Hi,

I'm just looking for high level guidance on how to run an Abaqus analysis where I pressurize a structure (Step 1) and then impact it (Step 2).  What is the best way of doing this?

I. Can I run both steps with Explicit?  Or would that be too time/resource consuming for the pressure step?

II. Or would it be better to run the 1st step with Abaqus standard (NLGEOM turned on to capture membrane response to pressure) and then the 2nd step with explicit? 

A) If I do this, how about element type.  I just ran my first explicit analysis (an impact analysis as a test) and I had to define the elements as "explicit".  So, how does it work if you run the 1st step with a standard analysis and 2nd step with explicit, can you use "explicit" elements for both steps?

B) Can I submit a single job that runs through both steps or must I submit two jobs, the first with the pressure analysis and the 2nd a restart run with the impact analysis.

Some guidance to the best path to take would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Bill