Part 2 – Simulation Technologies to Ideate Robust and Correct Medical Devices and Reducing the Risk of Production
Part of the Accelerate Webinar Series on Simulation as a Competitive Advantage
CATIA ASSOCIATIVE INTERFACE Installation and Running Guide
Installing the CATIA Associative Interface add-in
The following procedure describes how to install the CATIA V5 Associative Interface plug-in on Windows systems.
Before you begin:
You need administrative privileges to install the plug-in. CATIA V5 must be installed and licensed on your system before installing the plug-in. If you are installing the CATIA V5 Associative Interface on an operating system that uses User Access Control (UAC), such as Windows Vista or Windows 7, you must turn off UAC or select the least secure setting.
1. Obtain the CATIA V5 Associative Interface installation file from the assembly media (see the SIMULIA Installation Guide for more information).
2. Run the CATIA V5 Associative Interface installation executable.
3. Follow the prompts in the installation process.
You must provide the following information:
• The CATIA V5 service pack on which the plug-in will be installed. The installation procedure automatically detects all of the appropriate CATIA V5 service packs that are installed on your system.
• The installation directory for the plug-in. The plug-in does not need to be installed in the same directory as CATIA V5.
4. The installation process creates a Windows desktop shortcut and a Start menu shortcut for the CATIA V5 Associative Interface. Use either shortcut to start a full version of CATIA V5 that includes the CATIA V5 Associative Interface plug-in and, if it is installed on your system, Abaqus for CATIA V5.
Importing a part or assembly from CATIA V5 to Abaqus/CAE
You can use automatic associative import to export an assembly from CATIA V5 to Abaqus/CAE.
1. Start Abaqus/CAE, and enter the Assembly module.
2. From the main menu bar, select Tools->CAD Interfaces->CATIA V5.
3. From the CATIA V5 dialog box that appears, choose Auto-assign port and click Enable. Abaqus/CAE displays the port number that it assigned in the message area. (If desired, you can click Specify port and enter the port number.)
4. Start CATIA V5 using the Windows desktop shortcut or the Start menu shortcut that was created during the installation of the CATIA V5 Associative Interface plug-in. Abaqus appears in the CATIA V5 main menu bar.
5. Load the model to be exported, and select Abaqus->Export to Abaqus/CAE from the CATIA V5
main menu.
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6. From the Export to Abaqus/CAE dialog box that appears, specify the following information:
a. Select Open Abaqus/CAE as the export Method (see Figure Below).
Use automatic associative import to transfer the model directly to Abaqus/CAE
b. If necessary, change the default number in the Port field so that it matches the port number displayed by Abaqus/CAE when you enabled the CAD interface.
c. If the CATIA V5 model includes publications of faces, edges, or vertices, you can export these publications to the Abaqus model as set definitions. Toggle on Face, Edge, or Vertex to translate the associated CATIA V5 publications into Abaqus sets.
d. If materials are applied to the CATIA V5 model, toggle on Materials to export the CATIA V5 materials as Abaqus material definitions. If the CATIA V5 model includes multiple materials with different properties but the same name, only one of these material definitions is exported to Abaqus/CAE.
7. Click OK in the Export to Abaqus/CAE dialog box. CATIA V5 saves all of the parts in the model, and the Abaqus/CAE Export Log dialog box appears with a summary of the entities that were exported. Click Close to close the Abaqus/CAE Export Log dialog box. The model appears in the current Abaqus/CAE viewport. If an assembly is open in CATIA V5, the parts are imported into Abaqus/CAE and an assembly of part instances is created automatically. If a single part is open in CATIA V5, only the part is imported into Abaqus/CAE.
8. If you modify the model in CATIA V5, click the Quick export to Abaqus/CAE icon to update the model in Abaqus/CAE. The modified model is imported immediately into Abaqus/CAE using the settings previously specified in the Export to Abaqus/CAE dialog box. Abaqus/CAE imports only the modified parts. Any changes that you make to the position of parts in the CATIA V5 assembly will also be exported to Abaqus/CAE. Any components that you deactivate or activate in CATIA V5 are suppressed or resumed similarly in Abaqus/CAE. If you hide a component in CATIA V5, the visibility of that part instance in Abaqus/CAE is turned off; use the Assembly Display Options in Abaqus/CAE to control the visibility of part instances. Modifications to material definitions and publications in CATIA V5 are also propagated to Abaqus/CAE. Features (such as loads and sets) and geometric modifications that you created in Abaqus/CAE are updated to account for the changes to the CATIA V5 parts. Abaqus/CAE will be unable to regenerate some features if the topology of the part has changed significantly.
