To define a foundation:

From the main menu bar, select InteractionCreate.

Tip:  You can also create an elastic foundation interaction using the tool in the Interaction module toolbox.

In the Create Interaction dialog box that appears, do the following:

Use an existing surface to define the region. On the right side of the prompt area, click Surfaces. Select an existing surface from the Region Selection dialog box that appears, and click Continue.

Note:  The default selection method is based on the selection method you most recently employed. To revert to the other method, click Select in Viewport or Surfaces on the right side of the prompt area.

Name the interaction. For more information about naming objects, see “Using basic dialog box components,” Section 3.2.1.

Select the initial step.

Select the Elastic foundation type of interaction.

Click Continue to close the Create Interaction dialog box.

Use one of the following methods to select the surface:

Use the mouse to select a region in the viewport. (For more information, see “Selecting objects within the current viewport,” Section 6.2.)

If the model contains a combination of orphan mesh instances and native geometric part instances, click one of the following from the prompt area:

• Click Geometry if you want to select the surface from native geometry.

• Click Mesh if you want to select the surface from an orphan mesh.

You can use the angle method to select a group of faces or edges from native geometry or a group of element faces from an orphan mesh. For more information, see “Using the angle method to select multiple objects,” Section 6.2.3.

In the text field that appears in the prompt area, enter the foundation stiffness per area.

ABAQUS/CAE creates the elastic foundation interaction.