Design intent is the capability to make changes based on design considerations. For example, when you add a cut feature, you can select either a through cut or a blind cut. If the cut feature represents a bolt hole, you know that the hole must always pass completely through the part. As a consequence, you should select a through cut, and Abaqus/CAE recognizes that the hole remains through even when you change the thickness of the part. Analysis intent is the capability to make changes based on analysis considerations. Although Abaqus/CAE allows you to create parts with complex, detailed geometry, your final goal is usually a finite element analysis of a meshed representation of the part. Excessive detail, such as fillets and small holes, can lead to regions with a very fine mesh that will, in turn, dominate the time taken by Abaqus/Standard or Abaqus/Explicit to reach a solution. The amount of detail you provide when you create a part in the Part module should be a reflection of your goals. Alternatively, you can create a part with detailed features but suppress them prior to meshing the assembly. For example, if a model takes several hours to analyze, you may wish to simplify it by suppressing features; you could then submit an analysis that runs faster and checks your basic modeling assumptions. If the simplified model behaves as expected, you can unsuppress the features and resubmit a full analysis. For an example of different feature-based design approaches based on design and analysis intent, consider the cover plate shown in Figure 1. You could create the three-dimensional shell that models the plate in several ways:
Either of the three approaches would generate the same part, but your design intent and your analysis intent govern the best approach. For example:
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