Analytical Rigid Surfaces

The Abaqus solver offers the flexibility of modeling rigids as surfaces using primitive geometry.

Simplicity of modeling is the primary advantage of using this feature.

An analytical rigid surface:
  • can be 2D or 3D
  • can be swept or revolved geometry
  • can be used with the small-sliding, or finite-sliding mechanical contact formulations
  • should be oriented in such a way that the surface's outward normal of the surface points toward any part it may contact
  • is associated with a node, known as the rigid body reference node, whose motion governs the motion of the surface
With HyperMesh, the analytical rigid surface can be visualized.


Figure 1.
Analytical rigid surface can be created using a simple tool that allows:
  • Selecting/defining a local system
  • Choosing 2D or 3D and within 3D sweep or revolve
  • Choosing lines or a node path to define the feature in the chosen local plane to complete the analytical rigid surface set-up


Figure 2.

To access the tool, navigate to the Model ribbon, click the arrow next to the Interactions tool set name, then select Analytical Rigid.