Abaqus for CATIA V5 assigns a default element type to each mesh part in your model based on the dimensionality of the mesh part (solid, two-dimensional, or beam), the order of the element (linear or parabolic), and the case (structural, explicit dynamic, or thermal). Table 5–1, Table 5–2, and Table 5–3 describe the default element type assignment for a Nonlinear Structural, Explicit Dynamics, and Thermal case, respectively. (See Creating Mesh Parts for information on creating mesh parts.)
Table 5–1 Default element types for a Structural case.
| Mesh Part | Abaqus Element | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Beam Linear | B31 | 2-node linear beam in space |
| Beam Parabolic | B32 | 3-node quadratic beam in space |
| Solid Linear | C3D4 | 4-node linear tetrahedron |
| Solid Linear | C3D6 | 6-node linear triangular prism |
| Solid Linear, Extruded | C3D8 | 8-node linear hexahedron |
| Solid Parabolic, Modified | C3D10M* | 10-node modified tetrahedron, with hourglass control |
| Solid Parabolic | C3D15 | 15-node quadratic triangular prism |
| Solid Parabolic, Extruded | C3D20 | 20-node quadratic hexahedron |
| 2D Linear | S3 | 3-node triangular general-purpose shell, finite membrane strains (identical to element S3R) |
| 2D Linear | S4 | 4-node doubly curved general-purpose shell, finite membrane strains |
| 2D Parabolic | STRI65 | 6-node triangular thin shell, using five degrees of freedom per node |
| * When modeling contact using the surface-to-surface formulation, C3D10 elements are preferred over C3D10M. | ||
Table 5–2 Default element types for an Explicit Dynamics case.
| Mesh Part | Abaqus Element | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Beam Linear | B31 | 2-node linear beam in space |
| Beam Parabolic | B32 | 3-node quadratic beam in space |
| Solid Linear | C3D4 | 4-node linear tetrahedron |
| Solid Linear | C3D6 | 6-node linear triangular prism |
| Solid Linear, Extruded | C3D8R | 8-node linear hexahedron, reduced integration with hourglass control |
| Solid Parabolic, Modified | C3D10M* | 10-node modified tetrahedron, with hourglass control |
| 2D Linear | S3R | 3-node triangular general-purpose shell, finite membrane strains (identical to element S3) |
| 2D Linear | S4R | 4-node doubly curved general-purpose shell, reduced integration with hourglass control, finite membrane strains |
| * When modeling contact using the surface-to-surface formulation, C3D10 elements are preferred over C3D10M. | ||
Table 5–3 Default element types for a Thermal case.
| Mesh Part | Abaqus Element | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Solid Linear | DC3D4 | 4-node linear heat transfer tetrahedron |
| Solid Linear | DC3D6 | 6-node linear heat transfer triangular prism |
| Solid Linear | DC3D8 | 8-node linear heat transfer hexahedron |
| Solid Parabolic | DC3D10 | 10-node quadratic heat transfer tetrahedron |
| Solid Parabolic | DC3D15 | 15-node quadratic heat transfer triangular prism |
| Solid Parabolic | DC3D20 | 20-node quadratic heat transfer hexahedron |
| 2D Linear | DS3 | 3-node heat transfer triangular shell |
| 2D Linear | DS4 | 4-node heat transfer quadrilateral shell |
| 2D Parabolic | DS6 | 6-node heat transfer triangular shell |
| 2D Parabolic | DS8 | 8-node heat transfer quadrilateral shell |