Creating and editing optimization processes

An optimization process reads an optimization task that you defined in the Optimization module and iteratively searches for an optimized solution based on the objective functions and constraints that you defined in the optimization task.

See Also
Understanding optimization processes
Creating, editing, and manipulating optimization processes
  1. From the main menu bar, select OptimizationCreate or OptimizationEditoptimization process name.

    The Edit Optimization Process dialog box appears.

    Tip: You can also create an optimization process by clicking the icon in the module toolbox or clicking Create in the Optimization Process Manager.

  2. Type the name of the new optimization process in the Name text field. The name that you specify must adhere to the file naming rules for your operating system. A directory is created with this name, and the output from the optimization process is stored in this directory.
  3. Select the model to associate with the optimization process from the Model field.
  4. Select the optimization task to associate with the optimization process from the Optimization Task field.

    If desired, type the description of the optimization process in the Description text field. The description is stored in the model database and the output database, and you can use this description to help you manage your optimization processes.

  5. Enter the maximum number of optimization design cycles that are allowed before Abaqus ends the optimization process.
  6. Choose how often to write the analysis results to the output database file that is created by the Abaqus job that runs for each design cycle of the optimization process. This option also specifies how often to create the related Abaqus analysis files, such as the status file and the message file. You can choose the following:

    • Initial: save data after the initial cycle (n=0) . The Optimization module uses the initial cycle to prepare the model for the first design cycle; for example, by creating groups and output requests. A finite element analysis is not performed during the initial cycle.

    • First: save data from the first design cycle (n=1).

    • Last: save data from the last design cycle.

    • Every n cycles: save data every n design cycles relative to the initial (n=0) design cycle. For example, if n=3, the optimization process will save data corresponding to design cycle 2, 5, 8, etc.

    • Every: Save data after every design cycle, including the initial (n=0) design cycle.

      Note: Selecting this option could lead to large disk space requirements for Abaqus models that generate large output database files.

    For more information, see Understanding the files generated by creating and analyzing a model. To postprocess the results of an optimization, you must combine the output databases that were generated by each design cycle into a single output database. For more information, see Combining optimization results.

  7. Use the Submission, Memory, and Parallelization tabbed pages to define the initial settings for each Abaqus job that runs during the optimization process, as described in the following sections:

  8. Click OK.