You can define a coordinate system that is attached to a single node on your model. The specified node is the origin of the coordinate system. The degrees of freedom present at the node (translational and rotational) determine the orientation of the coordinate system axes at each step and frame of the analysis. If the node has only translational degrees of freedom, the coordinate system will always be parallel to the global system.
The visual display of coordinate systems that follow nodes on your model is updated to reflect any deformation scale factors applied; however, result transformations based on these coordinate systems use the actual, not the scaled, deformations.
To create a coordinate system following a single node:
From the main menu bar, select Tools
Coordinate SystemCreate.
The Create Coordinate System dialog box appears.
Tip:
You can also create a coordinate system using the 
tool in the toolbox.
In the Create Coordinate System dialog box:
Accept the default name for the coordinate system, or enter the name of your choice in the text field.
Toggle on System following a single node to specify the motion of the coordinate system.
Select one of the following as the coordinate system type:
Rectangular: The X-, Y-, and Z-axes are interpreted as the 1-, 2-, and 3-axes, respectively.
Cylindrical: The R-, 
-, and Z-axes are interpreted as the 1-, 2-, and 3-axes, respectively.
Spherical: The R-, -, and 
-axes are interpreted as the 1-, 2-, and 3-axes, respectively.
Click Continue.
ABAQUS/CAE displays prompts in the prompt area to help you define the coordinate system axes.
Select the node in the viewport.
The coordinate system appears in the viewport and is added to the list in the Coordinate System Manager. ABAQUS saves user-defined coordinate systems only until the output database is closed unless you save them to the output database file. You cannot edit a coordinate system once it has been created; you can rename or delete coordinate systems that have not been saved to the output database.
