This section describes a software module that reads ABAQUS input files and writes the data to the MSC/PATRAN database in a form compatible with the MSC/PATRAN ABAQUS preference.

Both fixed format and free format entries are supported. Floating point formats with and without an “E” in the exponent are supported (e.g. 1.23E6 and 1.23+6 are both supported).

Informative, warning, and error messages are written to an external file with the name <input_file_basename>.msg.<version_number> where <input_file_basename> is the portion of the ABAQUS input file name before the suffix and <version_number> is a unique version number beginning with 01. After import, this file should be carefully examined to understand what was processed by the reader and what was not. Sometimes the error messages will indicate where minor editing of the input deck will convert an unsupported entity to one that can be handled by the reader.

A PATRAN group is created for each ABAQUS ELSET or NSET entry. The name of the group is taken from the NAME parameter of the ELSET or NSET.

When the reader encounters a *ELEMENT entry, the combination of the element type and the ABAQUS property set entry are used to map the ABAQUS element type to the appropriate PATRAN element type. In some cases this is not possible because not all ABAQUS element types are currently supported in PATRAN. In these cases, the reader attempts to find the PATRAN element type that “best” matches the ABAQUS type. Thus, the ABAQUS elements retain their association to their property set. This allows the finite element mesh to be edited in PATRAN and an ABAQUS input deck output that can be easily edited to correct the property entry.

The table below describes the ABAQUS keywords that are supported in the current version of
the product.

Both fixed format and free format entries are supported.

The table below shows the PATRAN element property options that are created when a specific ABAQUS element type is imported.

Under some circumstances, the values of the option menus in Patran (Option 1 and Option 2) may be different than shown in the table. This is often the case when the ABAQUS element is one that is not directly supported by the Patran interface and the translator is making a “best guess” at which Patran element to choose. For many beam elements in the table, Option 1 is shown as “General Section”. Depending on the beam cross section type defined on the *BEAM SECTION or *BEAM GENERAL SECTION entry, Option 1 may be General Section, Box Section, Circular Section, Hexagonal Section, I Section, Pipe Section, Rectangular Section, or Trapezoid Section. For the 3D solid elements and shell elements in the table, Option 1 is shown as Homogeneous. Depending on the *SHELL SECTION or *SHELL GENERAL SECTION entry, Option 1 may be either Homogeneous or Laminate.