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Abaqus FEA / Abaqus/CAE / Associative Interfaces
Associative Interfaces for CAD Systems
The Associative Interfaces enable geometry transfer from a CAD system to Abaqus/CAE. These powerful add-on products allow you to send selected components or an entire assembly from the CAD system to Abaqus/CAE with a single mouse click. You can modify your model in supported CAD systems and use associative import to quickly update the model in Abaqus/CAE without losing any analysis features assigned to the model. The connection between the applications is provided by a plug-in for the CAD system and established through the CAD Connection toolset in Abaqus/CAE.
CATIA V5 Associative Interface 
The CATIA V5 Associative Interface allows you to transfer CATIA V5 Parts and Products into Abaqus/CAE using associative import. Materials and publications assigned to the CATIA V5 model are also transferred to the Abaqus/CAE model as material and set definitions, respectively. In addition to associative import, the CATIA V5 Associative Interface allows you to directly import the geometry of CATIA V5 models in .CatPart and .CatProduct format into Abaqus/CAE.
The following import techniques are available with the CATIA V5 Associative Interface:
- Automatic associative import is a powerful tool that allows you to quickly transfer models from a CATIA V5 session to an Abaqus/CAE session while both programs are running simultaneously on the same computer. After the model has been transferred, you can continue to make design modifications in CATIA V5 and propagate these modifications to the Abaqus/CAE model with a single mouse click; any of the features that you created in Abaqus/CAE—such as partitions, loads, boundary conditions, sets, and surfaces—are regenerated each time you import the modified model from CATIA V5 to Abaqus/CAE.
- If CATIA V5 and Abaqus/CAE are not running concurrently, or are running on different computers, you can use manual associative import. Using the CATIA V5 Associative Interface plug-in, you can save an assembly (.eaf) file to a specified location. You can import the model into Abaqus/CAE, or use the assembly file to update an existing model in Abaqus/CAE at a later time. In addition, manual associative import can be used to perform an associative import across Windows platforms (for example, from CATIA V5 running on a 32-bit Windows machine to Abaqus/CAE running on a 64-bit Windows machine).
- Direct import is a nonassociative import that does not require the use of the CATIA V5 Associative Interface plug-in. The geometry of models saved as standard CATIA V5 Part or Product files can be imported directly into Abaqus/CAE. You cannot use direct import to update existing models in Abaqus/CAE, but you can use direct import to transfer model geometries across 32-bit and 64-bit Windows platforms. The ability to move between associative import and direct import provides flexibility within the enterprise or across the supply chain in the approach that you use for transferring models from CATIA V5 to Abaqus/CAE.
The CATIA V5 Associative Interface requires Abaqus/CAE 6.7 or higher and is compatible with CATIA V5 R17 and R18. The Associative interface for CATIA V5 R18 is supported with Abaqus 6.8 only.
Pro/ENGINEER Associative Interface
The Pro/ENGINEER Associative Interface allows you to transfer parts and assemblies from Pro/ENGINEER into Abaqus/CAE using associative import. In addition to associative import, the Pro/ENGINEER Associative Interface includes a direct translator that writes Pro/ENGINEER parts and assemblies in Elysium Neutral (.enf_abq) File format; Elysium Neutral Files can subsequently be imported into Abaqus/CAE.
The Pro/ENGINEER Associative Interface also allows you to modify parameters defining Pro/ENGINEER geometry features such as a hole radius or an extrusion length from within Abaqus/CAE. The updated parameters are propagated to both the Pro/ENGINEER model and the Abaqus/CAE model.
The following import techniques are available with the Pro/ENGINEER Associative Interface:
- Automatic associative import is a powerful tool that allows you to quickly transfer models from a Pro/ENGINEER session to an Abaqus/CAE session while both programs are running simultaneously on the same computer. After the model has been transferred, you can continue to make design modifications in Pro/ENGINEER and propagate these modifications to the Abaqus/CAE model with a single mouse click; any of the features that you created in Abaqus/CAE—such as partitions, loads, boundary conditions, sets, and surfaces—are regenerated each time you import the modified model from Pro/ENGINEER to Abaqus/CAE.
- If Pro/ENGINEER and Abaqus/CAE are not running concurrently, or are running on different computers, you can use manual associative import. Using the Pro/ENGINEER Associative Interface plug-in, you can save an Elysium Neutral (.enf_abq) File and an Elysium Neutral Assembly (.eaf) File to a specified location. You can import the model into Abaqus/CAE or use the assembly file to update an existing model in Abaqus/CAE at a later time. In addition, manual associative import can be used to perform an associative import across platforms (for example, from Pro/ENGINEER running on Windows to Abaqus/CAE running on Linux).
- The direct translator allows you to perform nonassociative imports of Pro/ENGINEER geometry into Abaqus/CAE using only a single file. Using the Pro/ENGINEER Associative Interface plug-in, you can save an Elysium Neutral (.enf_abq) File to a specified location. You can import the model geometry into Abaqus/CAE at a later time using the Elysium Neutral File. You cannot use the direct translator to update existing models in Abaqus/CAE, but you can use the direct translator to transfer model geometries across platforms. The ability to move between associative import and direct import provides flexibility within the enterprise or across the supply chain in the approach that you use for transferring models from Pro/ENGINEER to Abaqus/CAE.
The Pro/ENGINEER Associative Interface requires Abaqus/CAE 6.6-EF (Extended Functionality release) or higher. The CAD feature parameter update capability is available with Abaqus/CAE 6.8 only.
SolidWorks Associative Interface
The Solidworks Associative Interface allows you to easily transfer a part or assembly from SolidWorks to Abaqus/CAE; you can subsequently modify the model in SolidWorks and propagate these modifications to Abaqus/CAE without losing any analysis features assigned to the model in Abaqus/CAE. The SolidWorks Associative Interface is useful when you are iterating on the design of a model in SolidWorks based on the results of analyses conducted in Abaqus.
The following import techniques are available with the SolidWorks Associative Interface:
- Automatic associative import is a powerful tool that allows you to quickly transfer models from a SolidWorks session to an Abaqus/CAE session while both programs are running simultaneously on the same computer. After the model has been transferred, you can continue to make design modifications in SolidWorks and propagate these modifications to the Abaqus/CAE model with a single mouse click; any of the features that you created in Abaqus/CAE—such as partitions, loads, boundary conditions, sets, and surfaces—are regenerated each time you import the modified model from SolidWorks to Abaqus/CAE.
- Manual associative import is used when SolidWorks and Abaqus/CAE are not running concurrently, or are running on different computers. Using the SolidWorks Associative Interface plug-in, you can write to a specified location. You can import the model into Abaqus/CAE or use the assembly file to update an existing model in Abaqus/CAE at a later time. In addition, manual associative import can be used to perform an associative import across platforms (for example, from SolidWorks running on Windows to Abaqus/CAE running on Linux).
The SolidWorks Associative Interface requires Abaqus/CAE 6.7-EF (Extended Functionality release) or higher and is compatible with SolidWorks 2008 SP1 and higher.
Technical Resources
Platforms
Automatic associative imports can only be performed if both the CAD system and Abaqus/CAE are running on a Windows platform. Other functionality is available on all platforms that support the Associative Interface plug-ins, as summarized in the following table:
Platform |
CATIA V51
R17-18 |
Pro/ENGINEER
Wildfire 2-3 |
SolidWorks
2008 |
Windows/x86-32 |
|
|
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Windows/x86-64 |
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2 |
Linux/x86-32 |
Not applicable |
Direct translator
component only |
3 |
Linux/x86-64 |
Not applicable |
Direct translator reader component only |
3 |
1 Includes the CATIA V5 direct import reader.
2 Windows XP only
3 SolidWorks is not available on the Linux platform. The manual associative import method may be used when Abaqus/CAE is running on a Linux platform.
Licensing and Installation for CATIA V5 Associative Interface
You do not need a license to run the CATIA V5 Associative Interface plug-in, although you will need the appropriate license to run CATIA V5. Abaqus/CAE requires a license to import the assembly file generated by the plug-in, as well as the .CatPart and .CatProduct files; for more information, contact your local Abaqus sales office.
Click the link in the following table to download the CATIA V5 Associative Interface plug-in for the desired release of CATIA. For complete installation instructions, refer to the User’s Guide, which can be downloaded in PDF format.
Licensing and Installation for Pro/ENGINEER Associative Interface
You do not need a license to run the Pro/ENGINEER Associative Interface plug-in, although you will need the appropriate license to run Pro/ENGINEER. Abaqus/CAE requires a license to import the assembly file generated by the plug-in, as well as the Elysium Neutral Files; for more information, contact your local Abaqus sales office.
Click the link in the following table to download the Pro/ENGINEER Associative Interface plug-in for the desired platform. For complete installation instructions, refer to the User’s Guide, which can be downloaded in PDF format.
Licensing and Installation for SolidWorks Associative Interface
You do not need a license to run the SolidWorks Associative Interface add-in, although you will need the appropriate license to run SolidWorks. Abaqus/CAE requires a license to import the assembly file generated by the plug-in; for more information, contact your local SIMULIA sales office.
Click the link in the following table to download the SolidWorks Associative Interface add-in for the desired platform. For complete installation instructions, refer to the User’s Guide, which can be downloaded in PDF format.
In addition to the Associative Interfaces, a number of geometry translators are available for transferring model geometries from other CAD systems into Abaqus/CAE.
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