uCT Compression Simulation with Analytical Rigid Plates

[DJNanoBot]

So I am doing a research study with UNC, we flew 30 mice on STS-135 and gathered uCT data from their bones after landing. We are trying to run simulations on these scanned models in Abaqus (importing them as .inp files). Each model is a segment of bone 1mm long and we are trying to compress the "bone slices" using analytical rigid plates attached to the model on the superior and inferior faces of the bone segment. We have the rigid surfaces and have defined surface to surface general contact interactions. We are running the simulation with one static general loading step during which we are displacing the top rigid surface by .1mm while the inferior surface remains fixed. Our hope is to be able to get resultant forces on these analytical rigid plates but I am having trouble generating the field output. I want to get 10 data points with resultant force on the plates at 10 separate points along the displacement length.
Can this be done with only one step? Or do I need a separate step to generate field output at each of these points?

What parameters for field output generation should I enter if I want resultant forces on these two analytical rigid plates? (ie, unique nodal, whole element, integration point?) Or am I on the right track?
Thanks,
Colin Smith
North Carolina State University
Mechanical Engineering Undergraduate

 

[Jabberwocky]

Probably too late, but it sounds like you'd have better luck asking this question in the FEA forum, listed under Structural Engineers.