Helius PFA for Abaqus

Learn how Helius PFA operates with Abaqus.

Helius PFA for Abaqus is implemented via the user subroutines UMAT, VUMAT, URDFIL, and UEXTERNALDB. Therefore it is defined via an Abaqus user material. The following tools are installed on Windows with Helius PFA for Abaqus:

• Helius PFA plug-in for Abaqus/CAE - This plug-in aids you in creating an Abaqus user material definition for use with Helius PFA. It is accessed from Abaqus/CAE under the Plug-ins menu.
• xStiff - This command-line tool is used to add extraneous stiffness parameters to Abaqus input files which are required for user materials using certain element types, i.e., C3D8R, S4, etc.

For more information on using Helius PFA with Abaqus, see the Helius PFA for Abaqus User's Guide.

Setting up Abaqus

Abaqus must be pointed to the Helius PFA user subroutine library prior to running an analysis. This is done via the usub_lib_dir variable in the abaqus_v6.env file. See the Installation and Licensing for Windows section for help on performing this step on Windows and the Installation for Linux section for help on performing this step on Linux.

Special Considerations for Linux

User Material Creation

The Helius PFA plug-in for Abaqus/CAE is not supported on Linux. Therefore you must manually create the appropriate *USER MATERIAL keyword in the input file or manually create the user material in Abaqus/CAE.

Material Naming

Helius PFA resolves material files via the following convention:

MATERIAL_FILE_DIR/Material_Name/mdata.xml

where Material_Name is the name of the material in the Abaqus input file. Unlike Windows, Linux directories are case sensitive and Abaqus always modifies material names to use all upper-case characters. Therefore the Material_Name folder must always be in upper-case text.

Message Passing Interface (MPI) Analyses

When running an MPI analysis with Helius PFA for Abaqus and using the mp_host_list variable in abaqus_v6.env, it is critical that the job be submitted from the node listed first in mp_host_list. Otherwise, the analysis will most likely crash unexpectedly.