Why Full Model Detail Is Not Always the Right Approach
Not every part of a model needs the same level of detail, and building everything at full resolution is often neither necessary nor practical. Submodelling and substructuring are two of the most effective ways to manage this trade-off in Abaqus: One lets you refine only the local area you care about, the other lets you reduce large, repeating, or unchanging parts of a structure to a small set of retained degrees of freedom. Used well, both techniques cut computational cost significantly while preserving the accuracy that matters most.

Webinar Scope
In this training, 4RealSim will cover both submodelling and substructuring in Abaqus, how each technique works, when to use which, and the practical steps to set them up correctly. We will look at node based and surface based submodelling, the workflow for generating and using substructures, and the limitations of each approach, illustrated with real examples including a pinched cylinder, a pressure vessel, a pipe joint, and a square frame built from repeated substructures.

Topics Covered

• Submodelling fundamentals: using a global solution to drive a refined local model

• Node based versus surface based submodelling: how to choose

• Transferring data between global model and submodel

• Defining prescribed values and boundary conditions in a submodel

• Submodelling workflow, from global run to submodel verification

• Shell to solid submodelling for joints and through thickness detail

• Submodelling limitations: supported elements and procedures

• Substructuring fundamentals: reducing a group of elements to retained degrees of freedom

• Computational and organizational advantages of substructuring

• Substructure generation and usage workflow

• Substructuring limitations and where the technique cannot be applied

Who Should Attend?

• Simulation engineers looking to refine local regions without remeshing the full model

• Analysts working with large, complex, or repeating structural assemblies

• Abaqus users looking to reduce computational cost while keeping local accuracy

• Anyone needing to isolate local nonlinearities or reanalyze only part of a structure

Prerequisite

• 4RealSim Abaqus customer