FEM modelling of a clamp, problems with increments

[spikey20]

Hi guys,

I'm very new to FEM but I did an Abaqus training last week and yesterday I started working on some different projects. One of it is this clamp we want to use for clamping an actuator and screw it to a solid plate.
I modeled the clamp in proE (wf5) and imported the step file to Abaqus 6.11. I removed all the non-required geometry (faces, radius..) and meshed the part. The mesh looks good to me, but as I said I'm new.

Everytime I try to submit the job, Abaqus aborts and gives me the following error: "Too many attempts made for this increment
Abaqus/Standard Analysis exited with an error - Please see the message file for possible error messages if the file exists."

I tried to increase the maximum number of increments and so on but I just don't get it solved.
In this model I replaced the actual screw (which will cause the clamping) by a concentrated force.

See the included model for better understanding and the screenshots of the 3D cad file on following links:

http://s17.postimage.org/fxerfw4zx/mike_clamp1.jpg

http://s17.postimage.org/rnxab0n65/mike_clamp2.jpg

Thanks so much for your help!
Best, Mike

PS: I did use your search and found:

http://www.eng-tips.com/viewthread.cfm?qid=258951,

but it didn't help me solve my problem.

 

[GregLocock]

and what did the message file say?

Cheers

Greg Locock


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