Modeling cracks and seams

When you model cracks, you assign seams to regions of your model. Abaqus/CAE places overlapping duplicate nodes along a seam when the mesh is generated. A seam cannot extend along the boundaries of a part and must be embedded within a face of a two-dimensional part or within a cell of a solid part. Because a seam modifies the mesh, you cannot create a seam on a dependent part instance.

Related Topics
Using the Special menu in the Interaction module

Context:

For fracture mechanics, a seam defines an edge or a face with overlapping nodes that can separate during an analysis. You can include a seam crack in your model. Alternatively, you can refer to the seam when creating a contour integral; however, you cannot use a seam crack with the extended finite element method (XFEM). For more information, see Fracture mechanics.

  1. From the main menu bar in the Interaction module, select SpecialCrackAssign seam.

  2. From the model in the viewport, select the entities representing the seam. The entities must be embedded edges within a face of a two-dimensional part or embedded faces within a cell of a solid part; you cannot select any entities that lie on the boundary of the part.

  3. Click mouse button 2 to indicate that you have finished selecting the seam.

    Abaqus/CAE creates the seam.