Hello everyone, I've got a 3-step 3D analysis (mounting, relaxation, PPRESS). When the .dat file is generated, it gives you an overview on problem size, my example is this:

P R O B L E M S I Z E

NUMBER OF ELEMENTS IS 1546403
NUMBER OF ELEMENTS DEFINED BY THE USER AND *TIE 868193
NUMBER OF INTERNAL ELEMENTS GENERATED FOR CONTACT 678208
NUMBER OF NODES IS 3085671
NUMBER OF NODES DEFINED BY THE USER 922557
NUMBER OF INTERNAL NODES GENERATED BY THE PROGRAM 2163114
TOTAL NUMBER OF VARIABLES IN THE MODEL 5792650
(DEGREES OF FREEDOM PLUS MAX NO. OF ANY LAGRANGE MULTIPLIER
VARIABLES. INCLUDE *PRINT,SOLVE=YES TO GET THE ACTUAL NUMBER.)
Right after this message it gives a Job Time Summary of how long the .dat file generation took.
Now, what bothers me that the creation of the .dat file takes ~1500 seconds. If I save the same .inp file, only removing *pressurepenetration keywords from the last step, the .dat file generation takes ~150 seconds.
What does abaqus do there internally that it takes so long?
Abaqus