Context

In SIMULIA on the 3DEXPERIENCE Platform, certain Abaqus solver keywords are available even if they are not directly exposed through the 3DEXPERIENCE front end. Because the underlying solver is the same, a Keyword Edit can be captured in a script, and then uploaded to add supported Abaqus functionality directly into the input file.

This example explains a Keyword Edit used to enable a drilling simulation for manufacturing processes. The edit was used to:

1. Activate element deletion

2. Apply element deletion to the workpiece

3. Create a node-based surface to enable internal contact between the drill and workpiece

    

This drilling simulation included advanced material damage behavior. The default 3DEXPERIENCE front-end setup was not sufficient to fully capture the intended behavior, because the drill needed to penetrate through the entire workpiece.

To model this correctly, the simulation needed two key updates:

1. First, element deletion had to be enabled so damaged elements in the workpiece could be removed as failure occurred.

2. Second, contact had to be redefined. The default front-end contact definition was based on the outer surfaces of the bodies. 

   For drilling, however, the drill must continue interacting with the workpiece as it moves through the material. To support this, contact was redefined using a node-based surface representing the full workpiece.

Key Steps

The Keyword Edit command on the Setup tab of the action bar allows you to upload a script.

The following steps explain what exactly was written in the Keyword Edit script that allowed for element deletion & the contact redefinition in this drilling simulation.

1. Element Deletion Controls

Edit 1: Add Element Deletion Controls

• Action: Inserts a new *Section Controls keyword before the first instance of *Solid Section.

• Purpose: Defines a control named El_Delete that allows elements to be deleted when their degradation exceeds 90% (Max Degradation=0.9).

• Effect: Enables erosion modeling for elements in the specified section.

In simple terms, this edit applies the following behavior to the workpiece:

• Element Deletion=YES allows failed elements to be removed from the model.

• Max Degradation=0.9 allows material stiffness to degrade up to 90% before deletion occurs. The exact interpretation depends on the damage model being used; this simulation used Johnson-Cook damage.

Edit 2: Link Section to Deletion Controls

• Action: Modifies the first *Solid Section keyword by adding the attribute Controls=El_Delete.

• Purpose: Associates the previously defined deletion controls (El_Delete) with the solid section, ensuring elements in this section can be erased during simulation.

NOTE: Before applying this edit, we verified in the input file that the first Solid Section instance (exgKeyword=”Solid Section” exgKeyWordInstance =”1”) was the correct section corresponding to the workpiece.

These types of edits are commonly used in drilling, cutting, machining, and impact simulations where material is physically removed or severely damaged.

This is how these edits then manifested in the input file:

You can see that the Keyword Edit:

1. Added element deletion controls

2. Applied them to ELSET (Element Set) Solid Section1-1

2. Creating a Node-based Workpiece Surface

Edit 3: Define a Node-Based Surface

• Action: Adds a new *SURFACE keyword before the first *Surface instance.

• Purpose: Creates a surface named Real_Workpiece_Nodes of type NODE, referencing a node set called "Workpiece Nodes".

• Effect: Prepares a surface definition for contact interactions based on specific nodes (e.g., workpiece nodes).

NOTE: Before writing this Keyword Edit, we manually created the Workpiece_Nodes set as a Group in Mechanical Scenario Creation. This group captured the full set of nodes making up the workpiece. However, it was not technically a surface. 

This Keyword Edit step was necessary because the front-end contact definition only supports contact between surfaces. By redefining the workpiece as a node-based surface, the drill could maintain contact with the workpiece internally as it penetrated through the material.

This is how the edits manifested into the input file:

3. Redefining the Contact Pair

Edit 4: Replace Contact Pair Definition

• Action: Replaces the first *CONTACT PAIR keyword with a new definition.

• Purpose: Updates the contact interaction to include the newly created Real_Workpiece_Nodes surface, paired with "Drill Surface" under the same interaction properties ("Contact Property1").

• Effect: Ensures the contact model accounts for the workpiece’s node-based surface during the simulation.

NOTE: We first verified in the input file that the first Contact Pair instance (exgKeyWordInstance=”1” exgKeyword=”Contact Pair”) was the drill-workpiece contact pair. This was expected, since it was the only contact pair in the simulation. To create this contact pair in the first place, we had to select the outer surface of the workpiece initially, so that we could then replace it with the entire nodeset.

This is how the edits manifested into the input file:

Successfully redefining the contact between the drill and the entire set of nodes that encompass the workpiece.

Result

After the Keyword Edit was applied, the drilling simulation allowed for:

• Elements of the workpiece to fail (e.g., due to material removal).

• Contact between the drill and workpiece defined via node-based surfaces for accuracy.

Together, these edits allowed the drilling simulation to better represent material damage, element removal, and drill penetration through the workpiece.

For more information on Keyword Edits, see the help documentation here.