10/4/2019 SIMULIA User Assistance 2019 - Implicit dynamic analysis using direct integration

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Implicit dynamic analysis using direct integration

A direct-integration dynamic analysis in Abaqus/Standard: Related Topics

must be used when nonlinear dynamic response is being studied; Defining an analysis
can be fully nonlinear (general dynamic analysis) or can be based About dynamic analysis
on the modes of the linear system (subspace projection method); procedures
and
can be used to study a variety of applications, including:
In Other Guides
dynamic responses requiring transient fidelity and
involving minimal energy dissipation; *DYNAMIC
dynamic responses involving nonlinearity, contact, and Configuring a dynamic,
moderate energy dissipation; and implicit procedure
quasi-static responses in which considerable energy
dissipation provides stability and improved convergence
behavior for determining an essentially static solution.

The following topics are discussed:

General dynamic analysis
The “subspace projection” method
Material damping
Initial conditions
Boundary conditions
Loads
Predefined fields
Material options
Elements
Output
Input file template
References

Products: Abaqus/Standard Abaqus/CAE

General dynamic analysis

General nonlinear dynamic analysis in Abaqus/Standard uses implicit time integration to calculate the
transient dynamic or quasi-static response of a system. The procedure can be applied to a broad range
of applications calling for varying numerical solution strategies, such as the amount of numerical
damping required to obtain convergence and the way in which the automatic time incrementation
algorithm proceeds through the solution. Typical dynamic applications fall into three categories:
Transient fidelity applications, such as an analysis of satellite systems, require minimal energy
dissipation. In these applications small time increments are taken to accurately resolve the
vibrational response of the structure, and numerical energy dissipation is kept at a minimum.
These stringent requirements tend to degrade convergence behavior for simulations involving
contact or nonlinearities.
Moderate dissipation applications encompass a more general range of dynamic events in which
a moderate amount of energy is dissipated by plasticity, viscous damping, or other effects.
Typical applications include various insertion, impact, and forming analyses. The response of
these structures can be either monotonic or nonmonotonic. Accurate resolution of high-
frequency vibrations is usually not of interest in these applications. Some numerical energy

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dissipation tends to reduce solution noise and improve convergence behavior in these
applications without significantly degrading solution accuracy.
Quasi-static applications are primarily interested in determining a final static response. These
problems typically show monotonic behavior, and inertia effects are introduced primarily to
regularize unstable behavior. For example, the statically unstable behavior may be due to
temporarily unconstrained rigid body modes or “snap-through” phenomena. Large time
increments are taken when possible to obtain the final solution at minimal computational cost.
Considerable numerical dissipation may be required to obtain convergence during certain
stages of the loading history.

An example of a transient fidelity application is available in Modeling of an automobile suspension. An

analysis that includes both a moderate dissipation step and a quasi-static step is described in Impact
analysis of a pawl-ratchet device.

Specifying the application type

Based on the classifications listed above, you should indicate the type of application you are studying
when performing a general dynamic analysis. Abaqus/Standard assigns numerical settings based on
your classification of the application type, and this classification can significantly affect a simulation. In
some cases accurate results can be obtained with more than one application-type setting, in which case
analysis efficiency should be considered. A general trend is that—among the three classifications—the
high-dissipation quasi-static classification tends to result in the best convergence behavior and the low-
dissipation transient fidelity classification tends to have the highest likelihood of convergence difficulty.
Input File Usage:
Use the following option for transient fidelity applications:
*DYNAMIC, APPLICATION=TRANSIENT FIDELITY (default for models without contact)

Use the following option for moderate dissipation applications:

*DYNAMIC, APPLICATION=MODERATE DISSIPATION (default for models with contact)

Use the following option for quasi-static applications:

*DYNAMIC, APPLICATION=QUASI-STATIC

Abaqus/CAE Usage:
Step module: Create Step: General: Dynamic, Implicit
The application type is specified in the Edit Step dialog box:
Basic: Application: Transient fidelity, Moderate dissipation, Quasi-static, or Analysis product
default

Diagnostics for modeling errors associated with mass properties

Accurate representation of inertia properties is necessary for accurate dynamic analyses. In some cases
Abaqus/Standard provides diagnostic messages when it detects likely modeling errors associated with
the specification of inertia properties. The most common way of specifying inertia properties is with
material densities. Abaqus/Standard issues a warning message to the data (.dat) file if a material
density is omitted in a dynamic analysis (this warning is not issued if the density is zero only for certain
values of temperature or field variables). Other methods of specifying inertia properties include:
point mass and rotary inertia definitions, and
constraining nodes without inertia themselves to nodes having inertia properties defined.

In some circumstances Abaqus/Standard attempts to solve systems of equations involving effective

inversion of the global mass matrix to directly adjust velocities and accelerations during a general
dynamic analysis as described in Initial conditions and Intermittent contact/impact below. These
additional velocity and acceleration adjustments occur by default only for transient fidelity application
types as defined above. If the global mass matrix is found to be singular, Abaqus/Standard issues an
error message by default, because singular mass is an indication that the mass properties are not
realistic due to a modeling error.
Diagnostic feedback specific to the global mass matrix being singular is typically not provided for quasi-
static and moderate dissipation application types, although warnings typically are issued regarding the
lack of material density. Singular mass is not necessarily detrimental to a quasi-static analysis. For

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example, it would be reasonable to only define inertia properties (such as density) in components or
regions with temporary static instabilities (such as initially unconstrained rigid body modes that become
constrained once contact occurs) in a quasi-static analysis.
You can control the course of action Abaqus/Standard takes upon detecting a singular global mass
matrix.
Input File Usage:
Use the following default option to issue an error message and stop execution if a singular
global mass matrix is detected when calculating velocity and acceleration adjustments:
*DYNAMIC, SINGULAR MASS=ERROR

Use the following option to issue a warning message and avoid velocity and acceleration
adjustments (i.e., continue time integration using current velocities and accelerations) if a
singular global mass matrix is detected:
*DYNAMIC, SINGULAR MASS=WARNING

Use the following option to adjust velocities and accelerations even if a singular mass matrix
is detected. This setting can result in large, non-physical velocity and/or acceleration
adjustments, which can, in turn, cause poor time integration solutions and artificial
convergence difficulties. This approach is not generally recommended; it should be used only
in special cases when the analyst has a thorough understanding of how to interpret results
obtained in this way.
*DYNAMIC, SINGULAR MASS=MAKE ADJUSTMENTS

Abaqus/CAE Usage:
The default singular mass setting cannot be modified in Abaqus/CAE.

Numerical details
The effect of the application-type classification on numerical aspects of general dynamic analyses is
described below. In most cases the settings determined by the application type are sufficient to
successfully perform an analysis. However, detailed user controls are provided to override settings on an
individual basis.
Time integration methods
Abaqus/Standard uses the Hilber-Hughes-Taylor time integration by default unless you specify that the
application type is quasi-static. The Hilber-Hughes-Taylor operator is an extension of the Newmark β-
method. Numerical parameters associated with the Hilber-Hughes-Taylor operator are tuned differently
for moderate dissipation and transient fidelity applications (as discussed later in this section). The
backward Euler operator is used by default if the application classification is quasi-static.
These time integration operators are implicit, which means that the operator matrix must be inverted
and a set of simultaneous nonlinear dynamic equilibrium equations must be solved at each time
increment. This solution is done iteratively using Newton's method. The principal advantage of these
operators is that they are unconditionally stable for linear systems; there is no mathematical limit on the
size of the time increment that can be used to integrate a linear system. An unconditionally stable
integration operator is of great value when studying structural systems because a conditionally stable
integration operator (such as that used in the explicit method) can lead to impractically small time steps
and, therefore, a computationally expensive analysis.
Marching through a simulation with a finite time increment size generally introduces some degree of
numerical damping. This damping differs from the material damping discussed in Material damping (and
in many cases these two forms of damping will work well together). The amount of damping associated
with the time integration varies among the operator types (for example, the backward Euler operator
tends to be more dissipative than the Hilber-Hughes-Taylor operator) and in many cases (such as with
the Hilber-Hughes-Taylor operator) depends on settings of numerical parameters associated with the
operator. The ability of the operator to effectively treat contact conditions is often of considerable
importance with respect to their usefulness. For example, some changes in contact conditions can result
in “negative damping” (nonphysical energy source) for many time integrators, which can be very
undesirable.
It is possible to override the time integrator implied by the application-type classification; for example,
you can perform a moderate dissipation dynamic analysis using the backward Euler integrator. Changing
the default integrator is not generally recommended but may be useful in special cases.

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Input File Usage:

Use the following option to use the Hilber-Hughes-Taylor integrator with default integrator
parameter settings corresponding to those for transient fidelity applications:
*DYNAMIC, TIME INTEGRATOR=HHT-TF

Use the following option to use the Hilber-Hughes-Taylor integrator with default integrator
parameter settings corresponding to those for moderate dissipation applications:
*DYNAMIC, TIME INTEGRATOR=HHT-MD

Use the following option to use the backward Euler integrator:

*DYNAMIC, TIME INTEGRATOR=BWE

Abaqus/CAE Usage:
The default time integrator cannot be modified in Abaqus/CAE.
Additional control over integrator parameters
Additional user controls enable modifications to settings of numerical parameters associated with the
Hilber-Hughes-Taylor operator (see Hilber, Hughes, and Taylor (1977) for descriptions of the numerical
parameters). The default parameter settings depend on the specified application type, as indicated in
Table 1 (see Czekanski, El-Abbasi, and Meguid (2001) for the basis of these settings).
Table 1. Default parameters for the Hilber-Hughes-
Taylor integrator.
Application

Parameter Transient Fidelity Moderate Dissipation

α –0.05 –0.41421

β 0.275625 0.5

γ 0.55 0.91421

These parameters can be adjusted or modified individually if the Hilber-Hughes-Taylor operator is being
used. If the default settings of these parameters correspond to the transient fidelity settings shown in
Table 1 and you explicitly modify the α parameter alone, the other parameters will be adjusted
2
automatically to β = 1/4 ⋅ (1 − α) and γ = 1/2 − α. This relation provides control of the numerical
damping associated with the time integrator while preserving desirable characteristics of the integrator.
The numerical damping grows with the ratio of the time increment to the period of vibration of a mode.
Negative values of α provide damping; whereas α = 0 results in no damping (energy preserving) and is
exactly the trapezoidal rule (sometimes called the Newmark β-method, with β = 1/4 and γ = 1/2).
The setting α = −1/3 provides the maximum numerical damping. It gives a damping ratio of about 6%
when the time increment is 40% of the period of oscillation of the mode being studied. Allowable values
1 1
of α, β , and γ are: − ≤ α ≤ 0 , β > 0, γ ≥ .
2 2

Input File Usage:

*DYNAMIC, ALPHA=α, BETA=β, GAMMA=γ

Abaqus/CAE Usage:
Only the α parameter can be modified in Abaqus/CAE:
Step module: Create Step: General: Dynamic, Implicit: Other: Alpha: Specify: α
Default incrementation schemes
Automatic time incrementation is used by default for nonlinear dynamic procedures. The main factors
used to control adjustments to the time increment size for an implicit dynamic procedure are the
convergence behavior of the Newton iterations and the accuracy of the time integration. The time
increment size may vary considerably during an analysis. Details of the time increment control algorithm
depend on the type of dynamic application you are studying.
The following factors are considered by default in the time increment control algorithm if you specify a
quasi-static–type application (the same factors control the time increment size for purely static
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analyses):
The time increment size is reduced if an increment appears to be diverging or if the
convergence rate is slow.
The time increment size is fairly aggressively increased if rapid convergence occurs in previous
increments.

Analyses for moderate dissipation-type applications also use these same factors, as well as a default
upper bound on the time increment size equal to one-tenth of the step duration.
The following factors are considered by default in the time increment control algorithm if you specify a
transient fidelity–type application:
The time increment size is reduced if an increment appears to be diverging or if the
convergence rate is slow.
The time increment size is reduced if changes in contact status are detected during the first
attempt of processing an increment. The new increment size is set such that the end of the
increment corresponds to the average time of the contact status changes that were detected
with the previous increment size. (In such cases an additional very small time increment is
used to enforce compatibility of velocities and accelerations across active contact interfaces.)
The time increment size is reduced if the half-increment residual (out-of-balance force) halfway
through a time increment exceeds the half-increment residual tolerance, which is 10,000 times
the time average force for a contact analysis or 1000 times the time average force for an
analysis without contact.
The time increment is gradually increased if rapid convergence occurs in previous increments.
The upper bound for the time increment size is equal to 1/100 of the step duration.

Intermittent contact/impact
The second and third factors described in the preceding list often result in very small time increment
sizes for contact simulations that are performed as a transient fidelity application (and the time
increment size tends to remain small due to the fourth factor). This problem can be avoided by
specifying a different application type or by using more detailed user controls, as discussed below.
General settings for the time increment controls
A high level user control over which factors are considered by the time increment control algorithm can
be used to override the defaults implied by the specified application type for the analysis. Regardless of
the application type you have specified, you can enforce time increment controls associated with either
quasi-static applications or transient fidelity applications.
Input File Usage:
Use the following option to obtain the aggressive time increment control settings associated
with quasi-static applications:
*DYNAMIC, INCREMENTATION=AGGRESSIVE

Use the following option to obtain the more conservative time increment control settings
associated with transient fidelity applications:
*DYNAMIC, INCREMENTATION=CONSERVATIVE

Abaqus/CAE Usage:
The default time incrementation control settings cannot be modified in Abaqus/CAE.
Controlling the half-increment residual
Controls associated with the half-increment residual tolerance are provided for tuning the time
incrementation. These controls are intended for advanced users and typically do not need to be
modified.
Input File Usage:
Use the following option to specify that no check of the half-increment residual should be
performed:
*DYNAMIC, NOHAF

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Use the following option to specify the half-increment residual tolerance as a scale factor of
the time average force (moment):
*DYNAMIC, HALFINC SCALE FACTOR=scale factor

Use the following option to directly specify the half-increment residual force tolerance (the
half-increment residual moment tolerance is the half-increment residual force tolerance times
the characteristic element length automatically calculated):
*DYNAMIC, HAFTOL=tolerance

Abaqus/CAE Usage:
Use the following option to specify that no check of the half-increment residual should be
performed:
Step module: Create Step: General: Dynamic, Implicit: Incrementation: toggle on Suppress half-
increment residual calculation
Use the following option to specify the half-increment residual tolerance as a scale factor of
the time average force (moment):
Step module: Create Step: General: Dynamic, Implicit: Incrementation: Half-increment
Residual: Specify scale factor: scale factor
Use the following option to specify the half-increment residual force tolerance directly:
Step module: Create Step: General: Dynamic, Implicit: Incrementation: Half-increment
Residual: Specify value: tolerance
Controlling incrementation involving contact
By default, specifying a transient fidelity application typically results in reduced time increment sizes
upon changes in contact status. An extra time increment with a very small size is subsequently
performed to enforce compatibility of velocities and accelerations across active contact interfaces. Direct
user control over these incrementation aspects is available.
Input File Usage:
Use the following option to avoid automatically cutting back the increment size and enforcing
velocity and acceleration compatibility in the contact region upon changes in contact status:
*DYNAMIC, IMPACT=NO

Use the following option to automatically cut back the increment size and enforce velocity
and acceleration compatibility in the contact region upon changes in contact status:
*DYNAMIC, IMPACT=AVERAGE TIME

Use the following option to enforce velocity and acceleration compatibility in the contact
region without automatically cutting back the increment size upon changes in contact status:
*DYNAMIC, IMPACT=CURRENT TIME

Abaqus/CAE Usage:
The default contact incrementation scheme cannot be modified in Abaqus/CAE.
Direct time incrementation
You may directly specify the time increment size to be used. This approach is not generally
recommended but may be useful in special cases. The analysis will terminate if convergence tolerances
are not satisfied within the maximum number of iterations allowed.
It is possible to ignore convergence tolerances: the solution to an increment is accepted after the
specified maximum number of iterations allowed even if convergence tolerances are not satisfied.
Ignoring convergence tolerances can result in highly nonphysical results and is not recommended except
by analysts with a thorough understanding of how to interpret results obtained this way.
Input File Usage:
Use the following option to directly specify the time increment:
*DYNAMIC, DIRECT

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Use the following option to ignore convergence tolerances after the maximum number of
iterations is reached:
*DYNAMIC, DIRECT=NO STOP

Abaqus/CAE Usage:
Use the following option to specify the time increment directly:
Step module: Create Step: General: Dynamic, Implicit: Incrementation: Fixed
Use the following option to ignore convergence tolerances after the maximum number of
iterations is reached:
Step module: Create Step: General: Dynamic, Implicit: Other: Accept solution after reaching
maximum number of iterations
Default amplitude for loads
Loads such as applied forces or pressures are ramped on by default if you have selected the quasi-static
application classification; such ramping tends to enhance robustness because the load increment size is
proportional to the time increment size. For example, if the Newton iterations are not able to converge
for a particular time increment size, the automatic time incrementation algorithm will reduce the time
increment size and restart the Newton iterations with a smaller load incremental considered.
For the other application classifications the dynamic procedure applies loads with a step function by
default such that the full load is applied in the first increment of the step (regardless of the time
increment size) and the load magnitude remains constant over each step. Thus, if the first increment is
unable to converge with the original time increment size, reducing the time increment will not reduce
the load increment by default. In some cases the convergence behavior will still improve upon reducing
the time increment because the regularizing effect of inertia on the integration operators is inversely
proportional to the square of the time increment size. See Defining an analysis for more information on
default amplitude types for the various procedures and how to override the default.

The “subspace projection” method

The alternative approach provided in Abaqus/Standard for nonlinear dynamic problems is the “subspace
projection” method. See Subspace dynamics for the theory behind this method. In this method the
modes of the linear system are extracted in an eigenfrequency extraction step (Natural frequency
extraction) prior to the dynamic analysis and are used as a small set of global basis vectors to develop
the solution. These modes will include eigenmodes and, if activated in the eigenfrequency extraction
step, residual modes. The method works well when the system exhibits mildly nonlinear behavior, such
as small regions of plastic yielding or rotations that are not small but not too large.
This method can be very effective. As with the other direct integration methods, it is more expensive in
terms of computer time than the modal methods of purely linear dynamic analysis, but it is often
significantly less expensive than the direct integration of all of the equations of motion of the model.
However, since the subspace projection method is based on the modes of the system, it will not be
accurate if there is extreme nonlinear response that cannot be modeled well by the modes that form the
basis of the solution.
Input File Usage:
*DYNAMIC, SUBSPACE

Abaqus/CAE Usage:
Step module: Create Step: General: Dynamic, Subspace

Selecting the modes on which to project

You can select the modes of the system on which the subspace projection will be performed. The mode
numbers can be listed individually, or they can be generated automatically. If you choose not to select
the modes, all modes extracted in the prior frequency extraction step, including residual modes if they
were activated, are used in the subspace projection.
Input File Usage:
Use one of the following options:

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*SELECT EIGENMODES
*SELECT EIGENMODES, GENERATE

Abaqus/CAE Usage:
Step module: Create Step: General: Dynamic, Subspace: Basic: Number of modes to use: All or
Specify

Numerical implementation
The subspace projection method is implemented in Abaqus/Standard using the explicit (central
difference) operator to integrate the equations of motion written in terms of the modes of the linear
system. This integration method is particularly effective here because the modes are orthogonal with
respect to the mass matrix so that the projected system always has a diagonal mass matrix.
A fixed time increment is used: this increment is the smaller of the time increment that you specify or
80% of the stable time increment, which is 2/ωmax for the linear system, where ωmax is the highest
circular frequency of the modes that are used as the basis of the solution. The 80% factor is intended as
a safety factor so that any increase in this highest frequency caused by nonlinear effects is less likely to
cause the integration to become unstable. The 80% is rather arbitrary; in some cases it may be
nonconservative. You must monitor the response—for example, the energy balance—to ensure that the
time increment is not causing instability. Instability is a concern if the nonlinearities can stiffen the
system significantly, although in many practical cases such stiffening effects are more prominent in
increasing the lower frequencies of the system than in affecting the highest frequencies that are likely to
be retained to represent the dynamic behavior accurately.

Accuracy of the subspace projection method

The effectiveness of the subspace projection method depends on the value of the modes of the linear
system as a set of global interpolation functions for the problem, which is a matter of judgment on your
part—the same sort of judgment as required when deciding if a particular mesh of finite elements is
sufficient. The method is valuable for mildly nonlinear systems and for cases where it is easy to extract
enough modes that you can be confident that they describe the system adequately.
If nonlinear geometric effects are considered in the subspace dynamics step, it is possible to perform a
dynamic simulation for some time, reextract the modes on the current stressed geometry by using
another frequency extraction step, and then continue the analysis with the new modes as the subspace
basis system. This procedure can improve the accuracy of the method in some cases.

Material damping
You can introduce Rayleigh damping, as explained in Material damping. This damping will act in addition
to numerical damping associated with the time integrator (discussed previously).
Input File Usage:
*DAMPING, ALPHA=α , BETA=β
R R

Abaqus/CAE Usage:
Property module: material editor: Mechanical > Damping: Alpha and Beta

Initial conditions
Initial Conditions describes all of the available initial conditions. Initial velocities must be defined in
global directions regardless of the use of nodal transformations (see Transformed coordinate systems).
If initial velocities are specified at nodes for which displacement boundary conditions are also specified,
the initial velocities will be ignored at these nodes. However, if a displacement boundary condition refers
to an amplitude curve with an analytically defined time variation (i.e., excluding the piecewise linear
tabular and equally spaced definitions), Abaqus/Standard will compute the initial velocity for the nodes
involved in the boundary condition as the time derivative (evaluated at time zero) of the analytic
variation.

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When initial velocities are specified for dynamic analysis, they should be consistent with all of the
constraints on the model, especially time-dependent boundary conditions. Abaqus/Standard will ensure
that initial velocities are consistent with boundary conditions and with multi-point and equation
constraints but will not check for consistency with internal constraints such as incompressibility of the
material. In case of a conflict, boundary conditions and multi-point constraints take precedence over
initial conditions.
Specified initial velocities are used in a dynamic step only if it is the first dynamic step in an analysis. If
a dynamic step is not the first dynamic step and there is an immediately preceding dynamic step, the
velocities from the end of the preceding step are used as the initial velocities for the current step. If a
dynamic step is not the first dynamic step and the immediately preceding step is not a dynamic step,
zero initial velocities are assumed for the current step.

Controlling calculation of accelerations at the beginning of a dynamic step

By default, Abaqus/Standard will calculate accelerations at the beginning of the dynamic step for
transient fidelity applications. You can choose to bypass these acceleration calculations, in which case
Abaqus/Standard will assume that initial accelerations for the current step are zero unless there is an
immediately preceding dynamic step. If the immediately preceding step is also a dynamic step,
bypassing the acceleration calculations will cause Abaqus/Standard to use the accelerations from the end
of the previous step to continue the new step. It is appropriate to bypass the acceleration calculations if
the loading has not changed suddenly at the start of the dynamic step, but it is not correct if the loading
at the beginning of the first increment is significantly different from that at the end of the previous step.
In cases where large loads are applied suddenly, high-frequency noise due to the bypass of the
acceleration calculations may greatly increase the half-increment residual.
Input File Usage:
*DYNAMIC, INITIAL=NO

Abaqus/CAE Usage:
Step module: Create Step: General: Dynamic, Implicit: Other: Initial acceleration calculations at
beginning of step: Bypass

Boundary conditions
Boundary conditions can be applied to any of the displacement or rotation degrees of freedom (1–6), to
warping degree of freedom 7 in open-section beam elements, to fluid pressure degree of freedom 8 for
hydrostatic fluid elements, or to acoustic pressure degree of freedom 8 for acoustic elements (Boundary
Conditions).
Amplitude references can be used to prescribe time-varying boundary conditions in a direct-integration
dynamic step. Default amplitude variations are described in Defining an analysis.
In direct time integration dynamic analysis, when a node with a prescribed motion is used in an equation
constraint or a multi-point constraint to control the motion of another node, the equation or multi-point
constraint will be imposed correctly for the displacement and velocity of the dependent node. However,
the acceleration will not be rigorously transmitted to the dependent node, which may cause some high-
frequency noise.
In the subspace projection method it is not currently possible to specify nonzero boundary conditions
directly. Instead, acceleration boundary conditions can be approximated by using appropriate
combinations of large point masses and concentrated loads. At the node where such a boundary
condition is desired, attach a large point mass that is approximatively 105–106 times larger than the
mass of the original model. In addition, a concentrated load of magnitude equal to the product between
the large point mass and the desired acceleration must be specified in the direction of the approximated
boundary condition. Since the point mass is significantly larger than the mass of the model, the big
mass–concentrated load combination will approximate the desired acceleration in the specified direction
accurately. Boundary conditions other than accelerations must be converted into acceleration histories
before they can be approximated.

Loads
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The following loads can be prescribed in a dynamic analysis:

Concentrated nodal forces can be applied to the displacement degrees of freedom (1–6); see
Concentrated loads.
Distributed pressure forces or body forces can be applied; see Distributed loads. The
distributed load types available with particular elements are described in Abaqus Elements
Guide.
Distributed pressure or volumetric accelerations (on acoustic elements) can be applied; these
are described in Acoustic, shock, and coupled acoustic-structural analysis.

Predefined fields
The following predefined fields can be specified in a dynamic analysis, as described in Predefined Fields:
Although temperature is not a degree of freedom in stress/displacement elements, nodal
temperatures can be specified as a predefined field. Any difference between the applied and
initial temperatures will cause thermal strain if a thermal expansion coefficient is given for the
material (Thermal expansion). The specified temperature also affects temperature-dependent
material properties, if any.
The values of user-defined field variables can be specified. These values only affect field-
variable-dependent material properties, if any.

Material options
Most material models that describe mechanical behavior are available for use in a dynamic analysis. The
following material properties are not active during a dynamic analysis: thermal properties (except for
thermal expansion), mass diffusion properties, electrical conductivity properties, and pore fluid flow
properties.
Rate-dependent material properties (Time domain viscoelasticity, Hysteresis in elastomers, Rate-
dependent yield, and Two-layer viscoplasticity) can be included in a dynamic analysis.

Elements
Other than generalized axisymmetric elements with twist, any of the stress/displacement elements in
Abaqus/Standard (including those with temperature, pressure, and electrical potential degrees of
freedom) can be used in a dynamic analysis. Inertia effects are ignored in hydrostatic fluid elements,
and the inertia of the fluid in pore pressure elements is not taken into account.

Output
In addition to the usual output variables available in Abaqus/Standard (see Abaqus/Standard output
variable identifiers), the following variables are provided specifically for implicit dynamic analysis:
Variables for a specified element set or for the entire model:
XC
Current coordinates of the center of mass.
XCn
Coordinate n of the center of mass (n = 1, 2, 3).

UC
Displacement of the center of mass.
UCn
Displacement component n of the center of mass (n = 1, 2, 3).

URCn
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Rotation component n of the center of mass.

VC
Equivalent rigid body velocity components.
VCn
Component n of the equivalent rigid body velocity (n = 1, 2, 3).

VRCn
Component n of the equivalent rigid body angular velocity (n = 1, 2, 3).

HC
Angular momentum about the center of mass.
HCn
Component n of the angular momentum about the center of mass (n = 1, 2, 3).

HO
Angular momentum about the origin.
HOn
Component n of the angular momentum about the origin (n = 1, 2, 3).

RI
Rotary inertia about the origin.
RIij
ij-component of the rotary inertia about the origin (i ≤ j ≤ 3).

MASS
Mass.
VOL
Current volume.

Input file template

*HEADING
…
*BOUNDARY
Data lines to specify zero-valued boundary conditions
*INITIAL CONDITIONS
Data lines to specify initial conditions
*AMPLITUDE, NAME=name
Data lines to define amplitude variations
**
*STEP (,NLGEOM)
Once NLGEOM is specified, it will be active in all subsequent steps.
*DYNAMIC
Data line to control automatic time incrementation
*BOUNDARY
Data lines to describe zero-valued or nonzero boundary conditions
*CLOAD and/or *DLOAD and/or *INCIDENT WAVE
Data lines to specify loads
*TEMPERATURE and/or *FIELD
Data lines to prescribe predefined fields
*CECHARGE and/or *DECHARGE (if electrical potential degrees of
freedom are active)
Data lines to specify charges
*END STEP

References
Czekanski, A., N. El-Abbasi, and S. A. Meguid, “Optimal Time Integration Parameters for Elastodynamic
Contact Problems,” Communications in Numerical Methods in Engineering, vol. 17, pp. 379–384, 2001.
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Hilber, H. M., T. J. R. Hughes, and R. L. Taylor, “Improved Numerical Dissipation for Time Integration
Algorithms in Structural Dynamics,” Earthquake Engineering and Structural Dynamics, vol. 5, pp. 283–
292, 1977.

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2019 SIMULIA FD04 (FP1931), all
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