Abaqus Prescribed Conditions Guide

The Abaqus Prescribed Conditions Guide describes how to model nonzero initial conditions, boundary conditions, loads, and predefined fields.

This guide is a part of the Abaqus® documentation collection, which describes all the capabilities of the Abaqus finite element analysis technology used in SIMULIA® applications.

The following types of external conditions can be prescribed in an Abaqus model:

Initial conditions

Nonzero initial conditions can be defined for many variables, as described in Initial conditions in Abaqus/Standard and Abaqus/Explicit.

Boundary conditions

Boundary conditions are used to prescribe values of basic solution variables: displacements and rotations in stress/displacement analysis, temperature in heat transfer or coupled thermal-stress analysis, electrical potential in coupled thermal-electrical analysis, pore pressure in soils analysis, acoustic pressure in acoustic analysis, etc. Boundary conditions can be defined as described in Boundary conditions in Abaqus/Standard and Abaqus/Explicit.

Loads

Many types of loading are available, depending on the analysis procedure. About loads gives an overview of loading in Abaqus. Load types specific to one analysis procedure are described in the appropriate procedure section in Analysis Procedures. General loads, which can be applied in multiple analysis types, are described in:

Prescribed assembly loads

Pre-tension sections can be defined in Abaqus/Standard to prescribe assembly loads in bolts or any other type of fastener. Pre-tension sections are described in Prescribed Assembly Loads.

Connector loads and motions

Connector elements can be used to define complex mechanical connections between parts, including actuation with prescribed loads or motions. Connector elements are described in About connectors.

Predefined fields

Predefined fields are time-dependent, non-solution-dependent fields that exist over the spatial domain of the model. Temperature is the most commonly defined field. Predefined fields are described in Predefined Fields.