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Double-precision causing Exception Access Violation error

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jball1

Mechanical
Nov 4, 2014
71
I am attempting to run a dynamic analysis of a large composite structure. I am getting an “Exception_Access_Violation” error when I try to datacheck the model.

The error seems like it is related to a specific composite section definition that I am trying to use.

The structure is represented with conventional shell elements. I first ran the model with a homogenous shell section assigned with a defined anisotropic constitutive matrix. This model runs without issue. I then tried to modify the section definition to a composite section with the ply layup specified (4 plies defined on either side of a core). Making this change resulted in the access violation error.

Before changing the composite section representation in my model, I tried out the modified section representation first on a flat plate and then on a simplified model of the structure. I was able to successfully run both test models. So the issue is not that I’ve screwed up the section definition.

I used a winmerge to confirm that the only differences between my input file of my working model and the one that gives me the error is the composite section definition.
I googled the error to see if anyone else has had this error. Some people suggested that it may possibly be related to a segmentation error and may be related to model size. My revised section definition includes 11 integration points through the thickness vs 5 for my original definition. Since my new section definition is more computationally intensive, I tried modifying the input file from the analysis that ran, changing only a small portion of the structure to the new section definition. I was able to complete a datacheck with this input file.

I then continued adding the new section definition to more and more of the structure, running a datacheck each time. When I was about 2/3 of the way through the structure, I got the access violation error again.

This made me conclude that my error is related to the amount of elements that this more computationally intensive section definition is assigned to. To test this idea out, I significantly coarsened the mesh of the structure (reduced number of elements by ~70%) and tried to assign the modified section definition to these elements. Unfortunately I still got the exception access violation error with this model.

I am running Explicitly. I always run with double precision (double=both). On a whim, I tried the datacheck with single precision, and it completed.

I need to run with double precision. My understanding is that double precision results in larger files and therefore requires more memory? Is there some way I can give the program more memory when it is running the datacheck? I tried reading the documentation, and thought setting pre_memory=”16gb” was the answer… but apparently this parameter is not used for a datacheck.

Any help would be much appreciated!


 
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This might be suitable as a ticket for your local Abaqus support team, especially since you've already done a thorough investigation. It might be a bug that you discovered in Abaqus. Make sure that you use the newest release (including fix packs).
 
I actually just figured it out. One of my coworkers who is a lot more knowledgeable than me explained that the math Abaqus does when defining individual lamina properties and orientations is very complex, and his guess was that it can just get through those calcs with 32 bit math (single precision), but it then crashes with full precision. I have one orientation assigned to the entire composite structure. He suggested that I duplicate the orientation and split up the various sections of the structure among several identical orientations. I did this, and I now no longer get the error. So it seems like there is some sort of arbitrary hard coded limit on the number of sections that an orientation can be assigned to.

Normally, I've found that Abaqus tends to give pretty helpful error messages. This one was not helpful at all. So hopefully this thread can be helpful to someone else who runs into this issue!

I'm not sure how to pass this on to our local Abaqus support team, but I'll try.
 
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