Extreme Strain Simulations with Abaqus

Airbag inflation modeled with large deformation simulation in Abaqus.

Many real-world engineering challenges involve large and irreversible shape changes. Think of crushed vehicles, stretched polymers, or deformed metal sheets. Simulating such extreme strain behavior requires powerful and reliable tools. Abaqus stands out with its ability to handle severe geometric and material nonlinearities while maintaining stability and accuracy. In this post, we explore how Abaqus enables robust large deformation simulations for high-performance applications.

Benefit 5: Large Deformation 

Some engineering challenges simply can’t be approximated with linear assumptions. Many materials, especially metals and polymers, undergo permanent, nonlinear deformation when subjected to forming, impact, or collapse. In these scenarios, strain values can easily reach 50 to 100%, with visible bulk shape changes. 

Simulating such behavior requires more than mesh refinement or linear elasticity. It calls for a solver that can track evolving geometry, complex material behavior, and contact interaction under severe strain. Abaqus is built for this. It originated as a nonlinear solver and remains one of the most capable tools for large deformation mechanics in forming, crash, and energy-absorption studies. 

Simulating Permanent Shape Change Across Industries 

Abaqus includes native support for large deformation across a wide range of applications, including: 

• Deep drawing, metal stamping, and hot rolling in manufacturing 

• Plastic deformation in metals or polymers 

• Crash simulation in vehicles, structural panels, or barriers 

• Airbag deployment under dynamic pressure conditions 

• Post-buckling and collapse of slender structures 

These problems are highly nonlinear, both geometrically and materially. Abaqus handles them with stability, even under extreme loading, without requiring user-defined corrections or shortcuts. 

When mesh-based FEM reaches its limit 

In traditional Lagrangian finite element methods, the mesh deforms with the material. At high strain levels, this leads to severe mesh distortion, unstable gradients, and often numerical failure. 

To overcome the limitations of standard FEM under extreme strain, Abaqus provides two advanced methods that extend beyond traditional mesh-based approaches.

Coupled Eulerian-Lagrangian (CEL)

CEL separates the mesh from the material itself:

• The mesh stays fixed in space, allowing the material to flow through it.

• This eliminates mesh distortion and is especially useful for simulations involving hot forging, high-speed impact, or fluid–structure interaction, such as hydroplaning.

Smooth Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) 

SPH is a mesh-free method: 

• The body is represented by discrete particles linked through smoothing functions. 

• Perfect for modeling shattering, fragmentation, spray formation, or impact rupture, where the body may break apart or separate. 

Together, CEL and SPH enable stable simulation of extreme material flow that traditional approaches can’t manage.

Why engineers rely on Abaqus for large deformation 

Abaqus supports: 

• High strain simulations with material and geometric nonlinearity 

• Stable solvers for complex contact and energy dissipation 

• Built-in support for both Eulerian and particle-based methods 

• Consistent workflows across Abaqus/Standard and Abaqus/Explicit 

This allows engineers to simulate permanent deformation, evaluate failure risk, and optimize formability, all with one solver suite.

Abaqus nonlinear simulation: 8 key benefits 

Benefit 1: Nonlinear Performance 

Benefit 2: Contact Modeling 

Benefit 3: Efficient Substructures 

Benefit 4: Multiphysics 

Benefit 5: Large Deformation 

Benefit 6: Fracture and Failure 

Benefit 7: Development and Support 

Benefit 8: Abaqus Pricing 

Simulate Extreme Deformation with Confidence

From forming operations to crash safety analysis, Abaqus delivers stable and realistic simulations under even the most demanding conditions. Ready to explore large deformation workflows with Abaqus? Contact us via the contact form or email sales@4realsim.com to receive personalized guidance and start your simulation journey.