Use the Type radio buttons in the middle of the Create Part dialog box to choose the type of the part you are creating. ABAQUS/CAE carries a part's type through the modeling process; for example, you cannot assign section and material properties to a rigid part, and you cannot mesh an analytical rigid part. You can change the type of a part after you have created it by clicking mouse button 3 on the part in the Model Tree and selecting Edit from the menu that appears.
The new part's type can be set to one of the following:
Deformable
Any arbitrarily shaped axisymmetric, two-dimensional, or three-dimensional part that you can create or import can be specified as a deformable part. A deformable part represents a part that can deform under load; the load can be mechanical, thermal, or electrical. By default, ABAQUS/CAE creates parts that are deformable.
Discrete rigid
A discrete rigid part is similar to a deformable part in that it can be any arbitrary shape. However, a discrete rigid part is assumed to be rigid and is used in contact analyses to model bodies that cannot deform.
Analytical rigid
An analytical rigid part is similar to a discrete rigid part in that it is used to represent a rigid surface in a contact analysis. However, the shape of an analytical rigid part is not arbitrary and must be formed from a set of sketched lines, arcs, and parabolas.
After you create either a discrete rigid part or an analytical rigid part, you must also do the following:
Assign the rigid body reference point. You apply constraints or prescribe motion to the rigid body reference point in the Load module, and the same constraints or motion are applied to the entire rigid part. For more information, see “The reference point,” Section 11.8.1.
If the part is a discrete rigid part or an analytical rigid part, you must use the Surface toolset in the Assembly module to choose which side of the part represents the outer surface. For more information, see Chapter 48, “The Set and Surface toolsets.”
To select the type of a new part:
From the middle of the Create Part dialog box, choose the desired Type radio button.
When you have finished choosing options, click Continue to close the Create Part dialog box.
The Sketcher starts, and you sketch the profile of the new part's base feature.
