Follower loads and finite sliding

When you have a large displacement analysis or finite sliding in ABAQUS, you have to use follower loads to change the direction of the force loaded on a node. The follower load allows the force to rotate with the node to which it is applied, and it will change the direction of the force as the node rotates. You can activate follower load by selecting the “Follow nodal rotation” option (see figure 1) when you have Concentrated force or Moment.

Figure 1: selecting the “Follow nodal rotation” option

Note that the stiffness matrix will become unsymmetric when using follower load, so you have to use unsymmetric matrix storage. Either you can do it in the graphical interface or input file (see figures 2 and 3).

Figure2: Selecting Unsymmetric matrix through graphical interface

Figure3: Using Unsymmetric matrix through the input file