Editing the region to which an interaction or constraint is applied

You can edit the region to which an interaction is applied only in the step in which the interaction was created.

Related Topics
Using the Interaction module
What are step-dependent managers?
  1. From the Interaction or Constraint menu in the main menu bar, select Manager to display the Interaction Manager or Constraint Manager.

  2. Choose one of the following methods:

    • To edit an interaction, click the cell located in the row of the interaction that you want to modify and in the column of the step in which it was created and click Edit. Alternatively, you can just double-click the cell.

      Tip: You can also initiate this procedure by clicking the step in which the interaction was created from the Step list located in the context bar. From the Interaction menu in the main menu bar, select Editinteraction name.

    • To edit a constraint, select the name of the constraint and click Edit.

      Tip: You can also initiate this procedure by selecting Editconstraint name from the main menu bar.

    If you are editing a foundation interaction, either you are prompted to edit the region by selecting or unselecting objects in the viewport or the Region Selection dialog box appears in which you can select a surface that you have already created using the Surface toolset.

    If you are editing any other type of interaction or a constraint, the appropriate editor appears. The editor for all interactions except general contact contains an Edit Region option for each region involved in the interaction or constraint definition.

    If your interaction or constraint definition includes both a master surface and a slave surface or region, the master surface appears highlighted in red and the slave surface or region appears highlighted in magenta during the editing procedure.

    If you are editing a surface-to-surface contact interaction, yellow arrows are displayed on the shell surfaces to show the shell normal that was selected when the interaction was created. On geometry, a single arrow is displayed at the centroid of each face on the shell surface. On native or orphan meshes, an arrow is displayed on each of the element faces on the shell surface. If you edit the master surface or the slave surface, the arrows are displayed for the selected surface.

  3. If you are editing a general contact interaction, modify the contact domain using the methods described in Defining general contact.

  4. If you are editing a constraint or an interaction other than general contact or foundation, click for the region that you want to modify. For example, if you are editing a surface-to-surface contact interaction and you want to modify the master surface, click next to the Master surface label in the editor.

  5. If you are editing a constraint or an interaction other than general contact, edit the region by selecting and unselecting objects in the viewport. If you are editing the host region to which an embedded region constraint is applied, first select the selection method. When you have finished editing the region, click mouse button 2. (For more information, see Selecting objects within the viewport.”)

    Tip: You can limit the types of objects that you can select in the viewport by specifying filtering options in the Selection toolbar. See Using the selection options, for more information.

    If you would rather select from a list of existing sets or surfaces, do the following:

    1. Click Sets or Surfaces on the right side of the prompt area. (The name of the button depends on the type of object you are editing. For example, if you are editing an interaction, a Surfaces button appears.)

      Abaqus/CAE displays the Region Selection dialog box containing a list of available sets or surfaces.

    2. Select the set or surface of interest, and click Continue.

    Note:

    The default selection method is based on the selection method you most recently employed. To revert to the other method, click Select in Viewport or Sets or Surfaces on the right side of the prompt area.

  6. Finish editing the interaction or constraint definition as desired, and then press mouse button 2 (if you are editing a foundation interaction) or click OK in the editor (if you are editing any other type of interaction or if you are editing a constraint).