VCCT for ABAQUS plug-in VCCT for ABAQUS Plug-in

The VCCT for ABAQUS plug-in allows you to interactively define the debond interface(s), interface properties, and output requests for your VCCT analysis from within ABAQUS/CAE. With the plug-in, you no longer need to manually edit the input file to complete the model definition. Further, the plug-in simplifies the task of editing the interfaces in existing input files. Please refer to the VCCT for ABAQUS manual (Version 1.2) for details on the VCCT for ABAQUS add on. Supported Keywords The following keyword options required for VCCT for ABAQUS analyses are supported by the plug-in:
*INITIAL CONDITIONS, TYPE=CONTACT *SURFACE INTERACTION, NAME=name, UCRACK, DEPVAR=13, PROPERTIES=[11|16+n] *DEBOND, SLAVE=slave, MASTER=master, OUTPUT=[fil|dat|both] *OUTPUT, FIELD, FREQUENCY=freq *CONTACT OUTPUT, MASTER=master, SLAVE=slave SDV *OUTPUT, HISTORY, FREQUENCY=freq *CONTACT OUTPUT, [(MASTER=master, SLAVE=slave)|(NSET=nset)] SDV1, SDV2,

Installation The plug-in must be used with ABAQUS Version 6.6-3 or higher. To install the VCCT plug-in, save the attached .pyc files to one of the following directories: abaqus_dir\cae\abaqus_plugins where abaqus_dir is the ABAQUS parent directory home_dir\abaqus_plugins where home_dir is your home directory current_dir\abaqus_plugins where current_dir is the current directory

Note that if the abaqus_plugins directory does not exist in the desired path, it must be created. The next time ABAQUS/CAE is started, a menu item named VCCT will be available in the Plugins pull down menu (select Plug-ins VCCT) in the Interaction module. Usage A VCCT model can be created from native geometry or an orphan mesh. To use the VCCT for ABAQUS plug-in, complete the following four steps: 1. Create Model in ABAQUS/CAE or Import Orphan Mesh Create the model in ABAQUS/CAE without defining the debond interface, or import the model (nodes, elements, materials, constraints etc.) and history (step) data into ABAQUS/CAE as an orphan mesh.

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2. Create Surfaces and Node Sets for the Debond Interfaces Prior to launching the plug-in, create surfaces for the debond interface(s) and a node set(s) for the initially bonded region(s). Equivalent keywords:
*SURFACE, TYPE=ELEMENT, NAME=slave_surf slave_surf_elset, face/edge label *SURFACE, TYPE=ELEMENT, NAME=master_surf master_surf_elset, face/edge label *NSET, NSET=bonded_node_set list of nodes

3. Define the Debond Interface Properties a. Switch to the Interaction module and select Plug-ins following menu: VCCT to receive the

Figure 1: Selecting the VCCT Interaction Property Manager Select Interaction Property Manager to receive the dialog in Figure 2 (below). The VCCT Interaction Property Manager lists all the interaction properties created for the VCCT debond interface(s) in a model. A new interaction property can be created or an existing one can be edited, copied, renamed, or deleted.

Equivalent keyword:
*SURFACE INTERACTION, NAME=bottom_crack, UCRACK

Figure 2: VCCT Interaction Property Manager

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b. Select Create to create a new interaction property or Edit to edit an existing interaction property. The Edit Surface Interaction dialog will open if either Create or Edit is selected. c. Complete the two tab options on the Edit Surface Interaction dialog: General Options tab: Allows you to specify the fracture criterion, out-of-plane thickness for 2D models, viscosity coefficient, and cutback tolerance. This tab is shown in Figure 3, below. Properties tab: Allows you to specify spatially varying or constant critical strain energy release rates. This tab is shown in Figure 4 below. For further details on specifying a spatially varying strain energy release rate, refer to Specifying spatially varying critical energy release rates, Section 3.4 of the VCCT for ABAQUS Version 1.2 manual. The equivalent keywords and parameters introduced from the Edit Surface Interaction dialog are shown in bold type below:
*SURFACE INTERACTION, DEPVAR=13, PROPERTIES=[11|16+n] w, G_IC, G_IIC, G_IIIC, mixType, , m, n, o w, m, tol Node IDi, G_ICi, G_IICi, G_IIICi, Node IDj, G_ICj, G_IICj, G_IIICj Node IDk, G_ICk, G_IICk, G_IIICk,

Figure 3: General Options in the Edit Surface Interaction dialog

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Spatial Variation of Critical Strain Energy Release Rates: The contents of this table can be edited using the options available with a right click of the mouse.

Figure 4: Properties in the Edit Surface Interaction dialog The VCCT interface interaction property created using the plug-in will also appear in the Interaction Property Manager as being of type Contact. To see this, from the Interaction module select Interaction Property Manager:

Figure 5: VCCT interaction properties will be listed in the Interaction Property Manager.

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NOTE: The VCCT interface properties must not be edited through the Interaction Property Manager. All edits must be done through the VCCT Interaction Property Manager. 4. Define the Debond Interface Complete the following three steps to define the debond interface: a. Create a contact pair and any contact controls for the VCCT debond interface Use the existing framework for defining contact pairs in ABAQUS/CAE (Figure 6, below). The contact pair must refer to the VCCT interaction property created with the VCCT Interaction Property Manager.

Interaction Name

Select a VCCT Interaction Property

Figure 6: Defining a contact pair Note that if the *FRICTION or *SURFACE BEHAVIOR options are needed to define the interaction between initially debonded or delaminated regions of the contact pair, they must be manually added to the input file.

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b. Select the initially bonded region and debond interface i. From the Interaction module, select Plug-ins VCCT:

Figure 7: Selecting the VCCT Interface Manager Select Interface Manager to receive the dialog in Figure 8 (below). ii. The VCCT Interface Manager lists the VCCT debond interface(s) in a model. A new interface can be created or an existing one can be edited, copied, renamed, or deleted.

Figure 8: VCCT Interface manager iii. In ABAQUS/CAE the name for a contact pair interaction is specified as shown in Figure 6. If a particular contact pair refers to a VCCT interaction property it will be available for association with a VCCT debond interface. For example, interaction bot_contact refers to VCCT interaction property bottom_crack as shown in Figure 6. So, interaction bot_contact is available when VCCT interface bottom_crack is created. If this contact interaction is selected it will be associated with the interface bottom_crack. NOTE: Contact interaction(s) referring to a VCCT interaction property must be created before a VCCT interface can be defined. iv. Select Create to create a new interface or Edit to edit an existing interface. The Edit Interface dialog (Figure 9, below) will open if either Create or Edit is selected.

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v. The initially bonded region for the interface is specified on the Debond tab of the Edit Interface dialog. This region is defined as a node set and must already exist prior to defining the VCCT interface. All the node sets in the model will be available for selection to define the initially bonded region. In addition, you can select the frequency at which crack propagation output is written, the file to which the data is printed, and the step in which debonding initiates after the fracture criterion is met.

Figure 9: Debond tab of the VCCT Edit Interface dialog c. Request output Solution dependent state variables (SDV) for a VCCT debond interface can be requested as field and history data. Other output variables for the analysis can be requested for output using the existing ABAQUS/CAE framework.

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Figure 10: Output tab of the VCCT Edit Interface dialog

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