About design responses

The inputs to your optimization are called the design responses. Design responses can be read from the Abaqus output database file; for example, stiffness, stresses, eigenfrequencies, and displacements. Alternatively, the Optimization module can extract the design responses from the position of nodes or the layout of elements in your model; for example, its weight, center of mass, or inertia.

A design response is associated with a region of your model; however, it consists of a single scalar value, such as the maximum stress in a region or the total volume of the model. In addition, a design response can be associated with a particular step or load case. For more information, see Configuring design responses, and Design responses.