Read time: 10 minutes

Target audience: CAE Analysts, Researchers, Simulation engineers and Leads

In Computer-Aided Engineering (CAE), post-processing is a crucial step that transforms raw simulation data into meaningful insights. After running a simulation, engineers need to interpret vast amounts of numerical data to assess the performance, reliability, and safety of their designs. Effective post-processing helps identify critical stress points, displacement trends, temperature variations, and other key factors that influence decision-making.

The Abaqus Visualization Module (also known as Abaqus/Viewer) is a powerful tool designed for post-processing and interpreting simulation results from Abaqus analyses. It allows users to visualize complex data in a variety of formats, including deformation plots, contour plots, and animations. This module provides an interactive environment to explore the results, enabling engineers to study stress distributions, displacements, temperature fields, and more.

Abaqus-specific result demonstration includes the ability to display key outputs such as element stresses, nodal displacements, and contact pressures. The module supports time-dependent results, making it easy to analyse transient events, visualize failure mechanisms, and evaluate convergence behaviours. With customizable output requests, users can focus on critical aspects of their models and effectively communicate insights from simulations through high-quality images, graphs, and animations.

We will navigate through the visualization module with an example of a clamped snapping arrowhead that passes through an opening under a wall when pushed by a prescribed x – displacement (hereafter referred as “Snap-fit”).

The Abaqus Visualization Module is a powerful tool for analysing and interpreting simulation results, offering two primary ways to represent data: Contour Plots and Graphical Plots.

Contour Plots

Contour plots in the Abaqus Visualization Module allow users to visualize simulation results over a model’s geometry, providing insights into how variables, such as stress, strain, or temperature, are distributed across the structure. Contour plots are crucial for understanding spatial variations and identifying critical areas under specific load or boundary conditions, as they visually highlight regions with high or low values.

Access the contour plots by choosing the desired variable through Field Output Toolbar -> Output Variable -> Invariant/Component

Abaqus supports static contour plots for snap-fit analysis, as well as three types of animation—deformation (scale factor), time history, and harmonic animations, enabling users to observe changes over time or visualize dynamic behaviours. To achieve smooth and interpretable plots, contour data can be averaged across elements and nodes. This feature is helpful for reducing visual noise, especially in large or complex simulations, without sacrificing accuracy.

As displayed above, stress concentrations are observed to be on the clip where it undergoes elastic deformation and takes its original position back after the displacement in X direction. Contour plots enable engineers to assess material behaviour, evaluate the assembly’s response under operational loads, and make informed design decisions regarding deformations and potential failures.

Animations of the assembly can be generated in an AVI and other formats through Animate -> Save as.

Graphical Plots

Graphical plots, on the other hand, are commonly used for representing Field Output and History Output data in XY plots.

Field Output

Field Output refers to data recorded over an entire field or region of the model at specific increments throughout the simulation. This type of output provides a snapshot of various quantities, such as stress, strain, displacement, temperature, etc., distributed spatially across elements or nodes. This output type is typically used for visualizing the spatial distribution of variables and assessing areas of interest, such as identifying high-stress regions or evaluating the deformation pattern of a structure. Given below is a sample field output, Time-Displacement graph of the Node 931 on the clip:

The clip is displacing 7mm in a linear fashion over the time period of 1 second.

Field Output can be processed to create contour plots or vector plots (e.g., for displacement and velocity), allowing for spatial visualization. Abaqus also supports element- and node-based averaging in Field Output to generate smoother results.

History Output

History Output, on the other hand, captures data over time at specific points or regions, such as selected nodes or elements. It is primarily used to observe the variation of particular parameters as the simulation progresses. This type of output is useful for time-based analysis, such as examining load-displacement curves, monitoring stress-strain behavior, or evaluating time-dependent phenomena like fatigue and failure initiation. Given below is an example graph of the Strain Energy of whole model (ALLSE):

The Strain energy is observed to suddenly rise at the time of contact, and to drop substantially after it has been locked.

History Output data is typically presented in XY plots (graphs of one variable against another, like time or displacement). Abaqus allows various operations on History Output data, including smoothing, filtering, arithmetic operations, and transformations, providing flexibility in post-processing.

Operate on XY Data

Abaqus provides extensive functionality for operations on XY data, such as filtering, mathematical transformations, and data combination, which allows users to conduct post-processing calculations directly within the module.

The primary purpose of operating on XY data is to allow users to analyze and manipulate output data in ways that meet specific engineering needs. Users can perform a range of mathematical, statistical, and functional operations to enhance the interpretability of data. This feature is widely used for tasks such as

1. Comparing Results: By applying mathematical operations, users can compare simulation data to benchmarks or experimental data.
2. Trend Analysis: Smoothing and filtering functions help users identify trends and patterns in noisy or fluctuating data, which is useful in fatigue or performance assessments.
3. Derived Data Creation: Users can generate new data sets by combining different outputs or by calculating derived variables like energy, cumulative force, or displacement.
4. Post-processing: Useful for refining raw data and isolating important behaviors, such as peak values, integrals over time, or responses under cyclic loading conditions.

Depicted below is the Operate on XY data window, performing a smoothening function on the Whole model Strain energy graph (ALLSE).

Smoothened ALLSE graph is shown below:

Custom modification of the appearance of the graphical plots can be done as Options -> XY Options.  The XY data of the required graphical plot can be imported to an excel worksheet through Plugins -> Tools -> Excel Utilities.

The visualization module features a user-friendly GUI with tools and options for modifying and interpreting plots, as illustrated below.

Abaqus Visualization also has a unique Job Diagnostics feature that delivers real-time feedback on simulation progress, resource usage, errors, and convergence issues, allowing users to proactively troubleshoot and optimize simulations for greater efficiency and accuracy.

Job Diagnostics

Job Diagnostics offers live updates on job progress and any issues, allowing for prompt troubleshooting without waiting for the simulation to finish. It can be accessed as Tools -> Job Diagnostics in the visualization module.

Unlike other simulation tools that may simply indicate convergence failure, Abaqus provides granular details at each increment and iteration, of why and where the model is unstable. Refer to the image below displaying the job diagnostics for the 4^th failed iteration (Severe Discontinuous Iteration) in the first attempt of Increment 3.

With diagnostics, users can analyse where the simulation is failing to converge and adjust their models accordingly, such as modifying the mesh, load steps, or solver settings to improve stability.

A comprehensive troubleshooting of warnings and errors can be performed using the Job Diagnostics tabs—such as Warnings, Residuals, Contact, and Elements—which provide specific insights into issues like distorted elements or open/closed nodes. These issues can also be highlighted on the assembly geometry for clearer visual interpretation.

In summary, the Abaqus Visualization Module, with its powerful contour and graphical plotting capabilities alongside detailed job diagnostics, provides users with an essential toolkit for interpreting simulation results, troubleshooting effectively, and gaining deeper insights into complex engineering analyses. For more information or assistance, feel free to reach out to us.