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Abaqus

License Costs

Abaqus is licensed to research who contribute to the Annual Abaqus License Agreement. Cost for the service for FY23 is based on the following rates:

  • Research License (Fixed): $61.21
  • Research Seat (Fixed): $204.81
  • Base Token Cost (Fixed): $57.41
  • CPU Token Core Hour: Variable * $19.41

The final cost will be billed in arrears during the license renewal period in October 2023.

Description

Finite Element Analysis software for modeling, visualization, and best-in-class implicit and explicit dynamics FEA. - Homepage: http://www.3ds.com/products-services/simulia/products/abaqus/

Documentation

We have documentation available for the following versions of ABAQUS:

Note: The search functions are currently not working for all Abaqus documentation versions.

Note: You will need to be within the TAMU firewall in order to view these documents. You will need to either be on campus OR connect using VPN. Information on the TAMU VPN can be found here.

Knowledge Base

TAMU ABAQUS users can also access the Knowledge Base at https://www.3ds.com/support/knowledge-base/ under the Simulia brand/category for technical questions about ABAQUS.

You can also create an account at https://swym.3ds.com/#community:73 to get access to more resources, including the full software documentation, tutorials, training and tips, eSeminars, articles and papers.

Tutorials

Access

Abaqus is open to all HPRC users when used within the terms of our license agreement. If you have particular concerns about whether specific usage falls within the TAMU HPRC license, please send an email to the HPRC Helpdesk.

Loading the Module

To see all versions of Abaqus available:

[NetID@cluster ~]$module spider ABAQUS

To load a particular version of Abaqus use: (Example: 2021)

[NetID@cluster ~]$module load ABAQUS/2021

Note: New versions of software become available periodically. Version numbers may change.

License Tokens

Usage of Abaqus is restricted by the number of available tokens. One instance of Abaqus cae requires one (1) cae token. An Abaqus job requires tokens based on the number of cores the job will use. The formula for calculating licenses that are needed is:

int(5 * (cores)^0.422)

To see the number of available tokens, use the License Checker Tool.

Known Issues

Terra Multinode Usage

Abaqus 6.14 uses a MPI library (IBM Platform MPI 9.1.2) that will most likely not work with Terra's interconnect fabric (Intel Omni-Path). If parallel Abaqus usage is needed, the following options are available:

  1. Ideally, use Abaqus 2016 or 2017 on Terra. Both versions have been modified to support Terra's Omni-Path fabric for multi-node jobs.
  2. If Abaqus 6.14 is needed (eg. resuming from a previous 6.14 simulation) on Terra, these jobs must be limited to a single node (at most 28 cores). In this case, do not use the mp_mode=mpi option.

Usage on the Login Nodes

Please limit interactive processing to short, non-intensive usage. Use non-interactive batch jobs for resource-intensive and/or multiple-core processing. Users are requested to be responsible and courteous to other users when using software on the login nodes.

The most important processing limits here are: * ONE HOUR of PROCESSING TIME per login session.

  • EIGHT CORES per login session on the same node or (cumulatively) across all login nodes.

Anyone found violating the processing limits will have their processes killed without warning. Repeated violation of these limits will result in account suspension. Note: Your login session will disconnect after one hour of inactivity.

Usage on the Compute Nodes

Non-interactive batch jobs on the compute nodes allows for resource-demanding processing. Non-interactive jobs have higher limits on the number of cores, amount of memory, and runtime length.

For instructions on how to create and submit a batch job, please see the appropriate wiki page for each respective cluster:

Terra Example

A single-core example with a user subroutine: (Last updated March 24, 2017)

#!/bin/bash

##NECESSARY JOB SPECIFICATIONS
#SBATCH --job-name=AbaqusJob    # Sets the job name to AbaqusJob
#SBATCH --time=2:00:00          # Sets the runtime limit to 2 hr
#SBATCH --ntasks=1              # Requests 1 core
#SBATCH --ntasks-per-node=1     # Requests 1 core per node (1 node)
#SBATCH --mem=5G                # Requests 5GB of memory per node
#SBATCH --output=AbaqusJob.o%J  # Sends stdout and stderr to AbaqusJob.o[jobID]

## Load the module
module purge
module load ABAQUS/2017

## Launch Abaqus with proper parameters 
abaqus memory="5GB" cpus=1 job=jobname input=inputfile.inp user=filename.for

A multi-core (10 core), single-node example, with no user subroutine: (Last updated June 14, 2017)

#!/bin/bash
##ENVIRONMENT SETTINGS; CHANGE WITH CAUTION
#SBATCH --export=NONE
#SBATCH --get-user-env=L

##NECESSARY JOB SPECIFICATIONS
#SBATCH --job-name=AbaqusJob    # Sets the job name to AbaqusJob
#SBATCH --time=2:00:00          # Sets the runtime limit to 2 hr
#SBATCH --ntasks=10             # Requests 10 cores
#SBATCH --ntasks-per-node=10    # Requests 10 cores per node (1 node)
#SBATCH --mem=50G               # Requests 50GB of memory per node
#SBATCH --output=AbaqusJob.o%J  # Sends stdout and stderr to AbaqusJob.o[jobID]

## Load the module
module purge
module load ABAQUS/2017

# setup host list for ABAQUS
slurm_setup_abaqus.sh

## Launch Abaqus with proper parameters 
abaqus memory="50GB" cpus=$SLURM_NTASKS job=jobname input=inputfile.inp

A multi-core (56 core), multi-node example, with no user subroutine: (Last updated June 14, 2017)

#!/bin/bash
##ENVIRONMENT SETTINGS; CHANGE WITH CAUTION
#SBATCH --export=NONE
#SBATCH --get-user-env=L

##NECESSARY JOB SPECIFICATIONS
#SBATCH --job-name=AbaqusJob    # Sets the job name to AbaqusJob
#SBATCH --time=2:00:00          # Sets the runtime limit to 2 hr
#SBATCH --ntasks=56             # Requests 56 cores
#SBATCH --ntasks-per-node=28    # Requests 28 cores per node (1 node)
#SBATCH --mem=50G               # Requests 50GB of memory per node
#SBATCH --output=AbaqusJob.o%J  # Sends stdout and stderr to AbaqusJob.o[jobID]

## Load the module
module purge
module load ABAQUS/2017

# setup host list for ABAQUS
slurm_setup_abaqus.sh

## Launch Abaqus with proper parameters 
abaqus memory="50GB" cpus=$SLURM_NTASKS job=jobname input=inputfile.inp mp_mode=mpi

To submit the batch job run: (where jobscript is an ASCII English Text file that looks like one of the above examples)

[ NetID@terra ~]$ sbatch jobscript

Running the ABAQUS GUI

TAMU OnDemand:

  • Step 1: Go to https://portal.hprc.tamu.edu/ and select a cluster.
  • Step 2: At the top of page, select 'Interactive Apps' and choose Abaqus/CAE.
  • Step 3: Fill in the appropriate job parameters and select 'Launch' to run the GUI.

Using VNC Script:
While in a VNC job, use abaqus cae (with vglrun) to start the ABAQUS GUI.

[NetID@gpu ~]$vglrun abaqus cae

Running the ABAQUS GUI on a login node

GUI use via a login node requires X11 forwarding to be enabled.

    • You can launch the GUI of certain applications from the login nodes. Keep in mind the Acceptable Use Policy while running on the login nodes. These limitations include: - ONE HOUR of PROCESSING TIME per login session. - EIGHT CORES per login session on the same node or (cumulatively) across all login nodes
    • A detailed guide for launching GUI's from the Login nodes can be found for each OS [here] (/kb/Helpful-Pages/Access/)

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What versions of ABAQUS are available and which should I use?
A: You can see which versions of ABAQUS we have available by using the module spider command as shown above. If you do not need to use a specific version of ABAQUS, we generally recommend that you use the newest version that we provide. Remember that it is always recommended to load a specific version of a module instead of the default version. This is because default versions will change which might cause problems in the future. It is always best to know exactly which module you are using.

Q: I am having a hard time setting up batch job to run with Abaqus 6.14 version on Terra. What am I missing?
A: Abaqus 6.14 uses a MPI library (IBM Platform MPI 9.1.2) most likely will not work with Terra's interconnect fabric (Intel Omni-Path). Your options are:

  • Option 1: Ideally, use Abaqus 2016 or 2017 on Terra. Both versions have been modified to support Terra's Omni-Path fabric for multi-node jobs.
  • Option 2: If you need to use Abaqus 6.14 (eg. resuming from a previous 6.14 simulation) on Terra, you will need to limit your job to a single node (at most 28 cores). In this case, do not use the mp_mode=mpi option.

Q: How do I open the ABAQUS GUI?
A: Using the ABAQUS GUI (or almost any GUI on our clusters) for anything more than light editing requires the use of a VNC job. For information on how to use a VNC job, please see our Remote Visualization page.

  • Step 1: Go to https://portal.hprc.tamu.edu/ and select a cluster.
  • Step 2: At the top of page, select 'Interactive Apps' and choose ABAQUS/CAE.
  • Step 3: Fill in the appropriate job parameters and select 'Launch' to run the GUI.

Note: We always recommend that you do not submit jobs with the ABAQUS GUI unless they take only seconds to run. Using the GUI to submit jobs can cause a lot of issues and often takes much longer than running a job non-interactively.

Q: What is the difference between an interactive and a non-interactive job?
A: An interactive job is one which is done in the GUI with interaction from the user (even if only to start the job). A non-interactive job is a job that the user gives to the cluster, most often with a job file, which is then scheduled and run by the batch system without the GUI or any further interaction from the user. A non-interactive job often runs faster while using less resources and can more easily be customized to meet the user's needs. A non-interactive job uses the ABAQUS solver and creates exactly the same files as it would if the GUI were used. You will also still be able to view the results of the analysis as though the job were run with the GUI.

Q: How do I submit a non-interactive job?
A: You will need a batch job file and your ABAQUS input file (.inp) in order to submit a job. Examples of ABAQUS job files are given above. Please use these only as guidelines, you will need to customize some requirements to meet your needs.

  • Step 1: Generate the ABAQUS input file (.inp). This can be done in the GUI by first creating a job and then, in the top toolbar, going to Job->Write Input->JobName.
  • Step 2: Create a batch job file with the appropriate parameters.
  • Step 3: Submit the job

Use sbatch to submit the job:

[NetID@terra1 ~]$sbatchjobscript

Q: How much memory do I need?
A: ABAQUS has a datacheck feature which will estimate how much memory is needed to complete a certain job.

  • Step 1: Load the ABAQUS module.
  • Step 2: Run the datacheck command with the proper parameters. A data file (.dat) will be created.

[NetID@cluster ~]$abaqus datacheck job=jobname

  • Step 3: Look in the (.dat) file, there will be a section titled "MEMORY ESTIMATE" as shown below. The value labled "MEMORY TO MINIMIZE I/O" is the total amount of memory that your job will need. This is only an estimate and it is recommended to request at least slightly over the value found here.
                M E M O R Y   E S T I M A T E

   PROCESS      FLOATING PT       MINIMUM MEMORY        MEMORY TO
                OPERATIONS           REQUIRED          MINIMIZE I/O
               PER ITERATION         (MBYTES)           (MBYTES)

       1          4.60E+6             10336              75311

Q: How do I set the memory?
A: There are two main ways that you can set the memory for ABAQUS.

  • Setting the memory for an ABAQUS job. (Recommended for use with ALL non interactive jobs)
    • To use more than the default memory in an ABAQUS job, add the memory parameter to your ABAQUS launch command in your batch job file. Remember, this is TOTAL memory, not memory per core.

abaqus memory="5000mb" job=jobnameinput=inputfile

  • Setting the memory in an ABAQUS environment file. (Recommended for use with the GUI)
    • In order to use more memory with the ABAQUS GUI, you will need to create an ABAQUS environment file (.env) which can be placed in either your home directory or current working directory.
    • Step 1: Create an ABAQUS environment file titled abaqus_v6.env in your $HOME directory or the current working directory (or both).
    • Step 2: Add an entry to the environment file for memory with the memory parameter. Remember this is TOTAL memory, not memory per core.

memory="5000mb"

Note: ABAQUS checks for environment settings in three places. In order, these are: the installation directory, a user's HOME directory, and the current working directory. The settings that take precedence are the LAST settings that ABAQUS checks. For example: If you have an environment file in your home directory AND the current working directory, the settings specified in the current working directory are the ones that will be used. Any settings specified in an ABAQUS launch command will take precedence over all environment file settings. If no memory is specified, the default value is 2GB.

Q: How many cores should I use?
A: ABAQUS is a software that is not the best when it comes to parallelization. Unless you have written your code specifically to be parallelized, ABAQUS generally will not parallelize well. It is possible that you could experience some speed up from running your job on multiple cores, and it is worth trying if your code is thread-safe. However, if you are running a small job (which takes less than 2 hours to complete), it is probably not worth the trouble of submitting on multiple cores. If you have a job that will run for longer, you might see a significant difference when using multiple cores. In general, for smaller jobs, use fewer cores, and for larger jobs, use more cores.
Note: Do not try to run your job on multiple cores if ANY part of your code is not thread safe.

Q: How long will my job take?
A: If you are using a single core, in general, you can expect that an ABAQUS job will take approximately the same time as it would on a regular workstation. As stated above, ABAQUS generally does not parallelize well. If you are using multiple cores, you might experience some speed up, but it is hard to say how much as it depends largely on your job and code.

Q: How do I use ABAQUS to do
A: Although we have some experience with running ABAQUS, we are, for the most part, NOT ABAQUS experts. We can only provide minimal help when it comes to using the software. If you have a problem with the software not behaving how you expect it to, please refer to the ABAQUS documentation linked above. Please feel free to contact us with your questions, but keep in mind that we are NOT ABAQUS experts.

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