian-Lagrangian contact does not support Lagrangian beam
elements, Lagrangian pipe elements, Lagrangian truss elements, or analytical rigid
surfaces. Thermal contact is also not supported.
• Contact import: Import of the Eulerian-Lagrangian contact states is not supported.
• Contact output: Contact variables are output only for the Lagrangian side of Eulerian-
Lagrangian interfaces.
• Surface loads: You cannot use the Eulerian material surface type for general surface
loading. However, distributed loads such as pressure can be applied to surfaces defined
on Eulerian element faces.
• Mass scaling: You cannot apply mass scaling to Eulerian elements.
• Heat transfer: You cannot include Eulerian elements in heat transfer analyses. Adiabatic
conditions are assumed in Eulerian materials.
• Output: Total strain (LE) is not available for Eulerian elements.

Input file template

The following example illustrates a coupled Eulerian-Lagrangian analysis of a Lagrangian boat
floating on Eulerian water. A conforming mesh is assumed, so Eulerian material initialization
is achieved by whole element filling. Material-specific interactions between the Lagragian body
and the Eulerian materials are implemented: a contact interaction is defined between the boat
and water, but contact between the boat and air is ignored. Output is requested for Eulerian
volume fractions, Eulerian element-averaged stress, and material stress.
*ELEMENT, TYPE=C3D8R, ELSET=BOAT_ELSET
element definitions for Lagrangian boat
*ELEMENT, TYPE=EC3D8R, ELSET=ALL_EULERIAN
element definitions for whole Eulerian mesh
*ELSET, NAME=AIR_ELSET
data lines giving Eulerian elements that are initially filled with air
*ELSET, NAME=WATER_ELSET
data lines giving Eulerian elements that are initially filled with water
**
*MATERIAL, NAME=AIR
material definition for air
*MATERIAL, NAME=WATER
material definition for water
**
*EULERIAN SECTION, ELSET=ALL_EULERIAN
AIR
WATER
**
*INITIAL CONDITIONS, TYPE=VOLUME FRACTION
AIR_ELSET, AIR, 1.0
WATER_ELSET, WATER, 1.0
*INITIAL CONDITIONS, TYPE=STRESS, GEOSTATIC
data lines to define water pressure due to gravity
**
*SURFACE, NAME=WATER_SURFACE, TYPE=EULERIAN MATERIAL
WATER
*SURFACE, NAME=BOAT_SURFACE
BOAT_ELSET
**
*STEP
*DYNAMIC, EXPLICIT
*DLOAD
data lines to define gravity load
**
*CONTACT
*CONTACT INCLUSIONS
BOAT_SURFACE, WATER_SURFACE
**
*OUTPUT, FIELD
*ELEMENT OUTPUT
EVF, SVAVG, PEEQVAVG

Additional references
• Benson, D. J., “Computational Methods in Lagrangian and Eulerian Hydrocodes,”
Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering, vol. 99, pp. 235–394, 1992.
• Benson, D. J., “Contact in a Multi-Material Eulerian Finite Element Formulation,”
Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering, vol. 193, pp. 4277–4298,
2004.
• Peery, J. S., and D. E. Carroll, “Multi-Material ALE methods in Unstructured Grids,”
Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering, vol. 187, pp. 591–619,
2000.
EULERIAN SECTION

Specify element properties for Eulerian elements.

This option is used to define properties of Eulerian continuum elements, including the list of
materials that may occupy the elements.
Products: Abaqus/Explicit Abaqus/CAE
Type: Model data
Level: Part, Part instance
Abaqus/CAE: Property module
References:
• “Eulerian analysis,” Section 13.1.1 of the Abaqus Analysis User's Manual
• “Eulerian elements,” Section 29.15.1 of the Abaqus Analysis User's Manual
Required parameter:
ELSET
Set this parameter equal to the name of the element set containing the Eulerian elements.
Optional parameters:
ADVECTION
Set ADVECTION=SECOND ORDER (default) to use a second-order algorithm to remap
solution variables after remeshing has been performed.
Set ADVECTION=FIRST ORDER to use a first-order algorithm to remap solution variables
after remeshing has been performed.
CONTROLS
Set this parameter equal to the name of a section controls definition (see “Section controls,”
Section 24.1.4 of the Abaqus Analysis User's Manual) to be used to specify a nondefault
hourglass control formulation option or scale factor. The *SECTION CONTROLS option can
be used to select the hourglass control and order of accuracy of the formulation.
FLUX LIMIT RATIO
Set this parameter equal to the ratio between the maximum distance a node is allowed to move
during one increment and the characteristic length of the Eulerian element containing the node.
The value of this parameter must be positive. The default value is 1.0, and the suggested range
for the value is between 0.1 and 1.0.

Data lines to define Eulerian elements:

First line:
1. Material name.
2. Material instance name (optional). The default material instance name is the same as
the material name. Material instance names must be unique throughout the entire model.
Specify a nondefault material instance name if you refer to the same material definition
more than once.
Repeat this data line as often as necessary to define the list of all materials that may appear in
the Eulerian section.
29.15.1 Eulerian elements
Products: Abaqus/Explicit Abaqus/CAE
References
• “Eulerian analysis,” Section 13.1.1
• “Eulerian element library,” Section 29.15.2
• *EULERIAN SECTION
• “Creating Eulerian sections,” Section 12.12.3 of the Abaqus/CAE User's Manual

Overview
Eulerian elements:
• can be used only in explicit dynamic analyses;
• must have eight unique nodes;
• are filled with void material by default;
• can be initialized with nonvoid material;
• can contain multiple materials simultaneously; and
• can be partially filled with material.

Typical applications
Eulerian elements are useful for simulations involving material that undergoes extreme
deformation, up to and including fluid flow. The Eulerian formulation allows material to flow
from one element to another, even as the Eulerian mesh remains fixed. Applications that utilize
Eulerian elements are discussed in “Eulerian analysis of a collapsing water column,” Section
1.7.1 of the Abaqus Benchmarks Manual, and “Rivet forming,” Section 2.3.1 of the Abaqus
Example Problems Manual.
For more information on Eulerian analyses, see “Eulerian analysis,” Section 13.1.1.

Choosing an appropriate element

The only available Eulerian element is the three-dimensional, 8-node element EC3D8R. Two-
dimensional simulations can be approximated using a one-element thick mesh or a wedge-
shaped mesh with appropriate boundary conditions. The Eulerian mesh is typically a simple
rectangular grid of elements that does not conform to the shape of the Eulerian materials.
Complex material shapes can be represented inside this mesh using a combination of fully and
partially filled elements surrounded by void regions.

Defining the Eulerian element's section properties

You must associate the Eulerian section definition with a set of Eulerian elements. This set of
elements must not share nodes with other types of elements. The section definition provides a
list of materials that may occupy the Eulerian elements.

Input File Usage: *EULERIAN SECTION, ELSET=element_set_name

data lines giving list of materials

Abaqus/CAE Usage: Property module: Create Section: select Solid as the section Category
and Eulerian as the section Type
Assign Section: select part
32.1.1 Contact interaction analysis: overview
This section presents an overview of the contact analysis capabilities in Abaqus.

Available contact algorithms in Abaqus

Abaqus provides more than one approach for defining contact. Abaqus/Standard includes the
following approaches for defining contact:
• general contact;
• contact pairs; and
• contact elements.
Abaqus/Explicit includes the following approaches for defining contact:
• general contact; and
• contact pairs.
Each approach has somewhat unique advantages and limitations.
The remainder of this section is organized as follows:
• first, discuss common aspects of the surface-based contact-definition approaches (i.e.,
contact pairs and general contact);
• next, provide an overview of the contact definition approaches in Abaqus/Standard and
the contact definition approaches in Abaqus/Explicit;
• finally, discuss compatibility between the contact algorithms in Abaqus/Standard and
Abaqus/Explicit.

Defining a surface-based contact simulation

A contact simulation using contact pairs or general contact is defined by specifying:
• surface definitions for the bodies that could potentially be in contact;
• the surfaces that interact with one another (the contact interactions);
• any nondefault surface properties to be considered in the contact interactions;
• the mechanical and thermal contact property models, such as the pressure-overclosure
relationship, the friction coefficient, or the contact conduction coefficient;
• any nondefault aspects of the contact formulation; and
• any algorithmic contact controls for the analysis.
In many cases you do not need to explicitly specify many of the aspects listed above because
the default settings are usually appropriate.

Surfaces
Surfaces can be defined at the beginning of a simulation or upon restart as part of the model
definition (see “Surfaces: overview,” Section 2.3.1). Abaqus has four classifications of contact
surfaces:
• element-based deformable and rigid surfaces (“Element-based surface definition,”
Section 2.3.2);
• node-based deformable and rigid surfaces (“Node-based surface definition,” Section
2.3.3);
• analytical rigid surfaces (“Analytical rigid surface definition,” Section 2.3.4); and
• Eulerian material surfaces for Abaqus/Explicit (“Eulerian surface definition,” Section
2.3.5).
Surfaces of the same type can be combined to create new surfaces (see “Operating on surfaces,”
Section 2.3.6). However, with regard to contact a combined surface can be used only with
general contact in Abaqus/Explicit.
When the general contact algorithm is used, Abaqus also provides a default all-inclusive,
automatically defined surface that includes all element-based surface facets (in
Abaqus/Standard and in Abaqus/Explicit), all analytical rigid surfaces (in Abaqus/Explicit
only), and all Eulerian materials (in Abaqus/Explicit only) in the model.
Contact interactions
Contact interactions for contact pairs and general contact are defined by specifying surface
pairings and self-contact surfaces. General contact interactions typically are defined by
specifying self-contact for the default surface, which allows an easy, yet powerful, definition
of contact. (Self-contact for a surface that spans multiple bodies implies self-contact for each
body as well as contact between the bodies.)
At least one surface in an interaction must be a non-node-based surface, and at least one surface
in an interaction must be a non-analytical rigid surface. Additional restrictions and guidelines
for contact surfaces are discussed for each contact definition approach. The definition of contact
pairs is discussed in detail in “Defining contact pairs in Abaqus/Standard,” Section 32.3.1, and
“Defining contact pairs in Abaqus/Explicit,” Section 32.5.1. The definition of general contact
interactions is discussed in detail in “Defining general contact interactions in
Abaqus/Standard,” Section 32.2.1, and “Defining general contact interactions in
Abaqus/Explicit,” Section 32.4.1.

Surface properties
Nondefault surface properties (such as thickness and, in some cases, offset) can be defined for
particular surfaces in a contact model. In addition, you can control which edges of a surface
will be included in the general contact domain in Abaqus/Explicit. Surface properties for
contact pairs are discussed in “Assigning surface properties for contact pairs in
Abaqus/Standard,” Section 32.3.2, and “Assigning surface properties for contact pairs in
Abaqus/Explicit,” Section 32.5.2. Surface properties for general contact are discussed in
“Surface properties for general contact in Abaqus/Standard,” Section 32.2.2, and “Assigning
surface properties for general contact in Abaqus/Explicit,” Section 32.4.2.

Contact properties
Contact interactions in a model can refer to a contact property definition, in much the same way
that elements refer to an element property definition. By default, the surfaces interact (have
constraints) only in the normal direction to resist penetration. The other mechanical contact
interaction models available depend on the contact algorithm and whether Abaqus/Standard or
Abaqus/Explicit is used (see “Mechanical contact properties: overview,” Section 33.1.1). Some
of the available models are:
• softened contact (“Contact pressure-overclosure relationships,” Section 33.1.2, and
“Frictional behavior,” Section 33.1.5);
• contact damping (“Contact damping,” Section 33.1.3, and “Frictional behavior,”
Section 33.1.5);
• friction (“Frictional behavior,” Section 33.1.5);
• a user-defined constitutive model for surface interactions (“User-defined interfacial
constitutive behavior,” Section 33.1.6); and
• spot welds bonding two surfaces together until the welds fail (“Breakable bonds,”
Section 33.1.9).
The thermal, thermal-electrical, and pore-fluid surface interaction models available in Abaqus
are discussed in “Thermal contact properties,” Section 33.2.1; “Electrical contact properties,”
Section 33.3.1; and “Pore fluid contact properties,” Section 33.4.1, respectively.
Contact interaction models are defined as model data except for contact pairs in
Abaqus/Explicit, in which case they are defined as history data. Information on assigning
contact properties to contact pairs can be found in “Assigning contact properties for contact
pairs in Abaqus/Standard,” Section 32.3.3, and “Assigning contact properties for contact pairs
in Abaqus/Explicit,” Section 32.5.3. Information on assigning contact properties to general
contact interactions can be found in “Contact properties for general contact in
Abaqus/Standard,” Section 32.2.3, and “Assigning contact properties for general contact in
Abaqus/Explicit,” Section 32.4.3.

Numerical controls
The default algorithmic controls for contact analyses are usually sufficient, but you can adjust
numerical controls for some special cases. For example, depending on the contact algorithm
used, the numerical controls for the contact formulation, the master and slave roles for the
contact surfaces, and the sliding formulation are provided. Information on contact formulations
and numerical methods used by the contact algorithms is provided in “Contact formulations in
Abaqus/Standard,” Section 34.1.1, and “Contact formulations for contact pairs in
Abaqus/Explicit,” Section 34.2.2. The available numerical controls for the various contact
algorithms are discussed in “Numerical controls for general contact in Abaqus/Standard,”
Section 32.2.6; “Adjusting contact controls in Abaqus/Standard,” Section 32.3.6; “Contact
controls for general contact in Abaqus/Explicit,” Section 32.4.5; and “Contact controls for
contact pairs in Abaqus/Explicit,” Section 32.5.5.

Contact simulation capabilities in Abaqus/Standard

Abaqus/Standard provides the following approaches for defining contact interactions: general
contact, contact pairs, and contact elements. Contact pairs and general contact both use surfaces
to define contact; comparisons of these approaches are provided later in this section. Contact
elements are provided for certain interactions that cannot be modeled with either general contact
or contact pairs; however, it is generally recommended to use general contact or contact pairs
if possible.

Capabilities of contact pairs and general contact in Abaqus/Standard

Contact pairs and general contact combine to provide the following capabilities in
Abaqus/Standard:
• Contact between two deformable bodies. The structures can be either two- or three-
dimensional, and they can undergo either small or finite sliding. Examples of such
problems include the assembly of a cylinder head gasket and the slipping between the
two components of a threaded connector.
• Contact between a rigid surface and a deformable body. The structures can be either
two- or three-dimensional, and they can undergo either small or finite sliding. Examples
of such problems include metal forming simulations and analyses of rubber seals being
compressed between two components.
• Finite-sliding self-contact of a single deformable body. An example of such a problem
is a complex rubber seal that folds over on itself.
• Small-sliding or finite-sliding interaction between a set of points and a rigid surface.
These models can be either two- or three-dimensional. An example of this type of
problem is the pull-in of an underwater cable that is resting on the seabed, with the
seabed modeled as a rigid surface.
• Contact between a set of points and a deformable surface. These models can be either
two- or three-dimensional. An example of this class of contact problem is the design of
a bearing where one of the bearing surfaces is modeled with substructures.
• Problems where two separate surfaces need to be “tied” together so that there is no
relative motion between them. This modeling technique allows for joining dissimilar
meshes.
• Coupled thermal-mechanical interaction between deformable bodies with finite relative
motion. The analysis of a disc brake is an example of such a problem.
 • Coupled pore fluid-mechanical interaction between bodies. An example of this type of
problem is the analysis of the interfaces between layered soil material at a waste disposal
site.
Coupled thermal-mechanical interactions can be included in any of the above examples as long
as both of the surfaces are deformable.

Choosing between general contact or contact pairs in Abaqus/Standard

For most contact problems you have a choice of whether to define contact interactions using
general contact or contact pairs. In Abaqus/Standard the distinction between general contact
and contact pairs lies primarily in the user interface, the default numerical settings, and the
available options. The general contact and contact pair implementations share many underlying
algorithms.
The contact interaction domain, contact properties, and surface attributes are specified
independently for general contact, offering a more flexible way to add detail incrementally to a
model. The simple interface for specifying general contact allows for a highly automated
contact definition; however, it is also possible to define contact with the general contact
interface to mimic traditional contact pairs. Conversely, specifying self-contact of a surface
spanning multiple bodies with the contact pair user interface (if the surface-to-surface
formulation is used) mimics the highly automated approach often used for general contact.
In Abaqus/Standard, traditional pairwise specifications of contact interactions will often result
in more efficient or robust analyses as compared to an all-inclusive self-contact approach to
defining contact. Therefore, there is often a trade-off between ease of defining contact and
analysis performance. Abaqus/CAE provides a contact detection tool that greatly simplifies the
process of creating traditional contact pairs for Abaqus/Standard (see “Understanding contact
and constraint detection,” Section 15.6 of the Abaqus/CAE User's Manual).

Default settings for general contact and contact pairs

Differences in default settings for general contact and contact pairs in Abaqus/Standard include
the following:
• Contact formulation: General contact uses the finite-sliding, surface-to-surface
formulation. Contact pairs use the finite-sliding, node-to-surface formulation by default
except when the contact detection tool in Abaqus/CAE is used to create the contact
pairs, in which case the finite-sliding, surface-to-surface formulation is used by default.
See “Contact formulations in Abaqus/Standard,” Section 34.1.1, for a discussion of
contact formulations.
• Treatment of shell thickness and offset: General contact automatically accounts for
thicknesses and offsets associated with shell-like surfaces. Contact pairs that use the
finite-sliding, node-to-surface formulation do not account for shell thicknesses and
offsets. See “Surface properties for general contact in Abaqus/Standard,” Section
32.2.2, and “Assigning surface properties for contact pairs in Abaqus/Standard,”
Section 32.3.2, for discussions of surface properties for contact in Abaqus/Standard.
• Contact constraint enforcement: General contact uses the penalty method to enforce the
contact constraints by default. Contact pairs that use the finite-sliding, node-to-surface
formulation use a Lagrange multiplier method to enforce contact constraints by default
in most cases. See “Contact constraint enforcement methods in Abaqus/Standard,”
Section 34.1.2, for a discussion of contact constraint enforcement methods.
• Treatment of initial overclosures: General contact eliminates initial overclosures with
strain-free adjustments by default. Contact pairs treat initial overclosures as interference
fits to be resolved in the first increment of the analysis by default. See “Controlling
initial contact status in Abaqus/Standard,” Section 32.2.4; “Modeling contact
interference fits in Abaqus/Standard,” Section 32.3.4; and “Adjusting initial surface
 positions and specifying initial clearances in Abaqus/Standard contact pairs,” Section
32.3.5; for more information on contact initialization in Abaqus/Standard.
• Master-slave assignments: General contact automatically assigns pure master and slave
roles for most contact interactions and automatically assigns balanced master-slave
roles to other contact interactions. The user must assign master and slave roles for most
contact pairs. See “Numerical controls for general contact in Abaqus/Standard,” Section
32.2.6, and “Choosing the master and slave roles in a two-surface contact pair” in
“Contact formulations in Abaqus/Standard,” Section 34.1.1, for discussions of master
and slave roles for contacting surfaces.
The first three differences listed above disappear if you specify the finite-sliding, surface-to-
surface formulation for contact pairs.

Additional contact pair capabilities

The following capabilities are available only for contact pairs in Abaqus/Standard (they are not
available for general contact in Abaqus/Standard):
• Contact involving analytical rigid surfaces or rigid surfaces defined with user subroutine
RSURFU (however, element-based rigid surfaces can be included in either general
contact or contact pairs);
• Contact involving node-based surfaces or surfaces on three-dimensional beam elements;
• Small-sliding contact and tied contact;
• The finite-sliding, node-to-surface contact formulation;
• Debonding and cohesive contact behavior;
• Surface interactions in analyses without displacement degrees of freedom, such as pure
heat transfer;
• Pressure-penetration loading;
• The “rough” friction model;
• User subroutines UINTER and FRIC;
• Lagrange enforcement of friction constraints;
• Local definitions of some numerical contact controls.
A single analysis can include general contact and contact pair definitions. For example, you
may choose to model contact interactions involving analytical rigid surfaces with contact pairs
and other contact interactions with general contact. General contact automatically avoids
processing contact interactions that are treated by contact pairs.

Contact simulations requiring contact elements

Surface-based contact methods associated with general contact and contact pairs cannot be used
for certain classes of problems. Abaqus/Standard provides a library of contact elements for
these problems. Examples of such problems are:
• Contact interaction between two pipelines or tubes modeled with pipe, beam, or truss
elements where one pipe lies inside the other (such as a J-tube pull in offshore piping
installation) or the pipes lie next to each other (available in both two and three
dimensions; see “Tube-to-tube contact elements,” Section 36.3.1).
• Contact between two nodes along a fixed direction in space. An example of such a
problem is the interaction of a piping system with its supports (see “Gap contact
elements,” Section 36.2.1).
• Simulations using axisymmetric elements with asymmetric deformations, CAXAn and
SAXAn elements. See “Contact modeling if asymmetric-axisymmetric elements are
present,” Section 32.3.10, for details.
• Heat transfer analyses where the heat flow is one-dimensional. An example of such a
problem is the heat flow in a piping system that is discontinuous. The thermal interaction
 in this problem is one-dimensional, so no surfaces can be defined (see “Gap contact
elements,” Section 36.2.1).

Defining a contact simulation using contact elements

The steps required for defining a contact simulation using contact elements are similar to those
needed when defining a surface-based contact simulation:
• create the contact elements or slide lines;
• assign element section properties to the contact elements;
• associate sets of contact elements with the slide lines if applicable; and
• define the contact property models for the contact elements.
The first three steps are discussed in Chapter 36, “Contact Elements in Abaqus/Standard,” in
the sections for each type of contact element. The contact property models for contact elements
are identical to those used for surface-based contact.

Contact simulation capabilities in Abaqus/Explicit

Abaqus/Explicit provides two algorithms for modeling contact interactions. The general
(“automatic”) contact algorithm allows very simple definitions of contact with very few
restrictions on the types of surfaces involved (see “Defining general contact in
Abaqus/Explicit,” Section 32.4). The contact pair algorithm has more restrictions on the types
of surfaces involved and often requires more careful definition of contact; however, it allows
for some interaction behaviors that currently are not available with the general contact
algorithm (see “Defining contact pairs in Abaqus/Explicit,” Section 32.5). The general contact
and contact pairs algoirthms in Abaqus/Explicit differ by more than the user interface; in
general they use completely separate implementations with many key differences in the designs
of the numerical algorithms.
The two contact algorithms combine to provide the following capabilities in Abaqus/Explicit:
• Contact between rigid and/or deformable bodies.
• Contact of a body with itself.
• Finite-sliding or small-sliding contact.
• Contact with eroding bodies (due to element failure). A node-based surface must be
used to model the eroding body if contact pairs are used. General contact allows
element-based surfaces to be defined on eroding bodies, so contact between any number
of eroding bodies can be modeled.
• General constitutive models for the contact behavior, including user-defined models
through user subroutines, relating constraint pressure and shear traction to penetration
distance and relative tangential motion.
• Thermal interaction at the surface of a body; for example, conductive heat transfer.
• Contact between Eulerian material and Lagrangian bodies.
• A friction coefficient defined in terms of average surface temperature and/or field
variables.

Choosing between general contact or contact pairs in Abaqus/Explicit

Contact definitions are not entirely automatic with the general contact algorithm but are greatly
simplified. The generality of this algorithm is primarily in the relaxed restrictions on the
surfaces that can be used in contact. The general contact algorithm in Abaqus/Explicit allows
the following (none of which are allowed with the contact pair algorithm in Abaqus/Explicit):
• A surface can span unattached bodies.
• More than two surface facets can share a common edge (allowing “T-intersections” in
shells, for example).
• A surface can include deformable and rigid regions; furthermore, the rigid regions need
not be from the same rigid body.
 • A surface can have mixed parent element types; for example, adjacent surface facets
can be on shell and solid elements.
• A surface can be based on combinations of surfaces of the same type.
• An element-based surface can be defined on the interior of solid bodies for use in
modeling erosion due to element failure.
• A surface can be defined on the exterior of an Eulerian material instance (see “Eulerian
surface definition,” Section 2.3.5).
Other benefits of the general contact algorithm in Abaqus/Explicit include the following:
• The general contact algorithm can enforce edge-to-edge contact for geometric feature
edges, perimeter edges of structural elements, and edges defined by beam and truss
elements, unlike the contact pair algorithm.
• The general contact algorithm is the only option for enforcing contact between Eulerian
materials and Lagrangian bodies (see “Interactions” in “Eulerian analysis,” Section
13.1.1).
• The general contact algorithm eliminates problematic, nonphysical “bull-nose”
extensions that may arise at shell surface perimeters in the contact pair algorithm.
• With the general contact algorithm each slave node can see contact with multiple facets
per increment; with the contact pair algorithm each slave node can see contact with only
one facet per increment unless multiple surface pairings are specified. Likewise, each
contact edge can see contact with multiple edges per increment when the general contact
algorithm is used.
• The general contact algorithm has some built-in smoothing for element-based surfaces
that can be beneficial for modeling contact near corners.
• The general contact algorithm, unlike the contact pair algorithm, removes contact faces
and contact edges from the contact domain and, if an interior surface is defined, activates
newly exposed surface faces as elements fail. Thus, element-based surfaces can be used
to describe eroding solids. This allows contact between multiple eroding solids to be
modeled since a node-based surface does not need to be defined on the eroding solid.
• Contact state information (such as the proper contact normal orientation for double-
sided surfaces) is transferred across step boundaries in the general contact algorithm
even if the contact domain is modified; in the contact pair algorithm, contact state
information is transferred across step boundaries only for contact pairs with no
modifications.
• The contact interaction domain, contact properties, and surface attributes are specified
independently for the general contact algorithm, offering a more flexible way to add
detail incrementally to a model.
• The general contact algorithm does not place any restrictions on the domain
decomposition for domain level parallelization (see “Parallel execution in
Abaqus/Explicit,” Section 3.5.3).
• The general contact algorithm in Abaqus/Explicit has been developed to minimize the
need for algorithmic controls.
See “Knee bolster impact with general contact,” Section 2.1.9 of the Abaqus Example Problems
Manual; “Crimp forming with general contact,” Section 2.1.10 of the Abaqus Example
Problems Manual; and “Collapse of a stack of blocks with general contact,” Section 2.1.11 of
the Abaqus Example Problems Manual, for example analyses that use the general contact
algorithm.
Although the general contact algorithm is more powerful and allows for simpler contact
definitions, the contact pair algorithm must be used in certain cases where more specialized
contact features are desired. The following features are available in Abaqus/Explicit only when
the contact pair algorithm is used:
• Two-dimensional surfaces
 • Kinematically enforced contact (see “Contact constraint enforcement methods in
Abaqus/Explicit,” Section 34.2.3; the general contact algorithm uses only penalty
enforcement)
• Small-sliding contact (see “Contact formulations for contact pairs in Abaqus/Explicit,”
Section 34.2.2)
• Exponential and no separation contact pressure-overclosure models
• Breakable bonds, such as spot welds (however, mesh-independent spot welds can be
used with either contact algorithm; see “Mesh-independent fasteners,” Section 31.3.4)
In addition, the general contact algorithm in Abaqus/Explicit places more restrictions on
adaptive meshing than the contact pair algorithm (see “Defining ALE adaptive mesh domains
in Abaqus/Explicit,” Section 12.2.2). The choice of contact algorithm may affect the speedup
factor if loop-level parallelization is used: the contact pair algorithm includes some loop-level
parallelization, while the general contact algorithm has no loop-level parallelization. Contact
output is more complete for a contact pair analysis.
The two contact algorithms can be used together in the same Abaqus/Explicit analysis. The
general contact algorithm automatically avoids processing interactions that are treated by the
contact pair algorithm.

Compatibility between Abaqus/Standard and Abaqus/Explicit

There are fundamental differences in the mechanical contact algorithms in Abaqus/Standard
and Abaqus/Explicit even though the input syntax is similar. The main differences are the
following:
• Contact pair and general contact definitions in Abaqus/Standard are model definition
data (although contact pairs can be removed for a portion of the analysis and added back
to the model in a later step of the analysis, as discussed in “Removing and reactivating
contact pairs” in “Defining contact pairs in Abaqus/Standard,” Section 32.3.1). In the
contact pair algorithm in Abaqus/Explicit contact constraints are history definition data
(see “Defining a model in Abaqus,” Section 1.3.1); in the general contact algorithm in
Abaqus/Explicit contact definitions can be either model or history data.
• Abaqus/Standard typically uses a pure master-slave relationship for the contact
constraints; whereas Abaqus/Explicit typically uses balanced master-slave contact by
default. This difference is primarily due to overconstraint issues unique to
Abaqus/Standard.
• The contact formulations in Abaqus/Standard and Abaqus/Explicit differ in many
respects due to different convergence, performance, and numerical requirements:
• Abaqus/Standard provides surface-to-surface formulations, which
Abaqus/Explicit does not;
• Abaqus/Explicit provides an edge-to-edge formulation, which Abaqus/Standard
does not;
• Abaqus/Standard and Abaqus/Explicit both provide node-to-surface
formulations, but some details associated with surface smoothing, etc. differ in
the respective implementations.
• The constraint enforcement methods in Abaqus/Standard and Abaqus/Explicit differ in
some respects. For example, both analysis codes provide penalty constraint methods,
but the default penalty stiffnesses differ (this is primarily due to the effect of the penalty
stiffness on the stable time increment for Abaqus/Explicit).
• The small-sliding contact capability in Abaqus/Standard transfers the load to the master
nodes according to the current position of the slave node, but the small-sliding contact
capability in Abaqus/Explicit always transfers the load through the anchor point due to
a numerical limitation associated with the implementation.
 • Abaqus/Explicit can account for the thickness and midsurface offset of shells and
membranes in the contact penetration calculations (although in some cases changes in
the thickness upon deformation are not accounted for in the contact calculations).
Abaqus/Standard cannot account for the thickness and offset of shells and membranes
when using the finite-sliding, node-to-surface contact formulation (but can account for
the original thickness and offset in all other contact formulations).
As a result of these differences, contact definitions specified in an Abaqus/Standard analysis
cannot be imported into an Abaqus/Explicit analysis and vice versa (see “Transferring results
between Abaqus/Explicit and Abaqus/Standard,” Section 9.2.2). However, in many cases you
can successfully respecify a contact definition in an import analysis.