In FE Model tab, I would like to be able to edit a Step type after the step is created so Boundary conditions do not need to be entered again.
Or, If the after a step is duplicated, the step type can be edited in the new step.
**Edit**. Just noticed that when a New step is created, the BCs are copied so there is a way to do this. Although I think it would be more intuitive to have the edit step option. Thanks
To change the step, several factors must be considered. If a heat transfer step is created and then changed to a static step, what happens with the heat fluxes, which are not available in the static step? And there are many other cases.
Indeed, it could be very helpful but tricky to implement. I also currently use the workaround with creating a new step and suppressing the previous one.
Abaqus has a really cool “replace step” feature, and it does the following:
When you replace a step, Abaqus/CAE copies all of the compatible step-dependent objects to the new step. If objects are incompatible with the new step, Abaqus/CAE substitutes an equivalent object, if possible, and suppresses or deletes the remaining objects.
In PrePoMax, I could do similar, but the incompatible features would have to be removed.
Yes, Abaqus suppresses some features even if they can’t be resumed in the new step. For example, loads in frequency analyses. One would have to replace the step again (e.g. back to static or to buckling) in order to unsuppress them.