After you have defined your model and performed an analysis, you may want to run another analysis using a different procedure without having to redefine objects in your model, such as loads, boundary conditions, and interactions. You can use the replace function to replace the analysis procedure for an existing step with any procedure that is allowed by ABAQUS/Standard or ABAQUS/Explicit; for example, you can change from a Static, General procedure to a Dynamic, Explicit procedure or from a Static, General procedure to a Static, Riks procedure. After you select StepReplace from the main menu bar, you select the step that you want to replace and the new analysis procedure for that step. The Edit Step dialog box appears with default values for the new analysis procedure. You can modify the default values and specify values for optional settings in the step editor.

When you replace a step, ABAQUS/CAE copies all of the compatible step-dependent objects to the new step. If objects are incompatible with the new step, ABAQUS/CAE substitutes an equivalent object, if possible, and suppresses or deletes the remaining objects. Therefore, you may want to copy the model before you replace the step. ABAQUS/CAE displays a list of the objects that were suppressed or deleted during step replacement in the message area. For example, if you replace a Static, General procedure containing an ABAQUS/Standard self-contact interaction, a pressure load, and an inertia relief load with a Dynamic, Explicit procedure, ABAQUS/CAE does the following:

After you replace a step, you should verify that previously defined properties, element types, jobs, and boundary conditions and predefined fields in the initial step remain valid for the model. In the Job module you can click Write Input in the Job Manager to write the input file and then check the input file for errors.

You can use the replace function to reset step settings to their default values by replacing an existing step with a step of the same procedure type.