Symbols used to represent prescribed conditions

Table 1, Table 2, and Table 3 present the special graphical symbols used by Abaqus/CAE to represent loads, boundary conditions, and predefined fields, respectively. For information about symbol size and location, see Understanding symbols that represent prescribed conditions. For information on controlling the display of these symbols, see Controlling the display of attributes.

Table 1. Load symbol types and color.
Load category Load type Symbol Color
Mechanical Concentrated force Arrow Yellow
Moment Arrow Violet
Pressure Arrow Pink
Shell edge traction Arrow Pink
Shell edge moment Arrow Violet
Surface traction Arrow Pink
Pipe pressure Arrow Pink
Body force Arrow Yellow
Line Arrow Yellow
Gravity Arrow Yellow
Bolt load Arrow Yellow
Generalized plane strain Arrow Yellow
Rotational body force Arrow Green
Connector force Arrow Yellow
Connector moment Arrow Violet
Inertia relief Sphere with arrow Green
Thermal Surface heat flux Arrow Green
Body heat flux Square Yellow
Concentrated heat flux Square Yellow
Acoustic Inward volume acceleration Square Yellow
Fluid Concentrated pore fluid flow Square Yellow
Surface pore fluid flow Arrows Blue
Electrical/Magnetic Concentrated current Square Yellow
Surface current Square Green
Body current Circle Green
Surface current density Arrow Yellow
Body current density Arrow Green
Concentrated charge Square Yellow
Surface charge Square Green
Body charge Circle Green
Mass diffusion Concentrated concentration flux Square White
Surface concentration flux Arrow Yellow
Body concentration flux Circle Yellow
Table 2. Boundary condition symbol types and color.
Boundary condition category Boundary condition type Symbol Color
Mechanical Symmetry/Antisymmetry/Encastre Arrow Orange for components applied to degrees of freedom 1–3.
Blue for components applied to degrees of freedom 4–6.
Displacement/Rotation Arrow Orange for components applied to degrees of freedom 1–3.
    Blue for components applied to degrees of freedom 4–6.
Velocity/Angular velocity Arrow Sandy brown for components applied to degrees of freedom 1–3.
Magenta for components applied to degrees of freedom 4–6.
Acceleration/Angular acceleration Arrow Yellow for components applied to degrees of freedom 1–3.
Blue for components applied to degrees of freedom 4–6.
Connector displacement Arrow Orange for components applied to degrees of freedom 1–3.
Blue for components applied to degrees of freedom 4–6.
Connector velocity Arrow Sandy brown for components applied to degrees of freedom 1–3.
Magenta for components applied to degrees of freedom 4–6.
Retained nodal DOFs (while being defined in Substructure generation step) Arrow Blue
Retained nodal DOFs (during substructure usage) Cross Blue
Electrical/Magnetic Electrical potential Square Yellow
Magnetic vector potential Arrow Green
Other Temperature Square Yellow
Pore pressure Square Yellow
Fluid cavity pressure Circle Yellow
Normalized concentration Square Yellow
Acoustic pressure Square Yellow
Connector material flow Square Yellow
Eulerian boundary Arrow Green
Eulerian mesh motion Square Yellow
Submodel boundary condition Square Yellow
Submodel load Circle Yellow
Table 3. Predefined field symbol types and color.
Predefined field category Predefined field type Symbol Color
Mechanical Translational/rotational velocity Arrow Sandy brown
Stress/Geostatic stress Circle Blue
Hardening Circle Magenta
Other Temperature Square Yellow
Field Square Yellow
Material assignment Circle Sandy brown
Initial state Circle Yellow
Saturation Square Green
Void ratio Square Sandy brown
Pore pressure Square Magenta
Fluid cavity pressure Diamond Green