Configuring the layout of the contact pair candidates table

A number of options are available to configure the display of the contact pair candidates table. You can customize the table to display only those elements that are essential to your modeling goals.

See Also
Understanding contact and constraint detection
Using contact and constraint detection
  1. Toggle on Show previously created interactions and ties to add any previously defined contact interactions and tie constraints to the contact pair candidates table. You can edit previously defined interactions and ties in the same manner as newly detected contact pairs.
  2. To limit the table display to only those contact pair candidates whose name contains a particular string, type that string in the Name filter field and press Enter. Click to see examples of valid filtering syntax.

    Abaqus/CAE still creates interactions and constraints for contact pair candidates that are hidden by a filter.

  3. Add or remove columns from the table display as necessary:
    1. Click mouse button 3 anywhere on the contact pair candidates table, and select Edit Visible Columns from the menu that appears.

      The Edit Visible Columns dialog box appears.

    2. In the Edit Visible Columns dialog box, toggle on the columns you want to display; toggle off the columns you want to hide:

      Suppression

      Indicates whether the contact pair will be active or suppressed upon creation (see Creating suppressed interactions and constraints). This column is hidden by default.

      Name

      Displays the name of the contact pair. This column is displayed by default.

      Separation

      Displays the distance between the two surfaces in the contact pair (see Use of the contact detection algorithm). This column is displayed by default.

      Main surface name

      Displays the name of the surface acting as the main in the contact pair. This column is hidden by default.

      Secondary surface name

      Displays the name of the surface acting as the secondary in the contact pair. This column is hidden by default.

      Main instance name

      Displays the name of the part instance on which the main surface is located. This column is hidden by default.

      Secondary instance name

      Displays the name of the part instance on which the secondary surface is located. This column is hidden by default.

      Type

      Indicates whether Abaqus/CAE is creating a contact interaction or a tie constraint for the contact pair. This column is displayed by default.

      Sliding

      Indicates the tracking approach used in the contact interaction formulation. This column is displayed by default.

      Discretization

      Indicates the surface discretization used in the contact interaction or tie constraint formulation. This column is displayed by default.

      Property

      Indicates the contact interaction property used in the contact formulation. This column is displayed by default.

      Contact controls
      Indicates the contact controls used in the contact formulation. This column is hidden by default and is unavailable in the initial step.
      Adjust

      For contact interactions, displays the range within which secondary nodes will be adjusted to lie precisely on the main surface. If nodes in a set are being adjusted, this column displays the name of the set.

      For tie constraints, indicates whether or not all tied secondary nodes will be adjusted to lie precisely on the main surface.

      This column is displayed by default.

      Create step

      Displays the name of the step in which Abaqus/CAE is activating the contact interaction or tie constraint. This column is hidden by default.

      Surface smoothing

      Indicates whether or not surface smoothing is applied to axisymmetric or spherical surfaces in the contact pair (see Smoothing Contact Surfaces in Abaqus/Standard). This column is displayed by default.

    3. Do one of the following:

      • Click OK to apply the settings and to close the Edit Visible Columns dialog box.

      • Click Apply to apply the settings and to leave the Edit Visible Columns dialog box open.

      • Click Cancel to ignore any changes and to close the Edit Visible Columns dialog box.

  4. Sort the table contents according to parameter values by clicking the column heading for the parameter of interest. An up arrow in the column heading indicates the values are listed in ascending order; a down arrow indicates the parameter values are listed in descending order.