Common Errors and Warnings in Convergence Problems-Abaqus

ERROR: TOO MANY INCREMENTS NEEDED TO COMPLETE THE STEP

 Check the message file for any warning messages, such as numerical singularity or zero
pivot warnings, that may be causing slow convergence
 If there appear to be no convergence issues, then you may need to increase the limit to the
number of increments for that step

ERROR: TOO MANY ATTEMPTS MADE FOR THIS INCREMENT –ANALYSIS

TERMINATED

 This is just an error message which gives reason for why Abaqus finally aborted
 Do not modify the solver controls to increase the number of allowable attempts per
increment
 Check the message file for warning messages that could cause convergence difficulties
 Check the model definition, and make sure that the model can actually withstand the
applied loads

ERROR: TIME INCREMENT REQUIRED IS LESS THAN MINIMUM SPECIFIED-

ANALYSIS ENDS

 Again, this is just an error message which gives reason for why Abaqus finally aborted-it
is not a suggestion by Abaqus to reduce the minimum allowable increment size
 Check the message file for warning messages that could cause convergence difficulties
 Check the model definition, and make sure that the model can actually withstand the
applied loads

WARNING: THE STRAIN INCREMENT HAS EXCEEDED FIFTY TIMES THE

STRAIN TO CAUSE FIRST YIELD AT 500 POINTS

 Indicates excessive plastic yielding in the given increment

 Possible causes would be:
· Excessive or unrealistic loading (inconsistent units, for example)
· Incorrect or insufficient stress-strain plastic data
· Insufficient mesh refinement
· Unstable deformation, such as buckling
NOTE: The factor ‘fifty’ mentioned in the warning message cannot be modified
WARNING: ELEMENT 441 IS DISTORTING SO MUCH THAT IT TURNS INSIDE
OUT

Possible causes would be:

· Insufficient mesh refinement
· Hourglassing in first-order reduced integration elements
· Inconsistent units for material properties and/ or loads
· Excessive or unrealistic loads
· Adjusting slave nodes of severely overclosed surfaces for contact pairs or tie constraints
(initial overclosures)

WARNING: THE SYSTEM MATRIX HAS 9 NEGATIVE EIGENVALUES

Possible causes would be:
. Some form of loss of stiffness suggesting that the stiffness matrix is assembled about a
non-equilibrium state:
. Geometrical instability: buckling, compression
. Material instability: inappropriate hyperelastic material models, onset of perfect
plasticity
. Numerically, the use of Lagrange multipliers in certain cases may also lead to these
warning messages
. Use of 3D second-order elements as contact (slave) surfaces
 Typically, these warning messages do not appear in converged iterations
. If they do, ensure that the solution is physically acceptable

WARNING: SOLVER PROBLEM. NUMERICAL SIGULARITY WHEN PROCESSING

NODE 1 D.O.F. 3 RATIO=3.141E+15
 Typically suggests an unconstrained rigid body motion
 Even if the analysis runs to completion with these warnings, the results may not be
accurate
WARNING: SOLVER PROBLEM. ZERO PIVOT WHEN PROCESSING NODE 1
D.O.F.1
 Typically suggests an overconstraint
 Even if the analysis runs to completion with these warnings, the results will not be
accurate