OPTIONS

Read Parameters


READ_SF_IDENT		Determination of the surface nodes for shape optimization while reading the finite element model.
	= ON	Surface nodes are identified.
	= OFF	Surface nodes are not identified.
READ_SF_MIDNODE		Treatment of the midside nodes during the determination of the surface nodes.
	= ON	Midside nodes are considered during the determination of the surface nodes.
	= OFF	Midside nodes are not considered during the determination of the surface nodes.
READ_BC		Treatment of the boundary conditions of the finite element model.
	= ALL	Boundary conditions are read.
	= NOT	No boundary conditions are read.
	= ID, <`id_1`>, <`id_2`>, ...	Only some boundary condition sets are read (dependent on the interface).
READ_LOAD	= ON = OFF	Loaded nodes / elements are identified while reading the finite element model.
READ_ELEM_QUALITY	= ON = OFF	Check the element qualities during the import of the finite element model.
GROUP_NAME_COMPATIBILITY	= YES = NO	Compatibility mode for group names: If a group defined in the solver input file contains blanks, two groups are created: one where the blanks are replaced with underscores '_' and the other with blanks in the name.
ALLOW_MISSING_LOADCASES	= YES = NO	Controls the behavior of the preprocessor if no load case is found in the first solver input file: a value of YES would let the preprocessor continue, while the default value of NO triggers an error message and stops the execution. This option is useful in a multiple input file scenario where the load case definition(s) might appear in the second, third, etc. input files.

Parameters for the Optimization Run


READ_RESULTS		Checking the presence of the finite element results.
	= STRICT	Optimization is stopped if results are missing.
	= IGNORE	Optimization is continued even if some results are missing.
IGNORE_NUM_OF_CONSTRAINTS	= YES = NO	Continue with the optimization if the definition of the problem exceeds the number of 50 constraints.
IGNORE_NUM_OF_OBJF_TERMS	= YES = NO	Continue with the optimization if the definition of the problem exceeds the number of 50 objective functions terms.
IGNORE_OBJ_FUNC_TYPE	= YES =NO	Ignore the limitation for `MINMAX` objective function for controller-based optimization.
SHAPE_FORCE_VOLUME	= ON = OFF	Shape optimization forces volume constraint in the first design cycle. It is not recommended to turn this setting `OFF`. If the mesh is distorted in first iteration, your volume constraint is probably too small or large. Changing this to `OFF` will simply cause more design cycles before the mesh is corrupted.
SHAPE_AUTO_REMOVE_INNER_NODES	= ON = OFF	Shape optimization removes inner nodes from design area automatically. Inner nodes might still cause trouble by certain `DVCON_SHAPE` where inner nodes are not allowed.
SHAPE_FORCE_MIDSIDE_INTERPOL	= YES = NO	Shape optimization interpolates midside nodes linear if one of the neighbors has been moved. If set to `YES`, midside nodes are always interpolated for mesh smooth elements.
IGNORE_UNKNOWN_NODES	= YES = NO	If an input file references nodes that are unknown to Tosca Structure, these nodes can be ignored and a warning is printed (`YES`) or the optimization is aborted (`NO`).
DISABLE_TET_SELECTION_DETECTION	=NO = YES	If tetrahedral elements are located at a corner in such a way that the corner node belongs solely to that element and not all faces of the element shall be considered for normal direction calculation, special effort must be taken to determine the correct or expected direction. This special effort can be disabled by setting this option to `YES`.

Parameters usable with Abaqus


USE_ABQ_SENS		This option is obsolete and has no influence on the optimization procedure.
SENS_CALC_MODE	=AUTOMATIC/SOLVER/TOSCA/HYBRID	Controls whether the DRESPs values and sensitivities should be calculated by the solver or by the optimization system. If this option is set to `AUTOMATIC`, the optimization system will chose the best calculation mode. If `HYBRID` is chosen the design response values and the corresponding sensitivities will be calculated by solver if they are supported and by the optimization system for all other cases. To be able to use older versions of Abaqus (older than 3DEXPERIENCE2017x FP1721), set `SENS_CALC_MODE = TOSCA`.
SOLVER_RUN_MODE	=AUTOMATIC/SEQUENTIAL/SIMULTANEOUS	Controls whether the solver should be called (check out licenses, run preprocessor, solve the modified job, output the results, shut down) in each iteration in sequential sessions or a single/simultaneous solver session (start the solver once at the beginning of the optimization, communicate modifications of the model by distribution tables, and solve the job in each iteration, shut down the solver by the end of optimization) should be started. If this option is set to `AUTOMATIC` the optimization system chooses the best solver run mode.
ABQ_SENS_ABSENT_SET_ZERO	=YES/NO	In case of using the sensitivities calculated by Abaqus, this option controls whether to set the missing sensitivity values to zero or not. This option should be set, for example, when `*model change` command is used in the solver input file.
FORCE_SIM_YES	=FALSE/TRUE	In case of using the sensitivities calculated by Abaqus, if mode tracking is present in the analysis this option converts any `SIM=NO` command to `SIM=YES` in the input file.
KEEP_SFILM	=TRUE/FALSE	This option turns off the modification of `*sfilm` card during the optimization. It allows the user to keep the original surface film boundary condition throughout the optimization even if the actual surface has changed.
USE_ABQ_UNROLL	= YES/NO/ON/OFF/SELECTIVE	Controls the enrolling of LOADCASEs inside a STEP. Note: SELECTIVE means that the unrolling only happens if the first *STEP is a preloading step
NODAL_MODIFICATION	= DISTRIBUTION_TABLE /INPUT_FILE	Controls how node modifications from shape optimization are communicated to the FE solver. Only usable in combination with solver sensitivities. DISTRIBUTION_TABLE: Write node modifications only in the distribution table. INPUT_FILE: Write node modifications directly into the solver input file.
DRESP_GROUP_OPER_AGGREGATION	= ON / OFF	This option controls if the group in the design response will be evaluated using the existing Tosca algorithm or a new algorithm introduced in 2021x based on Abaqus sensitivities. The new algorithm provides performance benefits in case of large groups or multiple load cases. The default is `OFF` means only the existing algorithm will be used.

Parameters usable with MSC Nastran®


MSC_NASTRAN_BAILOUT	= TRUE/FALSE	This option writes `PARAM BAILOUT -1` to the modified input file. It ensures that the Nastran analyses will not abort even if there are errors in the model.

Output Parameters


CONSTRAINT_OUTPUT		Controls the output of the `CONSTRAINT`s in `TOSCA.OUT`.
	= DEFAULT	Default output is that a satisfied `CONSTRAINT` < 1.0 for the normalized output. It does not matter if the `CONSTRAINT` is `LE_VALUE`, `GE_VALUE` or `EQ_VALUE`.
	= STANDARD	Constraint value is normalized with the constraint value.
	= NONORM	Do not normalize constraints.
REPORT_FILE	= STANDARD = ALL = NONE	Descriptors of what is printed to the file `optimization_report.csv`. See also section Remarks.
	= D,F,W,R,C	See "Code" in the table at section Remarks.
PLOT_CTRL_INP_MINUS_REF	= YES = NO	Plot the `CTRL_INPUT` with the subtracted reference value or with its original value. This can make differences if more than one entry is present for the objective function.
DEFAULT_SMOOTH	= ON = OFF	Default smoothing task (settings corresponding to `smooth_templates.mac`). Only available for topology optimization.
DEFAULT_REPORT	= ON = OFF	Default report generation (settings corresponding to `report_templates.mac`).
DEFAULT_REPORT_ON_ERROR	= ON = OFF	Default report generation when optimization job fails
DEFAULT_REPORT_GROUP	= ALL_ELEMENTS = __DESIGN__ = __MODEL__ = <`group_name`>	Report generated for all elements, specified group (from analysis model or parameter file) or design area.
DEFAULT_SMOOTH_ISOVALUE	= <`value`>	Iso value for smoothing (between 0 and 1).
DEFAULT_SMOOTH_VOLUME	= <`value`>	Target volume for smoothing, relative value set by user (between 0 and 1)
DEFAULT_SMOOTH_GROUP	= ALL_ELEMENTS = __DESIGN__ = __MODEL__ = <`group_name`>	Smoothing performed for all elements, specified group (from analysis model or parameter file) or design area.

Remarks

The REPORT_FILE item might be used to change the output in the file optimization_report.csv: Iteration number and value of the objective function (OBJ_FUNC) is always written to optimization_report.csv. This is the only output with option NONE. The default (STANDARD) output is: DRESP, OBJ_FUNC:DRESP, and CONSTRAINT values. All output in following table is active with option ALL.

Using the letter codes in the REPORT_FILE item the output might be customized as shown in the table below:


Output name	Description	Code
DRESP	All `DRESP`s referenced in `OBJ_FUNC` real values.	D
OBJ_FUNC:DRESP	The value of `DRESP` in `OBJ_FUNC` [weight*(dresp_value – ref_value)].	F
OBJ_FUNC: DRESP:Weight	Weight of `DRESP` in `OBJ_FUNC`.	W
OBJ_FUNC:DRESP:Ref	Reference value of `DRESP` in `OBJ_FUNC`. This value can be interesting for shape optimization.	R
CONSTRAINT	The value of `DRESP` in `CONSTRAINT`s	C

Default result reports and smooth runs can be activated in the parameter file to be created after the optimization (an example can be found in the macro report_templates.mac). To get a report with your topology optimization results including the smoothed model with a defined iso value, you could add the following to your parameter file:


OPTIONS
  DEFAULT_SMOOTH                = ON
  DEFAULT_REPORT                = ON
  DEFAULT_REPORT_GROUP          = ALL_ELEMENTS
  DEFAULT_SMOOTH_ADD_TO_REPORT  = ON
  DEFAULT_SMOOTH_VOLUME         = <value>
  DEFAULT_SMOOTH_GROUP          = ALL_ELEMENTS
END_