Using Manual Associative Export and Import

You can use manual associative export and import to transfer design changes from the Assembly Design app or the Part Design app to Abaqus/CAE without losing any analysis features that you defined in Abaqus/CAE.

See Also
Automatic and Manual Associative Export and Import
Configuring the Associative Export Options
  1. From CATIA, load the model to be exported.
  2. From the top bar, select Share > Export > Associative Export > Write to File.

    The app saves the model in assembly (.eaf) file format. The file is stored in the export directory that you define when configuring the associate export options. You can now end your app session.

  3. Start Abaqus/CAE, and select File > Import > Assembly from the main menu bar.
  4. From the Import Assembly dialog box that appears, select the assembly (.eaf) file that was created, and click OK.
  5. From the Import Assembly from EAF File dialog box that appears, select the assembly or individual part instances to import, and click OK.

    The selected part instances appear in the current Abaqus/CAE viewport. You can use the parts and the assembly in an Abaqus/CAE analysis; for example, you can apply sections to the parts, and you can apply loads and boundary conditions to the assembly.

    For more information about importing assembly files, see “Importing an assembly from an assembly file,” in the Abaqus/CAE User’s Guide.

  6. If you modify the model in the app, use the following steps to propagate the changes to the model in Abaqus/CAE:
    1. From the top bar, select Share > Export > Associative Export > Write to File to create an updated assembly file. The names of the parts and products in the CATIA model must remain the same.
    2. Open the existing model in the current viewport of Abaqus/CAE.
    3. Import the updated assembly file into Abaqus/CAE.

      Features (such as loads and sets) and geometric modifications that you created in Abaqus/CAE are updated to account for the changes to the CATIA parts. Abaqus/CAE will be unable to regenerate some features if the topology of the part has changed significantly.

      Abaqus/CAE imports only the modified parts. Any changes that you made to the position of parts in the CATIA assembly will also be imported to Abaqus/CAE.

      Any components that you deactivated or activated in the app are suppressed or resumed similarly in Abaqus/CAE. If you hid a component in the app, the visibility of that part instance in Abaqus/CAE is turned off; use the Assembly Display Options in Abaqus/CAE to control the visibility of part instances (for more information, see “Controlling instance visibility,” in the Abaqus/CAE User’s Guide).