3.3 Enhancements to the translator for NASTRAN bulk data files

Products: ABAQUS/Standard  ABAQUS/Explicit  

Benefits: You can now translate general matrix data, nonstructural mass, and bushing elements from NASTRAN to ABAQUS. The new distribution option improves the performance of ABAQUS by reducing the number of shell sections in the ABAQUS input file.

Description: Substructures and other special matrices created by NASTRAN can be used in ABAQUS. The mass contribution from nonstructural features in the model is translated to the ABAQUS equivalent. Bushing elements are translated to ABAQUS connector elements.

NASTRAN shell elements may have their orientations and offsets defined on the element connectivity. By default, all elements that reference a single PSHELL are translated to a single *SHELL SECTION or *SHELL GENERAL SECTION option in ABAQUS, and the variation in their properties is defined using the *ELEMENT PROPERTIES and *DISTRIBUTION options.

Reference:

ABAQUS Analysis User's Manual