femfat-matGroups

Automatically assign FEMFAT material files according to matching group names.

This repository includes two scripts to help make material assignments in the FEMFAT CAE fatigue analysis software. The scripts may be used together or independently.

1. An Abaqus python script to define FEMFAT element groups for each material found in the .odb results.
2. A FEMFAT script to automatically assign materials to Groups which share the name of each material file (.ffd) in the working directory.

When used together you should copy .ffd material files into the working directory and either rename them to match with the appropriate Abaqus material names in the model or use the .ffd names for materials inside Abaqus.

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1. Python script to create FEMFAT groups based on Abaqus .odb materials

In a large assembly of several components it can sometimes be more efficient to assign fatigue material properties according to the material names used in the original FEA rather than working with separate assignments for each component. This can also help avoid mistakes during fatigue material assignments.

The Abaqus python script matGroups.py creates FEMFAT element group definitions with names equal to the material names used in Abaqus. The group definitions are stored in Hypermesh .bdf format files which may be imported in the FEMFAT GUI Groups page or using the .ffj command:

setValue {} {} GUI_Group:Import "Job-1_material_PART-1-1.bdf"

The element material groups for each Abaqus instance will be stored in separate .bdf files since FEMFAT can only work with one instance at a time.

Note that node characteristics, such as materials, must be assigned to nodes in FEMFAT. Nodes may be added to element groups using the FEMFAT "Nodes related to elements in Group" feature.

Command line execution

abaqus python matGroups.py Job-1.odb [Job-2.odb ...]

Automatic execution

Copy the onJobCompletion() method into your local abaqus_v6.env file for automatic execution whenever an Abaqus job completes. Make sure matGroups.py is in the working directory or the PYTHONPATH.

2. FEMFAT script to assign .ffd materials to groups of the same name

The user should first import FE Entities to FEMFAT and define or rename Groups as needed, potentially reading element material Groups defined with the script above. For each .ffd material file in the working directory, the script will look for all matching group names in the current model. If a match is found then the material will be loaded. The script will add nodes related to each matching group and then assign the material to the Node Characteristics of that group.

FEMFAT GUI execution

Use the menu item File->Append... to run assignMaterials.ffj in the interactive GUI. Alternatively, that script may be copied to the FEMFAT templates directory so it will always be available from the FEMFAT GUI menu Templates->assignMaterials.

FEMFAT Job (.ffj) execution

The script may be referenced from an existing .ffj file using the syntax:

source "assignMaterials.ffj"

Support and Contributions

Any problems or suggestions for improvement may be directed to Issues. Similarly, you may propose enhancements with a Pull request.