Abaqus ODB Skill

This skill reads and extracts analysis results from Abaqus ODB files.

When to Use This Skill

Route here when user mentions:

• "What is the maximum stress?", "extract displacement"
• "Get reaction forces", "post-process the ODB"
• "Export results to CSV", "what are the eigenfrequencies?"

Route elsewhere:

• Running the analysis → /abaqus-job
• Configuring what output to save → /abaqus-output
• Exporting geometry (STL, STEP) → /abaqus-export

Key Decisions

1. What Result is Needed?

Need	Field	Notes
Displacement	U	Use .magnitude for total
Stress	S	Use .mises for von Mises
Reaction force	RF	Sum components for total
Strain	E	Similar structure to stress
Temperature	NT	Thermal analysis results
Eigenfrequency	Frame description	Parse from frame metadata

2. Which Step/Frame?

Scenario	Frame Selection
Final results	step.frames[-1]
All time history	Loop all frames
Specific time	Find by frameValue
Modal analysis	Each frame = mode

3. Location: Global Max or Specific?

Need	Approach
Overall maximum	Loop all values, find max
Specific node	Filter by nodeLabel
Subset/region	Use getSubset(region=...)

4. Export Format?

Format	Use Case
Print to console	Quick check
CSV file	Spreadsheet analysis
Text report	Documentation

What to Ask User

If unclear, ask:

1. What result? Stress, displacement, reaction force, frequency?
2. Which step/frame? Final, specific time, or all?
3. Location? Maximum anywhere, or specific node/region?
4. Output format? Print, CSV, or report?

Workflow

1. Open ODB - Use readOnly=True for extraction
2. Navigate to step/frame - List steps with odb.steps.keys()
3. Get field output - Access via frame.fieldOutputs['U']
4. Extract values - Loop field.values, use .magnitude, .mises
5. Close ODB - Always close when done

Common Tasks

Task	Approach
Max displacement	Loop U values, find max magnitude
Max von Mises stress	Loop S values, find max mises
Total reaction force	Sum RF components across all nodes
Displacement at node	Filter by nodeLabel
Results in region	Use getSubset with node/element set
Eigenfrequencies	Parse frame.description in frequency step
Time history	Use historyRegions and historyOutputs
Export to CSV	Write values with csv module

Troubleshooting

Error	Cause	Solution
"ODB locked"	Another process has it	Delete .lck file
"Key not found"	Wrong variable name	List available keys first
"No values"	Output not requested	Check FieldOutputRequest in model
"AttributeError: mises"	Element has no mises	Check element formulation

Code Patterns

For API syntax and code examples, see:

• ODB Extraction Patterns
• Common Queries
• Export Templates