Importing an assembly from an assembly file

Select FileImportAssembly from the main menu bar to import an assembly from an assembly file. Assembly files are created by all of the associative interfaces for Abaqus/CAE (see What can I do with the associative interfaces?).

Context:

The geometry files for the individual parts in the assembly must be located in the same directory as the assembly file. The assembly file always has the file extension .eaf; however, the file type of the part geometry files depends on which associative interface was used to write the model:

CATIA V6 Associative Interface

CATIA V5 part files (.CATPart). (The CATIA V6 parts and assemblies are converted to CATIA V5 format before they are exported.)

CATIA V5 Associative Interface

CATIA V5 part files (.CATPart)

SOLIDWORKS Associative Interface

ACIS files (.sat)

Pro/ENGINEER Associative Interface

Pro/ENGINEER Elysium Neutral files (.enf_abq)

Abaqus/CAE Associative Interface for NX

NX Elysium Neutral files (.enf_abq)

The following procedure is necessary only when performing a manual associative import of a model assembly. For complete details about creating assembly files and various methods for importing models using the associative interfaces, refer to the user guides for each associative interface. The user guides are available from the Dassault Systèmes Knowledge Base at http://www.3ds.com/support/knowledge-base.

  1. From the main menu bar, select FileImportAssembly.

    The Import Assembly dialog box appears.

  2. From the File Filter menu at the bottom of the Import Assembly dialog box, select Assembly File (*.eaf*).

    Abaqus/CAE lists the files in the selected directory with a .eaf file extension.

  3. Select the file containing the assembly to import, and click OK.

    Abaqus/CAE displays the Import Assembly from EAF File dialog box.

  4. Do either of the following:

    • Click on the assembly name to import all of the part instances in the assembly.

    • Click on the arrow to the left of the assembly name to display all of the part instances in the assembly. Click on the names of the part instances that you want to import.

  5. Click OK to import the assembly or selected part instances and to exit the Import Assembly from EAF File dialog box.

    Abaqus/CAE displays a message indicating if any of the part files were not found or if any part instances are invalid or imprecise. If necessary, use the Query toolset to locate areas of invalid and imprecise geometry. For more information, see Using the Query toolset in the Part module.