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A UMAT-UDSM interface for integrating Plaxis user soil models into Abaqus: application to the hardening soil model
Luis Mugele1, Daniela Alejandra Villarreal Illada1,2, Heiko Neher2
1Institute of Soil Mechanics and Rock Mechanics (IBF), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Engler-Bunte-Ring 14, Karlsruhe, 76131, Germany.
None:
Finite element (FE) programs such as Plaxis and Abaqus allow so-called user-defined constitutive models. However, each FE code requires the user-defined constitutive equations to be implemented in a different internal solver-specific format. This limits the reusability of the user-defined implementations within different FE codes, even when the theoretical formulation of the constitutive model is identical. This paper presents an interface that couples a constitutive formulation originally implemented as a Plaxis user-defined soil model (UDSM) with an implementation in Abaqus through a user material subroutine (UMAT). Thus, a given UDSM can easily be used as a UMAT in Abaqus. The interface preserves the original constitutive implementation and therefore the parameter and state variable structure, enabling direct execution of the Plaxis-style UDSM within an Abaqus UMAT. The proposed method is demonstrated and validated using a UDSM that describes the Hardening Soil model (HSM) through element tests and a boundary-value problem solved in Abaqus and Plaxis, confirming its accuracy and numerical stability.•UMAT interface for Abaqus that executes an external Plaxis-specific UDSM.•Generic interface that enables the plug-in of other UDSM subroutines in Abaqus with minimal modification.•Validation using the Hardening Soil model (HSM) via element tests and boundary value problem.
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