Creating and Customizing Jobs

This section describes how you create a job and use the job editor to configure the job settings. The following topics are covered:

Creating a New Job

When you create a job, Nonlinear Structural Analysis or Thermal Analysis asks you to name the new job and associates it with the current analysis case. Jobs are stored in the analysis document and are maintained between sessions. By default, Nonlinear Structural Analysis or Thermal Analysis uses the name of the CATIA analysis document as the basis for the name of the job you create; for example, the first job you create in the analysis file Fuselage.CATAnalysis will have a default name of Fuselage-1.

When you name a job, you cannot use the following characters:

<space>$&*~!()[]{}|:;'`”,.?/\><

In addition, a job name cannot begin with a dash -.

Nonlinear Structural Analysis or Thermal Analysis automatically creates a new job each time you create an analysis case.

This task shows you how to create a new job.

  1. Click the Create Job icon , or click Create from the Job Manager.

    The Create Job dialog box appears, and a Job objects set appears in the specification tree under the Jobs objects set for the current analysis case.

    Tip: To edit an existing job, double-click the job name in the specification tree or in the Job Manager.

  2. You can change the job identifier by editing the Name field. This name will be used in the specification tree and in the Job Manager.

  3. Enter a description for the job in the Description field.

  4. Enter all the data necessary to define the job, and click OK. (For more information, see Navigating the Job Customization Options.)

Navigating the Job Customization Options

Use the job editor to customize a job's settings before submitting it for analysis. The job editor contains the following tabbed pages:

Submission

Use the Submission tabbed page to configure the locations for files associated with the job.

General

Use the General tabbed page to specify whether the model is written as a single part or as an assembly of separate parts in the input file.

Memory

Use the Memory tabbed page to configure the amount of memory allocated to an analysis.

Parallelization

Use the Parallelization tabbed page to configure the parallel execution of a Nonlinear Structural Analysis or Thermal Analysis job, such as the number of processors to use and the parallelization method.

This task shows you how to display the job editor.

  1. Click the Create Job icon , or double-click on an existing Job objects set in the specification tree.

    Note:  If the Job Manager is open, you can double-click on a job's row to display its settings in the job editor.

    The job editor appears.

  2. For detailed instructions on using the job editor, see the following sections:

Specifying File Storage Directories

Use the Submission tabbed page to specify the paths to file storage directories.

This task shows you how to specify file storage directories.

  1. In the job editor, click the Submission tab to display the Submission tabbed page.

  2. The Computation directory option provides the path to the directory used for storing analysis data. The default computation directory is determined as follows:

    1. The path specified in the Options dialog box (see Configuring an Abaqus Analysis).

    2. If no path is specified in the Options dialog box, the directory in which the current .CATAnalysis document is saved.

    3. If no path is specified in the Options dialog box and the current .CATAnalysis document has not yet been saved, the directory in which the current .CATPart or .CATProduct document is saved.

    4. If no path is specified in the Options dialog box and the current .CATAnalysis, .CATPart, and .CATProduct documents have not yet been saved, the current working directory.

    To specify a different computation directory for this job, perform either of the following steps:

    • Type the full path in the Computation directory field, or

    • Click ... to display the Computation Directory dialog box, then navigate to the directory of your choice.

  3. The Scratch directory option provides the path to the scratch directory used for storing temporary data. The default scratch directory is the path specified in the Options dialog box (Configuring an Abaqus Analysis) or, if no path is specified in the Options dialog box, the default temporary directory on your system (on Windows \TEMP).

    To specify a different scratch directory for this job, perform either of the following steps:

    • Type the full path in the Scratch directory field, or

    • Click ... to display the Scratch Directory dialog box, then navigate to the directory of your choice.

  4. The User subroutine directory option provides the path to the directory containing the compiled dynamic link library (.dll) file for all user subroutines that are referred to by the model. The default user subroutine directory is the path specified in the Options dialog box (Configuring an Abaqus Analysis).

    To specify a different user subroutine directory for this job, perform either of the following steps:

    • Type the full path in the User subroutine directory field, or

    • Click ... to display the User Subroutine Directory dialog box, then navigate to the directory of your choice.

    If your model refers to a user subroutine, but you do not specify the name of the subroutine directory on the Submission tabbed page or in the Options dialog box, an error is reported by the job monitor dialog box (for more information, see Monitoring the Progress of a Job).

  5. Click OK to close the job editor and to save your settings.

Specifying the Input File Format

An assembly in CATIA V5 is a collection of components. A component, in turn, is a part, a part instance, or a sub-assembly. Similarly, in an Abaqus input file, the assembly is a collection of positioned part instances. You can choose between the following two formats for the Abaqus input file generated by the Nonlinear Structural Analysis and Thermal Analysis workbenches:

A single part

Nonlinear Structural Analysis or Thermal Analysis writes an input file in which the CATIA V5 assembly of separate components is converted into an Abaqus assembly containing a single part. This is the default behavior. You can use this format in conjunction with the Automatic mesh capture option in the Advanced Surface Meshing workbench to capture adjacent nodes on separate parts and treat them as a single node in the Abaqus input file. This approach is useful for tying together beam and shell parts such as the stiffeners and the skin of an airframe. You can also use this format in conjunction with the Tetrahedron Filler tool in the Advanced Surface Meshing workbench to capture the coincident nodes on the original surface boundary mesh and the resulting tetrahedral mesh. Nonlinear Structural Analysis and Thermal Analysis treat these coincident nodes as a single node when it writes the input file.

An assembly of separate parts

Nonlinear Structural Analysis or Thermal Analysis writes an input file in which the CATIA V5 assembly of separate components is converted into an Abaqus assembly containing separate part instances. You can use this format to treat each part instance in the assembly as independent, in which case the part instances are free to move relative to each other unless you tie them together using constraints or connections. When Nonlinear Structural Analysis or Thermal Analysis writes the Abaqus input file, coincident nodes that are shared between separate part instances are treated as separate nodes that can move independently of each other even if Automatic mesh capture is used.

Use the General tabbed page to specify the format that Abaqus uses to write the input file. Alternatively, you can specify the input file format by configuring the analysis settings; see Configuring an Abaqus Analysis for more information.

This task shows you how to specify the input file format.

  1. In the job editor, click the General tab to display the General tabbed page.

  2. From the Write Input File as options on the tabbed page, toggle on An assembly of separate parts to generate the input file as an assembly of separate part instances, where unconstrained nodes from each part instance are free to move relative to nodes from other part instances.

    By default, this option is toggled off and the input file is generated as an assembly containing a single part.

  3. Click OK to close the job editor and to save your settings.

Controlling Memory Settings

Use the Memory tabbed page to control the amount of memory allocated to a nonlinear structural or thermal analysis.

This task shows you how to control job memory settings.

  1. In the job editor, click the Memory tab to display the Memory tabbed page.

  2. From the Memory allocation units options, specify whether you want to define the memory allocation for this job as a Percent of physical memory or in Megabytes or Gigabytes.

  3. In the Maximum preprocessor and analysis memory field, specify either the percentage of physical memory or the number of megabytes or gigabytes of physical memory that will be allocated as a maximum for the analysis.

  4. Click OK to close the job editor and to save your settings.

Controlling Parallel Execution

Use the Parallelization tabbed page to allow the use of up to four processors for parallel execution of an analysis job. The default tree parallel solver will process multiple fronts in parallel, in addition to parallelizing the solution of individual fronts.

This task shows you how to control parallel execution.

  1. In the job editor, click the Parallelization tab to display the Parallelization tabbed page.

  2. Toggle on Use multiple processors, and select the number of processors to use for the job if parallel processing is available.

  3. Click OK to close the job editor and to save your settings.