ABAQUS

Today, engineering teams frequently use niche simulation tools from various vendors to simulate various design attributes for product simulation.Costs go up and inefficiencies are created when multiple software vendors are used.All users, regardless of their simulation expertise or domain focus, are able to collaborate and seamlessly share simulation data and approved methods with SIMULIA's scalable suite of unified analysis products without losing information fidelity.

The Abaqus Unified FEA product suite offers powerful and complete solutions for both routine and sophisticated engineering problems covering a vast spectrum of industrial applications. In the automotive industry engineering work groups are able to consider full vehicle loads, dynamic vibration, multibody systems, impact/crash, nonlinear static, thermal coupling, and acoustic-structural coupling using a common model data structure and integrated solver technology. Best-in-class companies are taking advantage of Abaqus Unified FEA to consolidate their processes and tools, reduce costs and inefficiencies, and gain a competitive advantage.

Linking ABAQUS with other sofware

Now we want to know what is the benefit of communication between software. If you have ever worked with one of the modeling software such as Solidwork or coding software such as MATLAB and Python, you will realize that these software are much more powerful than Abaqus in their field. Therefore, in most cases, before starting the analysis with Abaqus, it is necessary to first model the desired model in stronger software and then enter the Abaqus environment.

In the following, we have briefly shown the most important and widely used software that is linked with Abaqus.

Linking ABAQUS and MATLAB

You should access the abaqus results (*.fil) file via MATLAB.
In order to take your results into a fil file you should specify *FILE FORMAT, ASCII along with *EL FILE and/or *NODE FILE, etc. options in your abaqus input file (assuming that you run Abaqus/Standard).

After creating the results fil file, go to section 5.1.2 of the Abaqus Analysis User's Manual to find details about how to read the fil file. You can use this information to read this file using MATLAB.
I have developed a MATLAB function which reads such files (it reads only information about stresses and displacements, but it can be generalized to include any other quantity).

Another way, much easier but of very little accuracy would be to access the *.dat file, which contains the results of the analysis, via MATLAB. I would not recommend it to you since the precision of the results into the dat file is very low.

In the way described above, I managed to solve the 10-bar truss and the 25-bar truss optimization problems by linking Abaqus and MATLAB (Abaqus was used as the solver in the constraint function of MATLAB and MATLAB was used as the optimizer).

Also you can see this Linking ABAQUS and MATLAB package. It is one of the complete package that can help you a lot.

Linking ABAQUS and solidworks

You can export a simulation study to an Abaqus file (*.inp).

Right-click the top icon of a Simulation study tree, and click Export
For Save as type, select ABAQUS Files (*.inp).

These simulation features can be exported to an Abaqus file format:

Studies: Static, Dynamic, Nonlinear, Buckling, and Thermal
Sold, Shell, Beam, and 2D Simplification elements
External Loads: force, torque, pressure, gravity, centrifugal, and temperature
Fixtures: All excluding symmetry boundary conditions
Spring connector
Linear elastic material properties. Nonlinear material properties for plastic, hyperelastic, and viscoelastic material models are partially translated.

And also if you want import from solidworks to abaqus you may export it from SolidWorks as a Parasolid having extension *.x_t.

Linking ABAQUS and ANSYS

You can now import model data from an ANSYS input file into Abaqus. This new capability is available from the command line and from the model import options in Abaqus/CAE. Abaqus now enables you to translate selected entities in an ANSYS input file to their equivalent entities in Abaqus. You run the abaqus fromansys execution procedure from the command line to perform this translation and create an Abaqus input file.

You run the abaqus from ansys execution procedure from the command line to perform thistranslation and create an Abaqus input file. The Import Model dialog box now allows you to select ANSYS model database (*. cdb) files and import their data into a new model in Abaqus/CAE.

You can use an ANSYS input file to import a model into Abaqus/CAE by selecting File > Import > Model from the main menu bar. Abaqus/CAE imports many common entities in the ANSYS input file into the model you create.

Linking ABAQUS and catia

First create the 3D model of the part in Catia V5 that you wish to import in Abaqus. The next step is to save the 3D model in your local drive.the save extension of Catia part is. CATPart and abaqus support such files.

Abaqus Supports CATPART AND CATPRODUCT file extensions. Apart from this you can also save the part using different file extension also.

To check this go to Abaqus→right click on part in the model tree→CLICK on IMPORT,in the drop down menu you can see all the files that is supported by Abaqus that you want to import. there are different file format from which you can save as the part in your local drive,but you have to use those file formats that are supported by Abaqus.To do this go to FILE→SAVE AS → use CATPart or CATProduct or .IGES FORMAT or .STEP FORMAT and save any of these extension in your local drive.

To import file GO to Abaqus→right click on Part in the model tree→CLICK on IMPORT,select the file you have saved.in this i have used .IGES format for my part.Click on open.

Linking ABAQUS and Fortran

As you know, we need to link Abaqus and Intel Fortran to execute user subroutines such as VUMAT, UMAT, USDFLD, etc. Abaqus Fortran linking can be done in various versions of Abaqus and Fortran. Here in this article, we are trying to link Abaqus 2017 and Fortran on Windows 10 (x64). To do that, we also need another program named Microsoft Visual Studio.

As you can see in the article Compatible versions of Intel Fortran and Visual Studio for Abaqus, this is the compatibility list for Abaqus 2017:
Intel Parallel Studio XE 2013 or above
Visual Studio 2010 or above.

At first Install your copy of SIMULIA ABAQUS followed by Visual Studio and Visual Fortran. Make sure you install C++ component of Visual Studio as well. Find ifort.exe and ifortvars.bat in Installation directory of FORTRAN.

Copy the address on a clip board.

Go to Installation directory of Visual Studio and copy the address of file:vcvarsall.bat

Go to Installation directory of ABAQUS and find launcher.bat

Open the file with notepad and paste the addresses in the following manner:

Same can also be done by right-clicking on ABAQUS CAE shortcut -> Open File Location and Save the file.

Run ABAQUS Verification first, It'll create a verify.log opening which you can check if the procedure was successful.

Click and open ABAQUS, you will be able to see that Fortran is also called along with it.

I think you can see this article " Linking Abaqus 2017 and Fortran" explain it completely and a good help.

Reference

1. https://www.3ds.com/products-services/simulia/products/abaqus/

2. https://caeassistant.com/

3. https://www.3ds.com/support/hardware-and-software/simulia-system-information/abaqus-for-catia-v5/abaqus-for-catia-v5-requirements/