When you first submit a job based on a model for analysis, ABAQUS/CAE generates an input file based on the definition of your model; and that input file, in turn, is submitted to ABAQUS/Standard or ABAQUS/Explicit. The input file contains the element and node definitions generated by the Mesh module along with the materials, steps, output requests, loads, interactions, etc. that you specified using ABAQUS/CAE.

To run a restart analysis of a job associated with a model, it is recommended that you copy the model to a new model. The new model contains all the element and node definitions from the original model along with all the materials, steps, output requests, loads, interactions, etc. To request a restart analysis, you edit the new model's attributes and specify that the analysis continue from a specified step of the original analysis. When you create a new restart job that refers to the new model, ABAQUS/CAE sets the job type to Restart.

When you submit the new job for analysis, ABAQUS/CAE generates an input file based on the restart information. No part, assembly, or property data are written to the restart input file. Only the following data are written:

ABAQUS reads the part, assembly, and property data, along with data from steps that appear before the restart step from the restart files that were generated by the original analysis. As a result, although the model contains all this information, the information is not written to the input file that is submitted to ABAQUS/Standard or ABAQUS/Explicit. This is an important consideration. Some changes that you make to the model in a restart analysis, say a material property, will not appear in the input file that is analyzed.