The CATIA V5 Associative Interface allows you to transfer CATIA V5 Parts and Products into Abaqus/CAE using associative import. Materials and publications assigned to the CATIA V5 model are also transferred to the Abaqus/CAE model as material and set definitions, respectively. In addition to associative import, the CATIA V5 Associative Interface allows you to directly import the geometry of CATIA V5 models in .CATPart and .CATProduct format into Abaqus/CAE.

The following import techniques are available with the CATIA V5 Associative Interface:

• Automatic associative import is a powerful tool that allows you to quickly transfer models from a CATIA V5 session to an Abaqus/CAE session while both programs are running simultaneously on the same computer. After the model has been transferred, you can continue to make design modifications in CATIA V5 and propagate these modifications to the Abaqus/CAE model with a single mouse click; any of the features that you created in Abaqus/CAE—such as partitions, loads, boundary conditions, sets, and surfaces—are regenerated each time you import the modified model from CATIA V5 to Abaqus/CAE.
• The CATIA V5 Associative Interface also allows you to modify parameters defining CATIA geometry features—such as a hole radius or an extrusion length—from within Abaqus/CAE. The updated parameters are propagated to both the CATIA model and the Abaqus/CAE model.
• If CATIA V5 and Abaqus/CAE are not running concurrently, or are running on different computers, you can use manual associative import. Using the CATIA V5 Associative Interface plug-in, you can save an assembly (.eaf) file to a specified location. You can import the model into Abaqus/CAE, or use the assembly file to update an existing model in Abaqus/CAE at a later time. In addition, manual associative import can be used to perform an associative import across Windows platforms (for example, from CATIA V5 running on a 32-bit Windows machine to Abaqus/CAE running on a 64-bit Windows machine).
• Direct import is a nonassociative import that does not require the use of the CATIA V5 Associative Interface plug-in. The geometry of models saved as standard CATIA V5 Part or Product files can be imported directly into Abaqus/CAE. You cannot use direct import to update existing models in Abaqus/CAE, but you can use direct import to transfer model geometries across 32-bit and 64-bit Windows platforms. The ability to move between associative import and direct import provides flexibility within the enterprise or across the supply chain in the approach that you use for transferring models from CATIA V5 to Abaqus/CAE.

The CATIA V5 Associative Interface requires Abaqus/CAE 6.8 or higher and is compatible with CATIA V5 R18, R19, R20, R21 and V5-6R2012.

The Pro/ENGINEER Associative Interface allows you to transfer parts and assemblies from Pro/ENGINEER into Abaqus/CAE using associative import. In addition to associative import, the Pro/ENGINEER Associative Interface includes a direct translator that writes Pro/ENGINEER parts and assemblies in Elysium Neutral (.enf_abq) File format; Elysium Neutral Files can subsequently be imported into Abaqus/CAE.

The Pro/ENGINEER Associative Interface also allows you to modify parameters defining Pro/ENGINEER geometry features such the radius of a hole or an extrusion length from within Abaqus/CAE. The updated parameters are propagated to both the Pro/ENGINEER model and the Abaqus/CAE model.

The following import techniques are available with the Pro/ENGINEER Associative Interface:

• Automatic associative import is a powerful tool that allows you to quickly transfer models from a Pro/ENGINEER session to an Abaqus/CAE session while both programs are running simultaneously on the same computer. After the model has been transferred, you can continue to make design modifications in Pro/ENGINEER and propagate these modifications to the Abaqus/CAE model with a single mouse click; any of the features that you created in Abaqus/CAE—such as partitions, loads, boundary conditions, sets, and surfaces—are regenerated each time you import the modified model from Pro/ENGINEER to Abaqus/CAE.


• The Pro/Engineer Associative Interface also allows you to modify parameters defining Pro/Engineer geometry features—such as the radius of a hole or an extrusion length—from within Abaqus/CAE. The updated parameters are propagated to both the Pro/Engineer model and the Abaqus/CAE model.
• If Pro/ENGINEER and Abaqus/CAE are not running concurrently, or are running on different computers, you can use manual associative import. Using the Pro/ENGINEER Associative Interface plug-in, you can save an Elysium Neutral (.enf_abq) File and an Elysium Neutral Assembly (.eaf) File to a specified location. You can import the model into Abaqus/CAE or use the assembly file to update an existing model in Abaqus/CAE at a later time. In addition, manual associative import can be used to perform an associative import across platforms (for example, from Pro/ENGINEER running on Windows to Abaqus/CAE running on Linux).
• The direct translator allows you to perform nonassociative imports of Pro/ENGINEER geometry into Abaqus/CAE using only a single file. Using the Pro/ENGINEER Associative Interface plug-in, you can save an Elysium Neutral (.enf_abq) File to a specified location. You can import the model geometry into Abaqus/CAE at a later time using the Elysium Neutral File. You cannot use the direct translator to update existing models in Abaqus/CAE, but you can use the direct translator to transfer model geometries across platforms. The ability to move between associative import and direct import provides flexibility within the enterprise or across the supply chain in the approach that you use for transferring models from Pro/ENGINEER to Abaqus/CAE.

The Pro/ENGINEER Associative Interface requires Abaqus/CAE 6.8 or higher.

Platforms

Automatic associative imports can only be performed if both the CAD system and Abaqus/CAE are running on a Windows platform. Other functionality is available on all platforms that support the Associative Interface plug-ins, as summarized in the following table:

¹ Includes the CATIA V5 direct import capability in Abaqus/CAE that that can read CATIA V5 R13-R21 and V5-6R2012 files.
² SolidWorks is not available on the Linux platform. The manual associative import method may be used when Abaqus/CAE is running on a Linux platform.

Licensing and Installation for CATIA V5 Associative Interface

You do not need a license to run the CATIA V5 Associative Interface plug-in, although you will need the appropriate license to run CATIA V5. Abaqus/CAE requires a license to import the assembly file generated by the plug-in, as well as the .CatPart and .CatProduct files; for more information, contact your local Abaqus sales office.

Click the link in the following table to download the CATIA V5 Associative Interface plug-in for the desired release of CATIA. For complete installation instructions, refer to the User’s Guide, which can be downloaded in PDF format.

Licensing and Installation for Pro/ENGINEER Associative Interface

You do not need a license to run the Pro/ENGINEER Associative Interface plug-in, although you will need the appropriate license to run Pro/ENGINEER. Abaqus/CAE requires a license to import the assembly file generated by the plug-in, as well as the Elysium Neutral Files; for more information, contact your local Abaqus sales office.

Click the link in the following table to download the Pro/ENGINEER Associative Interface plug-in for the desired platform. For complete installation instructions, refer to the User’s Guide, which can be downloaded in PDF format.

Licensing and Installation for SolidWorks Associative Interface

You do not need a license to run the SolidWorks Associative Interface add-in, although you will need the appropriate license to run SolidWorks. Abaqus/CAE requires a license to import the assembly file generated by the plug-in; for more information, contact your local SIMULIA sales office.

Click the link in the following table to download the SolidWorks Associative Interface add-in for the desired platform. For complete installation instructions, refer to the User’s Guide, which can be downloaded in PDF format.