Speeding up simulation suggestions

[TriGuy23]

Hi,

I have a simulation in which forces/moments are applied to a structural member with varying amplitude over a 4 seconds. Each force has 8000 amplitude data points (an amplitude data point every 0.0005 seconds).

My simulation takes roughly 2 hours to run with an undesirably coarse mesh. I would like to use a finer mesh but the simulation then takes like 14 hours to run (which is unacceptable under my circumstances right now). Is there any method or trick I could use to speed up my simulation?

Thanks

 

[IceBreakerSours]

There are a few things that come to my mind:

a) File I/O can slow things down. If you do not need output at every time point, then you can have ABAQUS print out data for specific time points. Likewise, if output is needed for only a set of nodes, do just that. And finally, if you only need a couple of variables, request output for those two variables only.
b) Assuming you are using a typical Intel machine, disable hyperthreading (in the BIOS menu). This will enable all CPUs to be used with fully capacity. Get rid of all sorts of junk processes, do not use any word processing or browsers, etc. As an example, entering the following in the command prompt will ensure all 4 CPUs are being used:
abaqus job=myINP cpus=4 memory=95% interactive
c) If Explicit is being used, you need a fast CPU. Conversely, if Standard is being used, the more/faster the memory, the better. Of course, ideally, having more of both fast memory chips and CPUs helps.

http://www.eng-tips.com/faqs.cfm?fid=376

http://www.eng-tips.com/faqs.cfm?fid=1083

 

[corus]

Try running the job over night then you won't be running any other processes at the same time and you can let it run for 14 hours or whatever. Don't submit the job at the last moment though as you may come back in the morning to see a message saying 'Old job files still exist, do you wish to delete these files Y/N?' Doh! is the expression used then, or words to that effect.