Applying Kinematic Constraints in Abaqus Without Using Surfaces

PS 2024-06-20

I'm relatively new to using Abaqus and have encountered something in the Abaqus 2018 manual that I'm unfamiliar with. The manual describes a kinematic constraint applied using a surface, as follows:

COUPLING, CONSTRAINT NAME=C1, REF NODE=1000, SURFACE=surfA
KINEMATIC
1, 2
6,

In other simulation software I've used, I've generally worked directly with FE models and didn't use surfaces for constraints. I'm wondering if it's possible to apply a kinematic constraint between a reference point and a set of nodes directly, without involving a surface. Could anyone clarify if this approach is feasible in Abaqus, and if so, how it might be implemented?

Thank you in advance for your insights!